Elder Conservatorium Staff, Students and Alumni Triumph in the 2025 Adelaide Festival
The first few weeks of March have been filled with some spectacular events in the 2025 Adelaide Festival, featuring a variety of Elder Conservatorium staff, students and alumni. Below is a selection of the highlights.
Australian String Quartet: nyilamum – song cycles
Our Quartet-in-Residence, the Australian String Quartet, received a five-star review in Limelight for their inspiring nyilamum – song cycles concert on Thursday 27 February in the Adelaide Town Hall. The concert featured music from Yorta Yorta Dja Dja Wurrung Dr Lou Bennett AM and Paul Stanhope, culminating in the Australian premiere of nyilamum – song cyles, a First-Nations led work by Dr Bennett and Stanhope that debuted at the 2024 String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam. 'The standing ovation that greets Nyilamum song cycles is justly deserved,' wrote Jansson J. Antmann in his review, 'and one must hope this mesmeric work will soon weave its magic around the country.'
A Quiet Language
Elder Conservatorium PhD candidate Adam Page composed the music for (and performed in) the Australian Dance Theatre's A Quiet Language at the Odeon Theatre (Wednesday 26 February–Friday 7 March) as part of the Adelaide Festival. Directed by Daniel Riley, A Quiet Language stretches Australian Dance Theatre's artistry across time, space, culture and place, transmuting the rebellious energy of the company's early days into an eclectic new era. The performance on Thursday 27 February received a four-and-a-half-star review in Limelight.
Ensemble Lumen: Towards the Light
The Elder Conservatorium's new Ensemble Lumen – Lloyd Van't Hoff (clarinet), Dr Emma Gregan (horn), Lucinda Collins (piano), Professor Anna Goldsworthy (piano), Dr Elizabeth Layton (violin), Dr Stephen King (viola) and Edith Salzmann (cello) – opened the Daylight Express concert series in Elder Hall on Friday 28 February, performing music by William Shield, Dai Fujikura, Libby Larsen, and Ernő Dohnányi.
'It goes without saying – but let's say it anyway – that they are all excellent musicians at the top of their game, and together they are even better. [...] Ensemble Lumen are a tight outfit and have shone a probing light onto some seldom played gems of the repertoire. Long may their light burn brightly.'
– Kym Clayton, The Barefoot Review
'So this is cool! I have a brand new Australian ensemble to bring you.'
– Genevieve Lang, ABC Classic
The concert was recorded live by ABC Classic and broadcast at 12.30pm as part of today's Lunchtime Concert program, presented by Genevieve Lang. You can stream the recording via the link below.
Innocence
Friday 28 February marked the official beginning of the Adelaide Festival, which opened in spectacular style with the highly anticipated Australian premiere of Kaija Saariaho's Innocence across four performances (Friday 28 February–Wednesday 5 March) at the Adelaide Festival Centre. The opera, led by world-renowned Australian director Simon Stone, featured Clément Mao-Takacs conducting the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and a fine international cast including the Elder Conservatorium's Head of Classical Voice, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, as The Priest. A large number of Elder Conservatorium alumni also featured in the State Opera Chorus, including Christie Anderson (Chorusmaster), Alexandra Bollard, Brooke Window, Millicent Brake, Kate Price, Michaela Eaton, Victoria Coxhill, Georgie Simmons, Rachel Bruerville, Emma Woehle, Courtney Day, Kim Worley, Kit Tonkin, Rhys Williams, Aidan Foyel, Nikolai Leske, and Timothy Wilson. The opera received glowing reviews in the Guardian, InReview, The Australian, Limelight, Glam Adelaide, Theatre Travels and The Barefoot Review.
Claire de Sévigné: From Mozart to the Merry Widow
Elder Conservatorium staff Lloyd Van't Hoff (clarinet) and Michael Ierace (piano) joined Canadian soprano Claire de Sévigné (who played Patricia, the Mother in Law in Innocence) in an intimate recital in Elder Hall on Monday 3 March, performing music by Handel and Mozart, and culminating with Schubert's luminous The Shepherd on the Rock.
Robert Dessaix: Music in My Life and Work
Professor Anna Goldsworthy (Director of the Elder Conservatorium of Music) joined acclaimed Australian writer Robert Dessaix for a concert in Elder Hall on Friday 7 March, exploring the place of music in Dessaix's life and work.
Horizons: Essence (Chamber Landscapes)
Curated by David Harrington
Alongside a swathe of artists from Australia and around the world, the Australian String Quartet (ASQ) once again featured in the Adelaide Festival's Chamber Landscapes series at UKARIA Cultural Centre – this year curated by founding member of the Kronos Quartet, David Harrington. The ASQ performed in the following concerts: Essence (Friday 7 March 7.30pm); Continents (Saturday 8 March 2.30pm); Trio Da Kali (Saturday 8 March 5.00pm); Sound Worlds (Sunday 9 March 11.30am); For the Future (Sunday 9 March 2.30pm) and Dream Collectors (Sunday 9 March 5.30pm).
Heal You (Adelaide Chamber Singers)
The Adelaide Chamber Singers, led by Artistic Director and Conductor Christie Anderson, performed a beautiful concert in the Adelaide Town Hall on Thursday 13 March, featuring exquisite musical responses matching early 20th-century works with contemporary prayers against violence and tyranny – including Night/Day by our Adjunct Lecturer in Composition, Dr Anne Cawrse.
A larger number of recent graduates and alumni of the Elder Conservatorium were involved in this performance, including Christie Anderson (Artistic Director and Conductor), Emma Borgas, Brooke Window, Victoria Coxhill, Georgie Simmons, Rachel Bruerville, Emma Woehle, Courtney Day, Kit Tonkin, Rhys Williams, Aidan Foyel, Jonathan Bligh, and Nikolai Leske.
LISTEN TO THE RECORDING ON ABC CLASSIC