2 August
Danaë Killian - pianoforte
Prelude and Fugue in B flat minor, WTC Book 1, BWV 867 - JS Bach (1685-1750)
From a Star Afar (2018) - Eve Duncan (b.1956)
Piano Sonata (2001) 4 movements - Alan Holley (b.1954)
Rondo in A minor, KV 511 - WA Mozart (1756-1791)
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From a Star Afar (2018)
'I imagined looking a few thousand years ago at earth from a distant star. I watched as the years flew rapidly past. At one pivotal point there was a great change in its colour and character. The earth transformed forever, and began to become a star....' Eve Duncan
Written for the anniversary of Move Records in 2018 and received its concert premiere by Danaë Killian on 20 Apr 2019 in Melbourne.
The brightly coloured eastern rosella has a regional song and those in my local area on the northern beaches of Sydney sing a high rapid five note repetition that became an important motif in my 15 minute Piano Sonata (2001). The actual 'song' is only heard at the very end of the fourth movement but permutations appear throughout the work. Alan Holley
Danaë Killian is an Australian pianist whose poetry-infused performances have found regard internationally for their intense originality and rare communicative power. Her repertoire ranges across the complete solo piano music of the Second Viennese School, major polyphonic works by JS Bach, and a wealth of Australian compositions. A passionate champion of modern art music, Danaë Killian has delivered around a hundred world premieres, performing throughout Europe, China and the USA, as well as in Australia and New Zealand. She has been the recipient of prestigious awards for her musical and academic prowess, including the Australian Alumni (W G Walker) Fulbright Postgraduate Scholarship, the Helen Macpherson Smith Scholarship, an Australian Postgraduate Award, and an Australia Award Endeavour Research Fellowship. Killian is an Honorary Fellow at the University of Melbourne, where she earned her PhD in 2010 with a dissertation on Virginia Woolf's The Waves as a modernist imagining of the harmony of the spheres. Her research project Transformations and Initiations: Sylvia Plath in Flames, in Performance resulted in three major performances produced between 2012 and 2015: Sylvia Plath in the Domestic Sublime, The Dove's Annihilation, and The Flame and the Rose Folded Together, all of which explored the relationship between poetry and music, biography and art, potential and actual selves. This theme was continued in Killian's expressionist performance-creation My Heart (2017), a work of soul-homelessness and starry yearning, which sought the lost Berlin of 1911 within the creative hearts of Killian's composer friends in Melbourne. Danaë Killian's recording Arnold Schoenberg: Complete Works for Piano Solo for the Move label was launched in 2015 to critical acclaim, and her performances have been featured on further contemporary music CDs, including Eve Duncan's Curiosities and Butterfly Modernism. Most recently Danaë Killian collaborated with Barbara Hornung on the Move Records CD Ernest Bloch: Viola and Piano (2018). Danaë Killian is a core artist of the Melbourne-based Forest Collective.
9 August
Conversations
Natalia Melnik (soprano)
Michael Bardon (violoncello)
Wendy Dixon (pianoforte)
Robert Schumann - “Widmung” Op.25 “Myrthen” N 1 Natalia and Wendy
Clara Schumann - “Lieberszauber” Op.13 N 3 Natalia and Wendy
Robert Schumann - “Die Lotosblume” Op.25 “Myrthen” N 7 Natalia and Wendy
Clara Schumann - “Die Stille Lotosblume” Op.13 N 6 Natalia and Wendy
Alexander Borodin - “Beautiful Fisherwoman’ Natalia, Michael and Wendy
Alexander Borodin - “The Fair Maiden Does Not Love Me Anymore” Natalia, Michael and Wendy
Dmitry Shostakovich - “Ophelia’s Song” Op.127 “Seven Poems by A.Blok” N 1 Natalia and Michael
Frédéric Chopin - “Waltz” in A minor Op.34 N 2 Michael and Wendy
Gabriel Fauré - “Le Sectret” Op. 23 N 3 Natalia and Wendy
Gabriel Fauré - “Les Berceaux” Op.23 N 1 Natalia and Wendy
Gabriel Fauré - “Après une rêve” Op.7 N 1 Natalia and Wendy
Heitor Villa-Lobos - Bachianas Brasileiras N 5 “Aria (Cantilena)” Natalia, Michael and Wendy
Natalia Melnik (soprano)
Natalia was born in Moscow, Russia and moved to Sydney in 2013. She is currently studying at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music towards her Research Masters Degree. Natalia is singing in opera productions in numerous recitals throughout the year, specializing in coloratura arias as well as Russian music, including Lunchtime concerts at St.Stephen's Uniting Church, recitals at Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Glebe Justice Center, Australian Hall, The Independent Theatre, etc. In addition to that, Natalia is a passionate teacher, advocate of Russian music and the founder of the “Russian for Singers” project.
