Concert Series

Friday 5 April

Grand Duo

Anna Goldsworthy & 
Konstantin Shamray  piano

Schubert  Sonata in C major for piano four-hands, D 812

Our 2024 concert series commences with the sublime pairing of Anna Goldsworthy, Director of the Elder Conservatorium of Music, and Konstantin Shamray,  much-loved alumnus and adjunct senior lecturer. In 1824 twenty-seven-year-old Schubert was present at the awe-inspiring premiere of Beethoven’s Ninth symphony in Vienna before returning to Zseliz that summer to work again for the Esterházy family as their music teacher. Whilst there he wrote this extended four movement work, his largest in the genre, in which Robert Schumann immediately sensed the powerful influence of Beethoven, labelling it a “piano version” of a symphony. 

Bookings

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Friday 12 April

Images

Michael Ierace  piano

Respighi  Valse Caressante and Notturno from 6 Pieces for Piano
Grieg  Ballade Op. 24
Debussy  Images, Book 1

Neoclassical Respighi drew inspiration from Chopin for his salon-esque waltz (originally for violin and piano) and his most famous piano work, Notturno, has been described as having a “Rachmaninovian” feel.  Grieg’s nine variations on a Norwegian folk theme (plus a coda) embrace a gamut of emotions, whilst Debussy, steeped in impressionism and symbolism and “almost as fond of pictures as of music”, produced dramatic contrasting works with evocative titles in his 1905 Images Book 1. Featuring alumnus and staff pianist Michael Ierace.

Bookings

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Friday 19 April

Sliding Around

Jasmine Hall  trombone
Ruby Mensforth  trombone
Alex Taylor  trombone

Thomas Voss  trombone
Mark Ferguson  piano
Lyndon Gray  bass

Elder Conservatorium staff and alumni come together for a program celebrating all things jazz trombone!

Bookings

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Friday 26 April

Rhythm Song

Emma Horwood  pedal/Celtic harps & voice
Steven Peterka  percussion

Hildegard of Bingen  O Viridissima Virga
Anon.  Yo me soy la morenica
Juan García de Zéspedes  Convidando está la noche
Alan Stivell  Ys
Joy Ju Hoffman  Autumn (for double harp) 
Lori Pappajohn  Girl in the Red Skirt
Carlos Salzedo  Song in the Night

Join acclaimed alumna, harpist and soprano Emma Horwood and Adelaide Symphony Orchestra principal percussionist Steve Peterka as they create a unique soundscape with pedal and Celtic harps, voice and percussion (including bells, chimes, cymbals, crotales, castanets, ocean drum, rain stick and cajón). From medieval chant to Spanish Renaissance villancicos, traditional Scottish port à beul, and contemporary works by Carl Crossin, Melisande Wright and Emma Horwood.

Bookings

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Friday 3 May

A Majestic Affair

Michael Ierace  piano
Kate Suthers  violin
Stephen King  viola
Thomas Marlin  cello

Brahms  Piano Quartet No. 2 in A major, Op. 26

Brahms drew clear inspiration from Schubert in this four-movement work which is particularly famous for being one of the longest piano quartets ever written. Rather more poised and lyrical than the more commonly played first quartet, it is laid out on a grand symphonic scale with seemingly effortless lyricism. The passionate and yearning slow movement, written when the composer was only twenty eight, anticipated his sweeping second piano concerto by some twenty years. Featuring staff members Michael Ierace, Stephen King and Thomas Marlin, with ASO concertmaster Kate Suthers.

Bookings

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Friday 10 May

Mentorship Series

Helen Ayres  violin
Stephen King  viola

with Elder Conservatorium students

Dynamic staff members Helen Ayres and Stephen King mentor a select group of classical performance students through a series of tutorials and rehearsals, culminating in today’s much-anticipated lunchtime concert. The opportunity to perform side-by-side with professional musicians launches these stars-in-the-making to new heights.

