Elisabeth Murdoch Hall was full and the pre-concert chat more animated than usual for the launch of Jayson Gillham’s national tour with his good friend, the Palestinian-Jordanian pianist Iyad Sughayer. This was Sughayer’s Australian concert debut.

They titled their program Keys to Life to affirm music’s connective power, and subtitled it “Two Friends, Two Pianos” to underline the role their friendship plays in their music-making.

When they took the stage, they were greeted with thunderous applause.

Keys to Life: Iyad Sughayer and Jayson Gillham. Photo © Fred Kroh

For the first item, Debussy’s Petite Suite, the duo shared a keyboard. Together they drew out the colours in these four finely crafted miniatures. Sughayer (playing the upper part) seemed to stroke colours from the keys, while Gillham brought images of rippling water and graceful pirouettes to life with brilliantly executed filigree passages.

Mozart’s Sonata in D major calls for two pianos, so the two concert grands were wedged together, with one lid arching over them. Gillham and Sughayer sat facing each other at opposite ends of the piano hub, relying on nods and empathy to stay aligned. Their unaffected smiles, supportive nods and mutual...