Michael Bardon (violoncello)
Michael Bardon holds degrees form the Musikhochschule Luebeck, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and the University of Newcastle studying principally under Professors Nick Deutsch, Diethelm Jonas and Anthea Scott-Mitchell. He was a member of the Essen Philharmonic Orchestra Academy and has performed with ensembles including the Opera Frankfurt, Mainzer Kammerorchester, Sinfonietta Baltica and the Sydney Philharmonia. He has received awards including a German DAAD prize and the William Bowmore prize for postgraduate cello at the University of Newcastle. An enthusiastic performer, teacher, researcher and administrator, Michael is currently in a senior academic role as Program Leader of Specialisation Studies at the Australian Institute of Music.
Wendy Dixon (pianoforte)
As a soprano Wendy has maintained a successful international career in opera, oratorio, concert and recital work, and remains an active recitalist. She is an established singing teacher, currently tutoring at Open Academy USyd, the Australian Institute of Music and her own private studio. She is presently enrolled as a Doctoral student at USyd. Wendy is founder and director of Sydney Art Song Society Inc., producer and musical director of Opera Boot Camp Australia, curator of Cushion Concerts at CHIME and artistic director of Divas on Demand. She is a founding member with David Miller (piano) of Grevillea Ensemble renowned for their innovative programs.
16 August
Sirius Chamber Ensemble
Melissa Coleman (flute)
Ian Sykes (clarinet)
Claire Howard Race (pianoforte)
Hypnosis for flute and piano - Ian Clarke (b. 1964)
Pa Titull… for flute and piano - Enis Mullaj (b. 1987)
AlbPhonia for solo clarinet - Kris Sopiqoti (b. 1994)
Umbra for clarinet and piano - Alan Holley (b. 1954)
Promenade for flute, clarinet and piano - Kristofer Spike (b. 1959)
Sirius Chamber Ensemble was formed in 2011 by Ian Sykes and Dr Alison Evans and is committed to premiering new works by Australian composers in a friendly, accessible atmosphere. Our regular concert series is performed by a core ensemble of Melissa Coleman (flute), Ian Sykes (clarinet), Alison Evans (bassoon), Vanessa Tammetta (violin), Clare Kahn (cello) and Claire Howard Race (piano), augmented by guest artists. The name ‘Sirius’ pays homage to the flagship of the First Fleet, the H.M.S Sirius that sailed from Portsmouth, England to Port Jackson during 1787-1788.
Recent and upcoming collaborators include composers Alan Holley, Eve Duncan, Christine Draeger, Dr Paul Smith, Dr Houston Dunleavy as well as composer and saxophonist Spike Mason with whom we recently recorded Flying, an album of new works for saxophone, winds, strings and piano.
23 August
The Nano Symphony
Neil Thompson (viola)
Catherine Thompson (clarinet)
Lee Cheong (pianoforte)
Double Concerto for Clarinet and Viola Op. 88 - Max Bruch (1838 - 1920)
I. Andante con moto
II. Allegro moderato
III. Allegro molto
Two movements from The Hive Suite - Peggy Polias (1981 - )
‘Colony’ and ‘Melissa’
Neil Thompson - Viola
Having begun on viola in his hometown Whyalla, Neil's career has taken him all around the world, including Europe as touring soloist whilst at Marryatville High School, a ‘Special Interest Music Centre’ school (Adelaide). Neil has also performed and toured with the Adelaide, Melbourne, Tasmanian and Sydney Symphony Orchestras (upon holding an SSO fellowship in 2012), as well as with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and its sister orchestra ACO2 (currently ACO Collective) with whom he was an ‘Emerging Artist’. He enjoyed two years of touring with ‘The Cat Empire’ and features as soloist and guest artist on their DVD ‘Live at the Bowl’. Neil regularly performs at the Sydney Opera House with the Opera Australia Orchestra (formerly Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra) for Opera Australia and the Australian Ballet.
Neil studied on full scholarship at the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) studying under Christopher Moore and Roger Benedict, and holds a Bachelor of Music in Performance (Honours) from the Elder Conservatorium of Music, University of Adelaide having studied under Keith Crellin.