Bookings

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Friday 17 May

Centennials

Elder Conservatorium Wind Orchestra
Lloyd Van’t Hoff  conductor

Karel Husa  Smetana Fanfare
Holst  First Suite in E-flat, Op. 28 No. 1
Natalie Williams  Pendulum
Alexander Arutiunian  Trumpet Concerto

Husa quoted Smetana’s little known symphonic poem, Wallenstein’s Camp, in a fanfare commissioned to celebrate the centennial of the important Bohemian nationalist composer’s death, whilst Holst’s cornerstone of band literature passed its own centennial in 2009. Alumna Natalie Williams depicts the arc of a pendulum and the passing of time in her celebration of the Sydney Conservatorium’s 100th birthday, and this concert concludes with Arutiunian’s single-movement virtuosic Armenian-inspired concerto.

Bookings

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Friday 24 May

Journeys and Stories 1

Elder Conservatorium Chorale
Carl Crossin OAM  conductor
Karl Geiger  piano

Every piece of music is a journey – every song is a story. With music from Ireland, France, Scandinavia, Australia and Central America (to name just a few), Chorale will be your guide as we traverse the physical, cultural and emotional landscapes of our world.

To illustrate just how far you will travel in 50 minutes, the program includes:

Arvo Pärt (Estonia)  The Deer’s Cry
Ben van Tienen (Australia)  White Nights
Sean Dohety (Ireland)  Snow-Dance for the Dead
Traditional (Mexico)  El Cascabel
…and more!

Bookings

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Friday 31 May

She Speaks

Australian String Quartet
with Noriko Tadano  shamisen

Noriko Tadano  Ancient Love Letter
Noriko Tadano  Tsugaru Jonkara Bushi
Caroline Shaw  Nimrod from Three Essays
Fanny Mendelssohn  Romance from String Quartet in E flat major
Noriko Tadano, arr. Emily Tulloch  Staircase to the Moon
Alice Chance  Nose Scrunch Reel
Noriko Tadano, arr. Emily Tulloch  Vertigo

The beloved Australian String Quartet join Noriko Tadano, a master of the shamisen; a three-stringed long-necked Japanese instrument derived from the Chinese sanxian, played with a plectrum called a bachi and a traditional instrument of the geisha. Chance described her Celtic inspired quartet written for the ASQ as “slightly psychedelic”. Shaw’s biblically inspired work addresses the power of language (whose loss led to the fall of the tower of Babel), whilst Mendelssohn here constructed a highly original harmonic world of German Romanticism. 

Bookings

 

This concert is a continuation of the Australian String Quartet’s on-going collaboration with Nexus Arts

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Friday 7 June

Australian Jazz

Honours Ensemble
Lyndon Gray  director

The Honours ensemble play from the Australian Jazz Real Book, with works by noted Australian jazz writers including alumni Jo Lawry, Michelle Nicole, Matthew Sheens and Lauren Henderson, alongside songs by Vince Jones and other Australian jazz greats.

Bookings

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Friday 14 June

Elder Conservatorium Woodwinds

Lloyd Van’t Hoff  clarinet
Emma Gregan  horn
Joshua Oates  oboe
Jack Schiller  bassoon

with Elder Conservatorium students

Françaix  Trio for Oboe, Bassoon and Piano 
Cawrse  Lullabies and Crooked Dances
Mozart  Serenade in C minor, K.388

Jean Françaix's Trio for Oboe, Bassoon, and Piano is a lively and engaging chamber music piece that showcases the composer's characteristic wit and playful style. Alumna and lecturer Cawrse here offers a study combining elements of both dance and lullabies, whilst Mozart’s unrelentingly serious work (until the C major finale), not often performed, is far from the typical background “serenading” music. Featuring staff members Lloyd Van’t Hoff and Emma Gregan, and alumni Joshua Oates and Jack Schiller, alongside students from the Elder Conservatorium of Music.

Bookings

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Friday 21 June

Elegance to Ecstasy

Sophie Rowell  violin
Kristian Chong  piano

Schubert  Sonatina for Violin and Piano in G minor, D384
Paul Stanhope  Agnus Dei (After the Fire)
Ravel  Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2

In this charming sonata (now usually called a Sonatina) the nineteen-year-old Schubert appears to have been channelling the style of Mozart rather than that of his contemporary hero, Beethoven. The silent desolate landscape of Stanhope builds to an intense climax before returning to a renewed and altered form of stillness, and we conclude with Ravel’s highly original work in which he accentuated what he considered to be the essential “incompatibility” of the violin and piano, using new-to-Paris American blues and jazz inspirations.

