Celebrating the sounds of our city, five musicians perform an original song and their favourite local song on the Library Bar piano.
In an intimate celebration of the sounds of our city, five musicians perform one song of their own and their favourite local song of all time on the Library Bar’s grand piano. Set against the stunning Sydney skyline.
Library Bar opens: from 5pm
Event commences: 6pm
Please note: The Library Bar will be open from 5pm ahead of the event.
BIRDEE 王煒 writes songs that can be enjoyed without pretence. Raised in Parkes, NSW and now based in Sydney, she’s quickly gained a local, global and online following, being internationally recognised and playlisted across both Southeast Asia and Australia. Over the past few years, what BIRDEE 王煒 calls ‘alt-dance-pop’ has proved popular with people seeking out catchy music imbued with dynamism and energy. Known for her incredible live performances, BIRDEE 王煒 moves between future house, indie dance & DnB.
DOBBY is a true force of nature, with his electrifying live performances leaving audiences spellbound. As a rapper, drummer, composer and producer, he brings a dynamic and powerful energy to his live shows, delivering an experience like no other. DOBBY’s music has taken him across the globe, from Germany to the UK, the USA to the Netherlands. He has performed at some of the biggest festivals across the country, including Bluesfest and Boomerang Festival (NSW), Port Fairy Folk Festival (Vic), PARRTJIMA Festival (NT), OzAsia Festival (SA) and the iconic Sydney Opera House, as well as the 2021 Sydney New Year’s Eve Fireworks. Proudly identifying as a Filipino and Murrawarri musician, DOBBY’s roots run deep in the Aboriginal lands around Brewarrina and Weilmoringle in NSW.
Jerome Blazé is Sydney’s sonic architect. Between working as a producer and songwriter, touring as a keyboard player and researching and lecturing in popular music, Blazé’s many musical inputs feed his own singular musical output. After moving to Sydney to study music, Blazé began working as a producer outside of his own music, gathering credits for Nick Ward, FRIDAY*, Odette, Thandi Phoenix, Paul Mac, commercial work for Louis Vuitton and Melbourne Fashion Week and touring as a keyboardist for Ngaiire. His eclectic solo project refracts electronic, soul and neoclassical through birdsong and golden-hour sunlight. 2024 will see the release of Blazé’s sophomore album, Living Room.
Marcus Whale is a musician and performance-maker who’s released music since the 2000s with groups Collarbones and BV and under his own name. His recorded output takes an agnostic and exploratory approach to genre. Solo albums often form a conceptual world and persona around this music: 2024 album Ecstasy draws a line between the ecstatic dancing at the rave and St Teresa of Avila’s masochistic encounters with the divine. Solo albums The Hunger and Inland Sea, and all five Collarbones albums, have been nominated for the Australian Music Prize. Live shows draw from the spectacle of religious ritual, incorporating costume collaborations with Calli Comical, Megan Hanson, Chloe Corkran and Athena Thebus, and often moving off the stage and into the room.
Montaigne first emerged in 2012 and has since established themselves as one of Australia’s most eclectic performers — a natural storyteller and entertainer that has captured attention across the world. Their expansive debut album Glorious Heights arrived in 2016, featuring the ARIA Platinum certified single ‘Because I Love You’. The album earned landed at #4 on the ARIA charts, and Montaigne took home the Best Breakthrough Artist award at the 2016 ARIA Awards. In 2019, Montaigne was selected to represent Australia at Eurovision in Rotterdam 2020, having won the Eurovision: Australia Decides competition with their stunning original song, ‘Don’t Break Me’. While the global music event was delayed due to the pandemic, Montaigne returned in 2021 to represent Australia on the world stage in May of 2021 with their kaleidoscopic single ‘Technicolour’. Montaigne returned with their third album making it! in 2022, which included two urgent and gloriously prismatic songs sculpted alongside Talking Heads’ visionary leader David Byrne. In 2023, their collaboration with Tom Cardy ‘Red Flags’ went viral on TikTok and has now amassed 140+ million cross-platform streams. Refusing to be boxed in, Montaigne has also worked in theatre, musical comedy, podcasts and video games with an ever-diversifying portfolio. They are currently working on their fourth album.
Free tickets are available for First Nations audience members. Please reach out to us at bookings@sl.nsw.gov.au to book your tickets.
If you have any accessibility requirements in attending this event, please contact us at bookings@sl.nsw.gov.au. You can find more information about accessibility to our events here.