AVI AVITAL & GIOCOSO

STRING QUARTET

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Avi Avital mandolin

Sebastian Casleanu violin Teofil Todica violin Martha Windhagauer viola Bas Jongen cello

ADELAIDEADELAIDE TOWN HALL THURSDAY 17 APRIL, 7.30PM Pre-concert talk, 6.45pm (Prince Alfred Room) CD signing after concert

BRISBANECONSERVATORIUM THEATRE, GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY, SOUTH BANK WEDNESDAY 11 APRIL, 7PMRecorded for delayed broadcast on ABC Classic FMPre-concert talk, 6.30pm (Boardroom)Meet the Artists and CD signing after concert

CANBERRALLEWELLYN HALL, ANU SCHOOL OF MUSIC THURSDAY 19 APRIL, 7PMPre-concert talk, 6.15pm (Athenaeum [foyer])CD signing after concert

MELBOURNEELISABETH MURDOCH HALL, MELBOURNE RECITAL CENTRE SATURDAY 14 APRIL, 7PMPre-concert talk, 6.15pm (Boardroom, Level 2)CD signing after concert

TUESDAY 24 APRIL, 7PM Pre-concert talk, 6.15pm (Boardroom, Level 2)Meet the Artists and CD signing after concert

NEWCASTLEHAROLD LOBB CONCERT HALL, NEWCASTLE CONSERVATORIUM THURSDAY 12 APRIL, 7.30PMPre-concert talk, 6.45pm (Room 118 – entry via foyer)Meet the Artists and CD signing after concert

PERTHPERTH CONCERT HALL SATURDAY 21 APRIL, 7.30PMPre-concert talk, 6.45pm (Corner Stage Riverside, Terrace Level)Meet the Artists and CD signing after concert

SYDNEYCITY RECITAL HALL SATURDAY 7 APRIL, 2PMPre-concert talk, 1.15pm (Function Room, Level 1)Meet the Artists and CD signing after concert

MONDAY 9 APRIL, 7PMKen Tribe Tribute ConcertRecorded for delayed broadcast on Fine Music 102.5Pre-concert talk, 6.15pm (Function Room, Level 1)CD signing after concert

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.

AVI AVITAL & GIOCOSO

STRING QUARTET

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ADDITIONAL ACTIVITYThe Giocoso String Quartet will perform in Hobart Town Hall on Thursday 5 April at 8pm as part of Musica Viva’s CountryWide program.

Bas Jongen of the Giocoso String Quartet will present a masterclass in Perth on Saturday 21 April, 10–11.30am, in the Callaway Music Auditorium, University of Western Australia.

Sebastian Casleanu will lead a workshop with Sydney student chamber ensembles on Tuesday 11 April.

The Musica Viva Masterclass program is supported by principal patrons Stephen Johns & Michele Bender; Wesfarmers Arts (WA); and Mary Turner oam (Newcastle).

FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

CARL VINE aoARTISTIC DIRECTOR MUSICA VIVA AUSTRALIA

Legendary violinist Niccolò Paganini started life as a mandolinist and kept playing it (alongside his trusty guitar) throughout his career. A member of the lute family, the mandolin’s popularity in the Baroque faded through the Classical period until its renaissance in the late 19th century, but by then as a much-loved ‘popular’ instrument that was largely ignored by the ‘classical’ world.

Avi Avital set out to rectify this situation with a combination of outrageous virtuosity and compelling stage presence that has garnered him devotees around the world. He is joined in these concerts by the Giocoso String Quartet which, at the 2015 Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition, won the Musica Viva Australia Prize, comprising this national concert tour.

The Quartet opens the program with Schumann’s magical first quartet (op 41 no 1) before settling in to partnership with Avi in two works written especially for him. British-American composer David Bruce’s tribute to the Celtic sun god, Cymbeline, for mandolin and quartet, has become a mainstay of Avi’s chamber music performances since he premiered it in 2013. We also proudly present a brand new work for this sparkling combination composed by Elena Kats-Chernin expressly for this tour, generously supported by Kim Williams am.

Elena’s new work, Orfeo, is based on the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice and is inspired by the music of Monteverdi’s revolutionary first opera of the same name. The work traces the myth’s entire story, ending with ‘Don’t Look Back’, in which, as the composer explains, ‘divine fury is released on Orfeo as a consequence of his impatience … and a chorus of wild women terrorise him with their wrath.’

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FROM THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICERIn many ways, the worlds of competition and of chamber music are poles apart. Each performance has, at its heart, collective effort to achieve that unique three-way magic, possible only when musicians, composers and audiences are as one. Yet competitions between chamber groups are both a necessity and a wonderful way of deepening this three-way magic.

The Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition (MICMC), 1–8 July this year, will be presented for the first time by Musica Viva, with strategic partners the Melbourne Recital Centre and ANAM. MICMC offers an essential avenue for the ‘discovery’ of a group by presenters, agents and audiences. Competing gives a focus for all the artists’ hard work and provides them with feedback from the best chamber musicians in the world, who have listened carefully to their performances and considered the totality of the group’s stage impact. Regardless of who wins, all the elements of competing contribute enormously to a musician’s professional development.

Importantly, these competitions stimulate conversation and interest in chamber music, attracting new audiences. As quoted from a Seattle fine music radio station: ‘For listeners, it’s a simple matter: outstanding young performers thrill music lovers and give them hope for the future of the art we all love.’

The Giocoso String Quartet was the winner of both the Musica Viva and the Audience Prizes at the 2015 MICMC. Over the years, MICMC has introduced to Australian audiences the likes of the Eggner and Atos Trios, and the St Lawrence, Vertavo and Kelemen Quartets. Under this year’s Competition’s Artistic Director, Wilma Smith, we have re-introduced purposely commissioned pieces from Australians Paul Stanhope and Holly Harrison, whose trio and quartet, respectively, will be played by all competitors.

I will be leading a tour to the final weekend of MICMC through Renaissance Tours. It would be wonderful if you could join us, one way or another, in witnessing the birth of the new legends of chamber music.

MARY JO CAPPSCHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER MUSICA VIVA AUSTRALIA

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MEET THE ARTISTS

AVI AVITAL mandolin

Tanglewood, Spoleto, Ravenna, Cheltenham, Verbier and Schleswig-Holstein Festivals, amongst others. Artistic partners with whom he collaborates in a variety of genres include Andreas Scholl, Juan Diego Flórez, Dawn Upshaw, Giora Feidman, Ray Chen, David Greilsammer, Richard Galliano, Ksenija Sidorova, percussionist Itamar Doari and the Dover and Danish String Quartets.

