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September Gig Guide

This month kicks off with a much anticipated season from Operabox. Their production of Massenet's Manon will run September 1-7th directed by Opera Australia's Gaetano Bonfante, conducted by Christopher Dragon with Jenna Robertson in the title role.

On the 2nd master piano technician Paul Tunzi will celebrate 30 years in the industry with Keys in the City. The ingenuous interactive installation at the city of Perth library will allow tour groups to watch demonstrations on 30 of Australia's rarest pianos including the 'First Fleet piano'. Also on the 2nd Rob Buckland and Matt Styles will perform a rare double saxophone concerto with WAAPA's Symphonic Wind Ensemble.

Cat Hope is back in Perth and on the 3rd her ensemble Decibel will perform a series of works 'composed' by visual artists as part of an art exhibition called Sounding Art at PS Art Space.

The WA Symphony Orchestra will begin their Wagner series on the 6th with a concert  making connections between Liszt, Schumann and Wagner including extracts from the epic four-opera Ring Cycle. On the 9th the series continues with excerpts from Tristan und Isolde, bass baritone Shane Lowrencev singing arias from Die Walküre and Die Meistersinger and music by those who followed after including Bruckner and Strauss. On the 24th the WASO Chorus will be in the spotlight singing  Ligeti’s Lux Aeterna, Bach and the world premiere of a work by Lachlan Skipworth.

Choral music is prominent this month with the Giovanni Consort's Donne on the 8th featuring music for female voices, the Music on the Terrace Series featuring the Churchlands SHS choir in Rising Stars on the 10th and Voyces' teaming up with Rachelle Durkin for Tundra on the 16th.

Adam Pinto will feature with the University of WA orchestra on the 13th performing Smalley's Piano Concerto, and that week WAAPA's Defying Gravity percussion ensemble will celebrate its 30th birthday with concerts on the 14-16th.

On the 17th Dominic Perissinotti will give a recital on the organ at St Patrick's Basilica and on the 23rd St George's Cathedral will host the Perth Symphony Orchestra for the popular Baroque by Candlelight. Also on the 23rd the Perth Symphonic Chorus will perform Brahms' German Requiem at the Perth Concert Hall with soprano Sara Macliver.

A strange phenomenon known as The Legend of Zelda starts a national tour Perth on the 24th with Jessica Gethin and the Perth Symphony Orchestra providing the music. The concert involves a performance of the symphonic soundtrack from the Nintendo game, accompanied by a digital collage of scenes from the game.

On the 30th Musica Viva will return to town with cellist Nicolas Alstaedt, pianist Aleksandar Madzar and preconcert talk by yours truly!

And for those of us with kids, a few ideas for the school holidays:

Spare Parts puppet theatre will give the world premiere of Rules of Summer, a show based on Shuan Tan's book. The season opens on the 23rd and runs for the school holidays and is recommended for ages 5+.  WASO will run the interactive kids concerts Jump Jam and Jiggle! from 28th-30th featuring music from The Planets.

August Gig Guide

Let's start this month's gig guide with Tura New Music, who are having a busy winter! In August Tura will support the workshop of Cat Hope's experimental opera Speechless in Adelaide plus tour to Warmun for a 3 week regional residency where Jon Rose will, in collaboration with the local community, turn a car wreck into a musical instrument. Tura is also producing the next Scale Variable concert featuring Intercurrent on August 29th. The 4-piece Intercurrent have an impressive program planned including a recent work by Hannah Lash and THREE premieres by Chris Tonkin, Julian Day and Alex Turley. Finally the organisation have been involved with a sound art, video and sculpture installation called Scarasson which will be presenting nightly performances at the State Buildings from August 1-6th.

Keep an eye out for string quartets this month: the Australian String Quartet kick off their national tour in Perth on August 2nd with a program including Dvorak Britten and Australian composer Paul Stanhope. I haven't yet heard the new lineup of players, so if you have let me know what you think. The popular Takacs Quartet is also in town on the 10th performing Haydn. Mozart and the world premiere of Carl Vine's 6th String Quartet Child's Play. This will be the launch of their national Musica Viva tour.

The West Australian Symphony Orchestra will celebrate a 20 year association with conductor Simone Young on the 4/5th with a wide-ranging program from Haydn to Brahms and the world premiere of a work by Australian Andrew Schultz. Asher Fisch is in town on the 17-19th to conduct Schubert's great Symphony No 9 with Jayson Gillham joining him for Schumann's Piano Concerto. The following week Fisch will conduct Mahler's 6th Symphony and Karen Gomlo will perform Mozart's Violin Concerto No 3.

On the 11th St George's Cathedral Consort will perform Bach, Bernstein and Britten's A Ceremony of Carols. The Perth Symphony Orchestra are performing their annual Baroque by Candlelight concert on the 23rd at St George's Cathedral. Jessica Gethin will conduct and Paul Wright is concert master: book now as this immersive concert always sells out!

Rochelle Durkin's fiery colloratura soprano will be on display in Baroque Beauties at the Government House Ballroom on the 20th, accompanied by the UWA string orchestra and vocal consort.

