'Daylight Express' Series to Return to Elder Hall in 2025 Adelaide Festival
On Monday 3 November, the Adelaide Festival announced their full program for 2025, which includes Kaija Saariaho's opera Innocence (starring Teddy Tahu Rhodes) and the welcome return of the Daylight Express series (Friday 28 February–Friday 14 March) in Elder Hall. Below is a selection of exciting events featuring Elder Conservatorium staff and alumni.
Ensemble Lumen: Towards the Light
In its debut performance, Ensemble Lumen explores facets of light in all its radiant forms. The program will illuminate the rarely heard music of William Shield, whose melodies once charmed the ears of Mozart and Beethoven. Dai Fujikura brings the solo horn to life in yurayura, conjuring the mesmerising dance of a candle-lit flame. The Australian premiere of Libby Larsen's Trio Noir draws a shimmering sonic parallel between music and the mystery of film noir, while Dohnányi's sweeping Sextet embarks on a dramatic journey through light and shadow.
Performed by Elder Conservatorium Faculty – Lloyd Van't Hoff (clarinet), Emma Gregan (horn), Lucinda Collins (piano), Anna Goldsworthy (piano), Elizabeth Layton (violin), Stephen King (viola), and Edith Salzmann (cello).
Friday 28 February 12.30pm
Claire de Sévigné: From Mozart to the Merry Widow (Daylight Express)
Claire de Sévigné's recent performances have been described as 'remarkable in every way'. Similarly praised for conjuring 'serenity incarnate' as well as for her 'high-flown coloratura', both sides of this extraordinary Canadian soprano will be showcased in this one-off recital, as she steps off the stage of the Adelaide Festival's main opera Innocence. From operatic favourites by Handel and Mozart to heart-warming operetta, the concert's centrepiece is the luminous The Shepherd on the Rock by Schubert, an extended feature for soprano, clarinet and piano.
Performed with Lloyd Van't Hoff (clarinet) and Michael Ierace (piano).
Monday 3 March 12.30pm
Elder Hall
BOOK TICKETS
Robert Dessaix: Music in My Life and Work
Music and literature have deep and entwining roots. This new format brings two of our foremost cultural minds together to explore those connections on a personal basis. Robert Dessaix is one of Australia's most intriguing authors, with an abiding love of music. Professor Anna Goldsworthy is a concert pianist, author and Director of the University of Adelaide's Elder Conservatorium. Together they will explore the place of music in Dessaix's life and work, interspersed with performances by Goldsworthy of works close to Dessaix's heart and inspired by the conservation. Join us for a warm, intriguing and revealing hour of music and discovery.
Friday 7 March 12.30pm
Elder Hall