INSPIRATIONS Three inspiring string quartets, inspired by the Classical tradition. Beethoven was surely inspired by Haydn, but could Haydn have been inspired by Beethoven? By the time Haydn wrote his Op 77, Beethoven was establishing himself as the formidable voice of his generation, not least as Haydn’s worthy successor in the field of string quartet ... Read more
MUSIC, SHE WROTE CONCERT 3: NEW BEGINNINGS This is the third set of events in the 3MBS "Made in Melbourne" program. Ceridwen McCooey Ceridwen is a cellist and composer based in Naarm(Melbourne). She writes music that draws on the clarity of contemporary classical music and combines it with the freedom of improvisation. Her solo practice ... Read more
Originally from country Victoria, pianist Joshua Hooke is currently completing a PhD in Music Performance at the University of Melbourne, under the guidance of Professors Ian Holtham and Paul Kildea. Previously, Joshua was invited to undertake periods of intensive private study in Vienna with Paul Badura-Skoda, and was among his last students. He also studies ... Read more
A CELEBRATION OF TWO PIANISTIC GIANTS A Celebration of Two Pianistic Giants presents a program of rarely heard works by two incomparable giants of twentieth-century pianism, Alicia de Laroccha (1923 - 2009) and Artur Schnabel (1882-1951). These artists each had a uniquely different sound: de Laroccha followed the Spanish school of Enrique Granados and Schnabel ... Read more
THE SPACE BETWEEN US The New Music Studio and Halcyon collaborate to present two vocal chamber works by Conservatorium composition staff. No Ordinary Traveller, composed by Katy Abbott to a libretto by Jacki Holland, was inspired by shipboard letters and diary entries, written by 19th-century European settlers on their way to Australia. It captures their ... Read more
BETWEEN EARTH AND SKY Ensemble 642 invite the listener to experience the emotion, virtuosity and vitality of secular and sacred vocal music of the early Italian Baroque, which, hundreds of years later, still has the power to enthrall and delight. At the turn of the 17th century, newfound approaches to musical expression exploded into every ... Read more
This concert is the fourth of six programs presented as part of the Lyrebird Chamber Concert Series on period instruments, supported by the Louise Hanson-Dyer Bequest Fund. For the first time in recent memory, Melbourne audiences will be able to hear chamber works by Joseph Haydn with baryton live, performed with their intended instrumentation. The ... Read more
THE STRADIVARI OF THE BASSOON The Parisian bassoonist and instrument maker Jean-Nicolas Savary jeune (1786 - 1853) is a particularly interesting figure in the world of historical bassoons. His instruments became so popular that in 1891, Charles Russell Day posthumously declared Savary jeune to be the Stradivari of the bassoon, lauding the Savary bassoon’s “peculiar ... Read more
Suites for Guitar showcases the beauty and vitality of guitars in concert, playing suites from Brazil, France and Australia. The arrangement of Mauricio Carrilho's Suite for guitar and orchestra is an integral part of Max Rudd's PhD in performance thesis. Ravel's Danses Nobles et Sentimentales arranged by Doug de Vries is to be recorded by de Vries and Murray ... Read more
'OUR DUTY TO CARE' Featuring Solstice Trio and soprano Bridgette Kelsey, this concert will create a new-music atmosphere discussing environmental themes broadly, culminating in the new 15-minute namesake work by Robert McIntyre that encapsulates the legal case Sharma v Minister for the Environment FCA 560. This hour-long curated concert by McIntyre will also feature two of his other ... Read more
THE ANAM SET (DIRECTOR'S CUT) In 2021 ANAM commenced a remarkable project – commissioning 67 new works for our 67 musicians. Each composer-musicians pairing embarked on an artistic adventure, creating works in partnership, a true coming together of creation and performance. New Music Days 2023 seeks to celebrate this epic project with a unique program specially selected by ANAM Artistic ... Read more
FINDING OUR VOICE Finding Our Voice is a nationwide project that invites eight Australian artists to create ambitious new musical compositions, illustrating a remarkable range of music-making. This program sets the pristine beauty of a handful of cult contemporary pieces alongside the aching clarity of renaissance music. Performed by ever-changing constellations of piano, strings and electronics, ... Read more
In 2020, long-time colleagues Ben Dix and Dan McKay joined forces as Australia’s newest guitar duo for their first recitals for the Melbourne Guitar Festival’s Recital Series. Making their debut in livestream recitals, the pair are best known for their work within the Melbourne Guitar Quartet, with whom they somehow managed to release the CD ... Read more
