Events Calendar

September and October 2025, we are hosting the following open mic / Jam sessions:

• 21st September Sunday 3pm to 5pm

• 5th October Sunday 3pm to 5pm

• 11th October Saturday 7pm to 9pm

Come join us for the fun. If you haven’t performed with us before and would like to, use our sign up page to introduce yourself. Performance Sign Up — Cloakey's

Music Weekend

Cloakey’s is proud to host UQ and indi music group Topology for a weekend of concerts, discussions, and workshops.

As part of the weekend, mathematician Artem Pulemotov and musicologist Denis Collins with live music from Topology, will be delivering their captivating lecture “Symmetry”.  symmetry is a concept that bridges the worlds of science and the creative arts. Discover how symmetry has shaped artistic expression throughout history and how it continues to influence modern scientific thought, from the natural world to the intricate patterns of plant life. The presentation will be brought to life with live musical performances by acclaimed ensemble Topology, culminating in the premiere of a newly commissioned piece inspired by the scientific beauty of symmetry by UQ Alumnus, composer and performer Nicole Murphy. This project is proudly supported by the Queensland Government's Engaging Science Grants.

Subject to change, below is our exciting program of events.

11th October Saturday

10:00am – 10:45am The Sound of Symmetry – friendly intro to the maths behind it all

11:30am – 12:30pm The Sound of Symmetry – the lecture revealing how maths can be shown in music and demonstrated with exciting live music

12:30pm – 2:30pm Lunch: join our UQ and Topology guests for lunch and a chat

2:30pm – 3:30pm Concert: Topology

4:00pm – 5:15pm Workshop: How to be a Better Performer by Topology

7:00pm – 9:00pm Concert: Jam Session

12th October Sunday

9:30am – 10:45am Workshop Part A: Preparing Collaborative compositions for today’s performance with Topology and local musicians

11:00am – 12:30pm Workshop Part B: continuing Collaborative Preparations for today’s concert

1:00pm – 2:00pm Concert: Collaboration Topology and local musicians

2:00pm – 3:00pm Lunch: join our UQ and Topology guests for lunch and a chat

3:30pm – 5:00pm Panel Discussion - Open Topics

About our Guests:

Denis Collins holds BMus and BA degrees from University College Dublin. He was a Fulbright Scholar at Stanford University where he was awarded MA and PhD degrees in musicology. His research is on counterpoint and canon in music from the late Middle Ages to the time of J.S. Bach, and his publications have appeared in many international books and journals. Denis’s research has been supported by major national competitive grants from the Australian Research Council. An enthusiastic and committed lecturer, Denis coordinates and teaches courses in musicianship, counterpoint, and music history at UQ. He also supervises Honours and postgraduate students on a wide variety of topics. Denis is the editor of the journal Musicology Australia, and he is an Associate Professor and the Deputy Head of School at the UQ School of Music.

Artem Pulemotov holds a Bachelor of Mathematics with distinction from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, where he was supervised by Yuri Berezansky. He completed his PhD in Mathematics at Cornell University under the guidance of Leonard Gross. His research interests lie in geometric analysis, a field he has explored extensively since completing his PhD. Before joining The University of Queensland in 2012, Artem served as an L.E. Dickson Instructor at the University of Chicago. At UQ, he progressed from Lecturer to Senior Lecturer, and in 2021, he was promoted to Associate Professor in the School of Mathematics and Physics. Artem has held visiting positions at institutions such as The University of Pennsylvania and Cornell University, and has received over $1 million in Australian Research Council Discovery Project Grants for his research in geometric analysis.

Robert Davidson is a prolific composer, bassist, lecturer and founder and artistic director of Topology, the ensemble-in-residence at the Brisbane Powerhouse and a Key Organisation funded by the Australia Council. Robert’s compositions are regularly performed, recorded and broadcast around the world. All of Australia’s professional orchestras and many leading soloists and ensembles have commissioned and performed his works. He has received many commissions for major works from festivals and venues including the Barbican Centre, Lincoln Center, Qld Music Festival, Brisbane Festival, Sydney Festival, Olympics Arts Festival, Canberra International Music Festival and many others. With Topology he has released twelve albums and a DVD. He has collaborated widely, with artists including Geoffrey Rush, The Brodsky Quartet, The Kransky Sisters, Gerry Connolly, Kate Miller-Heidke, Katie Noonan, Ed Kuepper, the Southern Cross Soloists, Trichotomy and The Australian Voices.

