2024 Season Archive
Music at McClelland
Music at McClelland is generously supported by Igor Zambelli
In its third year, Music at McClelland represented the perfect fusion of art, music and nature. A beautiful program curated by Monica Curro, violinist MSO and Co-Artistic Director Port Fairy Spring Music Festival, Curro shares;
“I am so excited to unveil our third annual Music at McClelland Series in 2024, which celebrates the astounding talents of the best Australian creatives, and showcases the many facets of our Art Music prism, in this unique and glorious landscape setting of McClelland.
We kicked off in February with the sizzling jazz age Cairo Club Orchestra, then throughout the year we have a conga line of the most brilliant and beloved chamber groups - Ensemble Liaison, Sutherland Trio, Flinders Quartet, and Connection - the virtuosic yidaki (didgeridoo) of Amos Roach (Gunditjmara, Djab Wurrung, Ngarrandjerri), interwoven with flute, harp, viola, electronics and field recordings.
There’s a dazzling solo recital from superstar pianist Stefan Cassomenos; the trailblazing soprano and harpsichord duo of Judith Dodsworth & Joy Lee; and three concerts revealing the stars of the future, from three internationally recognised training institutions - the Melba Opera Trust, the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) Brass Ensemble, and the Australian Youth Orchestra Momentum Ensemble with percussionist extraordinaire Claire Edwardes.
In the intimate Sarah & Baillieu Myer Education Pavilion which overlooks the awe-inspiring bushland Sculpture Park, you’ll experience world premieres of new works alongside familiar favourites. You’ll be entertained, challenged, nourished and exhilarated.
We can’t wait to see you.”
Band leader, trumpeter, Egyptology enthusiast, and early jazz historian, Peter Milley, has led the famous Cairo Club Orchestra in Melbourne for forty years. Combined with his vast library of original Jazz Age band arrangements is Peter’s unique wit and detailed historical knowledge of the sound, repertoire, and performance nuances of the Jazz era.
The Cairo Club Orchestra features many of Melbourne’s highest calibre musicians who play with the sort of precision and cohesiveness that is developed through many years of performing together. Their innate sense of swing and hot solos played on period instruments convey an infectious sense of joy and fun as they romp their way through history’s dustbin to uncover long-forgotten hidden gems.
Described by Limelight magazine as a ‘national treasure’, Ensemble Liaison is one of Australia’s leading internationally acclaimed ensembles. They are renowned for their captivating and engaging performances, appealing to audiences from all walks of life. They presented their first concert series at The Edge, Melbourne, in 2007 and have become known as a tour de force, recognised for imaginative and innovative programming, setting the trend for brilliant collaborations with leading artists. They have performed across Australia and New Zealand, including a ten-concert tour for Chamber Music New Zealand, and appearances at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Government House, UKARIA, Musica Viva Australia, Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville, Port Fairy Spring Music Festival and the Woodend Winter Arts Festival, and in 2012 gave a series of festival performances in Central Europe. Critics have hailed their performances with superlatives such as ‘spellbinding’, ‘flawless’, ‘a revelation’, ‘moving’ and ‘joyous’.
The creation of new works is also a priority for Ensemble Liaison, with commissions by Paul Grabowsky, Ian Munro, Gordon Kerry, Tony Gould, Stuart Greenbaum, Elena Kats-Chernin, Jane Hammond, Michael Dooley, Thomas Reiner, Aleksandar Sedlar, Mark Viggiani and Mary Finsterer. Countless arrangements by the trio have also formed an integral part of their programming and artistic vision.
They have regularly recorded for broadcast on ABC Classic and 3MBS, and have released recordings to international acclaim on the Melba Recordings, Tall Poppies, ABC Classics labels as well as their own EL Records. They were ensemble-in-residence at Monash University from 2010 to 2016.
Melbourne pianist and composer Stefan Cassomenos is one of Australia’s most vibrant and versatile musicians. He has been performing internationally since the age of 10, and is now established as one of Australia’s leading pianists. As the recipient of multiple prizes including the Second Grand Prize in the prestigious International Telekom Beethoven Competition Bonn 2013, Cassomenos has performed throughout Europe and Asia, and now performs regularly in Australia, Germany and the UK.
