Concert Series

Friday 19 March

MONUMENTS

Seraphim Trio

Haydn Piano Trio in C Major Hob. XV:27
Brahms Piano Trio No. 2 in C, Op. 87

Haydn’s Piano Trio in C Major is full of grace, intimacy and humor, with an especially virtuosic piano part – and still, his role in the early development of the piano trio form is often overlooked. At the other end of the spectrum, Brahms’ Trio in C Major from 1882 is a work of symphonic grandeur that in many ways represents the culmination of the genre’s inspired tradition.

Friday 26 March

VIENNESE TRADITION

Elder Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra
Luke Dollman  conductor

Beethoven Symphony No. 1
Connor Fogarty New Work

Deeply rooted in the eighteenth century’s classical style, Beethoven’s First Symphony pays homage to both Haydn and Mozart. Yet the beginnings of the composer’s unique voice can be heard in the humorous off-key opening of the first movement, and in the lively Menuetto which predates the speed and vigor of the Scherzi that would later come. Also on the program, the premiere of a new work by Elder Conservatorium postgraduate student Connor Fogarty.

Friday 2 April

NO CONCERT – GOOD FRIDAY

Friday 9 April

STYLUS PHANTASTICUS

Adelaide Baroque

Music by Bach, Frescobaldi, Biber, and Schmeltzer 

Join members of the exciting Adelaide Baroque as they present an innovative program of works highlighting the joy and power of Baroque music. The magical, unrestrained style of stylus phantasticus builds on the foundation of compositional ingenuity with exciting elements of spontaneity and improvisation.

Friday 16 April

DECISIVE MOMENTS

Benaud Trio

Beethoven Piano Trio in G Major, Op. 1 No. 2
David John Lang The Tied Test

Elder Conservatorium graduate David John Lang’s new work is inspired by the Tied Test of 1960 – one of history’s greatest sporting contests. Beethoven's Op. 1 Piano Trio came just three years after his move to Vienna to study with Haydn in 1792. A decisive moment in the composer’s life perhaps – one that led him to the pinnacle of his craft.

Friday 23 April

NO CONCERT – UNIVERSITY CLOSE-DOWN

Friday 30 April

JAZZ AWARD WINNERS PLAY THE ROARING TWENTIES

The 2021 Helpmann Academy Jazz Award winners come together to share the joys and the decadence of 1920’s jazz. Enjoy the music of Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, Jelly Roll Morton, Bessie Smith and Duke Ellington while our students show you how they earned their awards! Directed by Dr Lyndon Gray.

Friday 7 May

BRIGHT LIGHTS

Anita Wardell  voice
Mark Ferguson  piano

Mesmerising jazz singer Anita Wardell brings her heartfelt, expressive style to Elder Hall, joined by Head of Jazz Mark Ferguson, in a program of much-loved jazz standards.

Friday 14 May

VIOLA RECITAL

Keith Crellin OAM  viola
Michael Ierace  piano

Hindemith Viola Sonata in F, Op. 11 No. 4
Gaigerova Suite for Viola and Piano, Op. 8
Enescu Concert Piece for Viola and Piano

As profound as the viola’s unique timbre, Hindemith’s Op. 11 No. 4 is a cornerstone of the instrument’s repertoire and a key work in the twentieth century’s neoclassical style. Varvara Gaigerova’s Suite for Viola and Piano, filled with lyricism and grandeur, undoubtedly deserves a place in the spotlight. Originally an examination piece for the Paris conservatory, Enescu’s Concert Piece for Viola and Piano is a brilliant and virtuosic work filled with modern harmonic colouring and broad lyrical melodies.

Friday 21 May

STORM AND STRESS

The Pettman Ensemble
Elizabeth Layton  violin
Caroline Henbest  viola
Edith Salzmann  cello
Michael Endres  piano

Shield String Trio No. 8 in F Major
Brahms Piano Quartet No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 60

A masterful blend of folk elements, operatic lyricism and symphonic-scale grandeur makes the Shield String Trio in F Major a central piece in the English chamber repertoire. Brahms’ mighty Op. 60, a musical illustration of Goethe’s novel The Sorrows of Young Werther, places a sombre shroud over the listener with its fatalistic mood.

Friday 28 May

FIGHTING FIGURES

Australian String Quartet

Graeme Koehne String Quartet No. 3, True History of the Kelly Gang
Haydn String Quartet in D Minor, Op. 9 No. 4

Saddle up for an exciting ride with the members of the Australian String Quartet as they gallop and weave their way through Graeme Koehne’s vivid musical tale of Australia’s most famous folk hero. Just as turbulent is Haydn’s Fourth String Quartet in D Minor, described by Hans Keller as “the first great string quartet in the history of music.”

