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1341_WESF - Arts Sponsorship Campaign 2014 - Musica Viva_Ad 2015_240x150_V2_UPDATE 03.02.15.indd 1 3/02/15 9:51 AM

1341_WESF - Arts Sponsorship Campaign 2014 - Musica Viva_Ad 2015_240x150_V2_UPDATE 03.02.15.indd 1 3/02/15 9:51 AM

ADELAIDEADELAIDE TOWN HALL THURSDAY 13 JULY, 7.30PM Pre-concert talk, 6.45pm (Prince Alfred Room)

CD signing after concert

BRISBANECONSERVATORIUM THEATRE, GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY, SOUTH BANK THURSDAY 6 JULY, 7PMRecorded for delayed broadcast on 4MBS-FM

Presented in association with Queensland Music Festival

Pre-concert talk, 6.15pm (Ian Hanger Recital Hall)

Meet the Artists after concert

MELBOURNEELISABETH MURDOCH HALL, MELBOURNE RECITAL CENTRE SATURDAY 8 JULY, 7PMPre-concert talk, 6.15pm (Boardroom, Level 2)

CD signing after concert

TUESDAY 18 JULY, 7PM Pre-concert talk, 6.15pm (Boardroom, Level 2)

Meet the Artists after concert

NEWCASTLEHAROLD LOBB CONCERT HALL NEWCASTLE CONSERVATORIUM OF MUSIC THURSDAY 20 JULY, 7.30PMRecorded for delayed broadcast on 2NURFM

Pre-concert talk, 6.45pm (Room 118 – entry via foyer)

CD signing after concert

PERTHPERTH CONCERT HALL TUESDAY 11 JULY, 7.30PMRecorded for delayed broadcast on ABC Classic FM

Pre-concert talk, 6.45pm (Corner Stage, Riverside, Terrace Level)

CD signing after concert

SYDNEYCITY RECITAL HALL SATURDAY 15 JULY, 2PMPre-concert talk, 1.15pm (Function Room, Level 1)

Meet the Artists after concert

MONDAY 24 JULY, 7PMRecorded for delayed broadcast on Fine Music 102.5

Pre-concert talk, 6.15pm (Function Room, Level 1)

CD signing after concert

AlexanderSitkovetsky violin BartholomewLaFollette cello WuQian piano

Musica Viva is assisted by the Commonwealth Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body. Musica Viva is assisted

by the NSW Government through Create NSW.

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ADDITIONALACTIVITYThe Sitkovetsky Trio will perform in Hobart Town Hall on Monday 17 July at 8pm, and at Coffs Harbour Education Campus on Saturday 22 July at 8pm as part of Musica Viva’s CountryWide program.

The Sitkovetsky Trio will present the following masterclass during this tour:Sydney: Friday 14 July, 5.30–7pm, Green Square Library

The Musica Viva Masterclass program is supported by principal patrons Stephen Johns & Michele Bender, the Sydney Conservatorium Association (NSW), Lyn Hamill & Ian Dover (QLD), Wesfarmers Arts (WA) and Mary Turner oam (Newcastle).

FROMTHEARTISTICDIRECTOR

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CARLVINEaoARTISTIC DIRECTOR MUSICA VIVA AUSTRALIA

The Sitkovetsky Trio returns to Australia following its highly acclaimed concert tour for Musica Viva in 2014. Although from vastly different backgrounds, Alexander, Qian and Bartholomew were all chosen to study at the famous Yehudi Menuhin School in England, which provides targeted tuition for musically gifted children from all over the world. Chamber music is a compulsory part of the curriculum for the youngsters, and this trio dates its shared love of the form back to their early school days.

Since forming in 2007 the trio has received armsful of awards and fellowships including the International Commerzbank Chamber Music Award, the NORDMETALL Chamber Music Award, the Philharmonia-Martin Chamber Music Award, the Kirckman Society Award and the Tillett Trust Award. The group has appeared in major concert houses around the world including performances of the Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Berlin Konzerthaus Orchester.

The program for this tour starts with an all-Russian first half featuring Rachmaninoff’s eloquent single-movement Trio élégiaque no 1, written when the composer was just 19 years old, but which remained unpublished during his lifetime. This is followed by Shostakovich’s remarkable Second Piano Trio, written in the midst of the Second World War and sandwiched, a year on either side, by the composer’s Seventh and Eighth Symphonies.

The second half opens with the Piano Trio of noted Australian composer Lachlan Skipworth, commissioned by Julian Burnside ao qc for first performance at the Musica Viva Festival in 2015. The work is aesthetically linked to the traditional shakuhachi piece Daha (‘pounding wave’) and conjures up, in turn, the rhythm of waves striking against rocks, floating tranquillity and the relentless power of the ocean.

The program closes with Mendelssohn’s ever popular Piano Trio no 1, a work that the Sitkovetskys have played more than any other, but which continues to bring joy to the players. As Qian says, ‘You can just close your eyes and pour your heart into it.’

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FROMTHECHIEFEXECUTIVEOFFICER

Thankyou,BakerMcKenzie

Music and the law seem to share a special affinity. On a personal level, my father and grandfather were firstly musicians who became lawyers, remaining strong supporters of the arts throughout their lives – a story that has often been repeated, I know.

History is also filled with many examples of those who went the opposite direction, leaving law to pursue music. Part of the following list is borrowed from an Australian blog entitled Survive Law:

• Handel went to law school to please his parents but later dropped out.Tchaikovsky worked in Russia’s Ministry of Justice before throwing it all in for composing.

• Rameau, Chausson and Stravinsky all forsook law for composition.

• Paul Simon, of Simon & Garfunkel, and numerous famous rock guitarists all dropped out of law school to pursue lives as musicians.

• Retired NSW Supreme Court Justice George Palmer has composed for years, including his operatic adaptation of Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet which premiered last year in Adelaide.

From the very beginnings of Musica Viva, lawyers have played an important role. Perhaps best known was Ken Tribe, who not only performed the role of Artistic Director for many years, but also helped shape the legal framework on which Musica Viva and many other arts organisations in Australia were built.

As soon as Baker McKenzie opened its Australian office in 1964, it set up a pro bono agreement with Musica Viva to assist with our legal needs. Michael Ahrens, then the firm’s managing partner, remains a Musica Viva Sydney subscriber and generous donor well past his retirement from the legal profession.

MARYJOCAPPSCHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER MUSICA VIVA AUSTRALIA

We are delighted to see that Baker McKenzie’s commitment to assisting the not-for-profit world has not lessened over the years – a commitment we certainly pushed to its limits this past year with the generational change in our constitution and property. This was on top of the support we regularly receive from them, particularly in matters of contracting and intellectual property.

