Early in 2020, the music community was forced to close its doors, not only to the outside world, but to each other. In response to these limitations, innovation and cooperation blossomed.

Melbourne’s Music in Exile label, a not-for-profit aimed at profiling musicians from refugee and migrant backgrounds, kick started the Building Bridges series, aimed at keeping individuals connected and inspired during lockdown.

One of the resulting works was Nervous Energy, a collaborative effort between Chinese/Australian avant-garde composer Mindy Meng Wang 王萌, and her Melbourne-based contemporary Tim Shiel. Tim and Mindy are finally able to bring live performances of the work to Sydney, for a performance at Phoenix Central Park. An anticipation of this show, they caught up with 2SER Breakfast.