This was a sad, though also ultimately joyous, occasion marking the end of an era of chamber music performance in Tasmania.

Musica Viva Tasmania President Damian Stevens introduced the event and thanked the many who have contributed to decades of music-making under organisational titles Friends of Music, a branch of Musica Viva Australia, and latterly, Musica Viva Tasmania.

Financial pressures and declining audiences since COVID-19 have finally overwhelmed efforts to sustain the organisation.

Ensemble Liaison during rehearsals at Hobart Town Hall. Photo © Ensemble Liaison/facebook

Renowned Australian group Ensemble Liaison provided a wonderful program to celebrate a legacy of great performances over the years.

Pianist Timothy Young’s Trio Variations Op. 2 in E minor, ‘Distant Waters’ (2024) received its world première. This was a nicely crafted fun piece making use of a short motif to explore variations drawing from a range of musical styles and epochs. It was a charming opener to the concert.

Brahms’s Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano in A minor, Op. 114 (1891) is one of four late masterworks inspired by the composer’s clarinettist friend Richard Mühlfeld. This mature reflective four-movement piece was given with warmth and sensitivity, it being...