Eyeing the future

Wesley runs a music scholars program.  I don't know much about the services it offers, but I do see the scholars once or twice a year and when they perform and I record and it's always quite fascinating.  This time was five performers of various instruments playing a range of musics, even into musical theatre.  A Handel harp concerto from Alex and a Bach sonata played by traverso Harry (a baroque wooden flute) and viola.  Then piano Harmoniche backing Santrix who I had met setting up who was a bass, meaning bass vocals, singing a lovely rendition of a lovely musical theatre tune, If ever I would leave you from Camelot by Fredrick Loewe.   Not sure if the original was sung by a bass, but this was nicely done, and with a presence that singers usually have more than do instrumentalists, voice being such a human expression.  Then bass and soprano voices on Mendelssohn with piano, then soprano Angel singing Brahms with cello and piano, then swapping to (modern) flute still with cello Ben and piano and then finally swapping to piano behind Ben on cello playing La Folia.  So it's a whirlwind of different composers and instruments. A pleasure and an indication of our upcoming professionals.

Wesley Music Scholars performed at Wesley.  They were Alex Munro (harp, viola), Harry Howard (traverso), Santix Redston (bass), Harmoniche Deng (piano), Angel Zheng (soprano, flute, piano) and Ben Munro (cello).

Bass and beyond

Pippa Macmillan was coming to play with John and Marie in Apeiron Baroque and I was in.  Pippa is now in Australia but is quite and international, with degrees for the Royal Academy of Music and Juilliard and appointed Professor of baroque double bass at the RSM, that school next to that other Albert Hall, and performing with Tapfelmusik, Florilegium, Austn Brandenburg Orch, Austn Haydn Ens and the rest.  She was playing violone with the gut strings and those gut frets and a big Dragonetti period bow.  But how lithe and quick and unrelenting in her drive.  No slowing down with this rhythm section!  Otherwise, this was a joy of baroque historical overview with a program called Something old, something new.  Thirteen composers, mostly C15th, some C16th and just two contemporaries.  Ariosti and Albinoni and a string of lesser known names, seldom encountered.  All held together with backgrounds and stories from the ever-engaging John Ma, himself of considerable European history, and Marie Searles on harpsichord, again of Euro-connections.  The group would move through tunes, with Matt Greco, again a Euro-aligned and Aussie-busy concertmaster and soprano Susannah Lawergren up front for a series of tunes, not least a fabulous modern work but Michael Bakrncev who was in the audience, and if I remember right, was listening to the world premiere of this composition, a touching song of a mother laying in bed with her new child while her partner rings updates downstairs.  The text was by Cate Kennedy and the work was called Thank You.  Just glorious music.  Otherwise, the modern works were Allemande from the Jorn Borsen Harpsichord sonata and Spring from Dominick Argento Elizabethan songs.  And several Canberra advanced students invited by John and Marie, Brad Tham, Alex Monro and Dante Costa, all well known in local circles.  Just wonderful playing with that stellar bottom end, a varied and intriguing program from the ages and some delightful, welcoming patter.  Another great outing.

Apeiron Baroque performed at Wesley Church.  AB was led by John Ma (violin, MD) and Marie Searles (harpsichord, MD) with Susannah Lawergren (soprano), Matt Greco (violin), Pippa Macmillan (violone), Michael Bakrncev (composer), Dante Costa (flute), Brad Tham (violin) and Alex Munro (viola).