ASQ National Season 2015

AUSTRALIAN STRING QUARTET NATIONAL SEASON 2 015 A D E L A I D E B R I S B A N E M E L B O U R N E P E R T H S Y D N E Y

SEASON OVERVIEW

There has been an incredible journey since 1985 when the Australian String Quartet was founded through the artistic vision of acclaimed international violinist Brenton Langbein AO and arts entrepreneur John Russell. In 2015, we celebrate this significant 30-year milestone with music which draws on the past with a keen eye on the future.

We are presenting a diverse selection of music across our season and are excited to premiere new works by three of Australia’s foremost composers, Ross Edwards, Matthew Hindson, and Brett Dean. In our celebration year, we also welcome some of Australia’s finest musicians to share the stage, including soprano, Allison Bell and first violinists Wilma Smith, Susie Park and Sophie Rowell. Meanwhile, off-stage, we will be working behindthe-scenes to build the right combination of players to take the quartet into the future.

Our 2015 season opens with Haydn’s Emperor quartet, which was the first work ever performed by the ASQ. This is partnered with a hauntingly evocative work titled Gallipoli by Ross Edwards.

Shostakovich’s war-torn third quartet and Franz Liszt’s only composition for quartet, Angelus!, complete this moving concert program titled Remember Tomorrow. In our second tour for the year, Abundance, we celebrate life, love and new beginnings.

The program features string quartets by Mozart and Webern, set alongside a new quartet work by Matthew Hindson, which has been commissioned to commemorate the opening of the magnificent new Ngeringa Arts Cultural Centre. This beautiful program finishes with Smetana’s passionate programmatic work titled, From my life. The season closes with Schubert’s epic quartet work, Death and the Maiden. This dramatic program, titled Transcend, begins with a quartet by the “Spanish Mozart”, Juan Cristosomo de Arriaga and is followed by the muchanticipated Australian premiere of Brett Dean’s And once I played Ophelia, for string quartet and soprano.

Please join us in 2015 to share some fantastic music and musicians presented by the Australian String Quartet.

AUSTRALIAN STRING QUARTET

With a rich history spanning 30 years, the Australian String Quartet (ASQ) has established a strong national profile as an Australian chamber music group of excellence, performing at the highest international level. From its home base at the University of Adelaide, Elder Conservatorium of Music, the ASQ delivers a vibrant annual artistic program encompassing performances, workshops, commissions and education projects across Australia and abroad.

Violist Stephen King and cellist Sharon Draper are the current members and Artistic Directors of the ASQ. In 2015, they are joined by invited guest violinists to present the Quartet’s performance season, whilst working behind-the-scenes to recruit two permanent violinists to the Quartet.

The Quartet’s performance calendar for 2015 comprises its National Season featuring three unique concert programs presented in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney; its own flagship festivals in the Southern Grampians and Margaret River; regional touring and an international tour to Italy in May. The members of the ASQ are privileged to perform on a matched set of Guadagnini instruments. Hand crafted by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini between c.1743–1784 in Turin and Piacenza, Italy, these exquisite Italian instruments were brought together through the vision of Ulrike Klein. The instruments are on loan to the Australian String Quartet for their exclusive use through the generosity of Ulrike Klein, Maria Myers and a group of donors who have supported Ngeringa Arts to acquire the viola.

ASQ CELLIST, SHARON DRAPER

TOU R ON E

REMEMBER TOMORROW

Haydn, String Quartet in C major op 76 no 3, Emperor Ross Edwards, Gallipoli* (World Premiere performances) Shostakovich, String Quartet no 3 in F major, op 73 Liszt, Angelus!

With guest artist Wilma Smith, violin I We begin our 30th Anniversary year with an homage to the past and a view to the future. In 1985, the ASQ’s first public concert opened, as this one does, with Haydn’s powerful Emperor quartet. The work has been so celebrated that the theme of the variation movement became the Austrian Imperial Anthem, then from 1922, the German National Anthem.

Another landmark in 2015 is the centenary of the ANZAC landing in Gallipoli and Australia’s involvement in world conflict and resolution. For this occasion, an evocative and moving work titled Gallipoli has been commissioned from one of Australia’s best-known composers, Ross Edwards.

