David Chesworth performs 50 Synthesizer Greats, his 1979 album of ‘delicately patterned, compact and complex compositions’ originally composed in his parents’ lounge room, using a monophonic Mini Korg 700 synth and a domestic tape recorder, and released by David himself. 50 Synthesizer Greats is actually 37 minimal synth investigations, full of inquisitive humour and experimental spirit.

Rarely performed live and highly regarded: ‘50 Synthesizer Greats stands up as one of the essential electronic records of Australia’s recorded music history. It’s simple, naïve at times, but more so just a mindful example of the kind of playful audio discoveries that emerging technologies allow for.’ – Lawrence English

Whether ‘complex’ or indeed ‘naïve’ on the ear, in this new performance, a now older David re-visits the younger David’s original tunes that have inevitably become filtered through contemporary technologies and new ways of listening.

Chesworth also co-founded the influential Australian experimental post punk/art group Essendon Airport (“essential illogic and quirked delight from one of the lost treasures of the postpunk era” - Simon Reynolds) as well as the independent label Innocent Records that released many of his early solo records (Industry & Leisure, Layer on Layer) that have become underground classics – many now reissued on Chapter Music.

In the 90s through to 2012, he led the 8-piece, post-classical David Chesworth Ensemble that performed extensively in Australia and toured to Europe and the USA. More recently David has created a series of video works and sound installations with Sonia Leber that have exhibited widely, including the Venice and Sydney Biennales.