'She Speaks' Festival Receives a Five-Star Review in Limelight
The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra's third installment of the She Speaks festival, highlighting the music of women composers, was held in Elder Hall from Friday 31 May–Sunday 2 June, featuring four concerts curated by our Adjunct Lecturer in Composition, Dr Anne Cawrse, and Elder Conservatorium alumnus Belinda Gehlert.
Kicking off on Friday 31 May, our wonderful lunchtime concert with the Australian String Quartet and shamisen virtuoso Noriko Tadano featured Noriko's own works, before a chamber ensemble of ASO musicians Lachlan Bramble (violin), Emma Perkins (violin), Linda Garrett (viola), and Gemma Phillips (cello) joined Lloyd Van't Hoff (clarinet) and Michael Ierace (piano) for an intimate performance of works by Elizabeth Maconchy, Mary Finsterer and Jennifer Higdon.
On Saturday 1 June at 4.00pm, students from the Elder Music Lab gave us a series of solos and duos, encompassing everything from the contemplative beauty of Sally Greenaway to the raucous frivolity of Anna Clyne. We heard a toy piano courtesy of Julia Wolfe; an introspective violin solo by Lera Auerbach; and some garden poetry duetting with cello thanks to Caroline Shaw before the afternoon culminated with Holly Harrison's 'Bend/Boogie/Break' under the baton of PGCW conducting student Nicole Marshall.
In the grand finale on Saturday evening (which received a five-star review in Limelight), the full ASO took the stage under the baton of Associate Professor Luke Dollman to showcase the work of living contemporary composers. Celia Craig (cor anglais) gave the fourth performance of Anne Cawrse's concerto 'The Rest is Silence'; Justin Julian (viola) performed Holly Harrison's 'Hotwire' live for the first time; and Belinda Gehlert's new work 'Diving into the Wreck' received its world premiere in a very special concert that also featured works by Dobrinka Tabakova, Missy Mazzoli and Joan Tower. Congratulations to all involved!
She Speaks was presented by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra in partnership with the Elder Conservatorium of Music at the University of Adelaide and proudly supported by the Miriam Hyde Circle and Arts SA.