Christa Powell is a highly respected performance musician, collaborative artist and music educator. Christa is as comfortable lending her talents to an orchestra as she is in character wardrobe, playing on stage with Led Zeppelin or playing solo violin as an integral part of the choreography in Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre. Christa Powell is a uniquely talented woman whose technical skill and innate musicality is a major source of inspiration to those she teaches. Christa is a founding member and director of Topology, one of Australia’s leading creative arts organisations. As well as creating the award winning program Top Up, Christa has managed the day to day business of Topology over the past two decades, molding, shaping and refining the organisation into the respected arts organisation it is today. After completing B Mus Hons, Christa spent several years in London with Emmanuel Herwitz of the Melos Ensemble and playing with the Olyver Gypsy Ensemble. Returning to Brisbane, Christa obtained her Masters of Music in performance research in 1996 before co-founding Topology in 1997. Outside of Topology, Christa performs a wide range of chamber music, her long held passion. She plays with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, guests for visiting international acts and teaches violin privately and at various educational institutions.

John Babbage, a founding member of Topology, is a renowned saxophonist and composer. He graduated from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music with a Diploma in Jazz in 1987 and has been performing and teaching for over 30 years. John has toured Australia, Europe, the US, Canada, India, Singapore and Indonesia, releasing 16 albums. His compositions have been performed worldwide, with commissions for works like R&J (Expressions Dance Company), Argus (Dead Puppet Society) and Ocean’s Skin (Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre, USA). John has collaborated with artists such as Terry Riley, Kate Miller-Heidke and The Brodsky Quartet. He is a key figure in Topology’s Top Up education program, delivering improvisation and composition workshops in regional communities across Australia.

Topology

Established in 1997, Brisbane-based Topology are established leaders in musical creativity in Australia, prolific creators of new original work, expert collaborators across genres and art forms and award-winning music educators. With a well-established reputation for their signature work, the quintet experiments with surprising combinations of genres, theatrical staging and cross art form collaboration to create thought provoking music experiences for audiences of all ages, backgrounds and tastes. Resident Artist at Brisbane Powerhouse for 18 years, Topology has an extensive discography, produced countless evening-length works, presented an award winning concert series, and toured extensively nationally and internationally.

The founding members of Topology are John Babbage (composer, saxophone), Robert Davidson (composer, bass), Bernard Hoey (composer, viola), Christa Powell (violin) and Kylie Davidson (piano, ’97-’11), with Therese Milanovic (piano) formally joining the ensemble in 2009.

Topology are famous for the breadth and depth of their collaborations. Undaunted by stylistic barriers, the quintet has created stunning new work with partners in theatre (Geoffrey Rush, Neil Armfield, Queensland Theatre Company), classical music (the Brodsky Quartet, the Southern Cross Soloists), contemporary art music (Terry Riley, Speak Percussion), dance (Expressions Dance Company, Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre, Jody Oberfelder), puppetry (Dead Puppet Society), contemporary jazz (Trichotomy, Loops), popular songwriting (Kate Miller-Heidke, Katie Noonan), comedy (the Kransky Sisters, Gerry Connolly), Asian music (Dheeraj Shrestha, Ubiet) and indigenous Australian music (William Barton).

Topology have an energetic education program called the Topology Creative Academy (previously known as Top Up), which works closely with schools and emerging composers to create and perform new music. The program reaches thousands of participants around regional Australia every year.

Festivals and venues featuring Topology include the Ghent Festival of Flanders, Olympics Arts Festival, ISCM World Music Days, Salihara Festival (Jakarta), Singapore Arts Festival, Castlemaine Festival, Brisbane Festival, Darling Harbour Jazz Festival, Sydney Spring Festival, Queensland Music Festival, Brisbane International Film Festival, Adelaide Festival, Darwin Festival, Midsumma Festival, Lincoln Center (New York), Extended Play (Sydney) and Flowstate (South Bank, Brisbane).

Ingham Toyota Forest Rally

We are proud to host the annual Ingham Toyota Forest Rally. The race starts and finishes at Cloakey’s and kicks into the evening with our rocking After Party.

Get a taste of the excitement of 2025, watch our great video.

2026 Rally Date to be advised