Expectations often prove futile when new works hit the stage. However, one thing that can be expected from Luminescence Chamber Singers’ Luminescence and the Machine is an enthralling, thought-provoking showcase of what happens when the human voice and technology intersect.

Armed with MIDI keyboards, deft sound design (by Tilman Robinson) and an expansive range of vocal colour, Luminescence delivers a performance of striking assurance and variety. Though this ambitious premiere of 12 new works at the Street Theatre in Canberra stretches 20 minutes beyond its advertised hour, few in the audience seem inclined to protest.

Luminescence and the Machine. Photo © Peter Hislop

A mechanical, crescendoing hum and blinding lights opens the concert as the six vocalists saunter onto a stage set with industrial scaffolds, silver induction pipes and glaring lights. Through their remarkable voices, AJ America (mezzo-soprano and creative director), Josephine Brereton (soprano), Rachel Mink (soprano), Dan Walker (tenor and composer), Lucein Fischer (baritone) and Alasdair Stretch (bass-baritone) show what it means to be human in a world of machines.

Tilman Robinson’s Enshittification opens the program. Red strobe lights,...