This program of contemporary art music could hardly have been more fresh. Of the five works, three were Australian premieres, one was a world premiere and the other was only composed in 2015 – plus the composer was there to take a bow. Indeed, I strongly suspect that every composer featured in Hush is alive and well. In this period of increasing dissatisfaction with the neglect of female composers, it was also extremely refreshing to note that four of the works are the creations of women.

Annika Socolofsky

That youthful, female skew was reflected in the performers gathered in the Melbourne Recital Centre’s salon. Rubiks Collective, comprising Tamara Kohler on flutes, cellist Gemma Kneale, percussionist Kaylie Melville and Jacob Abela on piano, were joined by three guests: mezzo-soprano Lotte Betts-Dean, Magdalenna Krstevska on clarinets and violinist Cameron Jamieson. They all committed wholeheartedly to these often technically challenging and unconventional works that, as Kohler noted during a break in the program, are connected by the themes of voice, breath and gesture.

The opening piece, Annika Socolofsky’s Don’t Say a Word, is an eerie, even confronting deconstruction of the lullaby Hush, Little Baby. It was performed...