The list of contenders includes Katie Noonan, Liza Lim, Richard Tognetti and Elena Kats-Chernin.

The composer will combine her twin passions for music and art, only this time entirely without the aid of manuscript paper. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

In her first festival as Artistic Director, the singer-songwriter focuses on social change, empowerment and the human voice. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

A riveting release featuring five leading Australian composers.

Fragmentation and a French quartet continue the revolution.

The piano four-hands configuration is surely one of the more humble performance traditions, shirking the flashy egoism of solo playing in favour of friendly fun. But that’s not to say the music isn’t virtuosic, as Anna Grinberg and Liam Viney show in their recent release on ABC Classics, offering an attractive programme of Australian music that’s not without depth. Carl Vine’s Sonata for Piano Four-hands is a multifaceted work that explores the textural combinations possible where four hands share melodies and accompanying figures that ripple and dance with a modal energy. Stuart Greenbaum’s own sonata takes inspiration from the cosmos, building a language inspired by the relationship between Sun and Earth – at times powerful and domineering, at others contemplative and spacious. Both works are evocative responses to the four-hands conundrum and make for satisfying listening. Music by Ross Edwards and Peter Sculthorpe tap into the duo’s tradition of music for younger players. Edwards’ Nine Bagatelles are charming miniatures that dance and play with casual merriment, and occasionally a hint of the telltale Edwards ‘maninya’ style. Sculthorpe’s Four Little Pieces are all arrangements of previous works for piano, imbued with a lyrical melodic character. Elena Kats-Chernin’s Victor’s… Continue reading Get…

The composer’s seven-year-old promise, with some vocal help from Anna Dowsley, helps author Susie Bennetts. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Lior, Elena Kats-Chernin and The Idea of North have collaborated on a CD for hospitalised kids and their families.

★★★★☆ Double basses take the spotlight to celebrate five years of AWO. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Editor’s Choice: Instrumental, August 2016 Among the 31 (mostly) short pieces on Butterflying is Lullaby for Nick, an adult embellishment of Elena Kats-Chernin’s first composition, written at age six. Lyrical and wistful, it is a fascinating early manifestation of the prodigious talent that developed into the powerhouse that she is today. This new double CD is a selection of music composed for her first instrument and love, piano, and on which she teams up with a fellow virtuoso who also began her musical career as a child prodigy. Tamara-Anna Cislowska gave her first public performance at two, playing Bartók, commenced studies at the Sydney Conservatorium at six and won the ABC Young Performer Award in 1991 at 14, the youngest ever winner. Although Cislowska’s repertoire spans five centuries, she has come to be particularly associated with contemporary Australian composers, winning an ARIA Award in 2015 for her ABC recording of Peter Sculthorpe’s Complete Works for Solo Piano. Ten years in the making, that project involved extensive collaboration between performer and composer; so too did Butterflying. In Cislowska, Kats-Chernin has found the perfect transmitter and musical partner who combines technical prowess with a particular depth of… Continue reading Get unlimited digital…

Composer Elena Kats-Chernin was flown in for the Festival Farewell.

The two long-term collaborators take us behind the scenes of their new double disc. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in