Were it possible to assign this concert a colour rather than a star rating, I’d give it ‘turquoise’, specifically the turquoise of the ocean on a sparkling sunny day in January when all the rushing is over and, recovering, we breathe and walk and swim.

Perhaps it’s no coincidence that these were the colours Benjamin Skepper wore last Friday night when he opened the triple bill of avant-garde electroacoustic musicians at the Melbourne Recital Centre on steamy evening.

Despite the rush all around and to get there, the music we heard made it worth the effort. Along with his fellow performers, violinist, Eric Avery and harpist Mary Lattimore, Skepper blessed us with a welcome reprieve from the time of year and its seemingly inevitable demands.

Benjamin Skepper. Photo © Janarbek Amankulov

Strolling out in a soothing palette of blues and greens, even Skepper’s studded boots seemed whimsical, rather than tough. He may look like Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean but in contrast to that crazy pirate, his gentle piano playing set the tone for an evening of grace and calm. His Bach-inspired piano miniatures were spare and...