Satu In The Beyond, the electro-industrial project fronted by ACO principal violinist Satu Vänskä, is heading to Melbourne this August.
The outfit grew out of ACO Underground, the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s experimental late-night offshoot, and has been gathering a devoted audience since the group came together in 2022. Satu In The Beyond evolved from a creative tangent into a fully realised band, dropping genre conventions for a sound that draws on European modernism, American minimalism, German and Japanese electronica and punk.
The lineup features Vänskä on violin and vocals alongside ACO artistic director Richard Tognetti on electric violin, producer Paul Beard, Bree van Reyk on drums, Kiah Gossner on electric bass and Ollie Thorpe on electric guitar. Live, the group builds layered, shifting soundscapes from strings, synthesisers, distortion and driving rhythms. Their debut record Far Field Theory lands in August, assembled from material developed across several years.
Satu In The Beyond
- 20 August – The Neilson, Pier 23 at Walsh Bay Arts Precinct, Sydney – 7pm
- 21 August – The Night Cat, 137–141 Johnston St, Fitzroy, Melbourne – 7pm & 9:30pm (two shows)
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Vänskä picked up the violin at three years old while living in Japan before her family returned to their native Finland when she was 10. She studied at the Lahti Conservatorium, the Sibelius Academy and the Hochschule für Musik in Munich before joining the ACO in 2004. She has been based in Australia for more than 20 years, performing as both soloist and director with the orchestra in venues across the globe, including appearances with the Artik Philharmonic in Norway, London’s Aurora Orchestra and at the Festival Maribor in Slovenia.
As a vocalist, Vänskä has featured in the ACO’s multimedia projects Mountain, The Reef, The Crowd and River in major concert halls worldwide. Closer to home, she has appeared as soloist with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. The band also draws on Beard’s experience as musical director for the likes of Lily Allen and Robbie Williams.
Tickets for the two Melbourne shows at The Night Cat in Fitzroy are available through the venue’s website. Far Field Theory is set for an August release.
For more information, head here.