LATE WORKS II: BEETHOVEN'S 33 VARIATIONS ON A WALTZ BY DIABELLI "We shall not cease from exploration, And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time.“ T. S. Eliot, Four Quartets Beethoven returns us, in the final minuet, to our beginning, now ... Read more
WORLD PREMIERE The Faculty of Fine Arts and Music proudly presents the world premiere of Stuart Greenbaum’s Tuba Sonata. This recital is presented as part of the Melba Hall Lunch Hour Concert Series. All concerts in this series can also be streamed live via the Melbourne Conservatorium website. More info and bookings
Brodsky Quartet celebrate their 50th anniversary with a brilliantly imagined program of Bach, Britten and Schubert. Weaving musical magic, the legendary string quartet will demonstrate to audiences the fiercely focused and blazing integrity that comes from 50 years of collaboration and imagination. ‘How has it been 50 years since we started this lifelong journey together? ... Read more
ENCOUNTERS: IMPRESSIONS The intensity of training for musicians at ANAM has been likened to ‘a musical boot camp that lasts an entire year.’ But rarely are boot camps full of such joy, self-discovery, and artistic aspirations. The ANAM Encounters series in Primrose Potter Salon at Melbourne Recital Centre showcases outstanding performers from the class of 2022 ... Read more
Tin is the traditional metal marking a 10-year anniversary. So, too, is it the flashy and proud symbol of a decade of percussion at ANAM. When the percussion program launched in 2013, we achieved our goal of offering training on every orchestral instrument. To celebrate, our percussion musicians, faculty, and alumni - led by Head ... Read more
Marshall McGuire and Paula Rae are two of Australia’s most acclaimed performers. Both studied at the Victorian College of the Arts, as well as in London and Paris, and are members of the ELISION ensemble. Paula and Marshall have a passion for music old and new, between them having commissioned and premiered hundreds of new ... Read more
IMAGES OF BLISS Witness the grandeur of Beethoven’s C major ‘Razumovsky’ String Quartet with its rapscallion fugal finale, the magical joy of Haydn and Lee Bradshaw’s emotionally charged ‘Images’ for String Quartet. Experience the wonder of the string quartet as three great composers from three centuries explore the expressive possibilities of this unsurpassable medium. More ... Read more
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME! Long-time collaborators, pianist Donna Coleman and harpist Jacinta Dennett are Pleione 11; they explore the notion of home in this program that features a premiere by Australian composer Eve Duncan. The program title There’s no place like home! evokes the 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz and the image of Dorothy clicking together the ... Read more
FREI ABER EINSAM: A SALUTE TO VIOLINIST JOSEPH JOACHIM Join us for a violin and piano recital in the stunning surrounds of the Hanson Dyer Hall. Written for the great violinist Joseph Joachim, the three pieces in this program feature works by composers in the circle of Johannes Brahms including Clara Schumann, Robert Schumann and ... Read more
The biggest celebration of Australian and British string quartet music ever presented, ANAM Quartetthaus at Melbourne Museum will be staged on the Melbourne Museum Plaza. Three Australian ensembles with connections to ANAM and three British ensembles with connections to London's Royal College of Music (RCM) – including a professional, early-career, and emerging ensemble from each country – will ... Read more
Carla Blackwood, horn Elizabeth Sellars, violin Rhodri Clarke, piano The launch of the trio's debut album, through ABC. A retrospective of Australian horn trios, including Elena Kats-Chernin's Velvet Revolution and Roger Smalley's Horn Trio. More info and bookings
Peninsula Chamber Musicians continue their exploration of works written for smaller ensembles performed in beautiful venues. Boyd - Ex Deo Lux Brahms - Clarinet Quintet, Op. 115 More info and bookings
MUSICAL KALEIDOSCOPE A colourful mix of musical genres is familiar territory for Duo Chamber Melange. There is only one word that encapsulates the essence of this concert — kaleidoscopic. Journey from the Classical nationalism of rarely played Czech composer Fibich, through the vivid and energetic works by 20th-century women composers Lili Boulanger and Margaret Sutherland ... Read more
PARISIENNES Quatuor Van Kuijk celebrate the quartet’s ten-year anniversary with a program of Mozart, Debussy, Mendelssohn and the Australian premiere of Edith Canat de Chizy’s String Quartet No.5 Oh God, written specially for the quartet. Quatuor Van Kuijk are a fresh voice imbuing new energy and interpretations to the master works of the chamber catalogue. ... Read more
