NOTOS QUARTETTMahler, Martinu and BrahmsSUNDAY 9 FEBRUARY 2.30PM

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‘Weavers of rich and plangent aural tapestries, The Gesualdo Six meld style and substance with beguiling sure-footedness.’

– BBC Music Magazine

There is something awe-inspiring about the sound of English Renaissance polyphony: its sweet, confessional poetry induces a special kind of introspection.

Formed in 2014, The Gesualdo Six have been ordained by colleagues and critics as torchbearers of the inimitable English sound. Contemporary polymath Owain Park (whose works have been performed by the Tallis Scholars, VOCES8, and The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge) leads five of the UK’s finest young consort singers.

THE GESUALDO SIXPassion and PolyphonySUNDAY 16 FEBRUARY 2.30PM

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Chronicling the cultural heritage of the United Kingdom, works from the sixteenth century by William Byrd and Thomas Tallis are placed alongside contemporary music by Gabriel Jackson and Cheryl Frances-Hoad.

Presented in association with Perth Festival.

Based in Berlin, the Notos Quartett – Sindri Lederer (violin), Andrea Burger (viola), Philip Graham (cello) and Antonia Köster (piano) – have played together since 2007. Praised for their ‘virtuosic brilliance’ and ‘mature interpretative powers’, they’ve won prizes in England, Holland, Italy, Japan and China, and played London’s Wigmore Hall, Berlin’s Philharmonie, Vienna’s Konzerthaus, and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw.

Opening with Mahler’s single-movement chamber poem, they play Martinu’s rarely heard Piano Quartet – a masterpiece of neoclassicism – before Brahms has the final word with the exhilarating ‘Rondo alla Zingarese’.

Gustav Mahler Piano Quartet in A minor

Bohuslav Martinu Piano Quartet No. 1, H. 287

Johannes Brahms Piano Quartet in G minor, Op. 25

Photo: Ash Mills

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Voted Australia’s favourite composer in the ABC’s Classic 100 survey by nearly 130,000 people, Beethoven remains classical music’s most iconic revolutionary. Beneath the rigour of his string quartets lies a humanism embodying the ideals of fraternity, enlightenment and democracy. While this music is often an affirmation of resilience, his letters reveal an inner life tortured by circumstance.

TINALLEY STRING QUARTET WITH JOHN BELLBeethoven’s LettersSUNDAY 5 APRIL 2.30PM

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To celebrate the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, the Tinalley String Quartet take us through some of the most enduring chamber music ever written, while Shakespearean actor John Bell weaves a narrative from eighteen of Beethoven’s letters, culminating with the devastating Heiligenstadt Testament.

Complimentary afternoon tea will be served after the performance.

‘[Tasmin] Little can justly be regarded as Britain’s finest violinist.’

– The Independent

Tasmin Little is beloved by audiences and critics around the world for her award-winning discography and the commanding presence of her live performances. In 2019 she made classical music headlines with her announcement to withdraw from the concert stage from 2020, giving one final tour in commemoration of a remarkable career as a performing musician.

Before she hangs up her concert gowns forever, Tasmin Little appears at UKARIA one last time, joined by Adelaide’s favourite Russian pianist, Konstantin Shamray. Together they play Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and Szymanowski.

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TASMIN LITTLE KONSTANTIN SHAMRAYEnd of an EraSUNDAY 23 FEBRUARY 2.30PM

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Touring internationally every year, The Australian Voices have championed new Australian vocal music for over twenty-five years. Composer, conductor and radio presenter Gordon Hamilton has been the Artistic Director since 2009.

After a week in residence at UKARIA, The Australian Voices present their freshly devised work darK – described as an ‘improvised sound bath’ – alongside works by Lisa Young, Sally Whitwell and Joe Chindamo.

THE AUSTRALIAN VOICESEarth and IceSUNDAY 19 APRIL 2.30PM

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‘Style, energy, and a sense of risk. These four young Frenchmen made the music smile.’