On the 12th the WA Academy of Performing Arts will host Geoffrey Lancaster and Stewart Smith playing keyboard works by Bach. Also at WAAPA Karin Schaupp and Claire Edwardes will give a concert on the 18th of all-Australian music for the mellow and sensuous medium of guitar and marimba. On the 24th winner of the 2016 Sydney international Piano Competition Audrey Gugnin will present a recital and on the 26th August WAAPA 3rd year music theatre students will  begin their season of Chicago under the direction of Crispin taylor.

Finally the Darlington Piano Quartet will perform Dohnanyi, Brahms and James Ledger's Three Escher Portraits on the 27th at the Darlington Hall. Enjoy!

July Gig Guide

The month kicks off with French/Canadian pianist Louis Lortie playing Chopin’s Piano Concerto No 1 with the WA Symphony Orchestra on June 30/July 1st. Dvorak’s Symphony No 7 is also on the program.

The following weekend WASO will celebrate their 30th Anniversary with conductor laureate Vladimir Verbitsky with a grand Russian concert. The concert will include Tchaikovsky Manfred Symphony and Rachmaninov’s massive Edgar Allan Poe-inspired choral symphony The Bells.

WASO will end the month with a tribute on the 28/29th to the greatest film composer of all time: John Williams. The music will include soundtracks from Star Wars, ET, Superman and many others  WASO concertmaster Lawrence Jackson will step out from his orchestral activity on July 3rd for a concert with St George’s Cathedral organist Joseph Nolan as part of the Cathedral Music Series.

On the 9th July the Perth Symphonic Chorus, directed by Margaret Pride, will perform music to make you swoon, featuring a jazz trio and drawing on traditional and contemporary repertoire from Allegri to Ellington.

Musica Viva will bring the Sitkovetsky Trio to Perth on the 11th to perform piano trios by Mendelssohn, Rachmaninov and Shostakovich, PLUS a world premiere by Perth’s Lachlan Skipworth AND a preconcert talk by Rosalind Appleby. What a combination!

The WA Opera’s season of The Merry Widow opens on the 15th, set in 1920's Paris with a sizzling young cast including ex-Perth singers Taryn Fiebig and Alexander Lewis as Hanna and Danilo, young Perth soprano Emma Pettemerides as Valencienne and Opera Australia’s John Longmuir as Camille. Come dressed in the style of the 1920's for this brand new Opera Conference production directed by Graeme Murphy.

On the 16th the Robert Zielinski Trio will breeze through some traditional Irish Scottish reels as part of the Darlington Chamber Music Series and on the same night WAAPA’s week long International Art Song Academy will culminate in a gala concert with singers from around Australia accompanied by acclaimed English pianist, Dr Graham Johnson.

The Fremantle Chamber Orchestra will accompany Emily Leung in Bruch’s Violin Concerto on the 22/23 plus perform Mendelssohn’s Symphony No 3.

Freeze Frame Opera will dabble in some more creative opera with a concert on the 29th at Brans Antiques, Mosman Park. Proceeds will go towards the production of their next opera.

The month closes with the Perth Symphony Orchestra’s decadent Serenades in the City at Government House Ballroom including a champagne brunch, Tchaikovsky’s Serenade, Margaret Sutherland’s Concerto for Strings and stories from well-known author and journalist Rosalind Appleby. I suspect this will be more like a treat than a concert!

I hope to see you at some concerts soon!

June Gig Guide

June is a rich month of music for all the ages; dive in and enjoy! 

It is particularly action-packed  for the West Australian Symphony Orchestra who will present four mainstage orchestral concerts plus the explosive energy of Education Week with its multiple concerts for children and their families. 

On June 2/3rd WASO have a colourful program planned with Stravinsky's Firebird Suite and Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun plus winner of the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition Ayako Uehara  making her WASO debut performing Bartók’s Piano Concerto No.3. On the 9/10th the guest artist is Stefan Dohr, principal horn from the Berlin Philharmonic, performing Strauss' Horn Concerto - WOW! Then the world of jazz takes over with concerts on the 16/17th with leading Australian stage and screen stars in a modern and audacious take on all-time swing classics from Sinatra to Bublé. On the 30/1st Chopin expert Louis Lortie Plays Chopin’s Concerto no 1 in a program which also includes Dvorak's Seventh Symphony 

This year for Education Week (19-25th) WASO has invited award winning British composer and music educationist Paul Rissmann us for a week-long musical adventure exploring gorgeous children's books across a variety of  interactive programs. The concerts include school shows Sir Scallywag and the Golden Underpants, The Beat of Your Feet and The Lion Who Loved  plus a Conductor Masterclass with Ben Northey. The Rusty Orchestra is also back with a concert on the 24th June featuring community musicians playing alongside WASO players in a concert with the biggest amount of heart you're likely to hear.

If you have children come with us on Sunday 25th - we will be checking out the family concert The Beat of Your Feet, about a music-loving dog and cat and their musical adventure to find the Greatest Orchestra in the World. The concert is a mix of music, illustrated projections and audience participation, based on the book Stan and Mabel by Jason Chapman with vocals by Libby Hammer. 

Meanwhile the rest of the music community has some lovely offerings this month, including two particularly stunning vocal concerts: the Giovanni Consort singing French Chansons on the 4th, and   Voyces on the 10th celebrating their fifth anniversary with a concert of all-Australian music and the launch of their debut album Hush.