Highlights of his 2017/18 season include performances with the BBC Symphony, Chicago Symphony, St Louis Symphony, MDR Leipzig Symphony Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo, Venice Baroque Orchestra, Kremerata Baltica and a US tour with The Knights, as well as being the featured artist in a ‘Zeitinsel’ (Spotlight) at the Dortmund Konzerthaus.

Born in Be’er Sheva in southern Israel, Avi Avital began learning the mandolin at the age of eight and soon joined the flourishing mandolin youth orchestra founded and directed by his charismatic teacher, Russian-born violinist Simcha Nathanson. He later graduated from the Jerusalem Music Academy and the Cesare Pollini Conservatorium in Padua, Italy, where he studied original mandolin repertoire with Ugo Orlandi. Winner of Israel’s prestigious Aviv Competition in 2007, Avi Avital is the first mandolinist in the history of the competition to be so honoured. He plays on a mandolin made by Israeli luthier Arik Kerman.

www.aviavital.com

The first mandolin soloist to be nominated for a classical Grammy, Avi Avital is one of the foremost ambassadors for his instrument. and a driving force behind the reinvigoration of the mandolin repertory. More than 90 contemporary compositions, 15 of them concertos, have been written for him, while his inspired re-imaginings of music for other instruments include the arrangements heard on his 2014 recording Between Worlds. Enhanced by his infectious spirit of adventure and the warm rapport he fosters with his audience, Avi Avital’s championship of his instrument is taking the mandolin centre stage.

An exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist, he has made four recordings for the label including his ECHO Klassik Award-winning Vivaldi (2015). The recently released Avital meets Avital (2017) with oud/bassist Omer Avital, explores the two musicians’ shared cultural heritage and brings their differing classical and jazz musical backgrounds into dialogue. Earlier releases featured his own Bach concerto transcriptions (2012) and Between Worlds (2014), a cross-generic chamber collection exploring the nexus between classical and traditional music. He has also recorded for Naxos and SONY Classical, winning his first ECHO Klassik Award for his 2008 collaboration with the David Orlowsky Trio.

Avi Avital’s inspired music-making has electrified audiences in performances around the world including Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts, London’s Wigmore and Royal Albert Halls, the Berlin Philharmonie, Zurich’s Tonhalle, Barcelona’s Palau de la Música Catalana, Philharmonie de Paris, Vienna Konzerthaus and New York’s Carnegie Hall. He has performed with international orchestras such as the Deutsche Symphonie Orchester Berlin, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Tonhalle Zurich, Israel Philharmonic, Dresden Philharmonic and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.

He is a favourite on the international festival circuit, having appeared at the Aspen, Salzburg,

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GIOCOSO STRING QUARTETSebastian Casleanu violin Teofil Todica violin Martha Windhagauer viola Bas Jongen cello

Winners of the overall Second Prize and the Peter Druce Audience Award as well as the Musica Viva Australia Prize at the 2015 Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition, the Vienna-based Giocoso String Quartet has emerged as one of the most promising and exciting young string quartets of their generation.

The Giocoso String Quartet has been the recipient of important chamber music prizes such as the Alban Berg Prize, Krenek Prize and Artis Prize at ISA Reichenau in Austria (2011), the Aix-en-Provence Festival’s HSBC Prize 2012, and the Windisch Chamber Music Prize in Vienna in both 2012 and 2014. In 2016 it won the Jeunesses Musicales Special Prize at the world-renowned ARD International Music Competition in Munich. With the current formation in place since 2014, the Quartet’s members are citizens of Germany, Romania and the Netherlands, and all four are prizewinning musicians in their own right, admired both as soloists and as chamber music players.

As part of a Master’s degree in Chamber Music, the Quartet has worked extensively with Johannes Meissl, co-founding member of the Artis Quartet, at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. They are also recent alumni of the European Chamber Music Academy (ECMA), which has provided them with multiple international concert opportunities on top of regular masterclasses with artists such as Günter Pichler, Hatto Beyerle and Gerhard Schulz (Alban Berg Quartet), Rainer Schmidt (Hagen Quartet), András Keller (Keller Quartet) and Miguel da Silva (Ysayë Quartet).

The Giocoso String Quartet regularly gives acclaimed recitals all over Europe, including at international chamber music festivals in France (Bordeaux and Aix-en-Provence), Austria (Beethoven, Kalkalpen and Styriarte), the Netherlands (Orlando Festival) and Germany (Niedersachsen Festival), to name a few.

Recent highlights have included debut performances in the Wigmore Hall in London, Vienna’s Musikverein and the Great Hall of the Romanian Atheneum in Bucharest, and tours to Brazil, Japan and South Korea. The Quartet was also selected as a member of the New Austrian Sound of Music, a next-generation talent support program, for the 2016/17 season.

The Giocoso String Quartet is also involved in bringing music to those who cannot normally make it to the concert hall. In conjunction with the Yehudi Menuhin Live-Music-Now Foundation, the Quartet has taken part in special projects to present music to the elderly and to people with intellectual and physical disabilities.

Bas Jongen plays a Hendrik Jacobs cello (Amsterdam, c 1690) kindly loaned to him from the collection of the Dutch Musical Instruments Foundation.

www.giocosostringquartet.com

This is the first National Tour for Musica Viva Australia by both Avi Avital and the Giocoso String Quartet.

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KENNETH W TRIBE ac (1914–2010)

The concert on Monday 9 April 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 continues 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

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PROGRAM

Robert SCHUMANN (1810–1856)

String Quartet in A minor, op 41 no 1 (1842) 26 min

I Introduzione: Andante espressivo (Expressive, moving along at a walking tempo) – Allegro (Fast) II Scherzo: Presto (Very fast) – Intermezzo III Adagio (Slow) IV Presto (Very fast)

Elena KATS-CHERNIN (b 1957)

Orfeo (2017) 16 min

I Rose of Heaven II Sea of Weeping III The Eyes of Argus IV In the Sun and in the Stars V Don’t Look Back

World Premiere Performances

Commissioned for Musica Viva by Kim Williams am

I N T E R VA L

Johann Sebastian BACH (1685–1750)

Chaconne from Partita no 2 in D minor, BWV1004

(1717–20) 14 min

David BRUCE (b 1970)

Cymbeline for mandolin and string quartet (2013) 20 min

I Sunrise II Noon III Sunset

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ABOUT THE MUSICfor quartets since at least February, and also rather scathingly (though brilliantly) reviewed new quartets from now-forgotten contemporary composers in his music magazine around this time. But once he decided he was ready, he took only a few weeks in June to write not one, but three.