– Guardian

Recently completing a season as ECHO Rising Stars, and former BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists, Quatuor Van Kuijk’s international accolades include First Prize at the 2015 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition, First Prize and an Audience Award at the Trondheim International Chamber Music Competition, as well as becoming laureates of the Aix-en-Provence Festival Academy. They have appeared at leading European festivals, including Verbier and Lockenhaus, and released three critically acclaimed albums on the Alpha Classics label.

QUATUOR VAN KUIJKMozart, Bartók and SchumannSUNDAY 10 MAY 2.30PM

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On their first tour to Australia for a residency at the Canberra International Music Festival, they perform at the UKARIA Cultural Centre, the Melbourne Recital Centre, and the Utzon Room at the Sydney Opera House.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart String Quartet in D minor, K. 421

Béla Bartók String Quartet No. 4, Sz. 91

Robert Schumann String Quartet No.3 in A, Op. 41

Gordon Hamilton’s austere Antarctica, composed on location near Casey Station on the frozen southern continent, incorporates the sounds of ice, wind and wildlife, reminding us that, despite the bitter odds, much does indeed grow from the earth.

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‘… Schumann invented much of our pianistic writing… of our harmonic feeling … we must place very, very highly – perhaps higher even than all the others – a musician who, with the seven wretched notes of the scale, somehow expresses so fully what lives in the human heart.’

– Maurice Ravel

The charismatic Italian cellist Umberto Clerici is a musician we’ve built a strong connection with over the years. Outside of his demanding schedule as Principal Cellist of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, one of his great joys is playing chamber music. When we invited

KRISTIAN WINTHER, UMBERTO CLERICI AND DANIEL DE BORAHMozart, Schumann and RavelSUNDAY 14 JUNE 2.30PM

Umberto to put together an ensemble for 2020, he expressed a desire to play with Kristian Winther (violin) and Daniel de Borah (piano). Put the three together, and you have a powerhouse trio – perfect for this program, which concludes with Ravel’s masterpiece, composed upon the outbreak of World War I.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Piano Trio No. 6 in G, K. 564

Robert Schumann Piano Trio No. 2 in F, Op. 80

Maurice Ravel Piano Trio in A minor

There’s something intoxicating about watching a great master of the bandoneon: fingers flit across tiny buttons as the concertina fans open, inhaling and exhaling like a living, breathing organism. New York-based bandoneon virtuoso JP Jofre (from San Juan, Argentina) continues Ástor Piazzolla’s legacy, performing not only the great music of the past but also writing his own. He’s appeared in the Great Performers series at New York’s Lincoln Centre, given lectures at The Juilliard School, and performed as a soloist with orchestras around the world.

Under the artistic direction of Paul Dean and Trish O’Brien, Ensemble Q create electric performances. They join JP Jofre at UKARIA to play music by Piazzolla, Debussy, Bartók, Stravinsky and Manuel de Falla, alongside new works by Paul Dean and JP Jofre.

JP Jofre | Bandoneon

Harry Bennetts | Violin

Tobias Breider | Viola

Trish O’Brien | Cello

Paul Dean | Clarinet

Phoebe Alviz-Russell | Double Bass

Lisa Moore | Piano

JP JOFRE ENSEMBLE QBailando en AguaSUNDAY 31 MAY 2.30PM

Photo: Keith Saunders

Photo: Laura Stanca

Photo: Anthony Browell

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SIMON TRPČESKINight on Bald MountainSUNDAY 21 JUNE 2.30PM

Macedonian pianist Simon Trpceski gained international exposure in 2001 as a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist. Since then, he’s performed all over the world with orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw, the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics, and the Orchestre National de France under conductors such as Gustavo Dudamel, Lorin Maazel and Vladimir Jurowski. He’s given solo recitals in Paris, Munich, Prague and Tokyo, and appeared at some of the world’s great festivals including Verbier and Aspen. In Australia to perform concerti by Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky with the Melbourne, West Australian and Tasmanian symphony orchestras, he gives his only solo recital at UKARIA.