To show our gratitude, Baker McKenzie are acknowledged as tour sponsors of this tour by the Sitkovetsky Trio. Thank you for your unwavering support for Musica Viva!

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MEETTHEARTISTS

SITKOVETSKY TRIO

Music at Trinity Laban College of Music, as well as a Fellowship at the Royal Northern College of Music.

The Sitkovetsky Trio has performed in leading concert halls across Europe, including the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Frankfurt Alte Oper, Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels and the Wigmore Hall. Recent highlights have included performances of the Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Berlin Konzerthaus Orchestra under Gabriel Feltz at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival. Further afield, the Trio undertook its debut tour of the USA in 2015, which included concerts in San Francisco and Washington DC.

The Sitkovetsky Trio’s first recording, of works by Smetana, Suk and Dvorák, was released by BIS Records in 2014, to critical

First Prize-winners at the 2008 International Commerzbank Chamber Music Awards and recipients of the NORDMETALL Chamber Music Award at the 2009 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, the Sitkovetsky Trio was formed in 2007 and has since emerged as one of today’s most outstanding piano trios. Their dynamic, high-energy performances as well as their thoughtful and committed approach have brought the ensemble numerous awards and critical acclaim.

As a trio they have won the Philharmonia Orchestra’s Martin Ensemble Award, the Kirckman Society Award, and the Tillett Trust Award. They held a Junior Fellowship at the Royal Academy of Music in 2007–08 and 2008–10, and were recipients of the Golubovich Fellowship and the Richard Cairnes Junior Fellowship for Chamber

Bartholomew LaFolletteAlexander Sitkovetsky

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acclaim. This was followed by a release on the Wigmore Live label of works by Brahms and Schubert, with their second disc for BIS, of Mendelssohn Trios, being released in 2015 to a similarly warm reception.

Alexander Sitkovetsky was born in Moscow into a family with an established musical tradition, made his concerto debut at the age of eight and the same year began studies at the Yehudi Menuhin School. Lord Menuhin was his inspiration throughout his school years and they performed together on several occasions, including the Bach Double Violin Concerto, Bartók duos at St James’ Palace, and the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto under Menuhin’s baton. He has gone on to perform with the Netherlands Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, English Chamber Orchestra,

Academy of St Martin in the Fields and the BBC Concert Orchestra, among many others. He has shared the stage with Julia Fischer, Janine Jansen, Mischa Maisky, Polina Leschenko and Julian Rachlin.

Bartholomew LaFollette has a rich and varied career as an international soloist and chamber musician. After being launched by YCAT (Young Classical Artists Trust) with numerous performances at the Wigmore Hall, Barbican Centre, Bridgewater Hall and the Royal Festival Hall, he went on to win First Prize at the inaugural The Arts Club / Decca Records Classical Music Award. He is artistic director of the Marryat Players Chamber Music Festival, now in its third year, which takes place in Wimbledon Village. In 2011, at the age of 26, Bartholomew LaFollette was appointed Principal Cello Teacher at the Yehudi Menuhin School.

Wu Qian was selected as the classical music Bright Young Star for 2007 by The Independent newspaper. She received her early training in Shanghai before enrolling in the Yehudi Menuhin School at age 13. She made her debut recital at the Southbank’s Purcell Room in 2000 and has since performed there on several occasions, including in a recital broadcast by BBC Radio 3. Wu Qian has given recitals throughout Europe and played in the Steinway Halls of Hamburg and New York, where her performance was broadcast throughout Asia. Her debut solo recording was released in 2009 on the Dal Segno label to unanimous critical acclaim.

This is the Sitkovetsky Trio’s second national tour for Musica Viva.

Danjulo Ishizaka, originally advertised as cellist for this program, is unable to appear and we welcome Bartholomew LaFollette in his stead.

Wu Qian

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KENNETHWTRIBEac(1914–2010)

The concert on Monday 24 July celebrates Ken Tribe’s contribution to Musica Viva Australia.

Kenneth Wilberforce Tribe was born in Sydney in 1914, the second of three children born to Cecil and Elizabeth Tribe. Having attended St Andrew’s Cathedral Choir School, Ken won scholarships to Sydney Church of England Grammar School, then to the University of Sydney to study Law, graduating in 1937 (music not being regarded as a viable occupation during that time of the Great Depression).

Despite family responsibilities and an extremely demanding professional life, Ken soon began a pattern of engaging in activities outside of his profession; the most significant and long-standing of these associations was with Musica Viva. In 1949 Ken joined Musica Viva as Chairman of the executive and in 1966 took on the role of Artistic Director, which amalgamated with that of President in 1973. It was Ken’s initiative that created Musica Viva’s National Board in 1980–81.

Through the 1970s and 1980s Ken’s influence in Australian cultural life was far-reaching. He served on boards and committees for organisations including the Australia Council for the Arts, Canberra School of Music, Sydney College of the Arts, the NSW Arts Advisory Council, the Australian Opera and the Australian Broadcasting Commission, as it was then known.

With apparently endless energy Ken also worked on the boards of a number of trusts, funds and in different capacities with a large number of arts bodies. Much of Ken’s value to the community over the years was ‘behind the scenes’ support, always pro bono.

Ken retired from the Presidency of Musica Viva in 1986 and was Patron until his death in July 2010. He maintained a visionary commitment to commissioning new music from Australian composers and his support has enabled new works by luminary composers including the late Richard Meale, the late Peter Sculthorpe, Ross Edwards, Carl Vine and Nigel Westlake. This commitment will continue to be honoured by Musica Viva through the Ken Tribe Commemorative Fund for Australian Composers.

It would be impossible to overstate Ken’s impact on the arts in Australia and on music especially. Our lives have been enriched because of his unique capacity to combine plain hard work with a vision of what things might be. As part of Musica Viva for more than 60 years, Ken’s influence was enormous.

© Gwen Bennett and Musica Viva Australia

Memorial donations to the Ken Tribe Fund for Australian Composers are gratefully accepted through Musica Viva.

