Recitals Australia in collaboration with Esmond Choi presents:
The Adventurous Project: Metropolis
7:30pm September 11th 2026
Milledge’s Café – 8A Todd St, Port Adelaide South Australia 5015
Following their recent creative collaboration, Derek Pascoe and Esmond Choi reunite to craft a spontaneous acoustic narrative alongside the iconic imagery of one of cinema’s most visionary works.
About Esmond
Esmond Choi is an Australian pianist/composer who has completed his undergraduate studies and continue his studies with Lucinda Collins. He is currently studying Master of Philosophy on researching Ives’s approach on being a musician. For this project, he travelled to New England Conservatory and had a short intensive study with Stephen Drury. In early 2024, Esmond performed Julia Wolfe’s East Boardway for solo Toy Piano at She Speaks Festival. And with the help of the Recitals Australia fellowship program. Esmond received a 5-star rating from Barefoot Review on two solo fringe recitals focusing on George Crumb’s complete Metamorphoses cycle.
About Derek
Derek Pascoe is a saxophonist, composer and leading proponent of
contemporary Australian improvised music. Over a diverse career
spanning 50 years in music, Derek has forged a reputation as a unique
and profound artist of genuine note; a relentless musical collaborator
and staunch experimentalist whose ongoing work exemplifies a deep
commitment to personal melodic expression through improvisation.
Derek’s singular musical voice has been honed through an
unconventional career as an artist both in the UK and Australia. At the
age of 17 he was a member of pop group Flintlock, who produced 5
albums and were featured weekly on UK national television including
Top of the Pops and Tomorrow’s People. Derek has since committed himself to improvised music, forging a reputation for rigorous experimentalism and a commitment to free improvisation.
In 1998 Derek moved to Australia from London to complete a Master of
Music at the Elder Conservatorium in Adelaide exploring performance
and spontaneous improvisation techniques. Since 2000, he has lectured
in Jazz Theory and Improvisation across the Jazz, Classical and
Contemporary disciplines at the Elder Conservatorium and collaborating
extensively with artists including Chris Martin, Gabriella Smart, Stephen
Wittington and Ross McHenry as well organisations and groups
including Zephyr Quartet, Soundstream New Music, and Nexus Arts.
Derek’s mastery of the tenor saxophone, combined with his unwavering
commitment to storytelling through sound, ensures that his legacy as a
captivating performer and melodic storyteller that resonates with both
artists and audiences.