Bookings

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Friday 28 June

A Poet’s Love

Kyle Stegall  tenor
Anna Goldsworthy  piano

Robert Schumann  Dichterliebe, Op. 48
Clara Schumann  Lieder aus Jucunde, Op. 23

A poignant and enduring work exploring themes of love, longing, and heartbreak, Robert Schumann's Dichterliebe, composed in 1840, sets 16 poems by Heinrich Heine to music. Exciting tenor, Yale graduate Kyle Stegall is joined by pianist Anna Goldsworthy for a program that also features songs from Clara Schumann.

Bookings

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Friday 5 July

Percussion Miniatures

'Crash Collective'
Sami Butler, Andrew Penrose, Jack De La Lande, Max Ziliotto and Ryan Grunwald percussion

with Holly Piccoli violin

Nigel Westlake  Omphalo Centric Lecture
Philip Glass arr. David Skidmore  Madeira River
Elena Kats-Chernin arr. Andrew Penrose  Eliza Aria from Wild Swans
Mark Ford  CABASA!
John Psathas  Kyoto
Mozart arr. Andrew Penrose  Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (1st movement)

Five outstanding percussion graduates of the Elder Conservatorium come together to perform a gripping program of percussion music.

Bookings

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Friday 2 August

ASQ’s Open House

Australian String Quartet

with Elder Conservatorium students

Mark Ferguson  Thinornis Rubricollis (The Hoodies) (new work)
Jacques Ibert  Capriccio for Ten Instruments
Thomas Gray  Perfume (new work)
Dmitri Shostakovich  Scherzo for String Octet, Op 11 

Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Adelaide, the Australian String Quartet, perform new works by Mark Simeon Ferguson and Thomas Gray, alongside chamber favourites from Ibert and Shostakovich.

Bookings

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Friday 9 August

Shadows to Light

Elder Conservatorium Chamber Orchestra
Elizabeth Layton  director/violin
Tim Tran  viola

Mendelssohn  String Symphony No. 6  in E flat major
Kristopher Man  String Suite (Premiere)
Hindemith  Trauermusik for viola and strings
Elgar  Serenade for Strings, Op. 20

Imagine the drama when George V died hours before Hindemith was due to premiere his viola concerto in London. Adrian Boult instead asked him to contribute to a commemoration concert, so Hindemith wrote Trauermusik in six hours before the BBC live broadcast that evening. Despite the inauspicious premiere of Elgar’s Serenade by the “Worcester Ladies Orchestral Class”, it’s a piece full of poignant lyricism and one of the composer’s own personal favourite works. A new work by teenage Conservatorium student Kristopher Man is premiered. And Mendelssohn’s string symphonies were all written before the age of fourteen.

Bookings

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Friday 16 August

Cinderella

Natasha Vlassenko and Oleg Stepanov  piano duo

Prokofiev / Pletnev  Cinderella Suite
Liszt  Les Preludes

This two-piano version of Prokofiev’s 1945 Cinderella Suite premiered in 2002 in Lugano to rave reviews. The arranger, celebrated pianist Mikhael Pletnev, more than held his own with his virtuosic duo partner, Martha Argerich, in this interpretation of the ballet score. Prokofiev wrote of the difficulties he faced in expressing “the poetic love of Cinderella and the Prince, the birth and flowering of that love, the obstacles in its path and finally the dream fulfilled”, and Pletnev more than successfully took up the challenge.

Bookings

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Friday 23 August

Shining Septet

Lloyd Van’t Hoff  clarinet
Emma Gregan  horn
Mark Gaydon  bassoon
Elizabeth Layton  violin
Stephen King  viola
Thomas Marlin  cello
Rob Nairn  double bass

Beethoven  Septet in E-flat major, Op. 20

An all-star ensemble of Elder Conservatorium staff performing one of Beethoven’s most popular works. “That damned thing… I wish it were burnt” – Beethoven fumed over this septet, not from lack of audience appreciation but because it was such a hit he felt that it was overshadowing his more ground-breaking works. Although written with a strong eye to commercial success, he was still somewhat revolutionary here, featuring more than one wind instrument with strings and allowing them all (apart from the bass) solo passages.