Shostakovich’s String Quartet no 3 was written in response to the Second World War. The five movement quartet was the only work he completed in 1946. It is full of emotion and questioning – with despair yet passionate hopes for a better future. *Commissioned by the Ian Potter Cultural Trust to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of ANZAC Perth, Fri 20 February Melbourne, Thu 26 February Brisbane, Thu 5 March Sydney, Sat 7 March Adelaide, Wed 11 March PRESENTED IN ASSOCIATION WITH

INSTRUMENTS CRAFTED BY GIOVANNI BATTISTA GUADAGNINI

TOU R TWO

ABUNDANCE

Mozart, String Quartet no 15 in D minor K421 Matthew Hindson, New quartet commission* (World Premiere performances) Webern, Langsamer Satz Smetana, String Quartet no 1 in E minor, From my life With guest artist Susie Park, violin I According to his wife, Constanza, Mozart wrote his D minor string quartet during the birth of their first child – and the leaps in the second movement represent her cries.

It leaves a lasting record of the event better than any other!

Matthew Hindson’s engaging new work has been generously commissioned by Ngeringa Arts to commemorate the opening of its magnificent new cultural centre in the Adelaide Hills, where the work will have its world premiere.

Webern’s quartet movement was written on a mountain holiday with his fiancée and was intended to be a movement from a highly romantic quartet. The early movement does not hint at the serial style of his following music, but clearly shows his rich romantic musicality and compositional intensity.

Smetana’s quartet titled From my life is a programmatic story told in the autumn of life following the onset of the composer’s deafness. This casts a shadow over the end of the work, but otherwise represents hope, joy and an abundance of life and love. *Commissioned by Ngeringa Arts Brisbane, Tue 1 September Sydney, Wed 2 September Melbourne, Thu 3 September Adelaide, Mon 7 September Perth, Tue 8 September

ASQ VIOLIST, STEPHEN KING

TOU R TH R E E

TRANSCEND

Juan Crisostomo de Arriaga, String Quartet no 3 in E flat major Brett Dean, And once I played Ophelia* (Australian Premiere performances) Schubert, String Quartet no 14 in D minor D810, Death and the Maiden With guest artists Allison Bell, soprano and Sophie Rowell, violin I To end our 30th Anniversary year, the Australian String Quartet brings life to Schubert’s masterpiece for string quartet, Death and the Maiden. Considered one of the benchmark works of the string quartet repertoire, this piece was written when the composer was facing his own mortality following serious illness. The work ends with a frenzied rush to the finish line, almost triumphant, thus ending an epic journey filled with heartache, hope, and acceptance.

Brett Dean’s, And once I played Ophelia for soprano and string quartet is full of drama, lament and Dean’s characteristic rhythmic drive and punch. Australian soprano Allison Bell joins us from Europe for this exciting and visceral work. Juan Crisostomo de Arriaga was known as the “Spanish Mozart” and his rarely heard, wonderful third quartet opens the program. Written when the composer was only 16, this work includes a highly inventive and programmatic pastorale and a musical style that seems to evoke Beethoven. *Co-commissioned by the Australian String Quartet, Britten Sinfonia and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival Sydney, Thu 29 October Adelaide, Mon 2 November Perth, Tue 3 November Melbourne, Fri 6 November Brisbane, Sat 7 November

FELIPE PAGANI

GUEST ARTIST ALLISON BELL SOPRANO

GUEST ARTIST WILMA SMITH VIOLIN

Award winning young soprano Allison Bell is fast gaining a reputation as one of the leading and most exciting performers of 20th and 21st century music. Born in Tasmania, she studied Music and History at the University of Sydney. With the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Vladimir Jurowski she has performed the role of Sierva Maria in the world premiere of Peter Eotvos’s opera Love and Other Demons at Glyndebourne, the UK premieres of Schnittke’s Three Scenes, Three Madrigals, and Der Gelbe Klang, Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire at the Wigmore Hall and under Michal Dworzynski she performed Gorecki’s Third Symphony. Recent performances include Le Feu, La Princesse and Le Rossignol in Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortilèges at the Bolshoi and her Concertgebouw debut featuring Schoenberg and Dean, Pierrot Lunaire at Moscow’s Mossovet Theatre and MONA’s Synaesthesia Festival. Also Grisey’s Quatre chants pour franchir le seuil in Berlin with Jurowski and the world premiere of John Tavener’s Flood of Beauty at the Barbican, London.