On the 11th there is a a triple whammy with the Darlington Trio offering Brahms, Musica Viva launching their national tour of the Pacifica Trio (including a world premiere by Nigel Westlake) and the experimental trio The Necks presented by Tura New Music.

Perth Chamber Orchestra (the little sister of Perth Symphony) is performing an intriguing concert in Midland on the 14th called Steampunk Mozart, which promises industrial-inspired music, food, wine, a sound installation and the magic of Mozart conducted by Jessica Gethin. Then in larger form the Perth Symphony Orchestra will also perform on the 27th with the WA Academy of Performing Arts Gospel Choir in a concert dedicated to the music of George Michael.

Also on at WAAPA this month is the second and third year students performance of 42nd Street opening on the 17th. 

May Gig Guide - A massive month!

Welcome to May and a massive month of gigs.

The focus this month appears to be new music, kicking off with the Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble who are currently giving a national tour. They perform a program of Russian composers and a new work by Aussie composer Michael Smetanin on May 2nd at the Subiaco Arts Centre.

The new music continues on 4th – 6th with Defying Gravity percussion ensemble from the Academy of Performing Arts in collaboration with Kaboom percussion. Also at WAAPA on 8-12th is the Sound Spectrum Festival, the first of two festivals celebrating the composers and performers from WAAPA including an audio visual concert on the 10th titled Video Killed the Radio Star.

Meanwhile on May 5th the St George’s Cathedral Consort will perform Faure’s Requiem and Walton’s The Twelve and on the 7th the prodigious 14 year old Shuan Hern Lee will give a piano recital at 4pm as part of UWA's Keyed Up! series.

The Perth Symphony Orchestra are presenting Bach by Candlelight on the 6th at St Matthew's church Armadale with a sumptuous program full of surprises including Bach's double violin concerto led by Paul Wright and Jasmin Parkinson-Stewart, plus a guest appearance by jazz musician Jamie Oehlers and complimentary wine, tied together by narration from Chris Isaacs!

This month the WA Symphony Orchestra will perform in some special events including a concert with The Whitlams on the 3rd as part of the band's 25th Anniversary Tour and performances on the 5/6th of John Williams' live soundtrack to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. On the 28th the WASO Chorus under Christopher van Tuinen will perform Faure's Requiem at St Mary's Cathedral (yes that's the second performance this month!).

It's also an exciting month for opera. Lost & Found opera company's much-anticipated first production for the year will be a novel presentation of Trouble in Tahiti running from the 12-20th May at a suburban house in City Beach. And Freeze Frame opera make their first whole opera debut with an abridged version of La Boheme running the 25th-28th at the art deco Camelot Theatre, Mosman Park.

On the 14th the Darlington String Quartet will perform their first concert for the year featuring Shostakovich, Webern, Haydn and on the 21st the Perth Symphonic Chorus perform classics by Bach and Lauridsen's Lux Aeterna feautring Sara Macliver and Paull Anthony-Kneightly under the direction of Margaret Pride.

Alexandra Da Costa will feature in repertoire by Beethoven in concerts at WAAPA from the 19-20th while at UWA on the 22nd UWA students will compete at the Perth Concert Hall in the grand final for the Vose Concerto Competition.

Guitarist Slava Grigoryan joins the Australian String Quartet for a national tour kicking off in Perth on the 23rd and also that night Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt will perform Bach and others as part of a Musica Viva national tour. I recommend attending the fascinating and incredibly witty pre-concert talk for this concert which will be presented by yours truly ;-)

The month ends with some more new music with Tura new music presenting the GreyWing Ensemble (includes Lindsay Vickery, Jameson Feakes and Catherine Ashley) in a Scale Variable concert built around the music of Brazil.

Happy listening!

April Gig Guide

The WA Academy of Performing Arts is in full swing this month. Concerts include Clocked Out Duo percussion stars Vanessa Tomlinson and Erik Griswold performing on the 4th and renowned English conductor Nicholas Cleobury leading vocal students in a performance featuring Tippett's Negro Spirituals on the 6th.

The school of music at UWA is also hitting full steam with a Mainstage Concert on the 9th featuring Shaun Lee-Chen and the student orchestra performing a world premiere by jazz composer Joe Chindamo. On the 28th the Schoenberg Project will feature student arrangements of Schoenberg's Six Little Piano Pieces plus an arrangement by Brett Dean from when he was a student - it could be very revealing!

Thank you Louise Devenish for this update: On April 10-11th an unusual gig at PICA called Never Tilt Your Chair Back on Two Legs brings together three of Australia's leading female percussionists for Maurice Kagel's music theatre piece Dressur.  Set at a formal dinner table, the theme of dinner time etiquette will also be explored in a new work by Kate Neal.

The Australian String Quartet take over Margaret River from the 21-23rd for a Chamber Music weekend - what's not to love?!

The WA Symphony Orchestra go retro with The Best of British on the 7th before a Sibelius fest on 20/21/22 with Asher Fisch conducting the second symphony and concert master Laurence Jackson in Stravinsky's Violin Concerto. On the 28/29th the Zuckerman Trio join the orchestra for Beethoven's Triple Concerto with Pinchas Zukerman also featuring in Berg's Violin Concerto.

Let me know if I've missed anything. See you at a concert soon!

