Tag Archives: Chamber music

Upcoming concerts in Sydney and Picton

In March we’ll be presenting two concerts. On Sunday 8th March, we’ll be performing a variety of music for Classics at Picton, including Brahms’ magnificent Clarinet Trio Op.114, and the premiere of a new piece by Dr Diana Blom. The following week, we’ll return to Church Street Studios in Camperdown for Echoes of Home, a concert of Australian music reflecting on our connections to the places we call home. This program will feature three new works by local composers Keyna Wilkins, Troy Russell and Gareth Lewis.

Classics at Picton

Sunday 8th March, 1.30pm. Wollondilly Shire Hall, 52 Menangle St Picton 2571

Our core musicians Melissa Coleman (flute), Ian Sykes (clarinet) and Clare Kahn (cello) will be joined by special guest Yerim Lee (piano) to perform a selection of music from the classics to new Australian music. Brahms’ Clarinet Trio Op.114 is one of his late masterpieces, exploring his rich harmonic language and the tone colours of all three instruments. Mozart’s Andante in C for flute and piano K315 provides a light and sparkling contrast. Australian music by Natalie Williams and Stuart Greenbaum explore our world through sonic journeys, while Diana Blom’s new work MixTape for flute, clarinet and cello is a homage to the glory days of making a mix tape of your favourite music for those you love.

Tickets available at the door (cash only) $25

Echoes of Home

Sunday 15th March, 2.30pm. Church Street Studios, 62-68 Church St Camperdown 2050

A concert of Australian music reflecting on our connection to place. Bellbirds by First Nations composer Troy Russell is inspired by the birdsong heard from his home. Collaroy Skies by Gareth Lewis is a meditation on the sun, sky and surf of the Sydney beach he calls home. Call from the Deep by Corinna Bonshek reflects on the beauty of the natural world through an interplay between three solo instruments and pre-recorded whale song. The Dreaming Land, a sonata for cello and piano by Natalie Williams, explores emotional connections to the physical world through a sonic journey across the Australian continent. Stuart Greenbaum’s Three Places for a New Millennium is an ode to the earth as seen from orbit, as well as to the ways we traverse the planet, from waiting in departure lounges to being stuck in traffic. Winter Solstice by Merryl Neille depicts the first stirrings of spring under an icy landscape. A new work by Kenya Wilkins for didjeridu and chamber ensemble will explore First Nations people’s connection to country.


Melissa Coleman (flute), Ian Sykes (clarinet), Alison Evans (bassoon), Clare Kahn (cello), with special guests Lucy Carrigy-Ryan (viola), Yerim Lee (piano), Keyna Wilkins (composer and piano) and Raphael Hatzipetrou (didjeridu)

Tickets: Adult $30 /Concession $20 /Child $10 https://www.trybooking.com/DIXVK

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Sirius announces 2013 Concert Series

We are pleased to announce our 2013 concert series at St Philip’s Church, York St Sydney. We will be presenting three concerts this year, and for the first time are offering subscription tickets for the entire series.

Our core ensemble of Ian Sykes (clarinet), Alison Evans (bassoon), Melissa Coleman (flute), Julia Zeltzer (french horn), Georgina Price (viola), Clare Kahn (cello) and Claire Howard Race (piano) will be returning to present an even more diverse range of works this year.

Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Khachaturian 1940

Concert 1 – Saturday 25th May, 7.30pm

The Voice of Exile

Sirius Chamber Ensemble focuses on composers known to have worked under the communist regimes in the former Soviet Union. Despite heavy censorship, fear of deportation or death, composers in this period produced some of the most profound music of the twentieth century.

Dimitri Shostakovich – Piano Trio No.2.

Sergei Prokofiev – Flute Sonata Op.94

Bohuslav Martinu – Nonet for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, french horn, violin, viola, cello and bass.

Guest Artists: Angus Lindsay (oboe), Martyn Hentschel (violin), Heloise Meisel (violin), Andrew Meisel (bass).

Concert 2 – Saturday 10th August, 7.30pm

The Americas

Join Sirius Chamber Ensemble for a musical journey through the Americas. Beginning in Brazil with the wind quintet “Quintette en forme de Choros” by Heitor Villa-Lobos and then following to Argentina for “Le Grand Tango” for cello and piano by Astor Piazzolla. Venturing further north, we get a taste of the United States with a pastoral “Quiet in the Land” for flute, clarinet, cor anglais, viola and cello by Kenneth Fuchs and the Trio for clarinet, cello and piano by Robert Muczynski. To conclude is the joyous “Belle Epoque in Sud America” for wind quintet by Brazilian composer Julio Medaglia.

Concert 3 – Saturday 30th November, 7.30pm

Eastern Europe

Sirius Chamber Ensemble travels on a journey through the tumultuous history of Hungary and Czechoslovakia. The use of folk songs and national dance in the music of Béla Bartók and Antonín Dvořák inspired later composers such as György Ligeti. Sirius will premiere a new work by Nigel Ubrihien, an arrangement of Hungarian folk songs for vocalist and chamber ensemble.

Béla Bartók – “Contrasts” for clarinet, violin and piano

György Ligeti – Six Bagatelles for wind quintet

Nigel Ubrihien – new work

Antonín Dvořák – Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major, Op.81

Tickets are available for sale now at www.classikon.com

Single Tickets:

Adult $35 / Concession $25 / Child $15

3 Concert Subscription:

Adult $90 / Concession $65 / Child $30

We look forward to a great year of music making, and hope to see you at a concert soon.

Ian Sykes and Alison Evans

Sirius Chamber Ensemble

Contact us: sirius.ensemble@gmail.com

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