Jun 18, 2026 – 5.57pmLight or sound from a smartphone usually ruins a night at the concert hall, but a new work from an Australian composer uses an app to take over the nuisances and make them part of the show.The Lost Art of Listening, which premieres at Adelaide’s Illuminate festival next month, will turn the smartphones of its audience into a 32-part “choir”, pulsing with remotely co-ordinated colour and light while their speakers play field recordings that range from traffic in Delhi to children laughing in a Warsaw playground and a babbling brook in Mexico.Subscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Fetching latest articles
Why this Australian musician is asking the audience to turn their phones on
Composer Hilary Kleinig says the irony of writing smartphones into her piece at Adelaide’s upcoming Illuminate festival is deliberate.
117 words~1 min read