March Gig Guide

As Perth Festival winds down the rest of the arts community winds up! It's a busy month, starting with the Fremantle Chamber Orchestra on March 4/5 featuring violinist Rudolf Koelman teaming up with FCO soloists for concertos by Vivaldi, Bach and Elgar’s Serenade for Strings.

On March 10/11 the WA Symphony Orchestra performs Tchaikovsky with Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov plus the very exciting world premiere of Lachlan Skipworth's Spiritus. On the 16/17/18 Yu-Chien Tseng features as violin soloist with the orchestra in Bruch's Scottish Fantasy and Daniel Cohen will conduct Beethoven's 7th Symphony. WASO finishes the month on March 31st with classically trained singer Kate Miller-Heidke who will traverse the worlds of contemporary pop, folk and opera with her original songs.

After outstanding performances for West Australian Opera in The Marriage of Figaro and The Riders soprano Emma Pearson will be in recital on March 12th as part of the Swan Songs series. I could listen to Pearson's satin soprano all night, definitely my current favourite singer!  Her program includes songs from Strauss and Mahler and a beautiful set of songs shot through with all kinds of dance rhythms.

The Perth Symphony Orchestra are having An Irish Night on March 15th at the Fremantle Town Hall, celebrating Irish history and its journey to Australian shores.

The show schedule for the WA Academy of Performing Arts has been released and March is packed full of gigs including Mad About Coward on March 21st featuring International director and Noel Coward tragic Stuart Maunder and accompanist (and Associate Dean of Music) Stewart Smith promising an elegant, moving and very funny exploration of all things Coward.

On March 23rd Geoffrey Lancaster directs WAAPA classical and acting students in Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know, an evening of musical melodrama featuring music written as accompaniment for the spoken word. There are also excellent two WAAPA percussion gigs on the 23rd and 25th.

The Giovanni Consort will present Baroque vocal music from South America - often overlooked with our Euro-centric approach to western music history - in a concert on March 26th.

On the 28th WA Opera will launch their first house season with Tosca sung by Teddy Tahu Rhodes (Scarpia), Antoinette O'Halloran (Tosca), Paul O’Neil (Cavaradossi) and Wade Kernot (Cesare Angelotti). WA Opera presented Tosca just six years ago but this production is from New Zealand with Stuart Maunder directing. Hopefully it is worth revisiting!

February Gig Guide

Welcome to festival season folks! Fringe World is underway and the Perth International Arts Festival is about to launch. Here's my overview of the classical feast about to erupt!

On Saturday 4th February (tonight!) WA Opera celebrates its 50th anniversary with a gala Opera in the Park,  8pm Langley Park.

Also that night the Fringe World lieder recital Dream of Childhood's End featuring Eva-Marie Middleton and a whole pile of soft toys which I reviewed on Thursday night.

The opening night of PIAF is Friday 10th February which is the first night of the intriguing The Dark Mirror, a re-imagining of Schubert's Winterreise with tenor Ian Bostridge accompanied by the WA Symphony Orchestra, video imagery and a wintry stage setting.

On Saturday 11th Soft Soft Loud returns to the Fremantle Arts Centre this time featuring US electro-acoustic composer William Brittelle and songsmith countryman Aaron Roche collaborating with WA instrumentalists in a brand new composition.

The Brodsky and Calder Quartets combine in a program of octets on the 16th, which will be a stunning preview to the chamber music weekend. The chamber music weekend is an incredible line up of talent, dominated by string quartets and in particular the Brodsky Quartet performing Shostakovich's complete string quartets (yes that's 15 quartets across 3 days!). The LA-based Calder Quartet perform three different programs based around the theme Beethoven and Beyond. The Australian String Quartet teams up with new kids on the block Arcadia Winds for two programs of rare music for wind and strings, including the world premiere of a new work by Lachlan Skipworth.

The weekend also includes some free concerts including a recital by Tamara-Ann Cislowska of the piano works of Peter Sculthorpe, plus a duo session with Elena Kats-Chernin performing Kats-Chernin's stunning compositions from their award-winning album Butterflying. And just to mix it up there are two Classic Flow Yoga sessions to ease people into the morning with 90 minutes of yoga accompanied by live music.

Musica Viva jumps on the PIAF band wagon on Feb 20th with American super-group Eighth Blackbird performing an entire concert of contemporary classical music - hooray! (This makes up for the dearth of contemporary repertoire last year.) One of the six composers featured is a woman, which isn't great statistically but it is the Aussie Holly Harrison which almost makes up for it.

To celebrate festival time PIAf is selling $36 tickets from Monday 6th February so keep an eye on their website.

I'm also going to make mention of the Perth Writer's Festival from Feb 23-26 including the kid friendly Family Day on Sunday 26th.

So there it is, dive into February and enjoy!

December Gig Guide

December tends to be a quieter month musically. The university music programs have finished for the year, the national tours have ceased and organisations are winding up and preparing for next year. 

Fortunately Tura New Music doesn't follow these rules and have two major events this month! The first is the Keith Tippet residency. Tippet is a UK based pianist described as one of the most radical pioneers in improvisation and contemporary jazz. He will perform a solo concert Rehearsal Room on December 1st at the State Theatre and Mujician Mosaic on the 7th featuring the WA Youth Jazz Orchestra, iMprov and the specially formed Mujician Mosaic ensemble.