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‘The music of Erich Wolfgang Korngold has always put a smile on my face. His writing is imbued with old-world Hollywood charm and this enchanting set of four pieces from Much Ado About Nothing is a delightful gem from one of the twentieth-century’s pioneer film composers.’

– Dale Barltrop

Intimately familiar with UKARIA audiences as the First Violinist of the Australian String Quartet, Dale Barltrop also serves as the co-concertmaster of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

Since Daniel de Borah’s prize-winning performances at the 2004 Sydney International Piano Competition, he’s given recitals on four continents, in venues including London’s Wigmore Hall and Southbank Centre, the Sydney Opera House and the Melbourne Recital Centre.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Sonata for Violin and Piano in F, K. 377

Sergei Prokofiev Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano in D, Op. 94a

Leoš Janácek Sonata for Violin and Piano

Erich Wolfgang Korngold Much Ado About Nothing Suite for Violin and Piano, Op. 11

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Much Ado About NothingSUNDAY 12 JULY 2.30PM

Johannes Brahms Variations on a Theme by Schumann, Op. 9

Franz Liszt Soirées de Vienne, S. 427

Sergei Prokofiev Tales of an Old Grandmother, Op. 31

Modest Mussorgsky Night on Bald Mountain (arr. Konstantin Chernov)

Sergei Prokofiev Sonata No. 7 in B flat, Op. 83

Photo: Jacqui Way

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ANDREW HAVERON, UMBERTO CLERICI AND PIERS LANETrio ElégiaqueSUNDAY 2 AUGUST 2.30PM

‘No one feels another’s grief, no one understands another’s joy. People imagine they can reach one another. In reality they only pass each other by.’

– Franz Schubert

Last year, three exceptional musicians joined forces at UKARIA to play Schubert’s Piano Trio No. 1 in B flat, D. 898, and Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio in A minor, Op. 50. They return in 2020 for an unmissable sequel. Completed less than a year before his death, Schubert’s Piano Trio No. 2 in E flat, D. 929 is paired with Rachmaninov’s youthful Trio élégiaque in D minor, Op. 9, written at the age of 18 as a requiem on the death of Tchaikovsky.

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Equally at home on the concert and opera stage, Carolyn Sampson is an exquisite soprano. Her major roles have included Pamina in Mozart’s The Magic Flute (English National Opera), Mélisande in Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande (Scottish Opera), and various roles in Purcell’s The Fairy Queen (Glyndebourne). She gave her Carnegie Hall debut in 2013, and was a featured artist at Wigmore Hall in the 2014–15 Season. Carolyn’s award-winning discography includes albums on the BIS, Hyperion, Harmonia Mundi and Decca Classics labels.

CAROLYN SAMPSON AND KATHRYN STOTTBeau SoirSUNDAY 16 AUGUST 2.30PM

Celebrating the poetry of Paul Verlaine and the atmosphere of the night, Carolyn makes her debut at UKARIA with pianist Kathryn Stott. Fauré’s sublime Cinq mélodies de Venise melt into Mendelssohn’s Venetian Gondola Song, before Debussy’s sonic magic and vignettes by Ravel, Poldowski and Poulenc evoke a bygone era of softly glowing colours.

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RICHARD TOGNETTI AND ERIN HELYARDBach and BeethovenSUNDAY 23 AUGUST 2.30PM

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‘The whole experience was a kind of enchantment.’

– Guardian

Since winning first prize in the Clara Haskil International Piano Competition in 1991, Steven Osborne has established himself as one of the most compelling pianists of his generation. He’s recorded over thirty albums for Hyperion – including the entire solo piano music of Ravel, the complete Preludes of Debussy and Rachmaninov, and Messiaen’s monumental Vingt Regards sur l’enfant-Jésus.

