Sounding Together ‘26: Talinup
Sounding Together is a 5-day workshop & retreat for improvising musicians and company. Anyone interested in experimental music, listening, ecological arts, and improvising is welcome.
Sounding Together is an 'improvised workshop'. It has no fixed schedule and no expected outcomes. It is non-hierarchical and directed by its participants. Some of the things that tend to happen:
playing a lot (solo, in small groups, as a big group, in ad-hoc concerts)
making and executing plans
sharing skills
cooking and eating together
discussing, talking, making friends
going for walks, swimming in the inlet, exploring, dancing, meditating, resting, etc.
All this is of equal importance and happens at the pace of the group. The schedule-less format helps encourage initiative and lets people follow their curiosity.
This edition's facilitators are:
our invited guest D?G?
Saskia Willinge (WWIM).
Annika Moses and Josten Myburgh (Tone List).
The local facilitators help to make the space comfortable - we've done this a lot now and know what it needs (and how to cook for a large group!). Our invited visitor brings fresh experience and input and a bit of capacity to 'shake it up' if needed.
The worskhop happens on the Country of the Wadandi Noongar people in Talinup/Augusta (this is about 4 hours drive from Boorloo). The venue is a big family holiday home, right on the inlet (a few big steps out the front door and you’ll be in the water). Many interesting sites are nearby; we often drive to visit these too.
Application process
Sounding Together will run from November 25 to 29, 2026.
Applications for Sounding Together 2026 close on August 16, 2026. Application is by EOI. Places are limited. The opportunity to participate is entirely at the discretion of the panel, and based on the assessment criteria below.
Does the applicant demonstrate a strong interest in improvisation and experimental music - either as a current practitioner, or someone open to embracing these practices?
Is the applicant well-placed to benefit from Sounding Together: is the applicant developing something new in their practice? Are they an emerging artist for whom this opportunity would be formative?
How is the group/cohort balanced? Do we have a balance of different instruments, perspectives, skill-sets, experience levels? Do we have a good mix of local and visiting artists? Is the cohort gender balanced?
Applicants who are more flexible in terms of their accommodation needs may be more likely to be included, for entirely practical reasons.
Given increasing demand for this workshop over the years, applicants who have not attended a past Sounding Together may be preferenced.
Applications are assessed by Dale Gorfinkel & Aviva Endean, with Tone List present at the assessment to provide context. It is very important that local artists apply as if their application will be read by a stranger.
Please note that whilst the application form asks about driving, dietary needs and accessibility, none of these are used in the assessment process (this just streamlines the process of getting the information we need and planning ahead). In particular, we actually pride ourselves on making very good food that everyone can eat. The more challenging your dietary needs, the more fun it is 😈.
Cost
Participation costs $600. This covers the costs for Mentor’s participation and facilitation, plus accommodation, fuel, food, use of equipment, and some basic staffing costs.
To reserve your spot, we will need 50% of the cost upfront after your application is approved. The remainder is due before November 23, 2026. This amount is non-refundable except on compassionate grounds in extraordinary circumstances.
We recognise the various financial pressures at this time. Sounding Together ‘26 is unfunded this year and co-contributing in this way is how this event is able to happen. If cost is truly a prohibitor, please apply anyway, note this, and if we can help, we will.
To help reduce costs, visiting artists are welcome to billeted, private room accommodation either side of the workshop at the private residences of the workshop co-directors.
What’s provided and what to bring
Tone List provides:
A place to sleep
Places to make music
Cooking and bathroom facilities (shared).
Facilitation of ground transport, and fuel costs.
Loads of fresh ingredients and snacks, accommodating to your diet (the food at Sounding Together is notoriously good. “It should be called ‘eating together’” -mentor Jim Denley, January 2025.).
Insect spray, sunscreen, hand sanitiser, first aid including snake bandages.
High-end, weatherproof audio documentation equipment, including specialised microphones (unidirectional microphones, hydrophones, induction coil microphones, etc.).
A PA system (two QSC K10.2s and a small mixer).
You should bring:
Your instrument(s).
Any amplification technology your instrument needs, including cables.
An additional portable &/or battery-powered instrument option is recommended for those whose main instrument is stationary/large/electronic.
Any personal documentation equipment you would like to use (Zoom, camera, etc.), plus weatherproofing, chargers and spare batteries.
Bedding and towels.
Clothing, including: sunhat, good hiking shoes, clothes for cold and very hot weather alike, raincoat, bathers (essential).
Water bottle.
Personal snacks, comfort foods etc. (please note there will be plenty of food provided).
Alcoholic drinks if you want them (please note that while having a drink is fine, Sounding Together tends to be a minimal-alcohol setting).
Fun things (scores, ideas, games, snorkels, metal detectors, magnifying glasses, magickal objects, etc.).
Interstate artists can get in touch for assistance with any of the above. Local artists hoping to borrow equipment from Tone List may incur a hire cost.
Accommodation & meals
Accommodation at Sounding Together is in shared rooms. Very limited private rooms are available; if you would like to be prioritised for a more private space, please indicate the reason for your preference in as much detail as you are comfortable. No promises but we’ll do our best.
All food will be vegetarian with vegan, gf etc. options as necessary based on needs of the cohort. Main meals are eaten together. Cooking responsibilities emerge spontaneously like most things in the workshop; enthusiastic-but-sensitive commandeering is welcome.