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PROGRAMSergeiRACHMANINOFF(1873–1943)

Trio élégiaque no 1 (1892) 16 min

Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH(1906–1975)

Piano Trio no 2, op 67 (1944) 27 min

I Andante (Moving along, at a walking pace)

II Allegro con brio (Fast and lively)

III Largo (Slow)

IV Allegretto (Fairly fast)

I N T E R VA L

LachlanSKIPWORTH(b 1982)

Piano Trio (2015) 15 min

[In three movements]

Commissioned for Musica Viva by Julian Burnside ao qc

FelixMENDELSSOHN(1809–1847)

Piano Trio no 1, op 49 (1839) 27 min

I Molto allegro agitato (Very fast and agitated)

II Andante con molto tranquillo (Moving along with great tranquillity)

III Scherzo: Leggiero e vivace (Light and lively)

IV Finale: Allegro assai appassionato (Fast and very passionate)

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ABOUTTHEMUSICa single-movement work that they could perform together. The concert was also an effort to raise much-needed finances. In a letter to a friend, Rachmaninoff confided, ‘I’m sure that cold water will be thrown over my first appearance, but that means nothing; I can bear that too. May the Lord only justify the hopes people have placed in me.’ Although his debut was a complete financial disaster, it was an artistic success.

Rachmaninoff’s trio already exhibits the musical trademarks of his mature works. In the opening, the string instruments provide the initial setting – a trembling background – but it is the piano that first takes the focus with a rising, yet characteristically sombre melody. Throughout, the piano’s role alternates between delivering melody and supporting the strings with expansive chords, evidently shaped for the Rachmaninoff’s notoriously large hands. Offering some balance against the piano’s virtuoso flourishes, the violin and cello are often presented in sections together, taking turns to carry the melody. However, the piano clearly carries the dominant role in this work; Rachmaninoff’s early affinity for writing for his own instrument is striking.

SergeiRACHMANINOFF(1873–1943)

Trio élégiaque no 1 (1892)

In 1892, the 19-year-old Rachmaninoff was in his final year of compositional studies at the Moscow Conservatoire. In an indication of what was to come, it was the first period in which the young pianist–composer would attempt to juggle extensive concert appearances alongside his compositional ambitions. His various works that year included his First Piano Trio in G minor; a set of five solo piano pieces – one of which, the Prelude in C-sharp minor op 3 no 2, would become one of his most famous compositions; and the opera Aleko, his graduation work, which was awarded the highest prizes on offer by the Conservatoire, with its composer hailed by critics as ‘one to expect much from’. The trio, however, like much of the chamber music he composed in his early years, has remained relatively unknown.

Rachmaninoff composed the trio in just four days, driven by an immediate practical need: he was scheduled to make his formal public debut as pianist–composer a week later. The occasion, a chamber recital, was to be shared with a violinist and cellist, and Rachmaninoff took the opportunity to write Rachmaninoff's hands

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The title Trio élégiaque suggests homage to Tchaikovsky, one of Rachmaninoff’s respected role models. Though the work bears no textual dedication, Tchaikovsky’s own elegiac Trio (op 50) had been dedicated to one of his former mentors, and it was likely that Rachmaninoff was making a similar gesture of respect. The following year, in 1893, Rachmaninoff was deeply shocked to hear of Tchaikovsky’s sudden death, and commenced his Second Piano Trio. Also titled Trio élégiaque, this work would be officially dedicated by Rachmaninoff ‘to the memory of a great artist – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’.

Angela Turner © 2017

DmitriSHOSTAKOVICH(1906–1975)

Piano Trio no 2, op 67 (1944)

I Andante (Moving along, at a walking pace) II Allegro con brio (Fast and lively) III Largo (Slow) IV Allegretto (Fairly fast)

Shostakovich’s Second Piano Trio was composed during one of the darkest periods in World War II. The prolonged Siege of Leningrad – resulting in the deaths of over

1.5 million soldiers and civilians – had only just come to an end. Among the estimated two million evacuees of the city were the Leningrad Philharmonic and their Artistic Director, Russian polymath Ivan Sollertinsky. Though many civilians had escaped to Siberia, the bleak conditions resulted in further deaths. Upon hearing of Sollertinsky’s tragic passing on 11 February, 1944, Shostakovich wrote to Sollertinsky’s widow: ‘I cannot express in words all of the grief I felt when I received the news of the death of Ivan Ivanovic. He was my closest friend. I owe all my education to him. It will be unbelievably hard for me to live without him.’

Shostakovich had recently been sketching plans for a piano trio, but on 15 February, four days after Sollertinsky’s death, he began his piano trio anew. The work is a fitting elegy to his remarkable friend, but like many of Shostakovich’s wartime compositions, it can also be viewed as commentary upon the sufferings of the entire nation. As Hitler’s armies retreated from the Eastern front, reports of the horrors at the death camps and the targeted treatment of the Jewish people began to filter through. Though not himself Jewish, Shostakovich identified with their suffering. Unable to speak publicly at the time, he would later write about the intent for his ‘music to be an active force’.

The trio opens with a modal theme, played by cello alone, high in the instrument’s register using harmonics. Well known to cellists for its difficulties in execution, Shostakovich’s writing conveys an eerie sense of lament, at once inhuman, otherworldly and yet reflective in its very opening utterance. The violin soon enters in counterpoint, acting unusually as bass line to the cello, which James Keller insightfully describes as ‘assuming the aspect of reality’. The piano enters last

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Without pause, the piano quietly sets the fourth movement in motion with a series of repeated notes. Like the earlier lively scherzo, the finale twists the characters of despair and joy. Shostakovich seems to convey one thing on the surface, but unsettlingly something darker lurks below. In this movement, he uses a prominent Jewish dance theme and inflections, such as the two-note slur and interval of the second. Shostakovich described his fascination with Jewish music, explaining, ‘It’s multifaceted, it can appear to be happy while it is tragic. It’s almost always laughter through tears. This quality of Jewish folk music is close to my ideas of what music should be. There should always be two layers in music.’

According to Shostakovich scholar Ian MacDonald, the composer was ‘horrified by stories that SS guards had made their victims dance beside their own graves’, and reflected this brutality in the finale. Shostakovich writes, ‘Jews were tormented for so long that they learned to hide their despair. They express despair in dance music.’ At times almost orchestral, bursting at the seams, the finale references fragments of themes from earlier movements.

with echoes of the same theme, almost in a processional role, deep in its register. (This layered approach, as introduced in the opening pages, is to play an important role throughout the entire trio.) Ever so progressively, the ethereal characters give way to detached, repeated notes, and the writing becomes increasingly chromatic, while also building in speed, drive, and angular, forced joviality.

Forced joviality turns into something more menacing and sarcastic in the second movement. Shostakovich uses a lively tempo and the remote key of F-sharp major, while also filling the score with markings such as marcatissimo, pesante (very accented, heavily) to illuminate the character of this driven, ironic scherzo.

