I’ve been looking forward to this next concert for some time, and it will be a great delight to be working again with both organisations for this performance.
Marking 200 years since it’s first performance, the Queensland University Music Society and the Sinfonia of St Andrew’s present Cherubini’s Requiem in C minor. Imitated by Brahms and Berlioz, admired by Schumann and Beethoven, this work was written in memory of King Louis XVI of France, who was executed in 1793.
My thanks again to the members of the Sinfonia of St Andrew’s for their sterling efforts earlier this year at, “British Sojourns”. The concert, which was part of this year’s 4MBS Festival of Classics, featured the works of composers that visited and contributed to the musical life of London. This included works by Mendelssohn, the composer/cellist Graziani, and Haydn’s 94th Symphony: the Surprise Symphony.
Please enjoy the orchestra’s performance from this concert, and stay tuned as I’ll share more performances that I’ve undertaken recently with the Sinfonia and other ensembles both local and overseas.
Despite it now being less than two months since the concert, “British Sojourns” seems like a warm but distant memory. Here’s a little something from that performance: yours truly conducting the Sinfonia of St Andrew’s with Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture. It was a pleasure working with the orchestra for this performance, and in time I’ll share some other footage from this concert.
There’s only a month now until my next conducting commitment, and the next four months will see me conducting five performances. However, my next performance with the Sinfonia will be in October, when they join forces with the Queensland University Music Society for a performance of Cherubini’s Requiem in C minor. This performance will mark 200 years since the work’s first performance, which was to commemorate the anniversary of the beheading of King Louis XVI of France. More about this marvelous and influential work later. In the meantime, enjoy the Mendelssohn.
It’s been a pleasant first week here in Ostrava, on the Moravia/Silesia border in the Czech Republic; home of the Janacek Philharmonic, who are current hosts of the International Orchestral Conducting Masterclass, with renowned pedagogue Jorma Panula, from Finland.
After a week of rehearsals, we had our first of two performances last night, consisting of Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony, the prelude to Mussorgsky’s Kovanshchina, Beethoven’s Leonore III, and Wagner’s Siegfried’s Rhine Journey. All conductors and the orchestra performed well.
Next week’s rehearsals start tomorrow, with the repertoire consisting of Dvorak’s Carnival Overture, Janacek’s Cunning Little Vixen Suite, and Mahler’s First Symphony. These rehearsals will culminate in our second concert on the Friday night.
I’ll be conducting Elgar’s wonderful Serenade for Strings, with the Sinfonia of St Andrew’s, as part of a Christmas concert held by the Brisbane Concert Choir, who will be joined by the Sinfonia for a performance of Britten’s, “Saint Nicolas”.
More information about the concert can be found here, but in the meantime, enjoy this performance of the Serenade that I gave with the Ady Ensemble back in May, 2014.
All the best.
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Some more from last month’s, “Completely Classical”, concert, with the Queensland University Musical Society (QUMS), and the Sinfonia of St Andrew’s. This was Haydn’s last mass, written in 1802, and so dubbed the ‘wind band’ mass due to his freer use of the woodwind.
My thanks again to QUMS, the Sinfonia, and to our wonderful soloists for the sterling work on the day, and especially to Elspeth, who invited me in the first place to conduct the choir, to Sandy Chou, General Manager of the Sinfonia, and to the QUMS committee, for all of their efforts in making this concert happen.
All the best.
Here’s another excerpt from last month’s, “Completely Classical”, concert with the Sinfonia of St Andrew’s. It was a delight working with the orchestra, whose work to get this symphony together in a short amount of time was admirable. I’ll be posting some of Haydn’s Harmoniemesse soon.
All the best.
I’ll be heading off to Ostrava, in the Czech Republic, next March, for a conducting masterclass with the Janacek Philharmonic and Jorma Panula: a conducting pedagogue from Finland, who has been teaching conducting at several distinguished music institutions in Europe over the last five decades. The Janacek Philharmonic has a well established reputation for their performances of Czech music, and have worked with numerous prominent conductors including Vaclav Neumann and Charles Mackerras.
The two week course will include two public performances with the orchestra, consisting of works by Mozart, Mussorgsky, Beethoven, Dvorak, Janacek, Wagner, and Mahler.
I’m looking very much to this course, but in the meantime there is much to do and to prepare.
Something from last month’s performance with the Sinfonia of St Andrew’s (footage featuring QUMS and soloists will be up a little later) at “Completely Classical”. My thanks to the members of the orchestra, for receiving me so kindly during my first performance conducting them.
It gives me great delight to announce that I will be conducting this concert next weekend.
The Sinfonia of St Andrew’s and the Queensland University Music Society (QUMS), are performing at St Andrew’s Uniting Church next Sunday, the 23rd of October. The programme includes Mozart’s Overture to “Cosi fan Tutte”, Beethoven’s 1st Symphony, and the Harmoniemesse of Haydn. It’s been a real pleasure working with both the Sinfonia and QUMS for this performance, and I’d like to thank QUMS for their initial invitation to work with them, and for the Sinfonia to join forces with them.
For more information please have a look at the flyer displayed on this post, or you can go to this concert’s events page on FaceBook.
This is my sixth conducting commitment over the last eight months, and although challenging at times it has been a rewarding time, and also a humbling time to make music with so many fine musicians, both here and abroad.
See you at St Andrew’s next weekend!