Tura will also host the final Scale Variable Concert for the year featuring the debut of Intercurrent, a group including Louise Devenish, Ashley William-Smith and Emily Green-Armytage. The stunning Darkened Descent program on the 14th at the State Theatre includes works by Lachlan Skipworth, Mortan Feldman and John Luther Adams.

The WA Symphony Orchestra are also going strong, with a concert with Missy Higgins in Kings Park on the 3rd December plus a performance of Handel's Messiah on the 2/3rd with English conductor Stephen Layton (City of London Sinfonia). WASO concludes their year with the popular free performance Symphony in the Park on the 10th at Langley Park.

To get us into the Christmas spirit there is what looks like a beautiful choral concert on the 16th by Voyces featuring Emma Matthews singing traditional and new carols at St Joseph's Subiaco.

And that's the year wrapped up!

I'll soon be reflecting back on all the gigs that have been and picking out some favourites... do you have any standout shows I should include in my 2016 highlights?

And stay tuned because I'll soon be posting all the programs for 2017 so you can start booking your concert diary.

November Gig Guide

There are some high quality gigs in Perth this month. My pick of the crop is the launch of the new   company Freeze Frame Opera on the 17-19th. They boldly claim "we are to opera what 20/20 is to cricket" #noboringbits and their debut season At the Movies celebrates the intersection of cinema and opera, promising glorious arias, duets and ensembles that will take you on a cinematic journey through time.

Slava Grigoryan joins the Australian Chamber Orchestra on November 2nd for a concert including Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez and Beethoven's Symphony No 7. The same night the new music series Scale Variable 3 will feature a 6-piece instrumental ensemble performing a program curated by Australian composer Dominik Karski titled The Calm Before.

Trio Dali will begin their national Musica Viva tour at the Perth Concert Hall on the 7th and on the 11th St George's Cathedral features pianist Mark Coughlan performing Beethoven's Emperor Concerto with Mozart's Requiem also on the program.

WA Ballet will open their children's ballet season on the 17th, a brand new lavish production of The Nutcracker running until Dec 11th.  On the 19/20th Louise McKay will perform Haydn's D Major Cello Concerto with the Fremantle Chamber Orchestra with Beethoven and Dvorak also on the program. On the 25th the vocal ensemble the Giovanni Consort will profile the eccentric and eclectic genius of Percy Grainger in a concert titled A Tribute to Grainger.

The stand out concert for the WA Symphony Orchestra this month is on the 25/26th when tenor Stuart Skelton joins the orchestra for an all-Wagner program conducted by Asher Fisch. Earlier in the month on the 17/18/19th Fisch will conduct Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique with cellist Alban Gerhadt performing Lalo's fiery Cello Concerto. There are also two pops concerts: a David Bowie tribute on the 10/11th and on the 4/5th vocalist Mary Carewe will join the orchestra to sing hits from Broadway to Hollywood.

As usual let me know if I have missed anything. Otherwise happy musicking!

October Gig Guide

There is exciting news for classical music in Perth this month with the launch of the inaugural Darlington Spring Festival. Soprano Sara Macliver headlines the event which will run from 22-25th October. Three concerts will be spread across heritage buildings in Guildford and Darlington with a lunch concert package at Darlington Estate winery on the final day. It sounds very boutique, community-based and with a very promising music program (Trout Quintet, Vivaldi motet, Brahms Sextet).

The WA Academy of Performing Arts is also worth checking out this month with a fabulous array of concerts. New music by composition students takes centre stage at Spectrum Project Space on October 3-7th and in a series of works paying homage to Charles Ives on October 6th.

On the 4-5th London-based pianist Zubin Kanga performs a program of piano solos at WAAPA followed by a concert on the 5th in collaboration with Decibel ensemble. The concert includes the performance of a work by the student winner of the Difficult Commission award. 2nd year WAAPA music theatre students will tell the story of impoverished students living in an attic in their production of Rent (8-15th Oct), the modern remake of La Boheme.

Then from 10-15th WAAPA opera students present Britten’s comic chamber opera Albert Herring directed by Thomas de Mallet Burgess (Lost & Found). This is an ambitious opera for students to present but it has the potential to be fabulous theatre.

Finally on Oct 18th at WAAPA Australian composer and pianist Larry Sitsky brings his extraordinary playing and intellect to Beethoven’s piano works. “What would Beethoven have written if he had had a modern concert grand piano with its greater power, increased range and third pedal?”

On the 8th Art Song Perth present their final recital for the year: Lieder, L’Orient and Laughs. Local singers Caitlin Cassidy, Lucy Mervik and Herr Helmut Wunderlicher (aka Robert Hoffmann) will perform a range of vocal music accompanied by Marilyn Phillips.

There are two national tours this month.The Australian Chamber Orchestra will bring a reduced version of their national Baroque tour to Perth on the 19th. The Perth version doesn’t include soprano Julie Lezhneva and instead features five string players and recorder player Genevieve Lacey playing works by Bach and Vivaldi. Musica Viva’s national tour beings in Perth on October 3rd. The violin and piano duo Benjamin Meilman and Andrew Tyson have included on their program the premiere of a work by Jane Stanley, as part of Musica Viva's Hildegard project. The commissioning of women composers is a subject close to my heart after spending years researching this area for my book Women of Note.