Bookings

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Friday 30 August

Restless Spirit

Timothy Young and Paavali Jumppanen  piano duo

Liszt  Faust Symphony

Liszt wrote A Faust Symphony; Three Character Pictures, Faust, Gretchen and Mephistopheles, after Goethe in 1854, adding a triumphant choral finale later. His version for two pianos appeared eight years later. Faust’s first theme employs one of the earliest 12-tone rows in history; the second movement portrays Faust’s yearning for Gretchen; whilst the third characterizes Mephistopheles as a spirit of negation with no themes of his own – just transformations and distortions from the first two movements.

Bookings

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Friday 6 September

Triumph and Tragedy

Elder Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra

Nicholas Braithwaite  conductor
Haowei Yang  piano

Ravel  Piano Concerto for the Left Hand  
Tchaikovsky  Romeo and Juliet
Kristopher Man  new work

Ravel was at the height of his powers when he acceded to a request from Paul Wittgenstein, a pianist who lost his right arm during WWI. Dark-hued sonorities in the piano combine with astonishing orchestral effects from unusual instrumental combinations. Balakirev suggested Tchaikovsky write a work based on Romeo and Juliet, and after much typical soul searching, criticism and reworking he finally received praise from the Kutchka and growing audience appreciation. Today, the love theme could hardly be more familiar after multiple screen appearances. Also featuring another premiere for Conservatorium student Kristopher Man.

Bookings

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Friday 13 September

Romantic Resonance

Lucinda Collins  piano
Helen Ayres  violin
Stephen King  viola
Thomas Marlin  cello

Harry Sdraulig  Piano Quartet, New Australian Commission 2023
Schumann  Piano Quartet in E flat major, Op. 47

Melbourne University graduate Sdraulig is a successful composer, doctoral student and lecturer in Sydney. His Fantasia on Waltzing Matilda, commissioned by Yo Yo Ma and Kathryn Stott, brought him international recognition. This new quartet is in seven parts with contrasting lyricism, intricate rhythmic and motivic drive and harmonies inspired by classical and jazz genres. Schumann’s 1842 quartet followed just weeks after his piano quintet and the four movements formed a culmination of the genre that would influence all who followed.

Bookings

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Friday 20 September

Whispers of Wind and Strings

Kathryn Moorhead  flute
Aleksandr Tsiboulski  guitar

Castelnuovo-Tedesco  Sonatina, Op. 205
Telemann  Fantasia in A major for solo flute
Joan Tower  Snow Dreams
Kate Moore  Blue Cobalt
Piazzolla  Histoire du Tango (selections)
Paganini  Cantabile in D major, Op. 17

Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s lively duo includes one of his most exquisite melodies in the second slow movement. It was mainly Telemann’s 12 Fantasias that enriched the solo flute repertoire in the first half of the 18th century, profoundly influencing the development of the instrument. Histoire du tango is now heard in many instrumental combinations but was originally written for this precise pairing. The first two movements precede a finale of Paganini’s only violin and piano composition in which he abandons acrobatics in favour of soulful operatic lines. Featuring flute lecturer Kathryn Moorhead and alumnus Aleksandr Tsiboulski.

Bookings

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Friday 27 September

Welcome Winds

Special guests from the Los Angeles Philharmonic,
with Elder Conservatorium students

An outstanding opportunity to hear some of the world’s best wind players performing side-by-side with our own Elder Conservatorium students. Featuring decorated alumnus Andrew Bain, principal horn of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and four of his esteemed colleagues from the LA Phil, in a program presenting highlights from Dvořák, Gounod, and Jean Françaix.

Bookings

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Friday 4 October

Untrodden Ways

NZTrio

Jennifer Higdon  Piano Trio
Reuben Jelleyman / J.S. Bach  Büchlein Reimaginings (selections)
Arno Babadjanian  Trio in F-Sharp minor

Welcome to our friends from across the Tasman! Higdon here explored the relationship of colours, mood and music which resulted in two movements entitled “Pale Yellow” and “Fiery Red.” Meanwhile, New Zealand composer Jelleyman, renowned for inventive melodies and harmonies, took his inspiration from Bach chorales, and lastly the deep emotions of Armenian culture shine through in Babadjanian’s compelling Trio. The latter was a contemporary of Prokofiev, Shostakovich and fellow Armenian Khachaturian and avoided censure under Stalin, presumably due to his enthusiastic use of folk idiom and strong pride in his native land.

