Whether it’s because of scope or scale, it’s surprisingly rare to hear Steve Reich’s works on an Aussie stage. As Limelight‘s Liam Heitmann-Ryce-LeMercier puts it: with titles like Six Pianos and Music for 18 Musicians, Reich’s instruments are “not easily stacked on the backseats of a rental van”.

Gabi Sultana and Richard Cilli. Photo © Oliver Miller

This year, we’re luckier than most: the legendary American minimalist composer celebrates his 90th birthday next month, and Ensemble Offspring offers the biggest birthday bash in Reich:Repeat:Rejoice.

Opening the concert, however, is a work from EO’s own Artistic Director, percussionist Claire Edwardes and dancer Richard Cilli. Devised for a larger work, Recital in 2019, Metronomes is a sweet and funny crash course in phasing, the compositional technique pioneered by Reich in the early 60s that forms the heart of many of his works. 

Phasing, first and foremost, is a physical phenomenon – the strange chorus of two tape machines playing the same loop, slowly slipping out of sync. As Cilli and Edwardes match their metronome partners – one arm sweeps, then two, then hips and...