Friday 4 June

…FOR THE SHEER JOY OF IT!

Elder Conservatorium Chorale
Bella Voce

Carl Crossin OAM  conductor
Karl Geiger & Andrew Georg  accompanists

Program includes…
Anne Cawrse How can I keep from singing?
Jake Runestad Let my love be heard       
Ēriks Ešenvalds Stars 
Carl Crossin Jubilate in Musica

A program of music that revels in the joys, the sonorities, the contrasts and the camaraderie of excellent choral singing – just for the sheer joy of it!

Friday 11 June

ORGAN RECITAL

Joshua van Konkelenberg  organ

Couperin Selections from Messe pour les Couvents
Böhm Vater unser im Himmelreich
Buxtehude Prelude in G Minor
van Konkelenberg Recit de Tierce en taille
JS Bach Prelude and Fugue in E-flat Major, St. Anne

The organ is often called the king of instruments for good reason – no other instrument has such a high capacity for dynamic and tone color explorations. This program showcases a development from the profound Couvent Mass by Couperin, passing through Böhm’s and Buxtehude’s prelude settings and an original work by Joshua van Konkelenberg, culminating with the legendary organ master J.S. Bach and his St. Anne Prelude and Fugue.

Friday 18 June

SAUDADES DO BRASIL

Elizabeth Layton  violin
Mike Bevan  guitar
Oliver Fartach-Naini  guitar
Stephen Whittington  piano

Writer A.F.G. Bell describes the emotion of saudade as “…not an active discontent or poignant sadness, but an indolent dreaming wistfulness.” Listen to saudade turned into musical form with works by Ernesto Nazareth, Darius Milhaud, Stephen Whittington and Heitor Villa-Lobos.

Friday 13 August

SHE GAVE HIM OLEANDER

Lauren Henderson  voice
Derek Pascoe  saxophone
Chris Martin  piano
John Aué  bass

An evocative mixture of words and music encompassing jazz, folk and traditional songs in a contemporary setting. Experience the poetry of Robert Burns and A.E. Housman imbued with musical life by four of Adelaide’s most cherished jazz musicians.

Friday 20 August

IRVING BERLIN!

Honours Jazz Ensemble
James Muller  director

Irving Berlin wrote some of the greatest works in the American Song Book including ‘Blue Skies, ‘Cheek to Cheek, ‘Putting on the Ritz and ‘How Deep is the Ocean?’. Join jazz guitar lecturer James Muller and the Honours Ensemble from the Elder Conservatorium as they bring some of Berlin’s most beautiful works to life with fresh new arrangements.

Friday 27 August

MERCURIAL SPIRIT

Elder Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra
Luke Dollman  conductor
Jack Overall  cello

Schumann Cello Concerto in A Minor, Op. 129
Shostakovich Symphony No. 9

A short, transparent work, almost Haydenesque in character, Shostakovich’s Ninth sits lightly between such giants as his tragic Eighth and Tenth Symphonies. Schumann’s cello concerto has recently become a staple piece of the romantic cello repertoire after a century of obscurity. It’s a work that combines the composer’s most unique and personal qualities – intense lyricism, rhythmic vigor and a fair amount of ambiguity.

Friday 3 September

AMERICAN FLAIR

Elder Conservatorium Wind Orchestra
Luke Dollman  conductor
Amelia Wang  flute*

Lowell Liebermann arr. Keiichi Kurokawa Piccolo Concerto Op. 50*
Bernstein Symphonic Dances from Westside Story

A staple of the twentieth-century piccolo repertoire, Lowell Liebermann’s entry into the genre is an exquisite piece of modern music with a wide array of influences and an accessible harmonic style. Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story synthesize everything great about the original score – jazzy licks, Latin dance rhythms, complex modern harmonies, and operatic melodies.

Friday 10 September

VIOLIN DUO

Adam Chalabi  violin
Elizabeth Layton  violin
Elder Conservatorium Chamber Orchestra

Leclair Sonata for Two Violins in A Major
Prokofiev Sonata for Two Violins, Op. 56
Bach Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor, BWV 1043

Leclair’s Sonata for Two Violins in A Major contains all the expressiveness you’d expect from the founder of the French school of violin, while Prokofiev’s Op. 56 flaunts bold contrasts – lyrical one moment, acerbic the next. Bach’s Double Concerto is a masterful example of music from the late Baroque period.