June 1842 Our little one gives us indescribable pleasure; she grows daily and shows a good-natured personality with great vitality. Now the first tooth is in place. Clara’s happiness about this and about the whole child is mine as well. The entire June was a kind month except for some days and nights of revelry… Yet I was also busy and productive, in a new sort of way, and have almost totally finished creating and notating two quartets for violins and so on in A minor and F major.

Some of Clara’s diary notes across the years indicate her mildly expressed frustration at Robert hogging the piano. As her performances were a major source of income for the family, she was right to be concerned about losing her technique through lack of practice; but she was also torn by her sincere support for his composing. Robert was fully cognisant of the problem, which was his dilemma also; and being ‘Mr Clara Wieck-Schumann’ was difficult for any man of his era, let alone one who struggled with mental health. So 1842 was a tough year overall, as the two artists negotiated these difficult boundaries. Sometimes, however, they played together. (One suspects this mostly happened when Robert wanted to work through something.)

The June 1842 entry continues:

Clara is playing little, apart from quartets by Haydn and Mozart that we took up sequentially at the piano, and has also composed two songs for my birthday, the most successful she has ever written up to now…

It is no coincidence that they were playing string quartets on the keyboard. This was part of Robert’s immersion into the genre,

Robert SCHUMANN (1810–1856)String Quartet in A minor, op 41 no 1 (1842) I Introduzione: Andante espressivo (Expressive, moving along at a walking tempo) – Allegro (Fast) II Scherzo: Presto (Very fast) – Intermezzo III Adagio (Slow) IV Presto (Very fast)

We often group the work of a visual artist into particular themes or periods, Picasso’s ‘blue’ period being one example. This applies to many composers too, where over the course of their life they might shift from, say, edgy modernism to a sudden interest in minimalism, and all the works of the respective era will have a similar kind of sound or style, no matter what the piece is for.

For Robert Schumann, his artistic shifts were not so much about styles, but rather forms, or choice of instruments. In the 1830s, he was mostly focused on the piano, though he completed an early attempt at a quartet too. In 1840, he was all about songs. Having thoroughly explored that, in 1841 he started to write big symphonic works. And in 1842, he got very excited about chamber music, producing his first three string quartets, his mighty piano quintet, and a number of other small-scale pieces.

Robert and his pianist/composer wife Clara kept a joint diary for the first few years of their marriage, and 1842 is a year of personal drama, including the birth of their first child, Marie. Robert had been toying with ideas

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exploring past masters of it, absorbing the ways different voices or lines needed to be treated, and the means of creating contrast and consistency. Like an actor undertaking research before playing Hamlet, Robert did his legwork before making a serious attempt at creating his own new take on an established form. Whereas with many of his piano works he was content just to go with the flow and roll out a piece in whatever shape he felt like (hello, Fantasias), with his chamber music he looked to a more structured approach.

The three quartets of op 41 are dedicated to the couple’s dear friend and colleague Felix Mendelssohn, and are not a million miles from that composer’s own elegant style. Indeed, they were workshopped with the quartet players of their mutual friend, violinist Ferdinand David. In Schumann’s First Quartet, heard on this program, some listeners also detect Beethoven – especially the ‘mystical’ late quartets, and Ninth Symphony – and even a thread from Haydn’s quartet in D minor, which would make sense given the diary entry above.

The quartet opens with an arresting nod to the past, a Bach-like bit of imitative counterpoint unfurling its curling lines into a fuller treatment of a sad little falling motif. Robert chose to place the Scherzo second. (There’s no set ‘rule’ about this; composers tend to put something jaunty either second or third in a four-movement work.) The beautiful flowing theme of the Adagio brings together the composer’s knowledge of Beethoven but also his own earlier explorations of how to write a decent vocal line, in his ‘year of song’; and there are also glimpses of those hours at the piano, with some pounding motifs that seem to suggest keyboard rather than strings. The finale is another opportunity to show his technical skill, developing an idea across the whole stirring breadth of this powerful movement.

KP Kemp © 2018

Elena KATS-CHERNIN (b 1957)Orfeo (2017) I Rose of Heaven II Sea of Weeping III The Eyes of Argus IV In the Sun and in the Stars V Don’t Look Back

World Premiere Performances

Commissioned for Musica Viva by Kim Williams am

The Orfeo story:

Orfeo and Eurydice marry in great happiness and celebration. Eurydice is bitten by a snake and dies, leaving Orfeo heartbroken and not wanting to live. He decides to travel to the Underworld and eventually, through the power of his exquisite singing, convinces Hades and Persephone to let Eurydice go back to the living world. They caution him with one instruction only; Eurydice must walk behind him on the ascent and he must not turn around and look at her, or she will be lost to him. Orfeo becomes distracted by a noise and does turn; Eurydice is immediately sent back to the Underworld forever.

The composer writes:

Rose of heaven, light of the world, tell me, hast thou ever seen a lover more joyful and fortunate than I?

Beginning in 2009, Barrie Kosky asked me to collaborate with him on his project to stage a Monteverdi Marathon, a production of all three of Monteverdi’s operas to be performed on one day. Over the next three years I was almost totally overtaken with the ten hours

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ABOUT THE MUSICof music, as I orchestrated from the original figured bass version.

The story of Monteverdi’s first opera, Orfeo, always fascinated me: the lovesick minstrel who ventures into the underworld to retrieve his wife. This quintet begins with a quotation from some of Orfeo’s most joyful music, taken from the celebrations as he corrals his friends.

Had I the eyes of Argus and all were to pour forth a sea of tears, their sorrow would not suffice for such woe.

In the second and third movements we hear the shattered spirit of Orfeo after Eurydice is killed by the viper. Sea of Weeping is a lament and Eyes of Argus refers to the multi-eyed giant that Orfeo invokes in the quote above, as well as all the perils and strange encounters that Orfeo faces on his journey.

