Portioli will perform as Grand River, generating a “deep listening experience” through emotive psychedelia based on electronic and acoustic soundscapes.
“Sounds, their power to generate sensorial experiences and conserve memories inspire me,” Portioli said.
“As a composer, my job is to generate and arrange sounds, harmonies, resonances and rhythms in order to tell a story.
“It is a bit like painters do when they combine different colours and materials in order to create a unified visual code.”
Portioli has been generating waves worldwide, and her appearance in Sydney promises an all-encompassing experience with equal emphasis on acoustic instruments and electronic machines.
Playing alongside her will be Sydney artists Couch (live, Low Flung and Laura Altman), Ailsa Liu (live), Luke Snarl (live) and Matt Costain (DJ).
The event encourages attendees to “bring a pillow, mat, a beanbag, a rug or a camp chair” to really settle into the sound.
Portioli was born in the Netherlands to a Dutch mother and Italian father, and has lived some of her life in Italy.
As a child, her mother introduced her to ‘70s and ‘80s classics, as well as taking her to concerts regularly featuring classical music, and Dutch and Italian pop music.
Portioli studied several instruments and singing as a child, and went on to formally study traditional music composition.
She then spent many years working as a sound engineer and composer for Italian national radio station Radio 24 and for several post-production companies through her sound agency, TapTempo Studio.
Portioli is known for creating film scores and sound design and a determined approach to her life’s work.
“I’m not the type of person who waits for inspiration to come or for the magic to happen,” Portioli said, in an interview with Orb Mag.
“I go to the studio and start to experiment.
“I set a goal every day, and even if I don’t leave the studio with a track or part of it, I feel that I learned or discovered something new.”
Having debuted as Grand River on Donato Dozzy and Neel’s label Spazio Disponibile last year, she recently resurfaced with her debut album, Pineapple, which incorporates “ideas from her work in scoring films” with her “love of electronic music and sound design”.
In 2016, Portioli created the label One Instrument, through which she releases sound experiments from different artists, composed using only one instrument.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit Emu Cakes’ event page.