Bookings

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Friday 11 October

Blue Shades

Elder Conservatorium Wind Orchestra
Lloyd Van't Hoff  conductor

Samuel Hazo Arabesque 
John Mackey Aurora Awakes 
Percy Grainger Children’s March 
Frank Ticheli Blue Shades 

 

Bookings

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Friday 18 October

The Adelaide Connection

Lauren Henderson  director

Hear the Adelaide Connection choir, directed by Lauren Henderson, sing jazz standards arranged by Adelaide Connection alumni, including Ross Burford, Naomi Crellin, Ciara Ferguson, Jo Lawry, Sally Luke Thompson, Mark Ferguson, and more.

Bookings

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Friday 25 October

Top Class

Our annual classical performance showcase concert, featuring top student performers from the Elder Conservatorium of Music. Supported by the Peter Brooker Prize for Musical Excellence.

Bookings

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Friday 1 November

Mountains, Clouds, Streams

Elder Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra

Luke Dollman  conductor
Loo Sze-wang  sheng

Stephen Whittington  Mountains, Clouds, Streams

Inspired by the subtle colours and tonal gradations of Chinese inkbrush landscape painting, Stephen Whittington’s new work Mountains, Clouds, Streams combines a Western orchestra with traditional Chinese instruments to evoke the mystery and profundity of the natural world and the place of humans within it – themes that have featured in Chinese poetry, art and music for millenia.

Bookings

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Friday 8 November

On a Spring Morning

Seraphim Trio 

Lili Boulanger D'un Matin de Printemps (“On a Spring Morning”)
Camille Saint-Saëns Trio in E minor, Op. 92

* Please note, The Ringtone Cycle concert has been postponed until 2025 *

Bookings

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Friday 15 November

Ljiljana Vukelja Piano Recital

Ljiljana Vukelja  piano

Beethoven  Sonata No. 31 in A flat major, Op. 110
Vladimir Tošić  Retude (minimalist Etude)
Henri Dutilleux  Sonata in F sharp minor, Op.1

A captivating journey exploring the evolution of the sonata form. Beethoven’s Sonata Op. 110 in A-flat major is a profound work from the composer’s late period, rich with lyrical beauty and emotional depth. Serbian composer Vladimir Tošić's Retida No. 6 offers a striking contrast, with minimalist textures and rhythmic intricacies, bridging the classical and contemporary worlds. Henri Dutilleux's Sonata Op. 1 blends French lyricism with modern harmonic language, presenting a bold reinterpretation of the sonata form in the 20th century. Ljiljana Vukelja is a Serbian pianist and Professor at the University of Art, Belgrade.

Bookings

Friday 19 April, 7:30pm

Elder Music Lab

Esmond Choi  piano

George Crumb  Metamorphoses, Book II

A series of solo-piano miniatures with a rich sound world inspired by classic paintings, ranging from Vincent van Gogh’s 1889 The Starry Night to Simon Dinnerstein’s 1991 Purple Haze. A free concert performed by Elder Conservatorium Masters student Esmond Choi.

Free concert, bookings not required.

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Saturday 27 April, 6:30pm

Matthew Sheens Solo

Matthew Sheens  piano

One of the Con’s most successful jazz graduates, New York-based Matthew Sheens returns to Elder Hall for the first time in over a decade to perform music from his recent albums, including his latest “Written in the Dark”. Don’t miss this evening of innovative jazz!

Bookings

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Wednesday 15 May, 6:30pm

Future Memories
Gala Concert

Beethoven  Trio in B-flat major, Op. 11
Poulenc  Sextet for Piano and Winds, Op. 100
Keith Crellin  Piano Trio
Mendelssohn  Octet for Strings in E-flat major, Op. 20

A stellar assembly of Conservatorium staff and alumni gather for a special gala concert, at once demonstrating the artistry and collegiality of our community, while raising funds to support our ongoing mission. Beethoven’s Gassenhauer Trio displays a rare combination of clarinet, cello and piano. Good-humoured Poulenc produced his light-hearted, satiric sextet whilst a member of Les Six and by sixteen Mendelssohn was already a highly experienced composer when this “miracle of the 19th century” flowed from his pen as a birthday present for a violinist friend. Crellin is widely known as a leading Australian solo and chamber violist, as well as for his long-term teaching at the Elder Conservatorium, but here demonstrates another string to his bow.