Friday 17 September

EXQUISITE STRINGS

Elder Conservatorium Chamber Orchestra
Elizabeth Layton  violin/director
Connor Whyte  guitar*

Holst St Paul’s Suite in C Major
Carulli Concerto in E Minor for Guitar and Orchestra, Op. 140*
Nielsen Little Suite for Strings, Op. 1

Gustav Holst’s C Major Suite is a light-hearted piece composed for his students in the St Paul’s Girls’ School. Carulli’s Guitar Concerto in E Minor is a milestone of the repertoire and an exceptionally balanced and refined work of the Classical period. From the elegiac opening to the heroic final movement, Nielsen’s Little Suite for Strings is a great collection of human emotions.

Friday 24 September

TRANSCENDENT BEAUTY

Rosalind Martin  voice
Jamie Cock  piano

Fanny Hensel 6 Lieder, Op. 1
Robert Schumann Eichendorff Liederkreis, Op. 39

Fanny Hensel has found a place alongside the nineteenth century’s most innovative and relevant lieder composers, side-by-side with giants such as Robert Schumann and her own brother Felix Mendelssohn. These musical settings of colossal figures of German romantic poetry like Eichendorff, Heine, Geibel and Goethe explore the feelings of melancholy, unrequited love and the transcendental beauty of nature.

Friday 1 October

AUSTRALIAN STRING QUARTET

Program to be announced

The acclaimed perfomances of the Australian String Quartet are an everlasting highlight of the lunchtime concert series in Elder Hall. Join us for another eagerly anticipated appearance by the highly regarded ASQ.

Friday 8 October

CELEBRATION

The Adelaide Connection Jazz Choir

Luke Thompson  director

Join the Adelaide Connection, Australia’s first jazz choir, and its acclaimed director Luke Thompson, for a celebration of vocal jazz. Featuring songs made famous by Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, Jazzmeia Horn, Gretchen Parlato, Cécile McLorin and more.

Friday 15 October

OF MYTHIC PROPORTIONS

Sophie Rowell  violin
Kristian Chong  piano

Mozart Sonata for Piano and Violin in E-flat Major, K380
Calvin Bowman Fantasia super ‘Christ ist Erstanden’
Szymanowski Myths: Three Poems for Violin & Piano, Op. 30

Mozart’s extroverted K380 Sonata provides a delightful example of the composer’s mature large scale works for chamber formations in which the role of both piano and violin are completely developed into equal parts. Melbourne composer Calvin Bowman’s Fantasia super ‘Christ ist Erstanden’ was written specially for today’s performers, Kristian and Sophie. Free from the formal constraints of the sonata and concerto, Polish composer Karol Szymanowski’s Myths is among the twentieth century’s most innovative pieces for violin and piano. The collection of poems features delightfully colourful musical depictions of ancient Greek myths as seen through a modern lens.

Friday 22 October

DEDICATION

Andrew Haveron  violin
Anna Goldsworthy  piano

Kreutzer La Molinara
Beethoven Violin Sonata No. 9, Kreutzer

Many will know the name Kreutzer from the dedication of Beethoven’s prodigious violin sonata. One of the finest violinists of his day, Kreutzer was also a prolific composer who wrote over 40 operas. Here, his La Molinara variations feature alongside the grand work by Beethoven that bears his name.

Friday 29 October

EVOLVING SPIRITS

Elder Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra
Luke Dollman  conductor
Dylan Henderson  piano

Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2
Lutoslawski Symphony No. 4

Chopin’s Second Concerto is the work of a young, yet profound, artistic spirit reaching deeply into his own soul, finding moments of poetic lyricism contrasted with rapturous passages of transcendental virtuosity. In many ways, Lutoslawski’s Fourth Symphony is his swan song – being his last work in the genre and his final large-scale piece. It’s a synthesis of the composer’s life’s work, featuring many of Lutoslawski’s characteristic features, such as sweeping melodies and sharp dissonances.

Friday 5 November

TOP CLASS

In what has become an annual tradition we bring you the next generation of classical music talent. Top performing students of the Elder Conservatorium make their mark on the Elder Hall stage in our final concert of the year.

Wednesday 7 April, 7:30pm

BAROQUE MUSIC TODAY

Music by Bach, Handel, Vivaldi and more.

Saturday 10 April, 7:30pm

BAROQUE BEASTS AND BATTLES

Music by Biber, Telemann, Handel and Corelli.

Join some of the country’s finest practitioners of historically informed performance in these two exciting concerts. Featuring Rachael Beesley (violin), Ben Dollman (violin), Heidi von Bernewitz (viola), Danny Yeadon (cello), Robert Nairn (violone), Melissa Farrow (baroque flute), Neal Peres Da Costa (harpsichord), Kate Brown (harpsichord), Simon Rickert (baroque bassoon) and others.

