Latest news
Applications open for 2014 New Music Network Mini Series
The New Music Network is calling for proposals for the 2014 New Music Mini Series. The New Music Mini Series is a five-part series of concert events that promote or comprise performances by artists and ensembles of ‘the next generation’ within contemporary art music practice. This includes individuals and/or ensembles which are starting out…
Win A Double Pass To Dowland’s 450th Birthday Bash
There are three double passes to be won for the November 10th concert which celebrates 450th years since John Dowland’s birth. Viol consort Seaven Teares led by Jennifer Eriksson is joined by lutenist extraordinaire Tommie Andersson, Daniel Yeadon playing the treble viol and the shimmering voice of soprano Belinda Montgomery, in one of the very few events…
The symphony in the 21st century – why stick to traditional forms?
If you’ve found some newer compositions difficult to follow and remember it is possible that they were written with a looser structural style than traditional works. The ‘form’ of a symphony or a sonata follows a pattern of themes and modulations which make them easier to remember and to recall beyond a first hearing. This is not to say that…
The 50 Greatest Recordings
Classical-music.com reports on the top 50 greatest recordings of all time, as voted by the critics of BBC Music. Which of these is a ‘must’ for your collection? None in the top 20 was recorded this century! http://www.classical-music.com/article/50-greatest-recordings-all-time
Study Confirms Wide-Ranging Benefits Of Arts Education.
Governments take note! Parents take heart! Those hours of music practice, of driving children to music lessons, rehearsals and concerts – not to mention the cost – are well worth the effort! The study, undertaken by the University of Sydney and the Australia Council for the Arts and published in the Journal of Educational Psychology shows…
When the audience disapproves…..
Sydney audiences are by and large generous in their applause even if they don’t approve of the performer or the production. ‘Boos’ are rarely, if ever heard, sometimes tongue-in-cheek, when the villian of the piece takes his curtain call. The most emphatic expression of audience disapproval is to leave at interval. Other ‘houses’ are different. A new…
Latest reviews
Review: ‘Dido and Aeneas’, Sydney Festival
Dido and Aeneas, Sasha Waltz and Guests, Vocal Consort Berlin, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Sydney Festival, Lyric theatre, Pyrmont, Sydney; January 16th, 2014. The production of Dido and Aeneas by Sasha Waltz and Guests, presented by the Sydney Festival is an abstraction of the opera by Purcell. Movement and singing are equal partners in…
Concert review: ‘A Hilliard Songbook’
The Hilliard Ensemble Great Hall, University of Sydney 15 January 2014 “A Hilliard Songbook” The Hilliard Ensemble was formed in 1974 by Paul Hillier, who directed their early performances. The composition of the four members of the group has changed slowly over time and now only the counter-tenor David James remains from the founding…