‘It’s our job to bring the listener in through our portal. A numinous moment when, hopefully, we can make time stand still.’

– Richard Tognetti

Richard Tognetti has been the lodestar of the Australian Chamber Orchestra for thirty years. He’s appeared as a soloist with all the major Australian symphony orchestras, along with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Academy of Ancient Music, and the Camerata Salzburg.

Erin Helyard, the Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Pinchgut Opera, has forged new standards of excellence in historically

STEVEN OSBORNEMoments MusicauxSUNDAY 30 AUGUST 2.30PM

Steven’s recital at UKARIA will explore the connections between Schubert and Rachmaninov – including rarely heard miniatures and the exquisite Moments Musicaux, Op. 16.

Franz Schubert Andante in A, D. 604 Sonata in A, D. 959

Sergei Rachmaninov Piano Piece in A flat Fragments ‘Nunc Dimittis’ from Vespers, Op. 37 (arr. Rachmaninov) Oriental Sketch Moments Musicaux, Op. 16

informed performance: who could forget his Helpmann Award-winning role in Barrie Kosky’s production of Handel’s Saul?

Johann Sebastian Bach Solo Violin Sonata in G minor, BWV 1001

Sonata for Violin and Keyboard in G, BWV 1019

Ludwig van Beethoven Seven Bagatelles, Op. 33

Sonata for Piano and Violin in F, Op. 24 No. 5 Spring

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‘… [Beatson] shapes and weights every phrase with careful devotion, liquid sonority and a gentle cantabile’

– Classic FM Magazine

Currently the Co-Artistic Director of the Swiss Chamber Music Festival at Ernen, Scottish pianist Alasdair Beatson works prolifically as a soloist and chamber musician across Europe and the UK. Described as ‘gleamingly poetic’ (The Glasgow Herald) and ‘ever inspiring’ (Guardian), his colleagues include Steven Isserlis, Pekka Kuusisto, Pieter Wispelwey, and the Doric and Gringolts quartets. Alasdair’s only solo recital in Australia for 2020 will culminate with Beethoven’s magnificent Waldstein Sonata.

ALASDAIR BEATSONWaldsteinSUNDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2.30PM

Franz Schubert Impromptu in F minor, D. 935 No. 1

Gabriel Fauré Thème et Variations in C sharp minor, Op. 73

Robert Schumann Faschingsschwank aus Wien, Op. 26

Francis Poulenc Trois Novelettes

Ludwig van Beethoven Sonata in C, Op. 53 Waldstein

Photo: Kaupo Kikkas

TABEA ZIMMERMANN WITH STEFANIE FARRANDS AND ANAM MUSICIANSMother TongueSUNDAY 6 SEPTEMBER 2.30PM

German violist Tabea Zimmermann is one of the world’s great ambassadors of her instrument. Her artistry has been documented on over fifty albums for EMI, Teldec, Harmonia Mundi and Deutsche Grammophone. She’s appeared as a soloist with the Berlin Philharmonic and London Symphony orchestras, and performed in chamber settings alongside Gidon Kremer and Steven Isserlis.

Stefanie Farrands, who studied with Tabea at the Hochschule für Musik ‘Hanns Eisler’ in Berlin, is an alumna of the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM), and was recently announced as the new Principal Viola of the Australian Chamber Orchestra. In 2016 Stefanie won the Freedman Fellowship,

dedicating her prize to commissioning new works by Australian composers.

One of these is Yitzhak Yedid’s Mother Tongue, inspired by the lost language of the Barngarla Aboriginal community. In a touching teacher-student reunion, Tabea Zimmermann joins Stefanie Farrands and musicians from ANAM to play works by Hindemith, Yedid and Enescu.