Wilma Smith was Concertmaster of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra from 2003–2014. Born in Fiji and raised in New Zealand, she studied in Boston at the New England Conservatory with the legendary Dorothy DeLay and Louis Krasner before becoming first violinist of the Lydian String Quartet, winning the Naumburg Award for Chamber Music and prizes at the Evian, Banff and Portsmouth International String Quartet Competitions.

She was Concertmaster of the Handel and Haydn Society and the Harvard Chamber Orchestra while also working regularly with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Invited to return home to form the New Zealand String Quartet, Wilma was later appointed Concertmaster of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, then the MSO. She has been Guest Concertmaster with the Sydney, West Australian and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras and the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. She curates her own chamber music series called “Wilma and Friends” and teaches at Melbourne and Monash Universities.

GUEST ARTIST S U S I E PA R K VIOLIN

GUEST ARTIST SOPHIE ROWELL VIOLIN

Hailed as “prodigiously talented” (Washington Post) and praised for her “freedom, mastery and fantasy” (La Libre, Belgium), Australian violinist Susie Park has gained worldwide recognition for her searing emotive range and dynamic stage presence. Among her numerous awards and honours, she won top prizes at the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis and the Wieniawski Competition (Poland), and was winner of the Yehudi Menuhin International Competition (France).

Adelaide-born violinist Sophie Rowell has had solo engagements with all the major Australian symphony orchestras and has been Guest Concertmaster with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and with the Adelaide, Melbourne and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras.

She was the violinist of the Eroica Trio from 2006 to 2012, whose CD for EMI An American Journey was nominated for a Grammy™ award. She has toured Germany with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the US with Vienna Symphony Orchestra.

In 2000 Sophie founded the Tankstream Quartet which, in 2006, became the Australian String Quartet. As first violinist until 2011 with this renowned group she has performed throughout Australia, Europe, North America, Japan, China and New Zealand. The Quartet were the winners of the 2005 Cremona and the 2002 Osaka International Chamber Music Competitions.

A native of Sydney, Susie Park first picked up the violin at age three, making her solo recital debut at the age of five. She earned her Bachelor of Music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music and an Artist Diploma at the New England Conservatory. She currently resides in New York City.

Among other awards Sophie won the Young Performer of the Year in 2000 and 2nd prize in the 1999 International Mozart Competition in Salzburg.

She has held teaching positions at the Australian Institute of Music and the Elder Conservatorium in Adelaide. Studying in Sydney with Alice Waten she then undertook further studies in Europe with the Alban Berg Quartet.

SEASON OVERVIEW 2015

TOU R ON E

February / March 2015 REMEMBER TOMORROW Haydn, String Quartet in C major op 76 no 3, Emperor Ross Edwards, Gallipoli* (World Premiere performances) Shostakovich, String Quartet no 3 in F major, op 73 Liszt, Angelus!

With guest artist Wilma Smith, violin I *Commissioned by the Ian Potter Cultural Trust to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of ANZAC TOU R TWO

September 2015 ABUNDANCE Mozart, String Quartet no 15 in D minor K421 Matthew Hindson, New quartet commission* (World Premiere performances) Webern, Langsamer Satz Smetana, String Quartet no 1 in E minor, From my life With guest artist Susie Park, violin I *Commissioned by Ngeringa Arts TOU R TH R E E

October / November 2015 TRANSCEND Juan Crisostomo de Arriaga, String Quartet no 3 in E flat major Brett Dean, And once I played Ophelia* (Australian Premiere performances) Schubert, String Quartet no 14 in D minor D810, Death and the Maiden With guest artists Allison Bell, soprano and Sophie Rowell, violin I *Co-commissioned by the Australian String Quartet, Britten Sinfonia and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival

VENUES AND DATES

ADELAIDE Adelaide Town Hall 7.00pm Wed 11 March | Mon 7 September | Mon 2 November

BRISBANE Conservatorium Theatre, South Bank 7.00pm Thu 5 March | Tue 1 September | Sat 7 November

MELBOURNE Melbourne Recital Centre, Southbank 7.00pm Thu 26 February | Thu 3 September | Fri 6 November

PERTH Government House Ballroom 7.00pm Fri 20 February | Tue 8 September | Tue 3 November

SYDNEY City Recital Hall Angel Place 7.00pm Sat 7 March | Wed 2 September | Thu 29 October

SUBSCRIBE A N D S AV E

Available from December 2014 Subscribing to the ASQ provides superior value, with some great benefits.

