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| TOWNSVILLE |
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| 27/07 — 05/08/2018 |
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In less than 7 weeks’ time we will be serving up a veritable feast of fine music for you to enjoy. There are still plenty of good seats available, including the Concert Conversations with Kathryn Stott; and Gold and Platinum passes.
For north Queensland patrons and those who can only stay a few days, the Festival Four package is the perfect ticket. Choose any four concerts from the Sunset Series and the Evening Series* and pay just $210 – saving you up to $46. Be spoilt for choice from the sublime performances in Love Letters and Gypsies, Pipers & Dukes to the cello octet in Life Force or the world premieres in Bach by Candlelight and Was it a Dream? There are nine concerts to choose from, so if you can’t decide which four to attend, give us a call and we’ll help you make a choice! It’s a great package and the perfect way to enjoy a mix of music. Click here for more info. We look forward to welcoming you to the Festival in 51 days.
Warm regards,
The AFCM Team.
Image: Townsville Enterprise
It's June and that can only mean one thing - AFCM is happening NEXT MONTH!
Myself and the team are all beavering away putting final touches to what we believe will be a magical 10 days of glorious music making. Only recently our Artistic Administrator told me she had been thinking about the positive energy the festival creates in and around Townsville and all thanks to our wonderful musicians and the music they will perform for you. Rebecca Alferez - I couldn't have put it better myself! That will all radiate throughout Australia and the world after the festival is over; we are indeed an international event and something to be cherished and excited about.
At the moment, I’m back home after the thrilling experience of performing Carl Vine’s Concerto for 2 pianos with Piers and both WASO and TSO. It was also a wonderful opportunity to catch up with Paul Wright, Howard Penny, Timothy Young and our 4 cellists from ANAM. To say they are excited is the understatement of the year! This week I’ll be heading to Norway and catching up with 2 really diverse musicians you’ll be hearing - Tine Thing Helseth and Lars Anders Tomter. I’m very proud to be introducing them both to Australian audiences - remember you get to hear them first at AFCM. Apart from my recitals in the UK this month, I will gradually turn my attention to repertoire for the festival and first up will be Julian Yu’s fabulous Piano Trio.
I wish I could write to you every day, but soon we’ll be chatting in person. It can’t come soon enough!
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Alexander Sitkovetsky (Violin, Russia) |
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Alexander appeared as a soloist in Montpellier at the age of 8 after which he was invited to enrol at the Yehudi Menuhin School. Described as one of the foremost violinists, Alexander also teaches in between his demanding concert schedule.
Q. What are you most looking forward to at AFCM 2018? Well, so many of my friends and colleagues have performed at AFCM in the past and all have had only glowing things to say so I am really excited to experience the festival myself, and enjoy the wonderful weather and music.
Q. You've toured Australia previously, what is something you love about this country? I’ve toured Australia extensively and have loved every minute of every tour. The music making is very open minded and the hospitality is so warm and friendly. I have made great friends in Australia and I look forward to spending a lot more time here.
Q. Where is the most unusal place you've performed? There have been a few places, but perhaps the most surprising one, which turned out to be a very moving experience, was performing in a German Bunker on the Island of Jersey, which was occupied by the Germans during World War II. Some of the bunkers have been preserved almost exactly as the way they were left behind so performing in those bunkers was something very special for me.
Q. What is your fondest musical memory? I think playing with my friends and my family always brings a great amount of joy to me. There are times when you don’t even have to look at each other but through listening you react and play like one person. When that happens, that can feel very special!
Alexander will perform in 9 concerts across the festival.
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Gordon Kerry, Program Annotater |
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When I put together the program notes for AFCM, it’s always exciting to see what a range of familiar and new music is on offer.
Kathryn Stott’s first program is splendid - there are many great canonical works that we couldn’t live without, especially the violin Partitas of Bach, Brahms’ Clarinet Quintet, Barber’s Adagio, Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight’ sonata and many others.
Then there’s unfamiliar music by favourite composers - Grieg and Sibelius songs transcribed for trumpet and rarely heard gems like the four-hand piano version of Ravel’s Rapsodie espagnol. There will also be performances of unfairly neglected works - if you adore Brahms and Ravel you’ll love Ethel Smyth and Rebecca Clarke.
Western classical music has always welcomed sounds from elsewhere, like folksong in the music of Grainger, Bartók, Villa-Lobos and Vaughan Williams. Jazz infuses works by Gershwin and Ravel, and if you’re a fan of Astor Piazzolla you’ll love the blend of moody nostalgia and vibrant dance rhythms in the work of JP Jofre, and the Afro-Brazilian influences of Gerard Brophy.
Yo-Yo Ma’s Silkroad has supported musicians from many cultures - the music of two of them, Zhao Jiping and Wu Tong is supremely evocative, like Chinese ink drawings, of exotic and beautiful landscapes.
The festival’s distinguished Australian composer Julian Yu brings together the music of his Chinese heritage with the Western tradition in exquisite homages to composers he couldn’t live without, Bach and Brahms.
To book call TicketShop on 1800 44 99 77.
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Past and Present Glory - Avan Yu
One of Canada’s most exciting young pianists makes a welcome return to Australia. Avan Yu achieved international recognition when he triumphed at the Sydney International Piano Competition in 2012 and has since established a stellar international career. With a program featuring Mozart, Ravel and Liszt our subscribers can avail of a 10% discount when booking with the promo code ‘AFCM’ for the Sydney or Melbourne concert. For your chance to win a double pass enter before Friday 22 June. |
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© AUSTRALIAN FESTIVAL OF CHAMBER MUSIC
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