GONGTOPIA in Australia

[Michael Bettine]

I am pleased to announce that I will be the 'Artist in Residence' at the 2016 MONA FOMA Festival (https://mofo.net.au/lineup/mona-pass/) in Hobart,Tasmania, Australia. During the fest, January 13-18, I will present Gong Meditations, solo concerts, and duo concerts with other festival performers.

This is a fantastic Music & Arts Fest. The line up is very percussion heavy this year, so I look forward to hearing & meeting various Australian artists I've known about for years.

[Michael Bettine]

I had a fantastic time in Australia, playing 8 concerts in 3 days: 4 solo, 3 duo, and 1 quartet with some fantastic Australian musicians.

You can read about my exploits in my 2 blogs: http://percussiondeconstruction.blogspot.com/ & http://thewayofthegong.blogspot.com/.

[Michael Bettine]

I just wanted to post a few photos from my Australian adventure. I had the good fortune to play with some fantastic Australian musicians and it elevated my game. My thanks to trumpet player Scott Tinkler, Taiko drummer Yyan Ng, and saxophonist Danny Healey for the great duo concerts. Also my thanks to trumpeter Peter Woods and bassist Sam Pankhurst, both of the Australian Art Orchestra, along with Brian Ritchie on Shakuhachi, for the energetic quartet.

You can watch video of me solo here:

https://youtu.be/t7CPJDFytd8



Photo Credit: MONA/Rémi Chauvin Image Courtesy Mona, Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Video with Taiko drummer Yyan Ng here:

https://youtu.be/U_c3Tpy9GQY



Photo credt: copyright Megan Casey www.messagefromthemoshpit.com



Photo Credit: MONA/Rémi Chauvin Image Courtesy Mona, Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Special thanks to Paiste for providing some fantastic Gongs to use during my stay!