In direct contrast to the propelled second movement, the third movement Largo opens with a series of eight rather brutal, sometimes surprising, solo piano chords. Underscoring the entire movement, these funerary chords form a passacaglia, repeated in sequence six times with differing dynamic levels, whilst the strings grieve and entwine above.

ABOUTTHEMUSIC

Shostakovich at the piano in concert

Shostakovich's close friend Ivan Sollertinsky

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Almost like memories and emotions, they reappear until exhausted, leaving all on the battlefield.

Continuing in the tradition of elegiac Russian piano trios, Shostakovich dedicated the work to the memory of Sollertinsky. It was premiered with the composer at the piano, with close collaborators Dmitri Tsyganov (violin) and Sergei Shirinsky (cello), in the Great Hall of the Leningrad Philharmonic on 14 November, 1944.

Angela Turner © 2017

LachlanSKIPWORTH (b 1982)

Piano Trio (2015)

[In three movements]

Commissioned for Musica Viva by Julian Burnside ao qc

The music of Lachlan Skipworth combines a sense of open space and stillness of his native Australia with the colour and yearning of honkyoku, ancient solo pieces for the Japanese shakuhachi flute. After studying this repertoire intensely for three years in Japan, Skipworth returned home to hone and refine his experience into a highly personal musical language, working

closely with his principal teacher, Anne Boyd.

Skipworth has since composed works that display the sensitivity of his craft across many genres. Light Rain (2009) sets the shakuhachi itself amongst a string quartet to depict raindrops falling gently on water. The work has gone on to receive performances across Australia, Japan, and the USA. Dark Nebulae (2011) for saxophone quartet depicts the colossal rumblings of deep space by layering rich multiphonics to create thick churning clouds of sound mass. The work was nominated for an APRA–AMC Art Music Award and has been performed in France, Switzerland and the USA, as well as major cities in Australia.

Afterglow (2012) was performed in the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s Metropolis Series conducted by Thomas Adès, and his Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra (2014), premiered by the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, won the Paul Lowin Prize for orchestral composition and represented Australia in the 2016 International Rostrum of Composers. Recent compositions include Intercurrent for Ensemble Offspring, Echoes and Lines for Arcadia Winds, and Spiritus for the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, where he is currently Composer in Residence.

The composer writes:

This Piano Trio is in three distinct movements, all sharing a link to the traditional shakuhachi piece Daha (often translated as ‘pounding wave’), which I learned during my time studying the instrument in Japan. This piece is unique for its juxtaposed depictions of the ocean as a symbol of both unwavering strength and calm quietude.

The opening movement is a direct re-imagining of Daha, with the strident

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ABOUTTHEMUSICsetting of the original melody in sevenths and ninths combining with syncopated rhythmic material to conjure the forceful image of waves striking against rocks. These stronger gestures are interspersed with more tranquil sections sustained by floating parallel harmonies.

The second movement seeks to embody ma, a sense of unmeasured yet proportional space common to many Japanese art forms. Unlike the first movement, the musical material is not directly linked to the piece Daha itself, but rather to the musical aesthetics I learned through shakuhachi.

The third and final movement grows quickly from the rising major seventh motif of the opening into a web of falling scales and, later, cluster harmony. The result is a restless forward momentum further invoking the spirit of Daha and the unrelenting power of the ocean.

Lachlan Skipworth © 2015

FelixMENDELSSOHN (1809–1847)

Piano Trio no 1, op 49 (1839)

I Molto allegro agitato (Very fast

and agitated)

II Andante con molto tranquillo

(Moving along with great

tranquillity)

III Scherzo: Leggiero e vivace

(Light and lively)

IV Finale: Allegro assai appassionato

(Fast and very passionate)

Mendelssohn demonstrated a fondness for chamber music involving pianos from an early age. His first, unpublished, piano trio, written at the age of eleven, remains lost with other juvenilia. His first published works at the age of 13 were for the combination of piano and strings. By his

early twenties, he’d expressed the intent to compose, in his own words, ‘a couple of good [piano] trios’. But partially because of his hectic schedule with varied performance activities, and a frustrating period of writer’s block, it wasn’t until about nine years later that he completed the first of his two mature piano trios.

The op 49 Trio was completed in July 1839, and Mendelssohn played it for his friend Ferdinand Hiller, who expressed his deep admiration, but mentioned one small misgiving: he felt the piano writing was ‘somewhat old-fashioned’. Having ‘lived many years in Paris, seeing Liszt frequently, and Chopin every day,’ wrote Hiller, ‘I was thoroughly accustomed to the richness of passages which marked the new pianoforte school. I made some observations to Mendelssohn on this point, suggesting certain alterations.’ Though initially reluctant, Mendelssohn ultimately reworked the piano part, giving a brilliance that one might now assume from a virtuoso composer–pianist of that period. With the trio’s more modern exterior, but using his respected Classical structures, he signed off on the score and sent it to his publishers in September 1839.

The opening of the trio features an arching, lyrical cello melody which, were it not for

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the brooding, agitated chords from the piano, might even seem reflective. As Robert Philip colourfully suggests, ‘the effect is like a great liner sweeping through choppy seas.’ Though the piano writing bears the influence of the virtuoso Romantic school, there is never the impression of virtuosity purely for virtuosity’s sake. Mendelssohn’s Classical ideals, along with the minor key and the unified lyricism of the string writing, impart a seriousness of purpose.

The second movement shows the influence of the composer’s own Songs without Words – tender solo piano works with the melody floating above an accompaniment figure. Set in the relative warmth of B-flat major, the piano leads the movement before handing the theme to the strings ‘in a singing style’. The dialogue between piano and strings continues, with a shift from major to minor providing touching contrast.

Marked ‘light and lively’, the third movement Scherzo evokes the nimble, scurrying ‘fairy’ world of his overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Featuring delicate textures and fleet fingerwork (for which Mendelssohn as pianist was renowned), the opening theme is tossed from one instrument to another, seamlessly propelling itself

throughout the movement. A darker middle section provides momentary contrast, before returning to the elfin world and mischievously dissipating, in typical Mendelssohnian fashion.

The Finale returns to the largely serious disposition of the opening movement. Here, Mendelssohn masterfully manages to unite the brooding, agitated characters from the start of the trio with the tenderness of the second movement and impishness of the third, with a rhythmic energy that compellingly drives the work to its conclusion.

After publication, the trio was an immediate success. Robert Schumann declared Mendelssohn to be at the height of his powers: ‘the Mozart of the 19th-century; the most brilliant among musicians; the one who has most clearly recognised the contradictions of the time, and the first to reconcile them.’ Hailing the work as the ‘trio masterpiece of the present day’, Schumann projected that ‘years from hence, [this trio] will still delight our grandchildren and great-grandchildren.’ And here we are.

