Of Deities and Demons is the thrilling preview event of the Sydney Improvised Music Association's Jazz Now:Summer series.

In a rapturous celebration of ancient Sri Lankan culture, dive into an ecstatic journey of music and ritualistic dance with Baliphonics and the Australian Art Orchestra. In a spectacle of music, light and dance this performance – led by Susantha Rupathilaka and Prasanna Rupathilka  and featuring drummer Sumudi Suraweera – will draw upon an astrological healing practice known as Bali Ritual, in which deities are invoked and demons exorcised.

This intense and visceral experience will bring together the powerful art-form of Sri Lankan ritual music with one of Australia's leading contemporary jazz ensembles, the Australian Art Orchestra (AAO). Under the leadership of daring composer, trumpeter, and sound artist Peter Knight, AAO constantly seeks to stretch genres and break down the barriers separating disciplines, forms and cultures. It explores the interstices between the avant-garde and the traditional, between art and popular music, between electronic and acoustic approaches, and creates music that traverse the continuum between improvised and notated forms. We are delighted to present the Art Orchestra for the first time at SIMA. 

Sumudi Suraweera (composer, drummer and music producer) Susantha Rupathilaka (dance, voice) Prasanna Rupathilaka (dance, yak bera, voice) Reuben Derrick (clarinets) Peter Knight (trumpet) Reuben Lewis (trumpet) Mary Rapp  (cello), Carl Dewhurst (guitar)