October 25th is opening night for WA Opera's The Pearl Fishers. This is a new Opera Conference production directed by Michael Gow. The cast includes Emma Matthews as Leila and young local talent Wade Kernot as Nourabad, with Brad Cohen conducting.

The University of WA Wind students team up with St Mary’s Cathedral Choir on the 27th for a concert of sacred and instrumental works by Brahms and Barber.

The month ends with two children's concerts on the 30th: Cappuccino Concerts Children’s Corner on returns by popular request with three-piece string ensemble Fiddlesticks introducing kids to music with lots of stories, interaction, dress ups and dancing.  WASO’s kids program is more impressive each year and I have high expectations of their presentation of the popular kids book The Gruffalo,with the film projected on the big screen and live performance of Rene Aubry’s magical score.

September Gig Guide

It's an exciting time for the WA Symphony Orchestra this month. The orchestra has just launched its 2017 program and is gearing up for the China tour in October. Asher Fisch is in town conducting Mozart's Requiem on the 2/3rd. Later in the month on Sept 29/30^th/Oct 1st the orchestra will showcase its tour repertoire: Mahler’s Symphony No 5, Saint-Saens’ Piano Concerto No 5 (with Jean-Yves Thibaudet) and Sculthorpe’s Kakadu. There was scandal on the eve of the 2006 tour to China; the pressure and energy will be intense. These concerts will sell-out for sure. 

On the 2/3rd wunderkind conductor Christopher Dragon (more on him in the next Celebrity Soft Spot) returns to Perth to conduct the WAAPA Faith Court Orchestra.  The program includes Stravinsky’s Firebird and student soloists competing for the Academy’s concerto award. It will be a great showcase of emerging talent.  Maestro Dragon will also conduct a season of Ariadne auf Naxos for Opera Box, opening on the 9th. Hooray for another platform for emerging singers and a (much needed) expansion of opera repertoire for Perth audiences. 

On the 4^th September Sara Macliver will give a recital for the Swan Song series with songs (including Barber’s Hermit Songs) inspired by solitude. 

Legendary Russian pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja features as soloist with the Australian Chamber Orchestra on the 9th performing Mozart's Piano Concerto No 9. Also orchestral arrangements of Strauss Sextet from Capriccio and Beethoven String Quartet in Eb.

The Italian Tenors arrive at the Regal Theatre on the 10th if you want to check out the latest pop-opera European export.  On the 13th the Jerusalem Quartet begin their national Musica Viva tour in Perth with a program including string quartets by Beethoven and Dvorak alongside Australian composer Ross Edwards Summer Dances.

The Sound of Music begins its season at Crown on the 14th – the first musical I ever saw and my favourite! It's going to be a bit of karaoke sing-a-long I think!

Tura new music's Reflections Kimberley Tour concludes in Perth on the 21st with a performance at Studio Underground. This will be a rich (and rare) authentic cross-cultural collaboration with indigenous musicians. 

Fresh from their triumphant performance at Carnegie Hall in New York, Collegium Symphonic Chorus has returned home to present Rachmaninoff’s Vespers on the 24/25th. 

And finally on the 25th UWA Percussion will perform Reich's Music for 18 Musicians to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the premiere of this minimal masterpiece.

Enjoy your concerts!

August Gig Guide

It's all about singing this month with musicals and choral performances popping up everywhere. And no I'm not talking about the much-anticipated The Sound of Music production that is still 6 weeks away!

The two musicals hitting town in August are Little Shop of Horrors, opening at His Majesty's Theatre on 4th August, and Black Swan Theatre's Clinton the Musical on the 27th. This very topical production was scripted and composed by Aussie brothers Michael and Paul Hodge and is just the antidote we need to survive the US election.

There are also two large-scale choral concerts this month. The WA Academy of Performing Arts will team up with school choirs from John Septimus Roe and All Saints at St Mary's Cathedral on on the 4th to perform Mozart’s Coronation Mass and Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs, accompanied on organ by Stewart Smith. The St George's Cathedral choir will perform Durufle's Requiem and Rutter's Gloria on the 12th accompanied by WASO brass and percussion.

The vocal fireworks continue with Opera Australia soprano Taryn Fiebig returns to her almer mater Churchlands Senior High School for a benefit concert From School to Opera Australia on the 19th.

Also on the 19th the Grigoryan Brothers are visiting WAAPA for a guitar concert. The Academy's elite Indian Ocean Ensemble led by Alexandre da Costa will perform Strauss, Schoenberg and Beethoven on the 25/26th. Meanwhile over at the University of WA Ensemble Vagabond will perform the iconic wind quintets by Mozart and Beethoven on the 21st.

WASO will be working with Simone Young in a flamboyant concert of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring and Holst's Planets on 5/6th. Asher Fisch is back in town in the lead up to the tour of China in October. His first concert on 19th/20th will feature principal horn David Evans is soloist in Mozart's popular Horn Concerto alongside Schubert 4 and Bartok Concerto for Orchestra. On the 26th/27th Latvian violinist Baiba Skride will perform Mozart's Violin Concerto No.4 and Brahms Piano Quartet No.1 with the orchestra.



