This year, community radio station 3MBS themed its annual gala concert around the ‘Music of the Seasons’, a choice that was bound to resonate with weather-conscious Melburnians, who routinely face four in the one day.

The Hawthorn Arts Centre’s stately décor was the ideal setting for the opening item: a charming recital of love songs that anticipated or harked back to the joys of spring. Accompanied by pianist Coady Green, mezzo-soprano Chloe James gave a compelling performance, switching with ease from Berlioz to Hahn, Quilter, Sibelius and, finally, Tosti, while revealing considerable theatrical talent.

The 3MBS Gala Concert, Hawthorn Arts Centre, Melbourne. Photo © Laura Manariti

Collide Ensemble, comprising Yasmin Rowe (piano), Yelian Le (cello) and Joseph Lallo (saxophone), brought the program into the 21st century with Snow, Moon and Flowers, a soundscape by contemporary French composer Camille Pépin. Pépin’s music is atmospheric, and the ensemble deftly exploited their instruments’ contrasting tones to evoke the Japanese scenes that inspired the work.

After Lallo swapped his alto sax for a soprano, Collide launched into a breathtaking arrangement of Percy Grainger’s Molly on the Shore, which sets “Molly” against another Irish reel, “Temple Hill”. They tossed the rollicking reels back and forth with the split-second timing of high-wire artists, thrilling the audience with their virtuosity and bravura.

The mood changed swiftly when Green returned to the stage with soprano Katherine Norman to premiere a new arrangement of Alice Chance’s Salve Regina. For Chance, the Regina is the supplicant’s inner ideal; here, the soprano summons their Regina – their ‘absolute highest self’ – to overcome a seemingly insurmountable challenge.

In this arrangement, Norman’s pure, stirring voice slowly gains in pitch and intensity until she reaches the peak: an extraordinarily high note, sustained for an improbably long time before dissolving into a deep, meditative silence.

In the first half of the program, Green played two quite different accompanying roles, and both performances demonstrated his acute sensitivity to the soloists’ intentions and the rich variety of tones he could coax from the piano.

Green returned after the interval to play Crossed Stars by contemporary Australian composer Robert McIntyre, and Liszt’s monumental Vallée d’Obermann. His performance was memorable for its nuanced phrasing, delicately judged silences, colourful tonal palette, and the intense mental fortitude he displayed as he navigated the peaks and troughs of Liszt’s rugged emotional landscape.

The Choir of Trinity College Melbourne, conducted by Christopher Watson, closed the concert with contrasting choral works by Whitacre, Lauridsen (with pianist Angus Dillon), and local composer and 3MBS presenter Michael Leighton Jones. The choir’s pure, beautifully blended sound was a perfect match for these finely written songs, and the polished performance by the choir, conductor and pianist was a program highlight.