In the spirit of the Classical orators, Chad Kelly and Josephine Vains place rhetoric and the connection with audience at the centre of their music-making. Through performing the F Major Sonata with harpsichord and historical cello, this program sheds new light on the relationship between keyboard and cello at the cusp of the 19th century, ... Read more
FLUTE TRAVELLER Internationally renowned performers Masahide Kurita and Kenji Fujimura join forces to take audiences on a captivating musical journey to various corners of the globe. Their evocative Flute and Piano recital program includes works inspired by the folk songs, landscapes and national musical traditions of Japan, Turkey, Indonesia, Sweden and Hungary. More info and ... Read more
A duo recital featuring decorated University of Melbourne alumna and now London-based mezzo-soprano Lotte Betts-Dean with pianist Stewart Kelly. Reigniting a partnership that is more than a decade long, Ms Betts-Dean and Mr Kelly return to the Conservatorium as part of our Melba Hall Lunch Hour Concert Series. Lotte and Stewart first performed together in ... Read more
UTOPIAS Vanishing visions of the idyll—a Utopian world of natural splendour, both aquatic and pastoral—are conjured by an intricate and highly original string soundscape from Thomas Adès, titled Arcadiana. Following this is Mozart’s String Quartet in D minor—intensely personal in its expression, moments of intimately sublime sorrow give way to bursts of playful radiance, in only ... Read more
CHILD'S PLAY Nexas Quartet are committed to sharing the musical diversity of the saxophone, showcasing its versatility and ability to cross genre boundaries. Their performance in Primrose Potter Salon presents repertoire inspired by the joy and fun of childhood. Featuring masterpieces by Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Chick Corea and Australian Tomasz Spiewak, Nexas Quartet have ... Read more
RACHMANINOFF FOR TWO PIANOS Rachmaninoff was one of the most formative pianists of the 20th century, both in his pianism and compositional output. This year marks his 150th birthday and is therefore cause for celebration! This concert presents some of Rachmaninoff's finest smaller scale solo piano works as well as his emphatic Symphonic Dances - ... Read more
LES VIRTUOSES During the Renaissance and Baroque, music was gradually liberated from solely servicing the church into a force of its own. The awakening of instrumental music and the amazing originality of the musicians creating it provided fuel for the next four centuries of musical development. In this program we shall encounter four fabulous women ... Read more
MOVING PICTURES After forging stellar careers as individual artists, violinist Zoë Black and pianist Joe Chindamo quickly established themselves as a formidable force upon forming a duo just over a decade ago. Embodying the true essence of restless creativity and discovery, they are constantly evolving, challenging themselves and their audiences, and earning the highest respect ... Read more
The Melbourne Conservatorium of Music presents the finalists of the 2023 Conservatorium Chamber Music Competition. Current students have the opportunity each year to form a small ensemble with their peers, and perform a work of their choice in the Melba Hall Lunch Hour Concert Series. More info and bookings
AUSTRALIAN COMPOSERS A recital featuring Joel Brennan (A/Prof - Trumpet and Deputy Associate Dean (Research)), Derek Jones (A/Prof - Flute and Head of Woodwinds) and Jerry Wong (A/Prof - Piano and Head of Keyboard). The repertoire will consist of all living Australian composers. Four of the seven composers are Conservatorium staff members. One work will be a world premiere and ... Read more
NORWEIGAN BEAUTY Duo Chamber Melange present two jewels of chamber music by Norwegian genius Edvard Grieg alongside an inspirational Australian work written by Emma Greenhill. The sonatas held a special place for Grieg who commented that ‘they each represent a period in my development: the first, naive, rich in ideas… the second, nationalistic… and the ... Read more
TRANSFORMATIONS Music by two of the most-loved composers —Tchaikovsky and Mozart — revealed by the power of transformation. For this performance MCO musicians are playing a Tchaikovsky work originally for piano solo with a string quartet, and a Mozart piano concerto with the quartet and piano. They are joined by one of Australia’s most extraordinary ... Read more
TRANSFORMATIONS Music by two of the most-loved composers —Tchaikovsky and Mozart — revealed by the power of transformation. For this performance MCO musicians are playing a Tchaikovsky work originally for piano solo with a string quartet, and a Mozart piano concerto with the quartet and piano. They are joined by one of Australia’s most extraordinary ... Read more