Angela Turner © 2017

Robert SchumannFerdinand Hiller

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Rachmaninoff

Rachmaninoff: A Lifetime in Music, by Sergei Bertensson and Jay Leyda (1956), remains one of the best sources, with many extracts from Rachmaninoff’s letters. It was reprinted in paperback in 2001 (Indiana University Press).

The Rachmaninoff Trio élégiaque has been recorded wonderfully by the Moscow Rachmaninoff Trio (Hyperion CDA67178). Some may be interested to compare the recent recording by Lang Lang, Vadim Repin and Mischa Maisky (Deutsche Grammophon 477 8099, released 2009).

Shostakovich

There are many breathtaking recordings of the Shostakovich trios, including the Florestan Trio (Hyperion, 2010), Trio Wanderer (Harmonia Mundi, 2004) and an impassioned live performance by Martha Argerich, Gidon Kremer and Mischa Maisky (Deutsche Grammophon, 1999), which is hard to pass up.

Of the more reliable Shostakovich written sources are Elizabeth Wilson’s compilation of reminiscences, Shostakovich: A Life Remembered (Princeton University Press, 2nd edition, 2006), and the meticulously researched Shostakovich: A Life by Laurel Fay (Oxford University Press, 2005). Purported to be Shostakovich’s own memoirs as told through Solomon Volkov, Testimony is one of the most debated sources in classical music literature, but remains an interesting read.

Mendelssohn

R. Larry Todd is a scholarly but readable contributor, with his Mendelssohn: A Life in Music (Oxford University Press, paperback edition 2005).

Though today mostly remembered as composer, Robert Schumann made a major contribution to literature in the Romantic age, and his writings about Mendelssohn offer a valuable and unique perspective: Schumann on Music – A Selection from the Writings (Dover Publications, reprinted. 1988). Another older but ever valuable source, Schumann: On Music and Musicians (Pantheon Books, 1946; also Dobson Books, 1956) is more complete, and worth tracking down.

There is a wealth of recordings of the Mendelssohn trios, including the Sitkovetskys’ own on BIS (2015). The Florestan Trio (Hyperion, 2005) are also fantastic. For a much earlier recording, there is a stunning remastered re-release featuring Alfred Cortot, Jacques Thibaud and Pablo Casals, recorded in 1927 (Naxos Historical, 2002).

Angela Turner © 2010, 2017

FURTHEREXPLORATION

The internationally adored Takács Quartet bring their effortless virtuosity and fearless playing to works by Haydn, Dvořák, Beethoven and Carl Vine.

10 – 28 AUGUST musicaviva.com.au/takács1800 688 482 (No booking fee)

“COMMITMENT PRECISION, AND SPARKLE”THE BOSTON GLOBE

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INTERVIEWWITHALEXANDERSITKOVETSKYANDWUQIAN

What’s so special about a piano trio? Or rather, what isn’t? In a string quartet, the group’s unity takes precedence, but the ensemble of piano, violin and cello needs a unique type of equilibrium between individuality and togetherness. According to Alexander Sitkovetsky and Wu Qian – respectively the violin and piano, two-thirds of the Sitkovetsky Trio – that could be why it’s such a satisfying way to make music.

‘As a pianist, I was very lonely doing only solo work,’ Qian comments. ‘I think a piano trio gives the freedom for the three instruments both to shine and to merge. It’s never about which instrument stands out; everyone is equally important.’ Sasha Sitkovetsky agrees: ‘You cannot do this without the others, but at the same time you can express yourself individually as much as you want. It’s a wonderful combination.’

Sasha and Qian know plenty about wonderful combinations. They first met as young teenagers at the Yehudi Menuhin School in Surrey, UK; and they are now married, with a small daughter. ‘We’ve always worked together,’ Qian says, ‘and it was only later that other things happened!’ Sasha laughs: ‘When it comes to work, we basically are as unmarried as it’s possible to be, in a very positive sense. We have always tried, not only within our trio but also in other groups, to work very independently from one another. If we agree with each other’s ideas, then we agree, and if we don’t, then we’ll say so!’

Sasha comes from a highly musical family: his father was a member of the Russian rock band Autograph, his mother a pianist, and the violinist Dimitry Sitkovetsky is a close relation. He came to the UK from Russia after Yehudi Menuhin heard him

play when he was seven years old and invited him to study at the school. Qian, from Shanghai, caught the ear of a friend of Menuhin’s when she was selected as her school’s representative to play to his delegation during their visit to the city; she was subsequently invited to the school on a full scholarship.

For this tour the couple are joined by cellist Bartholomew LaFollette. Like them he has strong connections to the Menuhin School, as a fellow graduate, and subsequently having been appointed Principal Cello Teacher there at the age of 26. In keeping with their own diverse careers, his musical path as a brilliant young soloist has contained an unusually large slab of chamber music, including appearances at the Wigmore Hall and Carnegie Hall.

A particularly attractive aspect of performing as a trio is the sterling quality of the genre’s repertoire: smaller in quantity

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than that of string quartets, but varied and remarkably consistent in level. ‘You could view those basso continuo sonatas from Bach’s time as the precursors to the piano trio,’ says Sasha. ‘Then the real piano trios start with Haydn, so the breadth of the period of music involved is huge. There’s a long way for us to go in terms of getting through all the repertoire. But the masterpieces are really some of the greatest works in any chamber music format.’

The program they are bringing to Australia is vividly varied. Beginning with Rachmaninoff’s early one-movement Trio élégiaque no 1, they progress to Shostakovich’s powerful Piano Trio no 2, a trio by the Australian composer Lachlan Skipworth commissioned especially for Musica Viva, and finally Mendelssohn’s ever-popular Piano Trio no 1 in D minor.

‘The Mendelssohn is particularly close to us as it’s just over a year since we released a

recording of both his trios,’ says Qian. ‘We’ve performed the Mendelssohn D minor trio probably more than 50 times,’ adds Sasha, ‘but even after all these years it has never, ever been unenjoyable to perform, and I think that’s a big testament to the piece. It’s youthful, beautiful writing and though it’s challenging for the pianist, for the string players it’s all about feeling. You can just close your eyes and pour your heart into it.’

