3 – 7 February 2021 16 of Australia’s leading artists perform 15 recitals to restart City of Greater Bendigo’s classical music scene. Co-directors Chris Howlett and Howard Penny, with the City of Greater Bendigo are thrilled to announce the 2021…
Review: Bach Akademie Australia’s Luminous Christmas Joy
Weihnachtsfreude Wednesday 16th December 2020 Introduced by Chris Howlett from the Melbourne Digital Concert Hall, the Bach Akademie Australia offered a wonderfully spirited performance of Christmas Joy in celebration of the impending season. A small ensemble of experts familiar on…
Review: Symphonic Saxes at old 505 | Nexas+Granger
Nexas Quartet’s collaboration with harpist Emily Granger at Old 505 last week was the closest I have yet come since Covid infected our lives to attending a live orchestral concert in the traditional sense – with each work on the…
The Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra launches into 2021
After a ‘year they will never forget’, Co-Artistic Directors of the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra, Rachael Beesley and Nicole van Bruggen are excited to be returning to the concert hall. While their 2020 season was cut short after just…
Review: Hallelujah for The Song Company
Full disclosure before you read on, I am a not-so-secret Handel fangirl. In fact as I reflect on my year I realise I have actually seen 3 (yes 3) live performances of Handel’s Messiah’s in the past 12 months… This…
CD Review: Inventi Ensemble | Musical Storytelling at its Finest
Between the Melbourne lockdowns of 2020, Inventi Ensemble were hard at work recording their second and third albums over three days, producing a vibrant and innovative collection of musical masterpieces. Women of the Earth Their new album, Women of the…
Review: A memorable performance by The Melbourne Ensemble
Melbourne Ensemble and Dale Barltrop | Schubert’s Octet Melbourne Digital Concert Hall’s Hamer Hall Series | Nov 25, 2020 In 1824, towards the end of his tragically short life, Schubert composed his Octet in F major D803, which he…
Review: Wilma & Friends presents Beethoven treats
Melbourne Digital Concert Hall – Hamer Hall Series 26 November 2020 For classical music lovers, one of the beacons of hope during the pandemic has been the Melbourne Digital Concert Hall (MDCH). The brainchild of Chris Howlett and Adele Schonhardt,…
Review | Sophie Rowell + Kristian Chong light up Hamer Hall
Melbourne Digital Concert Hall – Hamer Hall Series 3 X 3: MOZART, MYTHS AND MANTRAS Thursday 26th November Introduced by Chris Howlett and broadcast live through the Melbourne Digital Concert Hall, well-known violinist and concertmaster of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra…
Elizabeth Anderson on MDCH ‘Thrilling!’
Elizabeth Anderson (harpsichord) | JS Bach: Goldberg Variations Melbourne Digital Concert Hall 8:30pm Friday 20 November, 2020 Approaching Bach’s Goldberg Variations as a listener requires a certain reverence. Although there are many dramatic moments, the Aria and 30 variations…
Review: Weichnachtsfreude
Bach Akademie Australia Christ Church St Laurence, Friday November 13, 2020 In the first orchestral concert for Christ Church St Laurence since COVID struck down the performing arts, the exquisite Bach Akademie Australia chamber ensemble presented two intimate evening concerts,…
Review: ‘ACC5’ sweet & concise
Australian Chamber Choir – Water Music Sunday 15th November Performed by: The Australian Chamber Choir’s ACC5 directed by Lucien Fischer Amelia Jones and Ailsa Webb – Soprano Elizabeth Anderson – Contralto Anish Nair – Tenor Lucien Fischer – Bass In…
Circle of Virtue: Dramatic ecstatic production by The Song Company
Circle of Virtue Darlinghurst Nov 13 Holding the Medieval trumpet he was later to use in the Symphonia Antony Pitts (Artistic Director of The Song Company and Musical Director and Music Editor of this performance) introduced Hildegard von Bingen’s visionary work,…
Review: Phoenix Collective’s best program of 2020!
Folk and Songs 2.30pm Nov 14, Annandale The title of this review is a direct quote from violinist, and founder of the Phoenix Collective, Dan Russell describing the program of Folk and Songs, their concert in Sydney on Saturday afternoon.…
Review: Selby and Friends’ Magical Performance
Selby and Friends | A Final Offering Susie Park, violin | Stefanie Farrands, viola | Timo-Veikko Valve, cello | Kathryn Selby, piano A year or two ago I invested in some fairly decent speakers for my computer. In this year…
Review: Oliver Shermacher – Prodigious talent and poise
Oliver Shermacher, virtuoso clarinet player and Willoughby Symphony Orchestra’s 2020 Artist in Residence, certainly had an esteemed audience at his recent concert… two guest reviewers, Claire Edwardes (percussionist, highly regarded in the Australian new music scene) and Andrew Howes (Sydney-based…
CD Review: Michael Kieran Harvey’s Greta
Greta Composed and performed by Michael Kieran Harvey Michael Kieran Harvey is one of Australia’s cultural icons – a warrior for causes both artistic and for those that will ensure our planet heals after centuries of environmental abuse. At the…
Happy 25th Anniversary Balmain Baroque!
BALMAIN BAROQUE – 25th Anniversary Virtual Concert Saturday 31st October In these unwelcome times, it has been a heartening circumstance that Sydney-based ensemble Balmain Baroque were able to celebrate 25 years of music-making since their inaugural concert given at St…
CD Review: Lachlan Skipworth’s second album a revelation…
The name Lachlan Skipworth may be as unfamiliar to you as it was to me but it won’t remain so for long. Hailing from Western Australia, where he studied the clarinet, he has immersed himself in advanced musical study and…