One century ago, on the twelfth hour of the twelfth month of 1901, Guglielmo Marconi received the first transatlantic wireless signal. The letter “S” in Morse Code (dit dit dit) was transmitted from Poldhu in Cornwall to Signal Hill in St Johns, Newfoundland, a distance of nearly 3000km (1800 miles). So began the age of radio and wireless communication, conveniently in the first year of a new century. Topology and Loops celebrate both the medium and the century, looking back over a number of key events and people by means of recordings of broadcasts of voices. These broadcasts have been used to make ‘voice portraits’ – finding the characteristic musical qualities of each speaker and then emphasising and underscoring them with instrumental accompaniment. The result is part opera, part documentary and part entertainment. Fascinated by the way recorded sound has the power to take us to the actual people and events, Topology and Loops have created a form of time travel. Topology is now established as a leading ensemble in contemporary art music, acclaimed internationally by leading figures in the field (including Michael Nyman, Steve Reich, Ross Edwards, John Adams, Terry Riley and many others). The quintet’s energetic, full-blooded sound belies their compact instrumentation. Since forming in 1997, Topology has built a solid audience, and regularly performs to full houses around Australia. In 2003, they completed their first international tour, with successful concerts in Canada and creative work with composers Terry Riley and Paul Dresher. Nothing if not flexible, Topology is often found in the theatre, in art galleries, clubs, accompanying silent film, even supporting pop groups such as Savage Garden in 10000-seat arenas. But their typical home is in the concert hall; in addition to their annual concert series, they are frequently featured in festivals, most recently producing for the Brisbane Festival a major work on the subject of Australia’s Stolen Generations, Taken, in collaboration with Lafe Charlton, Roxanne McDonald and the Southern Cross Soloists. The group has given a wide range of performances, from experimental Fluxus music at the Queensland Art Gallery to the Sydney Olympic Arts Festival, playing nightly The Marriage of Figaro, directed by Neil Armfield and starring Geoffrey Rush. In between shows, they performed the opening concert for the Sydney Spring Festival (where they received Best Ensemble Award in 1999), and were resident ensemble at the University of Western Sydney.