ORPHEUS: Shall I never more see the sweet eyes of my beloved Eurydice? APOLLO: You can cherish her fair features in the sun and stars.

The fourth movement starts with a short musical quote from Orfeo’s monologue when he sings of trembling before the Gods and of having his heart ripped out. He sings a special song which soothes the ferryman to sleep, thus letting Orfeo cross the river and reach the Underworld. In the final, fifth movement Don’t Look Back, divine fury is released on Orfeo as a consequence of his impatience and mistrust, and a chorus of wild women descends on him and tears him apart.

© Elena Kats-Chernin 2018

About the composer:

Elena Kats-Chernin is an Australian composer, resident in Sydney. Her vibrant and uplifting music has been performed and recorded by several symphony, opera and ballet companies and featured at the opening ceremonies of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Eliza Aria from Meryl Tankard’s ballet Wild Swans, along with the Russian Rag, have become Elena’s most recognisable pieces.

She has received many prestigious prizes such as the Helpmann, Limelight, Sounds Australian and Sydney Theatre Awards and the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award. In 2017, ABC Classics released a comprehensive 10 CD box set collection of her music. Her most recent major premiere was her second adaptation of Monteverdi’s Coronation of Poppea for Barrie Kosky’s production at the Komische Oper Berlin last year.

Johann Sebastian BACH (1685–1750)Chaconne from Partita no 2 in D minor, BWV1004 (1717–20)Adapted for mandolin by Avi Avital

Even with all the historical information at hand, Bach’s six works for unaccompanied violin never cease to amaze. Such complexity, such variety, such musical riches on a single instrument with only four strings! Audiences are more accustomed to hear the violin (and indeed, the mandolin) together with other instruments, in ensembles or as the virtuoso soloist of a concerto. For the player, though, this solitude is not unfamiliar, given the many hours of individual practice and introspection. To be able to perfect technique on such musically rewarding, timeless masterpieces makes most musicians’ relationship with Bach’s Solo Sonatas and Partitas special, and contributes to the work’s status as the pinnacle of the instrument’s repertoire.

The three Partitas are actually stylised dance suites, each exemplifying a different form of this popular genre of the Baroque period. Bach spells their title partia in the autograph;

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in Italy such compositions were usually called sonate da camera (chamber sonatas) and were regarded as the secular counterpart of the church sonata. Given their origins in music performed for social dancing, the movements emphasise the rhythmic, harmonic and structural elements (rather than the linear or textural, as in the Sonatas) and provide variety through diversity of form, musical metre and character.

The D minor Partita follows the standard sequence of suite movements (Allemande – Courante – Sarabande – Gigue), but then the Chaconne is added, the length of which is comparable to that of the other four movements combined. The overall mood throughout is serious and noble.

This chaconne is of immense dimensions. In variation form, it is based on a four-bar bass pattern and its harmonisation. This ‘theme’ is repeated immediately to form an eight-bar first statement, with melodic amplification in the cadential, or closing, bar. This principle of creating pairs of variations on the theme, in which the second is an intensified version of the first, applies through the earlier part of the movement. The second half works on a larger scale, developing particular ideas over several variations. Overall there are three main sections, of decreasing length: 31 variations in the minor mode, followed by 19 in the parallel key of D major, and closing with 12 more after the return of the home key.

The whole movement calls for endurance, as much as for a high degree of virtuosity, and a sense of tempo that remains constant regardless of the intensification or reduction of musical elements. The player is required to demonstrate the full gamut of Baroque violin techniques: multiple stopping, arpeggiation, large leaps, repeated notes, scales, chromatic motion, and a variety of articulation across the entire range of the instrument. What impacts on the listener the most, however, is the composer’s rich inventiveness with textural, figural and melodic material.

Adapted from a note © Dorottya Fabian

David BRUCE (b 1970)

Cymbeline for mandolin and string quartet (2013)

I Sunrise II Noon III Sunset

Cymbeline is one of the most performed pieces that I have in my repertoire and is one of my favourites. Since 2013 I’ve played it many, many times – I think 30 or 40 times, which is a lot for a modern piece. For me it’s almost as programmatic as Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, where every sound and phrase that he created has a meaning. It’s like [the composer] designed a picture of sunrise which uses all these morning sounds – everything is new, everything is discovery, and it develops from nothing, from pianissimo to where we have the sun in the middle of the sky, and that middle movement is very energetic, very youthful, and the core of the action. And of course it’s a metaphor for life, with the first movement representing birth and discovery and then little by little moving on to the final movement where you look back and you know that time is limited, the clock is ticking, and the material world turns to spirits – that’s the last movement for me.

– Avi Avital, from an interview with Martin Buzacott, 2017

The composer writes:

Cymbeline was written specially for Avi Avital. The title is an old Celtic word meaning Lord of the Sun. I think the idea of the piece being about the sun emerged out of the colours of

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ABOUT THE MUSICthe string quartet and the mandolin together. Although I don’t think of myself as a synaesthetic person, I kept having a strong sense of the colour gold in the early sketches for the piece. The mandolin itself has always seemed to me to create a ‘golden’ sound, and when combined with the warmth of the strings it seems now obvious that I should draw towards something warm and golden.

The sun was one of the first objects of worship and it has been surmised that the idea of a holy trinity (found not just in Christianity, but in numerous earlier religions) relates to the three distinct positions of the sun: sunrise, noon and sunset. Sunrise is ‘the father of the day’; midday represents the fullness of energy, the son; and sunset is a time for contemplation and reflection – the spirit. To me, these three states represent not just ‘father, son and spirit’, but also, perhaps, the reflection upon an action about to happen (sunrise), the action itself (noon), and the reflection on the action that happened (sunset).

Cymbeline accordingly is in three movements, with two contemplative outer movements surrounding an energetic central movement. I see the piece as a contemplation of our relationship with this fiery giver of life, whose significance to us is often overlooked in the modern world, but who still really does rule over us all.

© David Bruce 2013

Celtic Sun God

About the composer:

Born in Stamford, Connecticut, David Bruce grew up in England and now enjoys a growing reputation on both sides of the Atlantic. In the 2013/14 season he was Associate Composer of the San Diego Symphony, for whom he wrote three pieces, including Night Parade, for the orchestra’s highly successful Carnegie Hall debut in October 2013, and the violin concerto Fragile Light for Gil Shaham for 2014. His fourth Carnegie Hall commission, That Time with You (2013), for mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor, follows Steampunk (2011), Gumboots (2008) and Piosenki (2006), which have all gone on to be widely performed by leading ensembles around the world.

