About
An Unfinished Forward Dream is an electronic symphonic tone poem for analog synthesisers, composed for a minimum of eight speakers and unfolding across five interconnected movements. Developed in part during a residency at MONOM (DE) and further shaped through a commission from Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio (AU), the work brings together international immersive-audio practice and Rees-Lee’s long-standing engagement with spatial composition in Naarm/Melbourne. Through movement, density, resonance, and rupture, it conjures and dissolves entire sonic worlds, reflecting on reality as something unfinished, unstable, and in a constant state of becoming.
Drawing on Rees-Lee’s classical background as a cellist alongside deep listening across electronic and electroacoustic music histories, the work moves between orchestral form and synthesis-driven experimentation. It invites audiences into a large-scale shared listening experience that is sensorial and reflective: a space in which sound gestures towards futures not yet fully formed, and where hope can be felt as atmosphere, tension, and possibility.
For festivals and presenters, the work offers a distinctive immersive programme addition that speaks to growing interest in spatial audio while delivering strong compositional craft, emotional depth, and a compelling contemporary vision of electronic performance. It is a flexible proposition that is equally at home in the concert hall, gallery, club or non traditional spaces.
