Repurposing an IV machine into an instrument, Biddy Connor’s innovative performance transforms her taxing hospital experience into an inspiring auditory show on 22 and 23 August for Now or Never.
Being admitted to the hospital can be frightening. The clinical, mechanical ambience of the humming machines is strange compared to the ordinary outside world.
Composer and sound artist Biddy Connor was struck by this strangeness when she began treatment for breast cancer during lockdown five years ago at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. Thankfully, she’s all good now, but such news at such an onerous time would be immensely distressing for anyone.
“I was pretty scared on the way,” Biddy tells me, “but I was struck immediately by the sound of the place. There were lots of noises, and noises from the machines.”
Biddy Connor at Now or Never
- Listening Acts | Performance: Biddy Connor / Aviva Endean / Alexandra Spence
- Friday 22 August | Saturday 23 August
- Melbourne Recital Centre – Primrose Potter Salon
- Tickets here
Check out our gig guide, our stage guide, our festival guide, our live music venue guide and our nightclub guide. Follow us on Instagram here.
View this post on Instagram
Biddy took solace in her “aural world” to distract her from her diagnosis and everything that was happening.
“When the nurse went away, I was listening to my machine,” Biddy recalls, “It was making this kind of bass line. I got my phone out to record it. I think it was just a good distraction and comfort.”
She went on to record more of the chemotherapy sessions on her phone, capturing the pumps and drains after surgery and the nurses talking. Upon revisiting them, she realised she recorded her first session in its entirety.
“It was quite long because I’ve got the nurse talking to me and talking through everything, which was quite weird.”
From there, Biddy was figuring out how to construct a performance from those recordings. Tamara Saulwick at Chamber Made simply asked, “Wouldn’t it be amazing if you could get an IV machine on stage?” and the light bulb sparked.
View this post on Instagram
Biddy’s performance, Song to the Cell, which premieres at Now or Never 2025, transforms an IV machine into a musical instrument, vocalising with it to create a unique duet. It will last about 20 minutes and play out as an experimental song cycle, navigating notions of healing and dependency.
She acquired a couple of IV machines at a medical equipment refurbishing place in Moorabbin called Tomlin Medical and worked with sound engineer Nick Roux from Chamber Made to amplify their sound.
Biddy explains to me how they produce sound: “We’re sticking some DPA mics inside them right up where the mechanism is, it does this pumping inside. Once we put [the mics] in, it was like, ‘Oh, this is it.’ It’s like I was trying to write something on an electric guitar without amplifying it.”
She adds that there’s interplay between her and the IV machine. “I’m amplified as well and there will be some live effects on both of us. At some points, the IV machine will do a solo, but it can’t totally be solo because I need to press the buttons. There’s togetherness and support.”
What’s fascinating is the relationship between humans and technology, especially in terms of life-saving treatment. There’s a push and pull with this blurry relationship, which Biddy acknowledges.
“I spent so long with these machines, and they saved me, but they also made me quite sick,” Biddy says. “It’s really weird… I’m still not sure exactly what our relationship is.”
View this post on Instagram
The performance will take her out of her comfort zone too – normally a violist across her musical endeavours, the string instrument will be absent. Song to the Cell will also be her first solo performance in years.
Still, it “didn’t feel right” to use strings, so she settled on her voice despite being affected by her treatment.
“My voice has changed a lot because I’m older, and what’s happened to my body from the treatment,” Biddy explains. “It’s quite confronting sometimes to feel those changes, but I do have this sense of feeling much more relaxed about my voice than I ever did in the past because I’m like, ‘You know, it is what it is.’”
Biddy will also perform alongside composers Aviva Endean and Alexandra Spence on the night, whose “amazing” performances have “some relation” but are “quite different,” and it’s a “real gift” to be part of the Now or Never program.
Audiences can expect an immersive experience that transcends sound, showcasing how a stressful life event can be a catalyst for something good. Biddy’s story is a triumph – she’s soon finishing her treatment and is now able to explore that transhuman connection through her captivating performance.
“It’s not just about my personal story. It stems from and is created around that, but I hope that it’s something people might either identify with a similar situation or some other kind of hospital experience.”
Biddy Connor will perform as part of Now or Never on August 22 and 23. Find tickets and more information here.
