In a small and quaintly repurposed venue in Newtown, Ensemble Offspring presented a one hour concert of miniatures written over the last hundred or so years from an exquisite performance of Alban Berg’s Vier Stucke Op.5 (1913) to local composer…
Lorelei Dowling’s “I Was Like Wow” champions the music of recent times
Lorelei Dowling is one of many Australian musicians who have created seriously impressive careers outside of her native land and one that proves that to have a major solo career, and one where you specialize in a branch of music…
The Art of Disappearing composed by Cameron Lam has great variety of emotional and musical attitudes
A recent recording release devoted to music of young Sydney composer Cameron Lam (b.1989) shows that the art of vocal writing is safe in the hands of the younger generation of Australian composers. At around 65 minutes The Art of…
Australian Chamber Choir’s “Keys to Heaven” showcased their sumptuous sound
In the recently restored and now even more exquisite Christ Church St Laurence, the Australian Chamber Choir presented Keys to Heaven, a concert of music dating from the late 1400’s through to about 1640. The sumptuous sound of one of…
Strelitzia Ensemble’s First Impressions impressed with its innovative & intriguing program of women composers
The concert in the visually delightful Melbourne Recital Centre Primrose Potter Salon by the piano trio Strelitzia showcased music by four women composers. This venue tends to emphasise bass sonorities but with violinist Lucy Warren leading there was never a…
Australia Ensemble’s Heart*Beat was live music at its exhilarating best
Before the music started at this Australia Ensemble concert, Dene Olding gave thanks to the late Justice Jane Mathews for all her support to music in Sydney and that the evening’s music was dedicated to her memory. Jane loved attending…
Scots’ Church Choir & Melbourne Chamber Orchestra’s gift to the people of Melbourne
What a gift to the people of Melbourne – a free performance on Sunday 21st April by The Scots’ Church Choir and the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra of one of the masterpieces of the Baroque era – J.S. Bach’s Mass in…
Danaë Killian is one of Melbourne’s piano treasures
On Saturday 20th April 2019, Dr. Danaë Killian gave a short piano recital which included fine performances of Mozart and Liszt and she championed the music of four composers of her city. From a star afar, a 2-minute miniature by…
Australian Chamber Choir’s “St John Passion” an immersive, enthralling & transcendent experience
Disclaimer: The St John Passion by J.S. Bach is my favourite work of all time. I am in love with this composition. At nigh on 2 hours of music the St John Passion is a journey with the greatest composer…
Andrián Pertout’s monumental piano work ‘Luz Meridional’ is full of delights
Rarely do I hear a new work that is so strong and meaningful and as full of so many delights as Andrián Pertout’s monumental piano work Luz Meridional. This is singularly one of the most important piano compositions ever written…
Ensemble Three recording Despite Our Silent Elders shows directions in new music in Australia
The CD is named after the longest work on the recording, Elliott Hughes’ Despite Our Silent Elders. At just under 16 minutes this straightforward composition allows the stellar talents of Joel Brennan, trumpet, trombonist Don Immel and guitarist Ken Murray…
Duo Blockstix recording of Works for percussion and recorder
This recently released CD of Australian works is a pleasing addition to the recorded repertoire of local composers and is testament to the skills of the multi-talented and virtuosic performers Alicia Crossley and Joshua Hill. Blockstix Duo display not only…
Melbourne Composers’ League presents 19 new works at Montsalvat in two concerts
In the historic Montsalvat in the hills just out of Melbourne two concerts of 19 new works were presented by the Melbourne Composers’ League in just one day. The MCL is a rarity in Australia – a group of composers…
Australian Chamber Choir sings complex music fearlessly and it thrills the listener
In the impressive Grand Court at the Art Gallery of NSW the Australian Chamber Choir presented one of the finest concerts in Sydney this year. Their perfectly chosen program ranged from the early baroque to music from our time and…
Flinders Quartet was perfectly balanced for the theatrical nature of the works
Two Australian composers were featured in the Flinders Quartet concert at Independent Theatre more as arrangers than presenting new music but highly successful nonetheless. Calvin Bowman’s The Curly Pyjama Letters with text by Michael Leunig presents 7 whimsical snippets from…
Wonderful musicianship from Bach Akademie Australia
The huge audience that attended the concert by the Bach Akademie Australia in the St Francis of Assisi Church Paddington are great supporters of the music of Bach and also enthusiastic for the success of this newly formed specialist group.…
Bel a cappella performed JS Bach’s Chaconne with sensitive singing that captivated the listeners
The near capacity audience for Bel a cappella at the historic Christ Church St Lawrence were treated to a concert by an ever improving community choir singing repertoire that suits their skill set and creating a performance that shone. Musical…
The Opus Now concerts at Alpha Gallery are a treat
In a program with a new work by an Australian composer it would be easy to gloss over a Beethoven string quartet, the Razumovsky Opus 59/1, but the Opus Now concert at the small and very intimate Alpha Gallery in…
Bel a cappella – sumptuous choral music in spades
Bel a cappella’s final concert for 2017 took its name from Arnold Schonberg’s 1907 score Friede auf Erden (Peace on Earth). This harmonically rich and highly romantic work in four parts received not only a rare airing in Sydney but…
Song Company’s Dreamers of the Day was non-stop entertainment
The concert, or maybe a more accurate description, the entertainment Dreamers of the Day presented by The Song Company is a 75 minute near non-stop journey through bits and pieces of music from Handel and Bach to the present day.…
Australian Chamber Choir was a treat!