He has performed concertos with several major Australian symphony orchestras, as well as orchestras overseas. Cassomenos is a founding member of chamber ensemble PLEXUS, which since launching in 2014 has commissioned and premiered over 110 new works. Cassomenos’ own compositions are regularly commissioned and performed throughout Australia. Cassomenos is joint Artistic Director of Port Fairy Spring Music Festival, with violinist Monica Curro, Cassomenos is generously supported by Kawai Australia.
Andrea Lam - piano
Elizabeth Sellars - violin
Molly Kadarauch - cello
Sutherland Trio combines the depth of experience belonging to three of Melbourne’s most celebrated musicians. Pianist Andrea Lam, cellist Molly Kadarauch and violinist Elizabeth Sellars are international prize-winners whose warm, engaging and sophisticated rapport shines and delights in their performances.
Formed in honour of the trailblazing Australian composer Margaret Sutherland, the trio highlights a female composer in each concert alongside exciting new works from around the globe and great classics of the piano trio repertoire. International and Australian premieres have included works by Lera Auerbach, Britta Bystrom, Stuart Greenbaum, Christine McCombe, Richard Danielpour, Katy Abbot, Caroline Almonte, Paul Grabowsky, Mary Finsterer and Missy Mazzoli.
During their fourteen-year collaboration, Sutherland Trio have curated consecutive concert-series programs at the Melbourne Recital Centre. The trio was honoured to be appointed inaugural fellows at the University of Melbourne's Medley Hall and as passionate educators, Sutherland Trio also performed concerts for young children at Melbourne Recital Centre and Monash University. Highlights have included performances for Musica Viva, Elder Hall, Port Fairy Festival, Macedon Music, 3MBS Marathons, Batemans Bay Music Society, Mornington Peninsula Summer Music Festival, Duneira, Melbourne Digital Concert Hall, Benalla Art Gallery and ABC Classic FM.
LEEWAY
an allowable margin of freedom or variation
sideways drift, partic. of a vessel (eg. boat or aircraft)
the freedom to take a desired action or enact a change in plans
Judith Dodsworth (voice) and Joy Lee (harpsichord)
Judith Dodsworth and Joy Lee have combined forces in this exciting new collaboration which aims to surprise, challenge and delight. Works by Renaissance and Baroque luminaries Antonia Bembo, Barbara Strozzi and John Dowland sit alongside Michael Nyman and Aerosmith, redefining the canon for voice and harpsichord. How much leeway is possible when performing music of different styles? What happens when we step past the ‘allowable margin of freedom’?
As a soprano of “extraordinary range and versatility”, Judith Dodsworth is well-known to Melbourne audiences and is equally at home in opera, chamber music and on the concert platform. Through her numerous collaborations and performances of new works, she has established a reputation as one of Australia’s leading exponents of contemporary classical vocal music.
Joy Lee lives in regional Victoria on the land of the Wadawurrung people. Passionate about contemporary music, Joy collaborates with Australian and international composers in realising new works for piano, harpsichord and clavichord. As a harpsichordist her repertoire spans the breadth of the late Renaissance and Baroque eras to music written this year. She also surfs along the Victorian coast and pursues various projects associated with language and bicycles.
Melba Opera Trust was established in 2008 to provide scholarships to develop Australia’s most promising young opera singers and repetiteurs.
Opera is so much more than beautiful singing. At its best, it brings together the powerful expression of the human voice and the drama of musical storytelling. No one knew that better than Dame Nellie Melba. Her legacy, the Melba Opera Trust, is dedicated to preparing exceptional young Australian artists with the artistry, stagecraft and well-rounded professionalism that will make them ready for success on the international stage.
Featuring Award-winning First Nations soprano, Nina Korbe. Korbe is an accomplished young performer quickly establishing herself in the Opera industry as a rising talent. Nina has been praised for her creamy tone, brilliant top notes and sensitive performances, which continue to delight audiences.
A glistening afternoon of chamber music, performed by musicians from the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM). This program features the best of the brass quintet repertoire, including a world premiere of a new work by Brisbane-based composer, Thomas Green.
*World Premiere
ANAM Brass Quintet
Lewis Grey (NZ) trumpet
Stephen Mosa’ati (NZ) trumpet
Oliver Harris (NSW) horn
Max Gregg (NSW) trombone
Karina Filipi (ANAM Faculty) tuba
Yoram Levy (ANAM Head of Brass / Faculty) trumpet
The Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) is dedicated to training the most exceptional young classical musicians from Australia and New Zealand.
