12 percussionists, 16 electric and acoustic guitarists, six singers, five pianists, 40 wind players: students from across the University of Melbourne employ everything from gamelan orchestra to six-handed piano concert to conjure up the eccentric spirit and maverick genius of Percy Grainger. How could you expect anything less?

Performed by students from the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music (MCM) as well as the National Academy of Music (ANAM), these five concerts in Melba Hall each plumb the depths of Grainger's musical mind but the launching points range from experimentalism to folk to exoticism. From contemporaneous to newly commissioned works, the series is more than mere homage, tracing the influences that shaped Grainger and the effects his legacy has had on successive generations of artists.

Saturday 15 October

2pm Grainger and the Exotic
The MCM percussion ensemble explores Grainger’s music, including Homage to Free music, through gamelan orchestra and percussion.

4pm Grainger the Folk Musician
Soprano Cleo Lee-McGowen, and tenor Michael Diminovski perform a program alongside The Vocal Ensemble, which includes folk tunes composed by Dvorak and Bartok.

Sunday 16 October

12pm Grainger the Pianistic Pioneer
Staff and students from ANAM perform the experimental and imaginary ballet piece, The Warriors, written for 2 pianos and 6 hands.

2pm The Experimental Grainger
The MCM’s guitar ensemble perform Random Round and feature new works by MCM composers Ethan McAlister and Jacob Donohue.

4pm Grainger and the Wind Ensemble
The forces of the MCM Wind Symphony combine to bring you an electric concert of large-ensemble works that are guaranteed to raise the roof.

Saturday 22 October

12pm Grainger the Pianistic Pioneer
Staff and students from ANAM perform the experimental and imaginary ballet piece, The Warriors, written for 2 pianos and 6 hands.

2pm Grainger and the Exotic
The MCM percussion ensemble explores Grainger’s music, including Homage to Free music, through gamelan orchestra and percussion.

4pm Grainger the Folk Musician
Soprano Cleo Lee-McGowen, and tenor Michael Diminovski perform a program alongside The Vocal Ensemble, which includes folk tunes composed by Dvorak and Bartok.

Sunday 23 October

2pm The Experimental Grainger
The MCM’s guitar ensemble perform Random Round and feature new works by MCM composers Ethan McAlister and Jacob Donohue.

4pm Grainger and the Wind Ensemble
The forces of the MCM Wind Symphony combine to bring you an electric concert of large-ensemble works that are guaranteed to raise the roof.

Curated and performed by students at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and Australian National Academy of Music:

Berta Brozgul
Tom D’ath
Michael Diminovski
Jacob Donohue
Alison Fane
Andrew Leathwick
Ethan McAlister
Cleo Lee-McGowan
Adam McMillan
Laura Smith
Alex Waite
Nicholas Young
Joined by ANAM’s Head of Keyboard studies, Timothy Young