In the UK, David was 2012/13 Composer-in-Residence with the Royal Opera House, who co-commissioned with Glyndebourne the opera Nothing (after the book by Janne Teller), which premiered at Glyndebourne in February 2016. His chamber opera The Firework Maker’s Daughter (after the Philip Pullman story) toured the UK and New York in 2013 and was shortlisted for both the British Composer Awards and the 2014 Olivier Award for Best New Opera Production. It was revived for a 27-performance run at the Royal Opera House’s Lindbury Studios in December 2015. In 2012 David’s Fire was one of 20 ‘20x12’ commissions celebrating the Cultural Olympiad.

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FURTHER EXPLORATIONThe mandolin repertoire is far more extensive than one might initially think. The instrument, part of the lute family, is played all over the world and employed in countless different cultures and genres, from folk to bluegrass to country and even to rock’n’roll. Since it uses the same tuning as a violin, transcriptions of violin works are also quite common (for example, Bach’s superlative D minor Chaconne, being performed by Avi Avital on the present tour).

Mandolin orchestras, often performing arrangements of existing works, are a popular ensemble worldwide – including in Avi’s hometown of Beersheba, Israel, where the young musician began to hone his craft as an ensemble mandolinist.

Composers who wrote music specifically for the mandolin include Mahler, Prokofiev, Vivaldi, Stravinsky, Mozart, and Beethoven, who was known to enjoy playing the instrument on occasion.

There are plenty of great articles online for listeners who wish to learn more about the mandolin. Head to www.mandolinluthier.com/history.htm for an excellent illustrated summary of the mandolin in its various stages of development since the Middle Ages.

Avi Avital’s Between Worlds album (Deutsche Grammophon, 2014) puts the mandolin’s incredible versatility centre-stage. Including well-known music by Bloch, Dvorák, Falla and Piazzolla along with a variety of lesser-known traditional folk tunes, it’s an entertaining listen from start to finish.

Avi’s YouTube channel is also packed with beautifully filmed concert videos and backstage footage – check it out at www.youtube.com/user/aviavital

The Giocoso String Quartet are yet to release a debut disc, but there are many fine performances available for streaming on their website, including Mendelssohn, Penderecki and Beethoven: www.giocosostringquartet.com

Elena Kats-Chernin’s music has been extensively recorded on ABC Classics. Among many fine releases is Unsent Love Letters – Meditations on Erik Satie (ABC Classics, 2017), an entrancing series of 26 piano miniatures reflecting on the life and music of the idiosyncratic French composer, performed by Tamara-Anna Cislowska. The Elena Kats-Chernin Collection (ABC Classics, 2017) is a 10-disc set released in November 2017 as part of Elena’s 60th birthday celebrations. The set brings together iconic works with previously unreleased and newly recorded music.

© Luke Iredale

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INTERVIEW WITH AVI AVITAL

When Israeli mandolinist Avi Avital met with the Giocoso Quartet at the first rehearsal for their upcoming Australian tour, he had a very clear idea of what he wanted to tell them about his instrument.

Absolutely nothing.

‘The mandolin speaks for itself,’ the 39-year-old says from Berlin, where he’s been based for the past eight years. ‘I’m sure that for them this will be the first time that they’ve played with the mandolin – it’s usually the case with most of the chamber music partners and orchestras that I play with, so it’s something that I encounter very often. I like the discovery element in the encounter.’

Having re-established the mandolin as a classical instrument, the Beersheba-born Avi relishes that moment when players within traditional ensembles suddenly realise the versatility and sheer volume of an instrument that for generations endured an unjustified reputation as being the province of amateurs only.

And if it’s new to the players, it is to most audience members too.

‘Wherever I play around the world, I feel that for most of the people it’s absolutely the first time and there is a great curiosity and a great anticipation which is wonderful for the concert atmosphere. No spoken introductions can make that better, that moment of discovery!’

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Avi’s own discovery of the mandolin occurred as part of after-school activities.

‘There was this youth mandolin orchestra in Beersheba where kids aged from eight to 18 used to come together to play arrangements of classical pieces for mandolin. A neighbour who was older than I was played mandolin himself in this orchestra and it was through him that I was introduced to the instrument.’

He felt an immediate connection.

‘It’s a very intuitive instrument and a fundamentally simple concept. You put a string on a piece of wood, or on a wooden box, and you pluck it with your hand or a piece of wood or whatever, and then the sound comes out. I think for kids – especially for the kind of curious and restless kid that I was – something that gives you such an immediate reaction is very appealing.’

So rare, though, was the mandolin in classical music that his first teacher was actually a violinist, the Russian-trained Simcha Nathanson. Surrounded by standard classical instruments, the young Avi soon realised that the sound of his mandolin couldn’t resonate enough to project beyond the ensembles with whom he was playing. But then he encountered the Tel Aviv luthier Arik Kerman.

‘Arik had the same taste as me and my colleagues at the time, which was to bring the mandolin to the front of the stage in mainstream concerts. And his goal was to make a new kind of mandolin which was louder and which could fill a concert hall, made out of the best wood, just like a violin-maker would construct his violin out of the best material available. We wanted to prove that a mandolin could have a wider range of colours and dynamics and could be more expressivein its tone. Arik did years of development and he took our input into consideration – the players who played these instruments.’

For the past 20 years, Avi’s been playing the same mandolin made by Arik and unless he’s performing with the big symphony orchestras, it doesn’t need any amplification, even in the most imposing halls like the Philharmonie in Berlin.

Now Avi performs concerts in the widest possible range of genres.

‘For me it’s very organic. Obviously most of my concerts are in the classical world but I have played a lot of klezmer too and I do play world music, especially Middle Eastern and Balkan, just because these are things that I know and have always been interested in. And so switching comes naturally.’

What didn’t come naturally, though, was improvisation. Until, that is, he encountered klezmer clarinet legend Giora Feidman.