Tura New Music's Scale Variable series continues at Studio Underground with a concert on the 27th of experimental music solos performed by Louise Devenish (percussion) & James Hullick (piano). And on the topic of new music, a fascinating discussion on Australian women composers will be led on the 9th by yours truly as part of UWA's Music Research Seminars. More details to follow soon!

July Gig Guide

It is mid-winter and my mulled wine recipe is out! So too is the Perth Winter Arts Festival brochure to satisfy your artistic palette. Here is my pick of the classical music gigs around town this month:

The WA Symphony Orchestra will host Simone Lamsma playing Tchaikovsky  on July 1st. On July 15th the orchestra with conductor Guy Noble will present Last Night at the Proms featuring the classic anthems, soloists and chorus of this English tradition. On the 22nd the orchestra joins forces with Cirque du Soleil for a unique circus and musical extravaganza, again conducted by Guy Noble.
And then things get serious again with an all-Beethoven program on 28th conducted by Simone Young featuring Javier Perianes performing the Piano Concerto No 3.

On Saturday 2nd July Michael Kieran Harvey will join Irina Vasilieva in a recital for two pianos at Cappucino Concerts. The program is intriguing and the performers outstanding so this is a must see!

American pianist Julian Garguilo's rigorous Russian conservatory training and his informal style makes him a funny and unconventional advocate for classical music. He performs Downstairs at the Maj on 16th.

The WA Academy of Performing Arts is hosting English soprano Dame Felicity Lott as part of their International Art Song Academy and she will perform in recital on the 6th and in a gala concert at Government House Ballroom on the 10th.

On the 11th the Australian String Quartet tour with a program including Haydn, Webern and Australian pianist/composer Joe Chindamo! Musica Viva are also in town this month, bringing the Choir of Trinity College Cambridge on the 28th. Central to their program is Frank Martin's Mass for Unaccompanied Double Choir.

WA Opera present The Elixir of Love featuring Aldo di Toro and Rachelle Durkin, running 14-23rd July.

And in a lovely conclusion to the month the Magellan Ensemble (Paul Wright violin, Faith Maydwell piano, Sacha McCulloch) will premiere Perth guitarist/composer Duncan Gardiner’s A Thousand Cranes Beat Their Wings on July 30th at Christ Church Grammar School Chapel.

May Gig Guide

The Perth autumn is settling in with some fabulously wet, cold days this past week. Perth's cultural life is starting to gear up accordingly. There is nothing like braving a stormy night to get to a snug theatre and muse on life's purpose. And May is promising some high quality gigs that will be well-worth the effort.

On Monday 2nd May Stephen Hough's national Musica Viva tour arrives in Perth. Hough will be playing piano works by Liszt, Franck, Schubert plus his own Piano Sonata. I’m interested in how this program explores Hough’s catholic faith and charts a musical progression from dark to light.

On the 5^th Katie Noonan and the Brodsky Quartet are in town. I remember vividly every Katie Noonan concert I’ve been to because she’s always so intelligent and artistic: her band George, with WASO, then venturing into jazz. Now she’s taking on the string quartet genre and I expect this to be really interesting too.

The Australian Chamber Orchestra are taking on the giants on May 11^th performing Bach’s The Art of Fugue (famously used in An Equal Music) and Beethoven’s Grosse Fugue. This is going to be a powerful concert.

The WA Symphony Orchestra will be performing classics by Haydn and Mozart on May 6th, directed by concertmaster Laurence Jackson. The popular (and almost sold-out) Cushion Concerts for kids are on from 4th-7th and the orchestra will be in the pit for WA Ballet's Beauty and the Beast from 13th-28th.

On 21^st May the University of Western Australia Orchestra will perform works by Alan Lourens (Euphonium Concerto) and James Ledger (Two Memorials – a world premiere) in celebration of the composers’ 50^th birthdays. A world premiere by Holdsworth is also on the program.

Lastly St George's Cathedral will be showcasing singing superstars Sara Macliver and Fiona Campbell in their Divas Delight program on the 27th. The concert will be recorded by ABC Classic FM and I've just noticed the Post restaurant next door at ComoThe Treasury offers pre-theatre meals. Perfect!

That's all for this month, unless you can think of something I've missed?

So be brave, get to a concert and take care of your soul this autumn.

April Gig Guide

 Welcome to April and post-Easter recovery! 

It seems to be a fairly quiet month. The WA Symphony Orchestra will launch the month with Mahler's Resurrection Symphony on April 1st and 2nd, a fitting end to the Easter season. Asher Fisch is conducting and I expect it will be spectacular. WASO will also perform Mendelssohn's popular Violin Concerto performed by new concert master Laurence Jackson. Reports from the musicians are that he is a delightful guy, quietly spoken but much respected. And if his cameo solo in Thus Spake Zarathustra was anything to go by he has a gorgeous sound and a bit of dramatic flair which will be perfect for Mendelssohn.

WASO also feature in what is my highlight for the month, the WA Opera's performance of The Riders. The opera is based on the novel by Tim Winton with music composed by (ex-Perth) Iain Grandage and starring soprano Emma Pearson (also ex-Perth). So it is going to be a local fiesta!

