Perhaps even curiouser than a musically accompanied examination of sex-changing dragons, which was the theme of last August's concert, the Griffyn Ensemble's only 2017 live presentation, in the form of a mini festival, will take you even further in imagination. It will follow Alice down a rabbit hole, detouring through a Zombie jamboree on the way to rainbow's end, explore how insects breathe, attempt a seance with Marilyn Monroe and question whether we actually know if we are awake or asleep.

Canberra's own Griffyn Ensemble always provokes its audience to experience the new and the unusual and this time they have collaborated with local artists Jacqui Malins and Diane Firth to explore original ways of sounding out artwork. The ensemble will feature the usual line-up of violin, flute, harp, singer, mandolin, double bass and electronics.

"The concerts have been carefully curated to match the artists' work," Michael Sollis says, "and each is presented in a venue that has a really good acoustic."

For the first concert, Curiouser and curiouser, at 6.30pm on Wednesday, August 30, at Belconnen Arts Centre, there's the added attraction of Griffyn's collaboration with Tobias Cole & Friends and the ANU Chamber Singers.

"Toby has put together a collection of mostly Australian music by Martin Wesley Smith, Andrew Ford and myself," Sollis says. "There's an inside-out garden party, botanical songs and twisted nursery rhymes."

A free concert at 6pm on Thursday, August 31, at Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Manuka, showcases Jacqui Malin's sculpture and photography in Reverse Archaeology. Malin's spoken words are backed by sounds of excavation, pick axe with flute echoing her voice. Archaeological music from the ensemble suggests how layers of experience accrue over time.

On Friday, September 1, Griffyn moves to Gorman Arts Centre for a concert at 7pm titled A Night in Hyperreality.

And just what is hyperreality? "Perhaps you should think of Umberto Eco; of taking an idea and extending it as far as you can," Sollis says. Wikipedia comes to the rescue with, "an inability of consciousness to distinguish reality from a simulation of reality ..."

This concert is in conjunction with Canberra Contemporary Art Space's HYPERactive exhibition. Sollis says: "The concert opens with eerie music from a portable organ, and a crazy alarm clock wakes everyone up. There are massive metronomes and a mad Marilyn Monroe."

On Saturday, September 2, at 12.30pm there's another free concert. This one's at Belconnen Arts Centre and features Susan Ellis as Susan the Singsect leading a singalong for primary school students and their families as they explore how an insect breathes.

Later that day at 5.30pm at Belconnen Arts Centre Gallery, where the huge windows border Lake Ginninderra, the audience can witness the Twilight Arch – the ever-changing colours of sunset over Canberra's Brindabella Ranges with a backdrop of Dianne Firth's textiles reflecting local landscapes. Northern Lights, a piece written by Sollis during a visit to the Arctic, will be the acoustic accompaniment to the visual display.

"My piece is a synthesis of mountains and landscapes," Sollis says.

Finally, at noon on Sunday, September 3, at M16 Artspace, Griffith, there's another free concert. This will include new works inspired by the exhibition Lines of Site at the Artspace. There'll be an interval "composition challenge" and you might hear your own music performed.

During September, Griffyn Ensemble will use the Four Winds pavilion at Bermagui to record two works: former ensemble members Wyana and Matthew O'Keeffe will return to the group to record Southern Sky, the composition by Estonian musician Urmas Sisask; then the current group including bass player Holly Downes and violinist Chris Stone will record Sollis' Northern Lights.

This mini festival will be the only live presentation by the Griffyn Ensemble this year.

"But next year we'll be back to a series of concerts," Sollis says.