‘I remember I was playing something for him at his home in Israel, and he told me, ‘Now let’s hear you improvise.’ I said, ‘What do you mean improvise? I don’t know how to improvise! I never learned. They didn’t teach us that in the Music Academy!’ And he said, ‘Come on, just improvise!’ I assured him I really didn’t know how to. So he told me again, ‘It’s simple,’ and that was it! I just improvised. That was the first time, and I’ve never stopped since!’

Nor has he stopped collaborating with composers, having now notched up around 100 world premieres.

And just as with performers, he never sets conditions for composers who write for the mandolin.

‘I don’t want to give them any clues because most of the time they come up with things that I haven’t thought about myself. So when I receive the score I’ll spend a few minutes trying to figure it out and then I’ll realise, oh, that’s interesting, I’ve discovered something new!’

© Martin Buzacott 2017

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In the company of Musica Viva CEO Mary Jo Capps, attend the exhilarating semi-final and grand finals of this high-calibre competition. Between the recitals, spend a day exploring the vibrant city of Melbourne with its plethora of galleries, exhibitions and theatres.

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1–8 JULYMelbourne Recital CentreAustralian National Academy of Music

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For detailed information, call 1300 727 095 (AU), visit renaissancetours.com.au or contact your travel agent.

Melbourne International Chamber Music Competitionwith Mary Jo Capps | 05–09 July 2018 (5 days)

Witness the rise of some of the finest emerging ensembles as they compete at Melbourne’s prestigious International Chamber Music Competition.

In the company of Musica Viva CEO Mary Jo Capps, attend the exhilarating semi-final and grand finals of this high-calibre competition. Between the recitals, spend a day exploring the vibrant city of Melbourne with its plethora of galleries, exhibitions and theatres.

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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.

Elena Kats-Chernin’s Orfeo, commissioned by Kim Williams am and performed by Avi Avital and Giocoso String Quartet in this program is one of many exciting commissioned works that enrich our programs and performances every year. To learn more about commissioning at Musica Viva, please contact:Judy Duffy jduffy@musicaviva.com.au or call 02 8394 6616

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MUSICA VIVA PATRONSWe 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 CappsAndrew & Felicity CorkillThe 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 Lindsay

The late Joyce MarchantThe late Suzanne MellerThe late Dr Bela MezoTrevor NoffkeThe 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 (3)

QLDThe late Miss A HartshornThe late Steven Kinston

SAThe late Ms K Lillemor AndersenThe late Patricia Baker

The 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 MorawetzThe late Elizabeth OakesThe 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 Callum Close on (02) 8394 6636 or cclose@musicaviva.com.au

MUSICA VIVA CUSTODIANS

Julian Burnside ao qc (President, Melbourne) & Kate DurhamRuth Magid (Chair, Sydney) & Bob MagidTony Berg am & Carol BergMarc Besen ac & Eva Besen ao

Ms Jan Bowen am

Tom Breen & Rachael KohnDi Bresciani oam

David Constable am & Dr Ida LichterDr Cyril CurtainDaryl & Kate DixonDr Helen FergusonMs Annabella FletcherEleanore GoodridgeKatherine & Reg GrinbergJennifer Hershon & Russell Black

Penelope HughesJacqueline HuieAndrew JohnstonMichael & Frederique KatzThe Hon. Jane Mathews ao

Isobel Morgan oam

Prof. John RickardPru RobertsBarbara & Stephen 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 2017, the Society supported the national tours of Eighth Blackbird and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment & Rachel Podger. This year, the Society is proud to support the national tour of Tafelmusik. 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 Judy Duffy on (02) 8394 6616 or jduffy@musicaviva.com.au

AMADEUS SOCIETY

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MUSICA VIVA PATRONSMAJOR GIFTSACT$10,000 – $19,999Anonymous (1)

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

$20,000 – $99,999Eleanore GoodridgeTom & Elisabeth Karplus Michael & Frederique KatzRuth & Bob MagidThe Hon. Jane Mathews ao

The late Michael RobinsonAnthony Strachan Jo Strutt Kim Williams am

Ray Wilson oam in memory of James Agapitos oam

$10,000 – $19,999Anne & Terrey Arcus am Ruth Armytage am John B Fairfax ao

Charles & Wallis Graham Hilmer Family Endowment Vicki Olsson Edward & Anne Simpson

David & Carole Singer SW TradingGeoffrey White oam & Sally White oam

Anonymous (2)

$5,000 – $9,999Michael & Margaret Ahrens Christine Davis Gardos FamilyJennifer Hershon & Russell BlackElizabeth IslesWarren Kinston & Verity Goitein Lesley & Andrew Rosenberg Geoff Stearn Anonymous (1)

QLD$10,000 +Ian & Caroline Frazer Andrea & Malcolm Hall-Brown The MacNicol Family The Hon. Justice A Philippides Anonymous (1)

$5,000 – $9,999Noosa Federation of the Arts Inc.

SA$20,000 +Anonymous (1)

$10,000 – $19,999Aldridge Family Endowment

Day Family FoundationLang FoundationMarsden Szwarcbord FoundationP M Menz Anonymous (1)

$5,000 – $9,999Mark Lloyd & Elizabeth Raupach

VIC$20,000 +Anonymous (1)

$10,000 – $19,999Julian Burnside ao qc

Monica Lim & Konfir Kabo

$5,000 – $9,999Di Bresciani oam & Lino Bresciani Elizabeth & Anthony BrookesDoug & Ross Hooley in memory of Beryl Hooley Peter LovellJan MinchinGreg Shalit & Miriam Faine Stephen Shanasy Wendy Taylor

WA$20,000 +Anonymous (1)

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

MASTERCLASSESMusica Viva’s Masterclass program is supported by principal patrons Stephen Johns & Michele Bender, Wesfarmers Arts (WA) and Mary Turner oam (Newcastle).

