Utzon Room, Sydney Opera House
7 March, 2015

Australia’s a capella masters, The Song Company, gave its first performance of 2015 at the Sydney Opera House’s intimate Utzon Room, with a performance almost exclusively devoted to the music of Andrea Keller, who also joined the ensemble for the performance as Guest Director.

Keller is an Australian composer with Czech heritage, currently based in Melbourne, and this cultural combination was reflected in her choice of text, setting both English and Czech. A master improviser, with a background in jazz composition, throughout the evening she had a few opportunities to perform partially-composed/partially-improvised piano works as well as connective phrases between some songs. Keller was not the only new addition to the Song Company’s familiar lineup. Along with the usual singers; Anna Fraser, Hannah Fraser, Richard Black and Mark Donnelly, audiences heard for the first time Andrew O’Connor and Michelle Ryan in a subscription series concert.

For me, the most impressive work in the program was One Am I & One by Andrea Keller with lyrics by Gian Slater. A poignant work which expressed powerful anguish in a style that was like a jazz-meets-contemporary-meets-music theatre amalgamation, this piece made use of an interesting harmonic palette. The tessitura in...