Exploding Rainbow Orchestra

The Exploding Rainbow Orchestra is a large Auckland-based ensemble led by conductor Joshua Worthington-Church, numbering upwards of thirty players. Described as a maximalist, psychedelic and polyphonic collective, its music fuses jazz with psychedelia into an expansive orchestral sound. The group is best known for its ongoing Songbook series, in which dozens of songwriters each contribute a brand-new song to be freshly arranged and performed alongside the ensemble. Now several volumes deep, these multi-night events have become ambitious showcases of New Zealand's collaborative music scene, staged at Tamaki Makaurau venues such as Hopetoun Alpha. Live, the orchestra is defined by its scale and its restlessly inventive, genre-blurring performances.