It is the only professional performance training institute of its kind in Australia, and one of few in the world. ANAM musicians fly between the stage and the studio; performing in over 180 events each year and receiving more than 60 hours of one-on one training and hundreds of hours of coaching from an esteemed Faculty and impressive list of national and international guest artists. With an outstanding track record of success, ANAM alumni work in orchestras and chamber ensembles around the world, performing as soloists, contributing to educating the next generation of musicians, and winning major national and international awards. ANAM aims to inspire these future music leaders and encourages audiences to share the experience.
With a compelling ensemble of yidaki (didgeridoo), flute, viola and harp, Connection is an art music pilgrimage inspired by Country and birdsong where evocative Australian soundscapes sit alongside works by the Nature lover Claude Debussy.
Performed by contemporary music trailblazers Amos Roach, Johanna Selleck, Molly Collier-O’Boyle and Jacinta Dennett, Connection features compositions by Roach, Selleck, Collier-O’Boyle, William Vyvyan Murray and Alicia Grant, and two works by Debussy.
Highlights of the selection welcome contemplation, especially around feelings of home and belonging amidst Australia’s physical and psychological landscape. Roach’s “Gwungal Moronn”, from his healing Songline The Six Seasons about the Indigenous seasons of Gariwerd, leads the way as the composer draws on his proud Gunditjmara, Djab Wurrung and Ngarrandjerri heritage. Balliyang: Flying-fox: Bat recounts the creation story of the Kulin nation and was collaboratively composed by Roach and Murray. Murray’s 1st Suite continues the exploration of Indigenous animals by filling the space with the distinct repartee of the currawong, wattlebird, magpie and bellbird. Grant’s Three Pieces for Harp musically depicts an imagined coastal environment and pays homage to Debussy. Bird songs return for Selleck’s HOON: Black Cockatoo!, which juxtaposes the full ensemble with field recordings compiled by ornithologist Graeme Chapman. And Debussy’s evocative Syrinx for solo flute and his wonderland dreamscape Deuxieme Sonate for flute, viola and harp sit beautifully within the program as inspirations and timeless reflections on the natural world.
Challenging and championing the role of the string quartet in 21st century Australia.
Flinders Quartet (FQ) is instantly recognisable as one of Australia’s most loved chamber music ensembles. They are a quartet for the 21st century and a highly respected force in Australian chamber music, entering their third decade with acknowledged musical skill and maturity.
“… an exemplary performance … It was a joy to hear this finely wrought music so superbly rendered.”
CLASSIC MELBOURNE, August 2022
Over twenty years, FQ has followed a unique path and continues to live up to its motto of “caring for tradition, daring to be different” through its busy schedule of activities.
The Australian Youth Orchestra (AYO) has a reputation for being one of the world's most prestigious and innovative training organisations for your pre-professional musicians.
Fresh Beats & Brilliance
Claire Edwardes OAM & AYO Momentum Ensemble
Violin - Adrian Biemmi
Cello - Erna Lai
Flute - Jessica Walther
Clarinet - Lewis Blanchard
Percussion - Claire Edwardes OAM
Piano - Sarah Chick
Internationally acclaimed percussionist and champion of female representation in music, Claire Edwardes takes the wheel on a thrilling trip through modern classical. Featuring 'living’ works by leading Australian artists Mary Finsterer, Brenda Gifford and Ross Edwards with a world premiere by Alice Chance, this ride will be electric.
AYO's leading lights will also perform South Catalina by Chris Cerrone and Lost & Found by Molly Joyce. Following a career-altering car accident, this graduate of Juilliard, Yale and the Royal Conservatory in The Hague employs her disability as a source of creativity with powerful results and has been deemed one of the “most versatile, prolific and intriguing composers working under the vast new-music dome” by The Washington Post. Curious? Then climb aboard.
About Momentum Ensemble:
AYO’s Momentum Ensemble acts as a springboard for exceptional young musicians who want to develop a multi-faceted career in music. The aim of these musicians is to democratize Classical music, bringing new interpretations and unconventional works to audiences, and performing in venues that transcend the boundaries of the traditional recital hall.
Momentum Ensemble emerged out of a desire to fill a vocational and training gap for young musicians who are at the cusp of their professional careers. Members of the ensemble will gain teaching skills, access professional development opportunities, and develop skills that will assist them in launching a career as a versatile artist of the 21st century.