Primarily a chamber-musician, Neil has been fortunate enough to have performed and/or recorded with Pekka Kuusisto, Kristian Winther, Richard Tognetti, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Dimitri Ashkenazy, Brett Dean, Lisa Moore and more recently, the Omega Ensemble, as well as others. Recently being invited to join the highly acclaimed ‘Caro String Quartet’ he is Principal viola with 'Omega Ensemble’ and Artistic Director and co-founder of 'The Nano Symphony’ and sister ensemble ‘Ensemble Nano’.
Neil is currently Music Director and Conductor of the Ku Ring Gai Youth Orchestra and Killara High orchestras and has directed performances of Schubert’s ‘Great’ 9th Symphony (in Adelaide), Faure’s Requiem with the Mosman Symphony Orchestra and the 2nd Symphony by Brahms with the Eastern Sydney Chamber Orchestra.
www.thenanosymphony.com
Catherine Thompson – Clarinet
Catherine Thompson is a graduate of the Elder Conservatorium of Music having obtained her Bachelor of Music in Performance with First Class Honours. She was a recipient of the prestigious Helpmann Academy Grant which allowed her to undertake two Professional Development Tours in Germany where she studied with Ralph Manno, Chen Halevi, Norbert Kaiser and Wolfgang Meyer. Catherine has also performed in master-classes with Sabine Meyer, Paul Dean and Nuno Silver.
She has performed with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Australian Youth Orchestra, the Elder Conservatorium Symphony and Wind Orchestras and has participated in the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra Career Development Program and National Music Camp. As a soloist, Catherine has performed Mozart's Clarinet Concerto with the Elder Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra to a sold out audience, to critical acclaim. She is highly passionate about Chamber Music and is a founding member of 'The Nano Symphony’.
Lee Akinsanya - Pianoforte
Lee Akinsanya is a Sydney born pianist. In addition to performing in Australia, Lee has performed internationally in various cities including the Royal Over-Seas League in London, Lunchtime recitals in Manchester, Chorlton Arts Festival and at the Mozarteum, Salzburg. Since 2015, Lee has been a core member of The Nano Symphony/Ensemble Nano.
She completed her BMus with Honours at the Sydney Conservatorium, studying with Stephanie McCallum and furthered her studies in the UK receiving her Masters at the Royal Northern College of Music under the tutelage of Stephen Savage. Lee is a recipient of numerous awards and scholarships including the Tait Memorial Award, Australian Bicentennial Award and merit scholarships from both the Sydney Conservatorium and the RNCM.
Lee is also a passionate piano teacher, tutoring at St Aloysius’ College and the Sydney Conservatorium High school.
www.leecheong-pianist.com
30 August
Christopher Trikilis (organ) [Melbourne]
Fanfare (Allegro non troppo) - Jacques-Nicolas Lemmens (1823-1881)
Prelude Modal Op.6 - Jean Langlais (1907-1991)
Concerto in A minor BWV 593 - Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
arr Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
[Allegro] - Adagio - Allegro
Andante from Trumpet Concerto in Eb - Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Four Preludes on well-known hymns - Paul Manz (1919-2009)
- Come, thou font of every blessing
- Wake, awake, the night is flying
- Be thou my vision
- ‘Toccata’ on Saviour of the Nations, Come
Organist and Director of Music of Melbourne's iconic Our Lady of Victories Basilica, CHRISTOPHER TRIKILIS has established himself as one of Australia’s leading organists and church musicians. Commencing piano lessons at a young age, he completed music studies at the University of Melbourne studying with John Mallinson (organ) and Mark McGee (piano) while also being Organ Scholar at St Patrick’s Cathedral Melbourne. Maintaining an active performance schedule both as soloist and accompanist, Christopher has performed extensively across Australia, New Zealand, Europe and North America. He is a Director of the Organ Historical Trust of Australia, a former Vice-President of the Society of Organists Victoria, and was acting editor of nationwide ‘Organ Australia’ magazine in 2011. Christopher is also responsible for the installation of pipe organs, and conservation projects in recent years in a number of Melbourne churches. His playing has featured on the national broadcasters of Australia (ABC) and Croatia (HRT), alongside CD and DVD recordings. For nearly a decade, Christopher was Organist and Director of Music at one of Australia’s busiest parish churches, St Patrick’s in Mentone (with its heritage-listed 1862 Nicholson organ). He is also Music Tutor to Corpus Christi Seminary in Carlton, and on staff at St Kevin’s College in Toorak.www.trikilis.com.au
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