Events: Concert Series

Elder After Hours - Classical meets Jazz: Crossing the Great Divide

Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2025, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Location: Elder Hall

Gershwin’s Cuban Overture, a lively and rhythmically-charged celebration of Latin American influences, is filled with the composer’s signature flair. Mark Simeon Ferguson’s Live and Die With the Butterflies is an evocative work combining lyrical beauty with cinematic intensity. Ravel’s Bolero, a masterpiece of orchestral color and hypnotic rhythm, is performed here in its original form followed by a reimagined version featuring improvisations that breathe new energy and creativity into its iconic theme.

Lunchtime Concert - Pictures and Dances

Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2025, 1:10 pm - 2:00 pm
Location: Elder Hall

Spanish-born Australian pianist Simón Pazos Quintana – a recent doctoral graduate of the Elder Conservatorium – is rapidly building a reputation as one of South Australia’s busiest musicians, appearing regularly as a collaborative pianist, chamber musician, recitalist, and concerto soloist. In his debut solo recital in our Elder Hall series, he performs eight vignettes from Dvořák’s rarely-heard Poetic Tone Pictures, Op. 85 (‘the great forgotten cycle of 19th-century piano music’, according to Leif Ove Andsnes) and concludes with a tour of his homeland through Turina’s irresistible Danzas fantásticas, Op. 22.

Elder After Hours - Radiance

Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2025, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Location: Elder Hall

In its third concert for 2025, Ensemble Lumen draws the audience into a dance of light and shadow, where three remarkable works shimmer with their own unique brilliance.

Lunchtime Concert - Cycles of Life

Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2025, 1:10 pm - 2:00 pm
Location: Elder Hall

Professor Anna Goldsworthy (Director of the Elder Conservatorium) and Andrew Haveron (Concertmaster of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra) both possess that rare quality necessary for all enduring artistic partnerships: an irrepressible energy that becomes atomic in one another’s company. It will be a special pleasure to see them reunite in Elder Hall to perform sonatas by Beethoven and Franck.

Lunchtime Concert - Orchestral Pianos

Date: Fri, 3 Oct 2025, 1:10 pm - 2:00 pm
Location: Elder Hall

In a recital that opens with a sparkling arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite for two pianos, staff pianist Michael Ierace is joined by Sydney-based pianist Vatche Jambazian (a Masters graduate of The Juilliard School in New York) to explore the inverse of this process, culminating in the premiere of a new two-piano version of Lutosławski’s Concerto for Orchestra by Dr Joe Chindamo OAM.

Elder After Hours - A Birthday Celebration: Charles Bodman Rae

Date: Fri, 3 Oct 2025, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Location: Elder Hall

This concert marks the 70th birthday of our seventh Sir Thomas Elder Professor of Music, Charles Bodman Rae.

Lunchtime Concert - The Ringtone Cycle

Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2025, 1:10 pm - 2:00 pm
Location: Elder Hall

This 2010 commission from the Seraphim Trio has a libretto from the Australian author Peter Goldsworthy. Subtitled a ‘cabaret quintet for soprano, violin, cello, piano and iPhone’, it is a mini-operetta that tells of a love affair starring a modern-day Brünnhilde and her phone. Koehne’s continuous flow of music recalls Wagner’s revolutionary ‘speech-song’, and members of the audience might need to brush up on tech jargon to fully appreciate the text! The score is also dotted with references to famous ring tones.

Elder After Hours - Convergence

Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2025, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Location: Elder Hall

With a warm and welcoming embrace, the grace of Mozart’s lyrical Prussian Quartet in D major opens this concert of music familiar, daring and masterful. Ligeti’s groundbreaking String Quartet No. 2 is a kaleidoscopic journey through otherworldly textures and virtuosic writing for strings. The second half of Convergence reaches its emotional peak with one of the greatest quartets of all time, Schubert’s enduringly popular fourteenth quartet (Death and the Maiden) – a gripping celebration of life and death.

Lunchtime Concert - Timeless Strings

Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2025, 1:10 pm - 2:00 pm
Location: Elder Hall

Vivaldi’s Concerto for Four Violins dazzles with its energy and virtuosic flair, while Leopold Mozart’s Concerto for Alto Trombone showcases the instrument’s unique lyrical qualities. Dvořák’s serene Nocturne in B major brings a touch of romance and tranquility, setting the stage for David Diamond’s vibrant Rounds for String Orchestra, a playful and rhythmically engaging finale.

Elder After Hours - Guitarissimo

Date: Sat, 25 Oct 2025, 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Location: Elder Hall

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 Elder Conservatorium Guitar Ensemble. Curated by Dr Oliver Fartach-Naini.