S U P E R I O R S AV I N G S A savings of 20% off single ticket prices.

BONUS TICKETS Two bonus tickets to a National Season 2015 concert of your choice.

FREE CONCERT PROGRAM A voucher for a program for each concert.

PRIORITY SEATING Subscribers gain access to the best seats in the house.

TICKET EXCHANGE Free ticket exchange to any city of your choice within the National Season 2015.

LOST REPLACEMENT TICKET No fees to replace your lost ticket.

ASQ NATIONAL SEASON 2015 BOOKING FORM

STEP 1: SUBSCRIPTIONS

Select your city and indicate in the boxes how many of each subscription you require. Add required service fee and any extra options and calculate the total.

Subscription

Adelaide Brisbane Melbourne Perth

Sydney

Standard

@$174

@$174

@ $189

@ $189

@ $189

Concession

@$126

@$126

@ $137

@ $137

@ $137

@$75

@$75

@ $75

@ $75

@ $75

1 @$6.95

1 @$12.00

N/A

1 @$7.20

1 @$8.00

Under 30

Plus Subscription Fee Subtotal

$ $ $ $ $

Pensioners, Healthcare Cards (including Seniors Health Cards) and full-time students are eligible for concession.

We regret that Seniors Cards are not eligible for a concession. Please include photocopied proof of your status.

STEP 2: GIFTS / DONATIONS

I wish to gift an Under 30 subscription to a student

@$75

@$75

@ $75

@ $75

@ $75

I wish to make a tax deductible donation

$ $ $ $ $

Subtotal

$ $ $ $ $

Grand Total

$

$

$

$

$

STEP 3: SEATING PREFERENCE

Please indicate your seating preferences (ie aisle, centre, near stage), and please advise if you use a wheelchair, have hearing difficulties or have any other seating requirements.

STEP 4: SUBSCRIBER BONUS TICKETS

Each subscriber household is entitled to receive two bonus tickets to introduce a guest/s to the ASQ. You can request two tickets for one concert or one ticket for each of two concerts.

Concert

Remember Tomorrow Abundance

Transcend

Date

February / March

October / November

September

No of tickets Bonus tickets will be sent at the same time as your subscription seats. Bonus seating is allocated separately to subscription seating. Please note you will not be located next to your bonus ticket guests.

Please send the Subscriber Bonus Tickets to

Self

Guest

GUEST NAME ADDRESS

STEP 5: YOUR DETAILS TITLE NAME

SURNAME

ADDRESS SUBURB PREFERRED CONTACT NUMBER

STATE POSTCODE EMAIL

Would you like to receive E-News updates from the ASQ? Would you like to receive information about ASQ festivals?

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S T E P 6 : PAY M E N T M E T H O D

Please choose your payment method: Cheque/Money Order Made payable to the Australian String Quartet Credit Card Mastercard Visa CARD NUMBER NAME ON CARD

EXPIRY DATE

SIGNATURE

STEP 8: SUBMITTING YOUR BOOKING FORM

Mail:

Fax: Phone:

Reply Paid 60687, Australian String Quartet Bookings The University of Adelaide, SA 5005 08 8313 4389 Freecall 1800 040 444 to book using your credit card or for any queries.

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PEARL ANNIVERSARY YEAR

SU BSCR I B E BY 31 JAN UARY 2015, AN D GO I N TH E DRAW TO WI N

Paspaley is an Australian family-owned company, recognised internationally as the producer of the rarest and most valuable pearls in the world.

Paspaley’s passion for pearl perfection spans three generations and close to 80 years. It is their revolutionary cultivation of pearls that has transformed the industry globally.

If you subscribe to the ASQ’s National Season 2015 by 31 January 2015 you will go in the draw to win this stunning set of Paspaley Australian South Sea pearl stud earrings in 750 yellow gold valued at $1980.

(Prize will be drawn 3 February 2015.

Go to asq.com.au for terms and conditions.)