THE HILDEGARD PROJECT in support of women in compositionThis 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

KEN TRIBE FUND FOR AUSTRALIAN COMPOSITION

$20,000 +Beth Brown & Tom Bruce am

Marjorie Nicholas, Patron of the Artistic Director

$10,000 – $19,999Roger Druce & Jane BentleyThe Morawetz Family in memory of Paul Morawetz

$5,000 – $9,999Joanna Baevski Peter LovellMusica Viva Victorian State CommitteeMyer Family Foundation

$500 – $4,999Mary & Arnold BramMrs Pat BurkeJan McDonaldShelley & Euan MurdochProject 11Bibi & David WilkinsonAnonymous (1)

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ACT

$2,500 – $4,999Kristin van Brunschot & John HollidayAnonymous (2)

$1,000 – $2,499Dr Marian Hill Margaret & Peter Janssens Garth Mansfield oam & Margaret Mansfield oam Margaret Oates Sue Packer Craig Reynolds Dr Andrew Singer Sue Terry & Len Whyte Margot Woods & Arn Sprogis Anonymous (3)

$500 – $999Geoffrey & Margaret Brennan Dudley & Helen CreaghJudith HealyKingsley Herbert Vivien & Roger Hillman Elspeth Humphries Claudia Hyles Margaret Lovell & Grant Webeck Robyn McKay Helen Rankin Clive & Lynlea Rodger Dr Paul & Dr Lel Whitbread Anonymous (2)

NSW

$2,500 – $4,999Tony Berg am & Carol BergNeil BurnsBrian Cohen in memory of Sue Cohen John & Irene Garran Prof. Iven Klineberg am rfd & Mrs Sylvia Klineberg Kevin & Deidre McCann Alexandra Martin Mary Turner oam

Kay Vernon Dr Elizabeth Watson

$1,000 – $2,499Judith Allen Andrew Andersons ao & Sara Bennett Penny BeranBaiba Berzins The Boyarsky FamilyCatherine Brown-Watt psm & Derek WattMr & Mrs N K Brunsdon Robert Cahill & Anne Cahill oam Lloyd & Mary Jo Capps Yola & Steve Center David Constable am & Dr Ida LichterStefan CouaniIn memoriam Glendon Coulton Greg Dickson & Penny Le CouteurSarah & Tony Falzarano Kate Girdwood Cathy GrayIn loving memory of Jose Gutierrez Hope HanksRobert & Lindy Henderson Dorothy Hoddinott ao Elaine IrwinAngela IslesErvin & Judy KatzLeta Keens Mrs W G Keighley Catherine & Robert Kench Robert McDougall D M & K M Magarey Dr Dennis Mather & Mr John Studdert Michael & Mary Whelan Trust Mora MaxwellMusica Viva StaffPaul O’Donnell Andrew PageRoslyn Renwick

John & Sue Rogers Dr Lynette Schaverien Andrea SimpsonAveen & Ashley StephensonSydney Conservatorium AssociationMr Graham Tribe am & Mrs Judy TribeCharles WadeRichard WagnerJohn & Flora WeickhardtRichard Wilkins Anonymous (4)

$500 – $999Greta ArchboldDr Jennifer ArnoldMrs Kathrine Becker Gay Bookallil Stephen BoothJennifer Bott ao

Denise Braggett Maxine Brodie Hilary & Hugh Cairns Lucia Cascone Anna Cerneaz Michael & Colleen Chesterman Callum Close & James Tolhurst Caroline & Douglas CoulsonPamela Cudlipp Robin & Wendy Cumming Charles DavidsonGreta DavisCatherine Ellis & Alexander Drake Dr Arno Enno & Dr Anna EnnoMrs Noelene FerrierMr Robert Green Anthony Gregg & Deanne Whittleston Deryn GriffithsNeil & Pamela HardieRohan HaslamSandra Haslam Roland & Margaret Hicks

John & Barbara HirstDr Ailsa Hocking & Dr Bernie WilliamsHoffman & Koops LawyersHoward & Brigitte InsallDavid & Jennifer Jacobs Owen James Dr Esther JanssenLeslie KennedyGraham & Sue Lane Ian & Pam McGawProf. Kenneth McKinnon & Sue Walker A & E Marshall Timothy Matthies & Chris Bonnily Donald Nairn Professors Robin & Tina OfflerKim & Margie OstingaDiane Parks Merry & Robert PearsonChristina Pender The late Beryl Raymer The late Milton RenhamPaul & Marion RichmondPenny Rogers David & Mary-Anne RoseMs Vivienne SharpeShane Simpson am & Danielle SimpsonKim Slater Lidia StojanovskiRichard & Beverley TaperellTim & Vincie Trahair Douglas & Pamela TribeChristopher Whitehead & Peter Wilson Megan & Bill Williamson Brian & Fiona WilsonAnonymous (9)

VIRTUOSI

MUSICA VIVA PATRONS

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QLD

$2,500 – $4,999Lyn Hamill & Ian Dover Andrew & Kate Lister

$1,000 – $2,499George Booker & Denise BondIn memory of Anna ClendinningRobin Harvey Jocelyn LuckB & D Moore Debra & Patrick Mullins Dr Nita Vasilescu Michelle Wade & James Sinclair Anonymous (4)

$500 – $999Marie IsacksonLynn & John KellyM F Lejeune Joanne Rennick Dr Nancy UnderhillBarbara Williams & Jankees van der Have Anonymous (1)

SA

$2,500 – $4,999H & I Pollard

$1,000 – $2,499Ivan & Joan Blanchard The Hon D J & Mrs E M Bleby Beverley A Brown Dr David Bullen John & Libby Clapp Peter CliftonAnna Cox oam

Dr Michael DrewLorraine DrogemullerBrian L Jones oam Bronwen L Jones Fiona MacLachlan oam

Ruth Marshall & Tim Muecke Ann & David Matison Ms Judy Potter Trish & Richard Ryan ao Tony & Joan Seymour STARSRobert & Glenys Woolcock Anonymous (3)

$500 – $999Richard Blomfield Christopher & Margaret BurrellJosephine Cooper Raymond & Jenny Greet Dr E H & Mrs A Hirsch Elizabeth Ho oam in honour of the late Tom Steel Alison Kinsman am Jenny & Christopher Legoe Skye McGregor Galina Mikhailovna PodgoretskyMichael SteeleJune & Brian Ward Jim & Ann Wilson Ann Woodroffe

VIC

$2,500 – $4,999Alastair & Sue CampbellCarrillo Gantner ao Peter Griffin am & Terry SwannLyndsey & Peter HawkinsMegan O’ConnorRalph & Ruth Renard Maria Sola Helen Vorrath

$1,000 – $2,499Russ & Jacqui BateHelen BrackAlison & John Cameron Mrs Maggie Cash Caroline & Robert ClementeTom Cordiner Virginia Henry Helen Imber & Ian Proctor John V Kaufman qc Irene Kearsey & Michael Ridley June K Marks Murray Sandland Sally SimpsonHywel Sims

