ANTONY PARTOS – THE COMPOSER BEHIND SYDNEY’S “STAR-BOUND” DRONE SPECTACLE

Antony Partos, acclaimed Australian composer, scores Vivid Sydney’s “Star-Bound” drone show with a haunting orchestral-electronic soundtrack inspired by mathematics and the Fibonacci sequence. From 22 May, 1,000 drones light up Cockle Bay Wharf nightly, transforming the harbour into a cinematic canvas and showcasing Partos’s signature dark, beautiful and moody sonic worlds.  

Legendary Australian composer Antony Partos is bringing his unmistakable cinematic sound to the skies of Vivid Sydney, scoring the festival’s breathtaking “Star-Bound” drone show. Known for his haunting orchestral-electronic style, Partos transforms Cockle Bay Wharf into a living soundtrack, where 1,000 drones morph into galaxies, waves, spirals and nebulas.  

From 22 May, audiences will witness a free nightly performance (Sunday–Wednesday, 7:30pm and 9:30pm) where music and mathematics converge. Built on the Fibonacci sequence and a pulse of 60 beats per minute, the score fractures into layered cross-rhythms before accelerating into a supernova-like rebirth. For Partos, this is storytelling on a scale rarely attempted: “It is ultimately a very cinematic experience, but with the sky as opposed to a screen as one’s canvas,” he explains.  

The show’s sonic architecture draws inspiration from the harmonic series and the natural rhythms that govern life. As drones rise from the water, the score emerges from the depths, gradually layering tension and release. The mathematics of the Fibonacci sequence – the building blocks of nature – underpin the rhythmic articulations, while the heartbeat tempo grounds the spectacle in human experience.  

Partos’s rise to prominence began with the critically acclaimed Animal Kingdom, which launched a long-standing collaboration with director David Michôd and cemented his reputation for crafting “dark, beautiful and moody” sonic worlds. His creative DNA is steeped in admiration for legendary pairings such as Bernard Herrmann and Alfred Hitchcock, where music and storytelling become inseparable. “I’m a great admirer of composers whose scores are intrinsically linked to films and soundtracks that form part of the universal experience and memory of the film,” he adds.  

His career has since spanned global hits, with scores that have graced the Oscars red carpet and international screens. In 2010, he co-founded Sonar Music, one of Australia’s most influential sound studios, with credits across blockbuster films and television series. Sonar has become a hub for innovation, shaping the soundscape of contemporary cinema and television while amplifying Australia’s creative footprint worldwide.  

For Partos, Vivid Sydney represents a rare opportunity to compose not for a screen, but for an entire harbour. The drones’ choreography, paired with his score, transforms the night sky into a canvas of emotion, mathematics and storytelling. It is a performance that bridges art and science, offering audiences a chance to experience music not just as accompaniment, but as the very pulse of the spectacle.  

As the drones swirl into galaxies and crash into waves above Cockle Bay Wharf, Partos’s score reminds us of the deep beauty found in melancholia, tension and rebirth. His work continues to explore the darker corners of human emotion, now projected across the heavens in a dazzling fusion of sound and light.