The vibe is rugged, DIY, friendly, gentle, silly and thrown-together. It’s comfortable, but “camping adjacent” and without much privacy in the house itself. Being a good sport about this is a way into the magic of the workshop.
Participation is limited based on the number of beds. If you would like to bring a swag or tent and sort yourself out, we may be able to offer you a reduced participation rate (not guaranteed).
About our mentor
Born in the Illawarra, south of Sydney in 1957, Jim Denley has been active in experimental and improvised sound since the 1970s. Perhaps best known as an improviser on saxophone and flute, and for remarkable recordings made “as weather” outdoors throughout this continent, he also makes radio works, including the Prix Italia-winning Collaborations in 1989, and directs the SplitRec label, releasing music from Sydney's rich and idiosyncratic scene.
Jim has been a member of pivotal Australian improvising groups The Relative Band and Machine for Making Sense, as well as Mural, Bad Photography, 180º and the Splinter Orchestra. He was a member of Derek Bailey’s Company for a week of concerts in 1990.
Jim has held a de facto role as a voice of encouragement and inspiration for musicians on this landmass, including here on the west coast of the continent. Many of Tone List’s roster have learnt invaluable lessons from working with Jim. We're incredibly excited to have him as a mentor for this project again.
Accessibility & safety
The house is accessible via stairs and does not have any dedicated accessible bathroom facilities.
As noted above, the house will no doubt feel busy, vibrant and stimulating. We can discuss provisions such as quiet spaces based on the need of the participants. In general, we would encourage treating bedrooms as quiet/low stim/check-out areas during the day.
The social culture of Sounding Together in the past has always been gentle and consent-based and we intend to keep it this way. Opting out of activities or socialising is fine. Alcohol tends to be a very minimal part of proceedings, if at all.
We are committed to making Sounding Together safe, from the perspective of interpersonal safety as well as safety in the environment. We encourage you to take the initiative to look after yourself too, by bringing appropriate gear, keeping your wits about you, and being aware of dangers associated with the south-west of WA.
Tone List will bring a first aid kit, insect spray, sunscreen and ear plugs. Someone with first aid training will be part of the team.
We will follow Emergency WA advice in the event of force majeure (bushfire, etc.).
You will be asked to agree with a code-of-conduct on the EOI form.
Feel free to get in touch with questions.
Testimonials
“I participated in Sounding Together 2025 and it was one of (if not the most) stimulating musical experiences I’ve ever had. It has changed my life and I feel emboldened to find my own path in music; a way that is natural to me and prioritises what I truly believe in. It was a completely unique experience where everything comes together to make it what it is. The people are free; making music unselfconsciously and generously, Augusta is a beautiful place, being with the wildlife there has enriched me in every way and the food was crazily good (this seemed musically important somehow).
Hearing the multitude of fascinating sounds that people made and seeing the freedom of movement accompanying them has healed something in me and taught me that I am allowed to be as I am too. Listening to the conversations around music and politics and culture etc, I feel like I finally found people who use music in a way that makes sense to me. Why should music be a beautiful and harmless thing, divorced from what’s going on when it’s actually one of the most potent ways to move people and get across ideas? There are very specific takeaways too: for example, prior to the workshop, I thought electronic music was none of my business as a violinist, but now I will be finding pedals to expand my sound palette and think this will be just the beginning of a whole new journey.” Sola Hughes (2025.2 participant)
“Sounding Together is unlike anything In Boorloos. It provides a unique opportunity to sink into artistic practice with one's peers. As well as an opportunity to skill share, be challenged and inspired. It also provides an experience that might be unique in Australia (?) of living together as artists and peers, but lifting meal preparation and living one's day-to-day life as artistic practice. This feels quite subtle. But also incredibly important. Sounding Together invites us to live our best lives as artist 24/7 - but in a sustainable, ethically-engaged and sociable way. While also being mindful of, accepting of, in fact embracing of, the diversity of our experiences of living in the world. We are invited explicitly and repeatedly to reflect on what nurtures us as artists and as individuals. And to ask that of each other. And to provide that for each other.” Sage J Harlow (2025 and 2025.2 participant)
“Sounding Together is just so so special; this experience is a gift that keeps giving through new connections, relationships, performing partnerships and practice/skill sharing. I have explored, tested, trialled, risked and opened conversations that have and will continue to add to my process and curiosity in time. I am leaving reminded that being an artist and thinking like an artist is necessary for a more just, inclusive and communicative world. I also feel inspired that living this way is generative towards something bigger than just being and creating artistic work.” Lara Dorling (2025 and 2025.2 participant)
The opportunity to connect with other musicians and spend time in Koorda, listening and responding to the environment was one that rarely presents itself as a professional musician. It gave me the chance to reflect on my own practice, learn from those around me, and make new music with a group of diverse and experienced creatives. More valuable still was the lack of predetermined outcomes and the trust that we could choose the way in we used our time. With this mentality we were truly free to take in the landscape, people and the place. Leah Blankendaal (2018 participant)
Acknowledgments
Tone List acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which we work: the Whadjuk Noongar people. We also acknowledge the Wardandi Noongar people as the custodians of the area on which Talinup/Augusta stands. We wish to pay our respects to them, and to elders of both nations past, present and emerging, and acknowledge their ongoing contribution to culture and life in the region. We acknowledge tens of thousands of years of ancestral law, & that sovereignty over the place now known as Australia was never ceded.
