In Bronzewing, highly acclaimed period musicians Katie Yap (viola) and Donald Nicolson (harpsicord) have combined to create a unique musical identity that provides plenty of room to express their wide-ranging musical ideas.

Tempo Rubato – a vibrant classical music bar and venue in the heart of inner-city Brunswick – is packed for the duo’s latest concert, themed around shadows.

Katie Yap and Donald Nicolson: Bronzewing. Photo © Albert Comper

The program opens with an instrumental rendition of the chant O tu illustrata (O thou enlightened one) by the medieval mystic Hildegard von Bingen, followed immediately by Bronzewing’s longer response to von Bingen’s work. Played on a five-string electric viola and synths, this ancient melody acquires an unearthly, luminous quality.

The next item is an assured performance of The Unthanks’ song Magpie, based on the children’s nursery rhyme, in which Yap sings and plays the viola – strumming insistently to “Devil, I defy thee” – and Nicolson accompanies her on the synths.

The first half finishes with a synths solo by Nicolson who, for this concert, has swapped out concert blacks for a cap,...