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…
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 Alph…
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 o…
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…
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 e…
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 wor…
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 Au…
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 qual…
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 o…
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 sev…
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
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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 prese…
Australian music in Albania, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia
Paul’s performances will be broadcast on Serbian radio and on Albanian radio and television.
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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.
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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 litt…
Review | Australia Ensemble’s Bohemian Dreams
Hornist Rob Johnson and pianist Ian Munro entranced the audience with music that was simple and yet strangely mysterious.
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Review | 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 Troisiè…
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.
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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.
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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 th…
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 bal…
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.
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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 …
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 Conse…
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.
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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 Fe…
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…
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…