Bookings

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Saturday 25 May, 6:30pm

Homegrown Jazz

University of Adelaide Big Band and Latin Ensemble

Dustan Cox and Mark Ferguson  directors
Lauren Henderson  voice

Songs and instrumental works by alumni Lauren Henderson, Jo Lawry, M.S. Ferguson, Christina Guala-Goodwin, Jasmine Ferguson, and Thomas Voss.

Bookings

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Friday 5 July, 7pm

ASQ in Concert: Vanguard

Australian String Quartet

Beethoven  String Quartet in E-flat major, Op.127
Harry Sdraulig  new work
Korngold  String Quartet No.2 in E-flat major

The first under-rehearsed performance of Beethoven’s Op. 127 by the Schuppanzigh group was poorly received, but it fared better in the hands of Joseph Böhm who reported that Beethoven keenly attended rehearsals and despite his deafness, managed to follow the bowing so intently that he corrected tiny errors in tempo and rhythm. Australian composer Sdraulig offers a new work (his 2023 piano quartet is scheduled in the Lunchtime series in September) before Korngold’s second quartet. Whilst best known now for his film music, Korngold was also an anti-serialist classical composer and this work is full of Viennese imagery with the waltzes of Johann Strauss II and lyricism of his namesake Richard coming to mind.

Bookings via ASQ

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Sunday 1 September, 3pm

Journeys and Stories 2

Elder Conservatorium Chorale

Carl Crossin  conductor
Karl Geiger  piano
Jack Overall  cello

Eric Whitacre  The Sacred Veil    

Powerful, moving, lyrical, striking… This is a story of love and loss, of coping and, ultimately, of moving forward. With texts by Eric Whitacre’s long-time friend and librettist Charles Anthony Silvestri, the twelve stunningly beautiful movements of The Sacred Veil chronicle a very personal story of one family’s journey through cancer.

Bookings

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Sunday 6 October, 2:30pm

Bach and French Romanticism

Eva Schad  organ

JS Bach  Prelude and Fugue in E-flat major, BWV 552
JS Bach  Trio Sonata No. 4 in G major
JS Bach  Concerto in A minor (after Vivaldi), BWV 593
Léon Boëllmann  Suite Gothique
Louis Vierne  selected works
Jehan Alain  Deuxième fantaisie
Marcel Dupré  Prelude and Fugue in G minor, Op. 7 No. 3

Bach was distinctly more famous as an organist than a composer during his lifetime. At age eighteen he went to Arnstadt to take up the position of organist at St Boniface from where he made his 200-mile trek to hear Buxtehude play. France’s great organ tradition dates back to Titelouze in the early 1600s, progressing from polyphony to the ornamented style for which Couperin was renowned. César Frank later inspired a new generation of stars, teaching Vierne (Notre Dame’s almost blind organist for 37 years)  and inspiring Boëllmann. The hugely virtuosic Dupré studied under both Widor and Vierne then in turn taught Jehan who was playing professionally at St Germain-en-Laye by the age of eleven.

Bookings

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Friday 18 October, 7:00pm

David Shifrin and Friends

* Unfortunately due to circumstances outside of our control, this performance has been postponed *

David Shifrin  clarinet
with Elder Conservatorium students and guests

Legend of the clarinet and winner of the coveted Avery Fisher Prize, Mr David Shifrin will visit the Elder Conservatorium as part of the EMR Distinguished Visiting Artist program. Working closely with students for an intensive period of workshops and tutorials, Mr Shifrin’s visit culminates in this exciting concert, with both students and the master himself taking turns centre stage.

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Saturday 26 October, 6:30pm

Guitarissimo

A delight for lovers of classical guitar, this annual showcase concert features an array of works for solo guitar and small chamber groups, culminating in a performance by the heralded Elder Conservatorium Guitar Ensemble. Curated by Dr Oliver Fartach-Naini.

Bookings

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