On Wednesday 6^th at St George’s Cathedral Mark Coughlan will perform Grieg's Piano Concerto and Louise McKay will be soloist in Elgar's cello concerto. On Friday 8th the Indian Ocean Chamber Ensemble - WAAPA’s answer to Ensemble Vagabond? –  are debuting at the WA Academy of Performing Arts. They will perform Claude Bolling’s Suite for violin and jazz piano (Alex da Costa and Graham Wood), Michael Dogherty’s Dead Elvis (Natalya Czernicziw) and a bass clarinet (Philip Everall) work by Osvaldo Golijov.

Sunday 10th violinist Ronald Thomas and pianist David Wickham will perform Beethoven’s complete sonatas as the first of a three part series at Perth Town Hall which will be continued on April 17^th and May 1^st. On Sunday 17^th the University of Western Australia Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Mark Coughlan) will performs Strauss favourites at Government House Ballroom.  

The month closes with the ever-versatile WASO , this time performing with the hip hop group Hilltop Hoods at Perth Arena!

If have missed something please let me know... otherwise happy concert going!

December Gig Guide

The festive season kicks off with the Australian Chamber Orchestra bringing a fascinating East meets West concert to Perth on December 2nd. The orchestra will collaborate with brothers Joseph Tawadros (oud) and James Tawadros (percussion) who will bring a fresh perspective to a program that includes Vivaldi's Four Seasons.

Trumpet legend James Morrison returns to Perth on 3rd December to perform with the WA Symphony Orchestra and on December 6th superstar violinst Maxim Vengerov will give a recital for Musica Viva with Roustem Saitkolov on piano.

The home grown fair is where things get really festive: WASO bring their music to thousands at the annual free Symphony in the City  on 12th December and the Best of British is back again on December 22nd (note the change of date) conducted by Ian Westrip and in the style of Last Night at the Proms. Voyces present Noel, a mix of traditional and modern carols on December 18th with Sara Macliver and Fiona Campbell. The Perth Symphony Orchestra presents the magical Christmas story The Snowman screened with live orchestral accompaniment including the famous song Walking in the Air on 19th December.

On the sacred front Collegium Symphonic Chorus perform their annual Messiah on December 19th and on Tuesday 8th (note date change here too) St George's Cathedral present their much anticipated concert version of Handel's neglected opera Judas Maccabeus with Paul Wright leading the Baroque orchestra The Musician's Table. Book quickly as this is expected to sell out by end of November.

And of course the year wouldn't be complete without the annual Vienna Pops on New Year's Eve. After his successful debut last year Mark Coughlan will be directing again, sharing the stage with Fiona Campbell and jazz diva Ali Bodycoat for an evening of Viennese classics and champagne.

November Gig Guide

Concerts this month kick off with a delightful old wizard (actor Doug McKeag) hosting a concert hall of Harry Potter fans on Sunday 1st November as the WA Symphony Orchestra performs the soundtrack to Harry Potter. 

It's a creative month for the orchestra who will also be celebrating Back to the Future in a screening of the film with live soundtrack on 13/14th. The concert will feature new music written by Alan Silvestri especially for the 30th anniversary - Great Scott has it been thirty years already? Where did the time go?

In a return to more traditional fare Asher Fisch conducts Mahler's colossal Symphony No 1 with the orchestra on November 20/21, followed by a Spanish-themed program including Ravel's Bolero November 26/27/28. 

Chamber music is looking good this month with the Australian String Quartet arriving November 3rd for a concert featuring Brett Dean's latest work and Schubert's Death and the Maiden and the Eggner Trio (touring with Musica Viva) giving a rare performance of Clara Schumann's Trio in G minor on November 17th.

 

On November 8th the UWA Choral Society are returning to St Patrick's Basilica to perform Haydn's Nelson Mass and Mozart's Te Deum.

And Christmas is already coming (!) with St George's Cathedral Consort singing a condensed Messiah and Christmas songs under the stars in the Fremantle Arts Centre courtyard on 12/13th November.

On another note, it is the time of year where most arts companies are launching their 2016 programs. WA Opera's program is looking surprisingly organic and Australian, and check out WASO's new season here. The Perth International Arts Festival launches its 2016 program on November 4th so stay tuned.

October Gig Guide

If you can survive the football Grand Final this weekend you will be rewarded with some great gigs in October!

Two operas this month - hooray - including the students at the WA Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) presenting Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream opening October 5th and WA Opera's Faust opening October 29th starring American tenor Patrick O'Halloran as Faust.

On Monday 5th Musica Viva present the Modigliani Quartet playing Haydn, Shostakovich, Schubert and Dvorak. Perth Symphonic Chorus are putting on a spring concert of rare repertoire including Mendelssohn's First Walpurgis Night and Lars-Erik Larsson's A God Disguised.

The piano gets a workout from WAAPA students in recital on the 15th and at the University of Western Australia on 25th when Graeme Gilling and Geoffrey Lancaster perform the works of Mozart and CPE Bach while Gosia Wlodarczak creates a work of art in response to the music.

The WA Symphony Orchestra will be conducted by Alexander Lazarev this weekend (2nd/3rd Oct) playing Tchaikovsky's First Symphony and on 16/17th Jennifer Koh will perform Bernstein's Serenade with Dvorak's Symphony No 9 also on the program.

Enjoy!