Saturday 8 May, 6:30pm

FORCES OF NATURE

Elder Conservatorium Wind Orchestra
Luke Dollman  conductor

Holst First Suite in E-flat, Op. 28 No. 1
Paul Hart Circus Ring
Bizet arr. Takahashi Carmen Suite

Gustav Holst’s First Suite for wind orchestra is a masterpiece of the concert band repertoire, full of colour and broad lyricism. Takahashi’s splendid arrangement of Bizet’s beloved Carmen Suite provides a dramatic operatic close to the program, with Paul Hart’s light-hearted Circus Ring serving as a delightfully cheeky palate cleanser.

Saturday 29 May, 6:30pm

CONTRASTING FATES

Elder Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra

Luke Dollman  conductor
James Rawley  guitar*
Eugene Wei  piano⁺

György Kurtag Grabstein für Stephan*
Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 2⁺
Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5

György Kurtag’s Grabstein für Stephan is an epigraphic piece for the memory of singer Stephan Stein, the husband of Kurtag’s therapist. In stark contrast, the sunny and cheerful Second Piano Concerto by Shostakovich was originally conceived as a birthday gift for his son, premiering at his graduation from the Moscow conservatory. Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony is a symphonic orchestra war horse, filled with all of Tchaikovsky’s best qualities – lyricism, drama and a predilection for the bombastic.

Saturday 17 July, 6:30pm

CLASSIC ALLURE

Emily Sun  violin
Clemens Leske  piano

Beethoven Violin Sonata No. 1
Hindson Violin Sonata No. 1
Debussy Sonata for Violin and Piano
Franck Sonata in A Major for Violin and Piano

2018 ABC Young Performer of the Year, Emily Sun, is set to dazzle in a program of great depth and beauty. Four contrasting works for violin and piano, culminating in Franck’s rich, prodigious Sonata in A Major. Joining Emily will be distinguished pianist Clemens Leske, making his much anticipated return to Elder Hall.

Saturday 28 August, 6:30pm

A NIGHT IN HAVANA

University of Adelaide Big Band &
Latin Ensemble
with Lazaro Numa trumpet

Elder Conservatorium jazz trumpet teacher Lazaro Numa was born in Cuba and studied at the Amadeo Roldan Conservatory of Music in Havana. In 2019 he toured Europe with the Afro-Cuban Allstars. However, Lazaro is more than just a trumpet player – he brings a wealth of knowledge on piano, valve trombone and all of the Cuban percussion instruments, as well as being a handy singer too! Join Lazaro, the Big Band, and the Latin Ensemble for a night of Danzón, Son, Mambo, Cha Cha Cha and more.

Saturday 18 September, 6:30pm

WATER MUSIC

Elder Conservatorium Chorale
Bella Voce
Carl Crossin OAM  conductor
Karl Geiger & Andrew Georg  accompanists

Program includes…
Eric Whitacre Water Night
Pärt an den wassern zu babel saßen wir und weinten (Psalm 137)                                                           
Palestrina Super flumina Babylonis
Harri Wessman Water Under Snow is Weary

Like music, water is essential for life!  It purifies, clarifies, reflects and symbolises so many things in our lives.  And for this Lunchtime concert at least, we give you a slightly different slant to the idea of a ‘liquid lunch’!            

Saturday 25 September, 6:30pm

MASTERPIECES

Konstantin Shamray  piano

Renowned pianist Konstantin Shamray presents an evening of pianistic masterpieces. At the centrepiece of a prodigious program is Franz Liszt’s impassioned Piano Sonata in B Minor. Now a cornerstone of the repertoire, the work was initially viewed with suspicion by Liszt’s contemporaries – its innovation and sheer virtuosity making it too ahead of its time!

Saturday 9 October, 6:30pm

SONGS OF THE CABARET

Stephanie Acraman  voice
Liam Wooding  piano

William Bolcom Cabaret Songs

A result of over twenty years collaboration between himself and poet Arnold Weinstein, Bolcom’s Cabaret Songs draws inspiration from a plethora of musical styles and forms, representing the melting pot which is American culture and vernacular. Versatile vocalist Stephanie Acraman and exciting pianist Liam Wooding are a formidable pairing to tell these stories of the cabaret.

Saturday 23 October, 6:30pm

GUITARISSIMO

Elder Conservatorium Guitar Ensemble and Classical Guitar Students

Curated by Oliver Fartach-Naini, this annual concert showcases the talented Elder Conservatorium guitar students. Featuring a mixture of solo and chamber works sure to delight lovers of guitar.

Friday 29 October, 7pm

AUSTRALIAN STRING QUARTET

Program to be announced

What better way to bring the 2021 Evening Concert Series to a close than with a performance by the outstanding Australian String Quartet. An exciting program of works will be announced prior to the concert date.