Venus Observed

Live at The Church

9 March 2025

Venus Observed is Clayton Thomas (bass) and Phoebe Bognár (flutes). A duo of dynamic energy, sonic playfulness and honed skills, Venus Observed present a context-responsive music, engaging audiences and space with flexibility and improvisational skill. Two globally recognised practitioners of their instruments, it is a rare orbit to find them in Australia at the same time. They play with respect to the land of their meeting, Gadigal land, performing with the knowledge that this has always been a place of invention and sharing and building knowledge through experience.

Clayton Thomas is an innovative double bassist and grass roots organiser with a particular interest in the uniting potentials of improvisation. For over 25 years he has been collaborating with, and learning from, the living masters of free improvisation. His current projects include Sound the Alarm, BELIEVE, Words Fail (with Chris Abrahams and Miles Thomas) and Venus Observed.

Phoebe Bognár is an Australian-born flutist, performer, and composer based in Basel, Switzerland. Known for her creative vibrancy and fluidity, Phoebe embraces a wide spectrum of artistic avenues and entities throughout her numerous projects. She investigates corporeality and the relationship between the self, the instrument, place and each other, applying various flutes, instrument preparations and alterations, voice, objects and her own body.

Phoebe’s current projects include ongoing collaborations with composers Anna Sowa (PL) and Zara Ali (US), as well as her instrumental-performative duo, iipm project (CH) and her improv-duo, Venus Observed (AU). She has performed in various projects with Ensemble Modern, Klangforum Wien and Ensemble Recherche. Since 2024, Phoebe has been a member of the acclaimed Freiburg-based contemporary music group, Ensemble Aventure. She is the recipient of the 2024 Fritz Gerber Prize awarded by the Lucerne Festival and has received scholarships and awards from the Nicati-de Luze Foundation, the Hirschmann Stipendium, the Ian Potter Foundation and the Australia Council for the Arts, among others.

Through art, Phoebe seeks to create new connections and understandings - to each other and to the world we live in. 

This performance will take place at The Church.

The Church is a meticulously restored 19th-century Gothic church in Alexandria, NSW owned by Judith Neilson AM that houses rehearsals and work development for musicians by invitation.

Performance

Performances

Sunday 9 March 2025, 4pm

Location

The Church
9 Mitchell Rd, Alexandria

Tickets

Free, by ballot only

Ballot closes in

Ballot draw date: Wednesday 5 March 2025

Ticketing FAQs

  • All performances at The Church are free.

  • The Church is an intimate performance space and tickets are limited. Due to high demand, tickets will be issued at random to those who have entered each ticket ballot. Each performance has a separate ballot, so if you would like to attend multiple performances, you will need to enter each ballot separately.

    We advise you to listen to the artist you are entering the ballot for, and consider which shows you’d really like to attend. Entering more ballots does not increase your chances of attending.

    Please only enter our ballots with your own details - if we catch you using false details, you won’t have any luck. We reserve the right to cancel any tickets we believe are obtained through false information at any time.

  • If you are successful you will receive an email up to ten days prior to the performance with instructions on how to claim your tickets.

    This offer is only valid for a limited time. Unclaimed tickets may be forfeited. You will have the option of confirming up to two tickets for a performance.

  • No, your tickets will be valid for a specific performance only. If you are unable to attend, please pass the ticket onto a friend or contact us at tickets@phoenixcentralpark.com.au to allow someone else the opportunity to attend.

    You can enter ticket ballots for your chance to attend another performance.