The first half of the program is Russian: ‘Carl Vine, Musica Viva’s Artistic Director, was keen on the idea of a Russian influence,’ says Sasha. ‘Last time we toured for Musica Viva our program included the Tchaikovsky trio, and this time we’ve gone for two very big, audience-friendly Russian pieces. The Rachmaninoff is gorgeously melodic and the Shostakovich, although it’s so famous, is something we have not played much before, so it’s very fresh in our ears. We’re looking forward very much to exploring the Skipworth piece, especially as our last experience with a new Australian piece was so positive.’ On their last Musica Viva tour they performed Carl Vine’s own Piano Trio: ‘It’s a really good piece and now we try to program it whenever we can,’ says Sasha. Indeed, they were due to perform it again the very day after our interview.

Meanwhile, Australia itself is a treat for them all: ‘I know everyone always says this,’ Sasha smiles, ‘but last time the whole tour was so well organised, with ample time between the concerts to explore some of the country, and the venues were fantastic. We’re looking forward very much to our return visit.’

Jessica Duchen © 2016

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To learn more about commissioning at Musica Viva, please contact: Amelia Morgan-Hunn amorgan-hunn@musicaviva.com.au or call 02 8394 6616

Through the generosity of donors, Musica Viva continues to commission exciting new music from Australia’s leading and emerging composers. New compositions feature strongly in

Musica Viva’s concert programs, and we are proud of our extensive history of supporting fine music from Australian composers.

Lachlan Skipworth’s Piano Trio, commissioned by Julian Burnside AO QC and performed by the Sitkovetsky Trio in this program is one of many exciting commissioned works

that enrich our programs and performances every year.

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MUSICAVIVAPATRONSWe thank the generous individuals and families who make an important contribution to our activities each year. Every gift is important, ensuring that Musica Viva remains at the forefront of artistic excellence and that our award-winning education program continues to reach children who would otherwise have no access to the inspirational experience of live music. To make a gift to Musica Viva, please contact Callum Close on (02) 8394 6636 or cclose@musicaviva.com.au

ACTGeoffrey & Margaret BrennanThe late Ernest Spinner

NSWThe late Sibilla BaerThe late Charles BergThe late Dr Anthony J BookallilCatherine Brown-Watt psm & Derek WattLloyd & Mary Jo CappsThe late Moya Jean CraneLiz GeeSuzanne GleesonThe late Janette HamiltonDavid & Christine HartgillThe late Margaret HedvigThe late Dr Ralph Hockin, in memory of Mabel HockinThe late Irwin ImhofElaine LindsayThe late Joyce Marchant

The late Suzanne MellerTrevor NoffkeArt RaicheThe late Michael RobinsonThe late John RobsonDr David SchwartzThe late Alison TerryThe late Kenneth W Tribe ac

Mary Vallentine ao

Deirdre Nagle WhitfordKim Williams am

Ray Wilson oam

The late Elisabeth WynhausenAnonymous (4)

QLDThe late Miss A HartshornThe late Steven Kinston

SAThe late Ms K Lillemor Andersen

The late Patricia BakerThe late Edith DubskyMrs G Lesley LynnAnonymous (1)

TASKim Paterson qc

VICJulian Burnside ao qc

Ms Helen DickIn memory of Anita MorawetzThe family of the late Paul Morawetz in his memoryThe late Mrs Catherine SabeyThe late Mrs Barbara ShearerThe late Dr G D WatsonAnonymous (3)

WAThe late Dr Andrew StewartAnonymous (2)

People who have notified us of their intention to leave a gift to Musica Viva in their will are part of a very special group of Musica Viva Custodians. A bequest to Musica Viva will enable us to continue presenting performances of the highest quality to the widest range of audiences across Australia, well into the future. To discuss, in confidence, a bequest gift, please contact Amelia Morgan-Hunn on (02) 8394 6616 or amorgan-hunn@musicaviva.com.au

MUSICA VIVA CUSTODIANS

Julian Burnside ao qc (President, Melbourne) & Kate DurhamRuth Magid (Chair, Sydney) & Bob MagidThe Hon. Dr Annabelle Bennett ao sc

Tony Berg am & Carol BergMarc Besen ac & Eva Besen ao

Ms Jan Bowen am

Tom Breen & Rachael KohnDavid Constable am & Dr Ida LichterDr Cyril CurtainJennifer Darin & Dennis CooperDaryl & Kate DixonDr Helen FergusonMs Annabella FletcherEleanore GoodridgeReg & Katherine Grinberg

Jennifer Hershon & Russell BlackPenelope HughesJacqueline HuieMichael & Frederique KatzThe Hon. Jane Mathews ao

Isobel Morgan oam

Professor John RickardBarbara RowleyRay Wilson oam

The Amadeus Society exists to help bring the excitement and inspiration of the world’s most extraordinary musicians to Australian audiences. In 2016, the Society provided significant support for the world premiere and national tour of Voyage to the Moon. This year, the Society is proud to support the national tours of Eighth Blackbird and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment & Rachel Podger. To learn more about the Amadeus Society and how you can help bring some of the world’s leading international artists to Australia, please contact Amelia Morgan-Hunn on (02) 8394 6616 or amorgan-hunn@musicaviva.com.au

AMADEUS SOCIETY

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MUSICAVIVAPATRONS

NSW$100,000 +The Berg Family FoundationKatherine Grinberg in honour of Adrienne Nagy & Yolanda (Nagy) Daniel

$20,000 – $99,999David Constable am & Dr Ida Lichter Jennifer Hershon & Russell Black Tom & Elisabeth Karplus Vicki OlssonJohn & Jo Strutt

$10,000 – $19,999Geoff Ainsworth am & Johanna FeatherstoneAnne & Terrey Arcus am

Ruth Armytage am

Tom Breen & Rachael KohnJennifer Darin & Dennis Cooper Daryl & Kate Dixon Eleanore GoodridgeMichael & Frederique KatzKatz Family FoundationRuth & Bob MagidThe Hon. Jane Mathews ao David & Carole Singer Geoff Stearn Anthony StrachanGeoffrey White oam & Sally White oam

Kim Williams am

Ray Wilson oam

Anonymous (1)

$5,000 – $9,999The Hon. Dr Annabelle Bennett ao sc Ms Jan Bowen am

Christine DavisGardos FamilyCharles & Wallis Graham Hilmer Family Endowment Warren Kinston & Verity GoiteinProf Iven Klineberg am rfd & Mrs Sylvia KlinebergLesley & Andrew Rosenberg Andy Serafin Anonymous (2)

QLD$20,000 – $99,999Ian & Caroline Frazer The Hon. Justice A Philippides

$10,000 – $19,999Andrea & Malcolm Hall-Brown The MacNichol family Anonymous (1)

$5,000 – $9,999Lynn Hamill & Ian DoverNoosa Federation of the Arts Inc.