ASQ F E S T I VA L S

featuring guest artists Pieter Wispelwey, cello and Anthony Romaniuk, piano

DUNKELD F E S T I VA L OF MUSIC

MARGARET RIVER WEEKEND OF MUSIC

Fri 10 – Sun 12 April 2015 Sun 12 – Tue 14 April 2015

Fri 17 – Sun 19 April 2015

In 2015, the Australian String Quartet has pleasure in presenting two exclusive festivals celebrating fine music, food and wine at Dunkeld in the Southern Grampians of Victoria and in the Western Australian wine region of Margaret River.

BENJAMIN EALOVEGA

ALEKSANDRA OLA RENSKA

International stars, Pieter Wispelwey, cello and Anthony Romaniuk, piano will join the Quartet for these vibrant festivals that bring to the forefront the best of quartet and chamber music repertoire in intimate and unique venues.

Pieter Wispelwey, cello

Anthony Romaniuk, piano

“Cello playing of incomparable technical and musical accomplishment” The Sunday Times

“…a crown jewel of Australia’s artistic maturity” Listener, NZ

BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE

In 2015 we celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Australian String Quartet (ASQ). Over the years, and through the generosity of our valued supporters, the ASQ is privileged to have established a reputation as an ensemble of excellence and national significance.

The breadth of activity that the ASQ delivers extends well beyond our national season performances in Australia’s leading concert halls and international touring, to reach communities via dedicated regional touring and our flagship festival events in the Southern Grampians and Margaret River. Our investment in Australian culture is further demonstrated by an on-going commitment to education initiatives across Australia and performing and commissioning Australian music.

Over the course of the ASQ’s history, there have been many outstanding players whose artistic excellence has helped to shape this unique Australian chamber ensemble and enrich the lives of our audiences.

As we pause to reflect on our collective achievements to date and take time to make plans for the future, your valued support is as vital as ever.

In our 30th Anniversary year, we are committed to building for the future and ensuring the ongoing sustainability and growth of the ASQ. We invite you to share our drive for ensuring the long term future of this important Australian chamber music organisation by making a tax deductible donation.

Donate by phoning freecall 1800 040 444 or complete the enclosed booking form.

SINGLE TICKETS

Available December 2014 ADELAIDE Standard – $75* / $70, Concession – $55* / $50, Under 30 – $30 (transaction fee applies) BASS 131 246, bass.net.au *Ticket price for Adelaide Festival performance of Remember Tomorrow

BRISBANE Standard – $70, Concession – $50, Under 30 – $30 (transaction fee included) QTIX 136 246, qtix.com.au MELBOURNE Standard – $76, Concession – $57, Under 30 – $30 (transaction fee may apply) Melbourne Recital Centre (03) 9699 3333, melbournerecital.com.au PERTH Standard – $76, Concession – $57, Under 30 – $30 (transaction fees may apply) Ticketek 1300 795 012, ticketek.com.au SYDNEY Standard – $76, Concession – $57, Under 30 – $30 (transaction fees may apply) City Recital Hall Angel Place 1300 797 118, cityrecitalhall.com STUDENT RUSH $15 tickets are available one hour prior to concert start on presentation of a full-time student card.

O F F I C I A L PA R T N E R S Major Sponsor

Government Supporters

Major Patrons

Leader Sponsor

Violist Sponsor

Cellist Sponsors

I N S T R U M E N T PA R T N E R S

N AT I O N A L S E A S O N PA R T N E R S National Wine Sponsor

Melbourne Accommodation Sponsor

P R O J E C T PA R T N E R

Queensland Co-presenting Partner

Sydney Accommodation Sponsor

O T H E R PA R T N E R S

IAN POTTER FOUNDATION PHOTOGRAPHY – JACQUI WAY

30th Anniversary Pearl Partner

Perth Accommodation Sponsor

ASQ BOARD Alexandra Burt Nicholas Callinan (Chair) Janet Hayes Paul Murnane Maria Myers AO Susan Renouf Jeanette Sandford-Morgan OAM Angelina Zucco – Executive Director

Quartet-in-Residence The University of Adelaide SA 5005 Australia T 1800 040 444 (Freecall) F +61 8 8313 4389 E asq@asq.com.au asq.com.au Facebook.com/AustralianStringQuartet Twitter.com/ASQuartet