Nxtgen

Everything seems black at the moment. Finance is crashing; terrorism is spreading; Abbott's warriors are incredibly still vocal; Trump is incredibly winning his primary; climate-related natural disasters are increasing (I checked this to see whether it's just an artifact of media reporting; it's not); our music school is diminished. But Ross Gittins wrote today to "ignore the gloom" and I caught a nice period concert by a next generation group from the Sydney Con. So there remains hope. This was Ensemble Pendulum. They are recent, perhaps current, students in the Historically Informed Performance stream at the Con. They played courtly, dignified, often danceable, music of CPE Bach and Haydn and Telemann and Locatelli. They played on gut (despite the rigours of changing humidity and Canberra's dryness) with baroque bows, and the flute was wooden. They featured a borrowed harpsichord in Flemish style of the appropriate era. They played with keenness and enjoyment and drive and their performance was loud with reverb in the central hall at the Gorman Arts Centre for a small but appreciative audience, perhaps starved of music after the Summer break (other than the AYO which someone did mention). Thanks to the ensemble for their visit and the delightful and decorous music so nicely played.

Ensemble Pendulum are Annie Gard (violin), Theo Small (flute), Thea Turnbull (viola), Jemma Thrussell (cello), Esther Kim (harpsichord) and Nathan Cox (harpsichord). EP performed in the central hall at the Gorman Arts Centre.