SA$20,000 – $99,999Anonymous (1)

$10,000 – $19,999Aldridge Family EndowmentDay Family FoundationLang FoundationMarsden Szwarcbord FoundationP M Menz

VIC$20,000 – $99,999Anonymous (1)

$10,000 – $19,999Marc Besen ac & Eva Besen ao

Stephen Shanasy

$5,000 – $9,999Di Bresciani oam & Lino BrescianiJulian Burnside ao qc Dr Cyril Curtain Dr Helen Ferguson William J Forrest am

Doug & Ross Hooley, in memory of Beryl Hooley Penelope Hughes Isobel Morgan oam

Professor John Rickard Barbara RowleyGreg Shalit & Miriam Faine Wendy TaylorAnonymous (1)

WA$20,000 – $99,999Anonymous (1)

$10,000 – $19,999Deborah Lehmann & Michael Alpers

MAJOR GIFTS

MASTERCLASSESMusica Viva’s Masterclass program is supported by principal patrons Stephen Johns & Michele Bender, the Sydney Conservatorium Association (NSW), Lyn Hamill & Ian Dover (QLD), Wesfarmers Arts (WA) and Mary Turner oam (Newcastle).

THEHILDEGARDPROJECTinsupportofwomenincompositionThis project is made possible by a generous gift from Katherine Grinberg in honour of the late Adrienne Nagy and her sister Yolanda (Nagy) Daniel.

Friends of Peter Burch am bm

Julian Burnside ao qc

Carnegie Hall

The Huntington Estate Music Festival CollectiveSeattle Commissioning Club

The Silo CollectiveJohn & Jo StruttKim Williams am

KENTRIBEFUNDFORAUSTRALIANCOMPOSITION

MELBOURNEINTERNATIONALCHAMBERMUSICCOMPETITION$20,000 + $5,000 – $9,999Beth Brown & Tom Bruce am Joanna Baevski Peter Lovell

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ACT

$2,500 – $4,999Dr Seng Thiam Teh Kristin van Brunschot & John Holliday

$1,000 – $2,499Gudrun GeneeMargaret & Peter JanssensGarth Mansfield oam & Margaret Mansfield oam S G & K L Nogrady Margaret Oates Sue Packer Craig Reynolds Dr Andrew Singer Sue Terry & Len Whyte Claudins van der Busserl Anonymous (2)

$500 – $999Christine Bollen Geoffrey & Margaret Brennan Anthony CashmanJoanne Ferguson & Malcolm SnowLesley Fisk Margaret Goode Kingsley Herbert Dr Marian Hill Roger & Vivien Hillman Elspeth Humphries Claudia Hyles Margaret Lovell & Grant WebeckClive & Lynlea Rodger Michael & Kiri Sollis Arn Sprogis & Margot Woods Robert & Valerie Tupper Janice C Tynan Dr Paul & Dr Lel Whitbread Anonymous (2)

NSW

$2,500 – $4,999Lloyd & Mary Jo Capps Brian Cohen, in memory of Sue CohenMartin family, in memory of Lloyd Martin am

Patricia ReidKay Vernon

$1,000 – $2,499David & Rae Allen

Dr Warwick Anderson Andrew Andersons ao & Sara Bennett Penny BeranBaiba Berzins Catherine Brown-Watt psm & Derek Watt Mr & Mrs N K Brunsdon Yola & Steve Center In memoriam Glendon CoultonPatricia Curotta Sarah & Tony Falzarano John & Irene Garran Robert & Lindy Henderson Dorothy Hoddinott ao

Angela Isles Mrs W G Keighley Kevin McCann am & Deidre McCann Robert McDougall The Macquarie Group Foundation D M & K M Magarey Dr Dennis Mather & Mr John StuddertMichael & Mary Whelan TrustMichael & Janet Neustein Paul O’Donnell Professors Robin & Tina OfflerHelen O’Neil & Stephen MillsSue & John Rogers Caroline Sharpen & Andrew Parker Andrea SimpsonMary Turner oam

Charles Wade John & Flora Weickhardt Evan Williams am & Janet Williams Anonymous (5)

$500 – $999Judith AllenDr Jennifer ArnoldMrs Kathrine Becker Gay Bookallil Denise BraggettMaxine Brodie Diana Brookes Neil & Sandra Burns Robert Cahill & Anne Cahill oam Hilary & Hugh CairnsLucia Cascone

Michael & Colleen Chesterman Callum Close & James TolhurstPamela Cudlipp Robin CummingGreg Dickson & Penny Le Couteur Catherine Ellis & Alexander DrakeKate GirdwoodMichael & Lianne Graf Cathy GrayMr Robert Green Anthony GreggNeil & Pamela Hardie Hope HanksSandra HaslamRoland & Margaret Hicks Dr Alisa Hocking & Dr Bernie WilliamsMarcus Hodgson David & Jennifer Jacobs Jacqueline Jago Owen James Leta KeensCatherine & Robert KenchGraham & Sue LaneA & E Marshall Robyn Martin-Weber Timothy Matthies & Chris BonnilyDonald NairnDiane ParksMerry & Robert Pearson Christina Pender Beryl Raymer Penny RogersCarl Segal Aveen & Ashley StephensonJanet Tepper Christopher Whitehead & Peter WilsonRichard WilkinsMegan & Bill Williamson Anonymous (6)

QLD

$2,500 – $4,999Andrew & Kate Lister

$1,000 – $2,499Roslyn Carter John & Lynn KellyJocelyn Luck

VIRTUOSI

MUSICAVIVAPATRONS

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B & D MooreDr Nita Vasilescu Anonymous (2)

$500 – $999Marion AlfordWilliam EdwardsA A & A Grant Dr Amanda Hume Marie Isackson Elizabeth LovellDebra & Patrick Mullins Joanne RennickJankees van der Have & Barbara Williams Michelle Wade & James Sinclair Dr Karen Watson Anonymous (1)

SA

$2,500 – $4,999Mark Lloyd & Elizabeth RaupachH & I Pollard

$1,000 – $2,499Ivan & Joan Blanchard The Hon. D J & Mrs E M Bleby Beverley A Brown David & Kate Bullen Geoffrey Day Brian L Jones oam Bronwen L Jones Jenny & Christopher Legoe Skye McGregor Ruth Marshall & Tim Muecke Ms Judy PotterTony & Joan Seymour Roderick Shire & Judy HargraveSTARSAnn WoodroffeRobert & Glenys Woolcock Anonymous (3)

