This 8-Hour Dark Mofo Concert Is Performed While You Sleep

If you’ve ever watched HBO’s stunning The Leftovers then you may already be aware of the profound brilliance that is Max Richter’s music. The German-British composer and pianist has long been a pioneer in the postminimalist style of contemporary ambient music and his exquisite works have soundtracked movies like Ad Astra and Mary Queen of Scots in recent years.

To some, the neo-classical composter represents a counterpoint to the maximalism and bombastic sound design often credited to Hans Zimmer. For others, he is a relatively unknown musician tinkering away on his piano, rarely heard outside of niche circles who rave about pieces like ‘On The Nature of Daylight’ and ‘The Departure’ as if they on par with the great masterpieces of Ludwig van Beethoven and Erik Satie.

Dark Mofo 2023 will see the return of Max Richter as one of the big-ticket acts on an incredible lineup, with the composer set to perform two separate and highly conceptual shows across the eccentric festival’s two weekends in June. The first, a complete reinterpretation of Vivaldi’s seminal Four Seasons, transforming the lauded violin concertos through a unique, contemporary lens.

And while that’s enough to lure a more sophisticated crowd to Dark Mofo, it’s the second one that should be the most fascinating. The performance, set for Wednesday, June 14, is an expression of Richter’s long-running SLEEP concept. A $250, eight-and-a-half hour concert at the industrial MAC2 where Max Richter performans with the American Contemporary Music Ensemble while the audience sleeps.

Famously described as a “personal lullaby for a frenetic world,” Richter’s SLEEP is based on neuroscience and aims for the crossroads of music and consciousness. Dark Mofo will provide the beds and all ticketholders are encouraged to BYO pyjamas.

The unique concert has been running since 2015, based off an album of the same name constructed by Richter after consultation with famed American neuroscientist David Eagleman. After learning how the brain functions while we sleep, Richter produced the album which eventually led to a string of performances and a 2019 documentary helmed by Natalie Johns.

Richter has performed SLEEP in its entirety in Australia before, taking over a space of the Sydney Opera House which was filled with beds for hundreds of guests. I would assume the Max Richter concert will be much of the same for Hobart’s winter solstice festival except Dark Mofo has a tendency towards doing things very differently. If I was a betting man, I’d put me money on SLEEP being one of the highlights of this year’s event.

Tickets to all Dark Mofo events go on sale tomorrow, Wednesday, April 4. The festival runs from June 8 to June 22.