Winter is frostily foreboding itself here in Melbourne, yet the converted warehouse venue in Brunswick known as Tempo Rubato was warmly buzzing with a sold-out crowd last Friday.

Billed as a “contemporary electric violin recital”, this concert was a chance for the evening’s feature artist Xani Kolac to road-test a showcase solo performance in her hometown, before boarding a flight to Berlin the following Monday, selected to perform at the highly-regarded Classical:NEXT music conference.

The stage at Tempo Rubato had been transformed for the show. The venue’s architectural, yet somewhat stark overhead lighting was unusually dimmed, and the ornate Stuart & Sons grand piano that usually dominates the cooly minimalist performance space had been hidden by an arc of upright effect lighting strips, encircling a foot pedal rack displaying enough blinking lights to create an art installation of its own.

With the space full, the room lights dimmed to black, choreographed stage lights began spinning hypnotic patterns on the roof, and Kolac entered the arc, picking up a five-string electric violin to start layering propulsive minimalist-style semiquavers over atmospheric synthesiser pads. This clearly wasn’t a regular violin recital.