Ray Turner & Jennifer SeabrookDr Victor & Dr Karen Wayne Anonymous (6)

$500 – $999Dr William Abud Wendy & Michael BertramPat BurkeJohn & Mandy Collins Dr Cyril CurtainDr Judy Davey Dhar Family Lord & Lady Ebury Geoffrey & Mary Gloster Brian Goddard Barbara HamerDr Anthea Hyslop Nola JenningsAngela Kayser Diana LempriereRowena & Richard McDonaldJane MorrisDennis & Fairlie NassauGreg J Reinhardt Jacques & Susan Rich Prof. John RickardEda Ritchie am Dr Charles Su & Dr Emily LoMrs Suzy & Dr Mark Suss Philip ThielJennifer Whitehead Anna & Mark Yates Anonymous (1)

WA

$2,500 – $4,999Alan & Anne Blanckensee David Cooke David Wallace & Jamelia Gubgub

$1,000 – $2,499Alan Dodge & Neil Archibald Ms Helen Hollingshead & Mr John Hollingshead

Freda & Jim Irenic Anne Last & Steve Scudamore M E M Loton oam Mrs Frances Morrell Prichard Panizza FamilyMargaret & Rodger SearesElizabeth Syme Robyn Tamke Anonymous (3)

$500 – $999David & Minnette AmbroseHarry Anstey Fred & Angela Chaney S CherianRodney ConstantineNerida Dilworth am In memory of Raymond Dudley Dr Penny Herbert in memory of Dunstan Herbert Mr Graham Lovelock & Mr Steve Singer Megan Lowe Geoffrey MasseyJenny Mills in memory of Flora Bunning John Overton Betty Smith-GanderCisca SpencerEllie Steinhardt Christopher TylerMargaret Wallace Anonymous (2)

If you have any questions about this list, please contact Callum Close on 1300 786 186 or cclose@musicaviva.com.au

This list is complete as at 14 March 2018.

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MUSICA VIVA CONCERT PARTNERS

WINE PARTNERS

ACT Wine Partner NSW & QLD Wine Partner SA Wine Partner

VIC Wine Partner WA Wine Partners Champagne Partner

MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL CHAMBER MUSIC COMPETITION PARTNERS

Principal Partner Strategic Partners Hotel Partner Wine Partner

Grand Prize Partner Prize Partners Car Partner

Untitled-1 1 8/02/2018 1:10 pm

SERIES AND TOUR PARTNERS

Perth Concert Series Coffee Concert Series

MEDIA PARTNER GOVERNMENT PARTNERSMusica 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.

HOTEL PARTNERS ARTS & HEALTH PARTNER

BUSINESS PARTNERS

Law Firm Partner Chartered Accountants Partner Piano Partner

FUTUREMAKERS PARTNERS

Berg Family Foundation

Lead Partner Education Partner Residency Partner

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MUSICA VIVA EDUCATION PARTNERSMUSICA VIVA IN SCHOOLS

National Digital Innovation Partner

QLD TAS

Hamer Family Fund

In memory of Anita Morawetz

M S Newman Family Foundation

Ballandry (Peter Griffin Family) Fund

The Marian & E H Flack Trust

NSW VIC

Godfrey Turner Memorial Music Trust

ACT NT

Kingston Sedgfield (Australia) Charitable Trust

SA WA

Aldridge Family Endowment Carthew Foundation

Day Family Foundation FWH Foundation

Lang Foundation Marsden Szwarcbord Foundation

Coopers Brewery Foundation

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STORIES TO INSPIRE

Musica Viva reaches out to young Indigenous leaders

Musica Viva is delighted to welcome a new generation of Indigenous leaders to the concert hall with free access to our International Concert Season, thanks to the vision and generous support of Justice Anthe Philippides, a Queensland Supreme Court Judge and Musica Viva supporter.

‘The genesis of the Music Circle was my thinking about what I could do to promote inclusion and empowerment of young Indigenous students and early career professionals through a medium close to

my heart. I am grateful to Musica Viva for wholeheartedly embracing the concept of the Music Circle and its goals. It is a great pleasure to share the insight and joy of chamber music in this way,’ says Justice Philippides.

The Music Circle began in 2017 in Brisbane with 20 young Indigenous law students invited to attend the Musica Viva concert of American ensemble Eighth Blackbird. The group included CareerTrackers participants, a national organisation that

Justice Anthe Philippides with Music Circle participants.

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creates internship opportunities for Indigenous university students in all fields of study. The successful Brisbane experience led to similar events in Sydney and Canberra. Over 100 young Indigenous leaders and professionals participated in the Music Circle events in 2017 and attended performances by Angela Hewitt, the Pacifica Quartet, and Rachel Podger and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. The group also attended other high-calibre performances presented by the Queensland

Symphony Orchestra, Opera Queensland, CIRCA and Gondwana Choirs.

‘The Angela Hewitt concert was brilliant beyond words. Seeing the pianist at the pinnacle of her career was truly astonishing and every piece played was fascinating and engaging […]. Attending the concert would not have been possible without Justice Philippides creating the Music Circle. By joining the Circle, I have been given the opportunity to experience classical music live, meet musicians and network.’

– Music Circle attendee

In 2018, the Music Circle will again be warmly welcomed to Musica Viva concerts including in Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney as well many other cultural activities including symphony and opera performances.

To discuss ways in which you can support access to excellent chamber music in your city and state, please contact Judy Duffy, Acting Director of Development, by email jduffy@musicaviva.com.au or call 02 8394 6616.

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Connect with us online for more chamber music news!

At every International Concert Season concert, we present Pre-Concert Talks as well as a selection of CD signings, Meet the Artists, and a variety of other interactive events and experiences.

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EVENING SERIES — GYPSIES, PIPERS– AND DUKES 2 AUGUSTTOWNSVILLE CIVIC THEATREA folk influence, two Australian premieres and one world premiere make this concert a stand out. Chinese musician Wu Tong performs with Australia’s Goldner String Quartet and Karin Schaupp.

EVENING SERIES– BACH BY CANDLELIGHT 2 1 AUGUSTTOWNSVILLE CIVIC THEATRE

Karen Gomyo will take you on a journey through all the Violin Partitas by Bach.

“A first-rate artist of rare musical command, vitality, brilliance and intensity”Chicago Tribune