Cellist Freya Schack-Arnott, and two foley artists on the thin line between sound effects and music

Cellist and composer Freya Schack-Arnott divides her time between classical and experimental music, exploring all of the possibilities of her instrument. Her latest project, Nornir - which premieres at the Melbourne Fringe Festival - is something different again: a mixture of movement and composition that breaks down the very idea of the cello.

The line between foley (cinematic sound effects) and percussion can be a blurry one, and The Music Show loves a blurry line. Andy talks to foley artist John Simpson, who has recently performed as the foley soloist in Thomas Meadowcroft's Hollywood Parsifals, a concerto for Percussion, Foley, and Orchestra; and Gabriel Fischer, a foley artist and percussionist who has taken his foley skills into his work with a piece for alfoil, snare drums and speakers called Makronomaly II. 

Nornir is at Melbourne Fringe 15-17 October.

Listen to Hollywood Parsifals on ABC Classic’s Evening Concert program, Wednesday 14 October at 8pm. 

Music heard in the show:

Title: Hollywood ParsifalsArtist: Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Eugene Ughetti, John Simpson, Benjamin NortheyComposer: Meadowcroft, ThomasRecorded for broadcast by ABC Classic

Title: CirklerArtist: Freya Schack-Arnott and Benjamin WardComposer: Schack-Arnott, Freya; Ward, BenjaminAlbum: MalleeLabel: Independent

Title: Finnish MarchArtist: Runa CaraComposer: trad.Album: Runa CaraLabel: Independent

Title: Makronomaly IIArtist: Gabriel FischerComposer: Fischer, GabrielCourtesy of Phoenix Central Park 

Title: Hollywood ParsifalsArtist: Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Eugene Ughetti, John Simpson, Benjamin NortheyComposer: Meadowcroft, ThomasRecorded for broadcast by ABC Classic

The Music Show is made on Gadigal, Gundungurra, Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung and Kaurna Country

Technical production by Tom Henry and Simon Branthwaite