$500 – $999Richard BlomfieldJohn & Libby Clapp Josephine Cooper Jacqueline CornellCarolyn Grantskalns Raymond & Jenny GreetRichard Hawkes Dr E H & Mrs A Hirsch Elizabeth Ho oam, in honour of the late Tom SteelAlison Kinsman am Dr Peter & Mrs Jenny Last

Robert & Delysia LawsonAndrew & Virginia LigertwoodMarie ReichsteinTrish & Richard Ryan ao

June Ward Jeffrey Whitford Dr Richard Willis & Gretta Willis Jim & Ann Wilson Anonymous (4)

VIC

$2,500 – $4,999Alastair & Sue Campbell Jianguo Pty LtdRalph & Ruth Renard Maria SolaHelen Vorrath

$1,000 – $2,499Dr William Abud Dr David Bernshaw Alison & John Cameron Caroline & Robert Clemente Tom Cordiner Dhar Family Virginia HenryDr Anthea Hyslop Helen Imber & Ian Proctor Dorothea JosemJohn V Kaufman qc Irene Kearsey & Michael Ridley June K Marks Mr Baillieu Myer ac & Mrs MyerMurray Sandland Hywel Sims Ray Turner & Jennifer SeabrookDr Victor & Dr Karen Wayne Bibi & David WilkinsonAnna & Mark Yates Anonymous (5)

$500 – $999Helena AndersonSuzie & Harvey Brown Mrs Maggie CashJohn & Mandy Collins Lord & Lady Ebury Vivien & Jack Fajgenbaum Geoffrey & Mary Gloster Brian Goddard Judy GordonHannah & Larry Neff Robert Peters Margaret Plant Greg J Reinhardt

Mrs Suzy & Dr Mark SussJuliet Tootell Sefton WarnerJennifer WhiteheadAnonymous (1)

WA

$2,500 – $4,999Alan & Anne Blanckensee David CookeJamelia Gubgub & David WallaceRobyn TamkeAnonymous (1)

$1,000 – $2,499Mrs Susan Bogle Michael & Wendy Davis Alan Dodge & Neil Archibald Anne Last & Steve Scudamore M E M Loton oam Mrs Frances Morrell Prichard Panizza Family Elizabeth Syme Anonymous (4)

$500 – $999Harry AnsteyThe Honourable Fred Chaney ao & Mrs Angela Chaney In memory of Raymond Dudley Dr Penny Herbert (in memory of Dunstan Herbert)Freda & Jim Irenic Mr Graham Lovelock & Mr Steve Singer Megan LoweJenny Mills, in memory of Flora Bunning Colleen Mizen John Overton Lindsay Silbert Diane Smith-GanderEllie Steinhardt Margaret WallaceHelen WestcottAnonymous (1)

If you have any questions about this list, please contact Vennisa Santoro on 1300 786 186 or vsantoro@musicaviva.com.au

This list is complete as at 26 June 2017.

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MUSICAVIVACONCERTPARTNERS

NSW & QLD WINE PARTNER ACT WINE PARTNER WA WINE PARTNERS

BUSINESS PARTNERS

Chartered Accountants Partner Digital Innovation Partner Piano Partner

HOTEL PARTNERS COSTUME PARTNER

GOVERNMENT PARTNER FUTUREMAKERS PARTNERS

Musica Viva is assisted by the Commonwealth Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body. Musica Viva is assisted by the NSW Government through Create NSW.

MEDIA PARTNER MICMC

National Media Partner Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition Grand Prize Partner

SERIES AND TOUR PARTNERS

Perth Concert Series Coffee Concert Series Sitkovetsky Trio Tour

ARTS & HEALTH PARTNER ORATORIO PARTNER CHAMPAGNE PARTNER

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MUSICAVIVAEDUCATIONPARTNERS

ARTS & HEALTH PARTNER

ACT NT

VIC QLD

The Marian & E H Flack Trust

Hamer Family Fund In memory of Anita Morawetz

M S Newman Family Foundation

NSW WA

MUSICA VIVA IN SCHOOLS

National

Godfrey Turner Memorial Trust

SA TAS

FWH Foundation Lang FoundationMarsden Szwarcbord Foundation

Aldridge Family Endowment Carthew Foundation

Day Family Foundation

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STORIESTOINSPIRE

Musica Viva is well known for its commitment to presenting Australian music. Indeed, the Lachlan Skipworth Piano Trio, heard in this concert, has only been made possible with the generous support of its commissioner, Julian Burnside ao qc. It was a passion for new Australian work and a belief in strengthening and enriching the Australian music canon that saw Musica Viva, through the generosity of donors, commission seven new works last year. One of those commissioners was philanthropist Kim Williams am. At the recent Musica Viva Festival, Kim hosted a public conversation about commissioning, with Australian composer Ross Edwards am, in which the renowned media executive encouraged others to join him in supporting new Australian music. Megan Steller, editor

Bringing Music to Life

for Rehearsal magazine, captured some of the discussion.

Discussing the commissioning process, the pair laughed easily over anecdotes and exchanged recollections of a shared artistic past. They could very well have been chatting without onlookers – such is the style of these two men who have become part of the cultural fabric of Australia.

Their conversation, centered on the relationship between composer and commissioner, touched on the difficulties of writing music full time. A freelance composer since 1980, Ross Edwards has been fortunate to work ‘mainly to commission’ for his entire career. He has been lucky to focus on commissions that ‘inspire his creativity’, an outcome attributed

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If you are interested in the future of Australian Music or would like to learn more about commissioning music through Musica Viva, please visit musicaviva.com.au/commission or contact Amelia Morgan-Hunn: amorgan-hunn@musicaviva.com.au or (02) 8394 6616.

Left: Ross Edwards am

Above: Kim Williams am

For Megan Steller’s full conversation with Ross Edwards, visit: rehearsalmagazine.com

in no small part to Kim Williams’ generosity and understanding of what the composer himself calls his ‘musical quirks’.

Ross’ fascination with the environment prompted an interest in bird song and the sounds of wildlife – ‘things that for me represent the very earliest songs’. This instantly recognisable compositional aesthetic is part of the drawcard for Kim, who encourages Ross to explore ideas when a piece is in its early stages. ‘There are all sorts of commissioners,’ Kim observes, ‘and while some want to give the composer lots of ideas and tell them what they want to hear, I have never been

like that. I trust Ross to create something fantastic.’

Becoming a freelance composer is not a straightforward path. ‘We need more people to commission music,’ Ross believes, noting the importance of understanding both sides of the commissioning coin: ‘Kim has been in both worlds – the artistic and the financial, and he has a great understanding of not only why we need the art, but how to make it happen.’

Megan Steller © 2017

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