Sometimes you go to a concert and after just a few seconds know you are in for a treat. Lucky me, I had that experience with this, my first encounter with the Australian Chamber Choir. This exciting ensemble of young…
Bel a cappella and Australian Baroque Brass were insightful and shone
Bel a cappella’s concert billed Motetten was, for me, memorable for a work that was not a motet – Paul Hindemith’s Apparebit repentina dies (1947) for choir and eight brass players. This 25 minute work shows Hindemith writing life affirming…
Three’s Midnight Songs recording brings additional layers of satisfaction
The CD Midnight Songs by the Melbourne group Three is a wonderful introduction to repertoire that is evolving especially for this ensemble and it should have wide appeal amongst the concertgoers of Australia and overseas. Having heard the group in…
Sirius Chamber Ensemble bring many Musical Tales to life with caring, exciting and authoritative performances
This recital by the Sirius Chamber Ensemble was as much about words as it was music. Each of the five works had spoken text and their success as integrated compositions was due in the main to the quality of the…
Gavriel Lipkind’s Bible of the Cello
Occasionally you attend a solo recital that reaffirms your belief in the importance of the genre and the concert at the packed Utzon Room at the Sydney Opera House by the cellist Gavriel Lipkind was one of those events. A…
Song Company Accidental Plan’s engaged the audience from beginning to end
Listening to the Song Company in the Yellow House, Potts Point was for many in the audience a trip back in time. Revisiting works and composers that were played on a regular basis in Sydney in the seventies this cabaret…
Halcyon premiere Gordon Kerry’s delightful instrumental colours and sensitive vocals
Gordon Kerry’s Three Malouf Songs is a substantial new addition to the repertoire; draws the listener into a world where painterly text stirs Kerry to make music of equal imagination
Reflection of Podium Festival, Croatia, July 2016
Alan Holley composer in residence at Podium Festival, Croatia In the utterly picturesque coastal town of Fazana and the island of Brijuni in the northern part of Croatia the 2016 Podium Festival presented world class chamber musicians from six countries.…
Australian music in Albania, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia
Paul’s performances will be broadcast on Serbian radio and on Albanian radio and television.
David Saffir and Chris Cartner took listeners into Debussy’s sound world
There is something quite delightful going to a one hour concert in a beautiful venue listening to fine Sydney performers in a most intelligently designed program.
Songs of love from soprano Anita Kyle for an enthralled audience
Chris Cartner’s mission to bring chamber music to different parts of Sydney is a most worthwhile endeavour. He showcases top Sydney talent in intimate surroundings. The concerts are pleasantly a little informal and the big audience at the Lavender Bay performance were enthralled.
Australia Ensemble’s Bohemian Dreams
Hornist Rob Johnson and pianist Ian Munro entranced the audience with music that was simple and yet strangely mysterious.
The Sydney Consort: The right mix of devotion and enjoyment for Good Friday
Music for Good Friday! Couperin imbues the music with a lightness of touch By far the most intriguing work in the Sydney Consort Good Friday program was the short Francois Couperin motet style Troisième Leçon à deux voix for 2…
Sine & Syrinx: Jane Sheldon & Alison Morgan
So often when reviewers write about a concert where there is new music most of the writing concerns the compositions and the performers are largely ignored.
Sydney Piano Trio inaugural concert – Classical: Redefined
An ensemble of the highest technical standard and that they bring a real excitement to the stage. The very enthusiastic audience gave them a welcome to remember.
Welcoming Ensemble Offspring: Hatched
In allowing two younger, but already highly experienced musicians to be part of their group for a year, Ensemble Offspring are both giving to the future and also gaining from the energy and delight that these musicians bring to all…
Resonance presents Taryn Fiebig and Chris Cartner in recital
The Right Balance Admired opera star Taryn Fiebig is best known for being able to project over a full orchestra so in her recital with pianist Chris Cartner it was more a case of finding the right balance and these…
Sirius Chamber Ensemble: Meet the composer
A wonderful series featuring composers, this time Christine Draeger & Paul Smith. It’s rare for an unfunded group have a concert wholly of new Australian works.
Katia Beaugeais, Jeremy Rose and the Sydney Conservatorium Modern Music Ensemble
The concert by the Sydney Conservatorium of Music Modern Music Ensemble (MME) on 6 September was one where the overall effect was greater than the component parts. It is of the utmost importance that the best of the students at…
Ensemble Three
Playing in the intimate Recital Hall East at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music Ensemble Three, Joel Brennan, trumpet, trombonist Don Immel and guitarist Ken Murray, all staff from the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, gave a recital to a knowledgeable and…
Halcyon’s Giving Voice: A beacon in Sydney’s musical culture
A beacon in Sydney’s musical culture & again the performances were exemplary & at the service of the music. One of the most important & satisfying concerts in Sydney.
Velika Gorica Brass Festival in Croatia
The Brass Festival Just south of the Croatian capital Zagreb is the city of Velika Gorica and for the last eight years Tom Spoljar has been the tireless and visionary music director of the VG Brass Festival. Spread over just…
Sirius Chamber Ensemble – music-making with a smile
SIRIUS CHAMBER ENSEMBLE 26th April, 2014 Glebe Justice Centre (formerly Glebe Cafe Church) The core players in the Sirius Chamber Ensemble, as evidenced in the recital in the informal surrounds of the Glebe Justice Centre, make up a wind quintet.…
Kingfisher: Songs for Halcyon
When any music ensemble commemorates 15 years it is cause for celebration but when that group specialises in music of ‘now’ and in particular that of Australian composers it is appropriate for all to cheer and to do so with a…