Paul Hindemith Octet for Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn, Violin, Two Violas, Cello and Double Bass

Yitzhak Yedid Mother Tongue for Two Violas

George Enescu Octet for Strings in C, Op. 7

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DORIC STRING QUARTETHidden AgendasSUNDAY 4 OCTOBER 2.30PM

Firmly established as one of the leading ensembles of its generation, the Doric String Quartet won the 2008 Osaka International Chamber Music Competition in Japan and second prize at the Premio Paolo Borciani International String Quartet Competition in Italy, and now appear in concert halls throughout Europe and the United States.

Touring Australia for Musica Viva in 2019, their program featuring Brett Dean’s Hidden Agendas was described as a ‘masterclass in ego-free virtuosity’, displaying a level of unity that was ‘nothing short of telepathic’. How special to have them return to Australia to perform the work at UKARIA, alongside quartets by Mozart and Mendelssohn.

Presented in association with Chamber Music New Zealand.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart String Quartet in F, K. 590

Brett Dean String Quartet No. 3 Hidden Agendas*

Felix Mendelssohn String Quartet in D, Op. 44 No. 1

*Brett Dean’s Hidden Agendas was commissioned through Musica Viva Australia in celebration of the Melbourne Recital Centre’s tenth anniversary with support from Ulrike Klein AO, Edinburgh International Festival, Konzerthaus Berlin, Stichting Strijkkwartet Biënnale Amsterdam, Carnegie Hall, and West Cork Chamber Music Festival.

In the nineteenth century, the horn was synonymous with Romantic ideals of nature and hunting. Frédéric-Nicolas Duvernoy, who taught at the Paris Conservatoire, revolutionised the literature for the instrument, writing over ten concertos and one of the earliest examples of a trio for violin, horn and piano.

In 1865, as Brahms meandered through a forest one morning, a melody came to him. Perhaps because he learnt the natural horn as a child, the instrument became the conduit for a lament upon the death of his mother.

Over a century later, as György Ligeti wrestled with his own compositional identity, the pianist Eckart Besch suggested he write a companion piece to the Brahms Horn Trio. The result was a turning point in Ligeti’s career, opening up his ‘third way’ – a style he described as neither modern nor postmodern.

Natsuko Yoshimoto | Violin* Adrian Uren | Horn** Konstantin Shamray | Piano

Frédéric-Nicolas Duvernoy Trio No. 1 for Violin, Horn and Piano

György Ligeti Trio for Violin, Horn and Piano Hommage à Brahms

Johannes Brahms Trio for Natural Horn, Violin and Piano in E flat, Op. 40

*Concertmaster of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Natsuko performs on ‘The Adelaide’ Guadagnini violin (Milan, 1753–57), on loan from UKARIA. **Principal Horn of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.

NATSUKO YOSHIMOTO ADRIAN UREN KONSTANTIN SHAMRAYHommage à BrahmsSUNDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2.30PM

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LEONARD ELSCHENBROICH AND KONSTANTIN SHAMRAYGerman Intellect, Russian FireSUNDAY 29 NOVEMBER 2.30PM

Described by The New York Times as ‘a musician of great technical prowess, intellectual curiosity and expressive depth’, German cellist Leonard Elschenbroich gave his Vienna Musikverein debut on a European tour with the Staatskapelle Dresden, and his US debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He appears regularly at the Royal Albert Hall for the BBC Proms, and is a former member of the acclaimed Sitkovetsky Trio.

Leonard makes his debut at UKARIA with the winner of the 2008 Sydney International Piano Competition – Russian pianist Konstantin Shamray. In addition to sharing the same year of birth (1985), they both possess highly individual yet complementary artistic sensibilities – the perfect mix for sonatas by Brahms and Rachmaninov.

Johannes Brahms Sonata for Piano and Cello in E minor, Op. 38

Vier ernste Gesänge, Op. 121 (arr. Daniil Shafran)

Sergei Rachmaninov Sonata for Piano and Cello in G minor, Op. 19

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The 2020 Season is proudly presented by:

Season Partner

Broadcast Partner

The Klein Family Foundation proudly supports Ancestry and Women of Song.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Photo: Randy Larcombe

Concert Partners

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