Music Education &
Performing Arts Consultant
Australian String QuartetABC Classics (ABCL0034) The most prominent form of chamber music was, for over a number of centuries, the string quartet. In recent years, many composers have abandoned this medium, however, there still exists a rich oeuvre in this form, and from Australia we are blessed with a clutch of composers in this genre … Read more
Rita Crews & Jeanell CarriganPublished by Wirripang Media (2022)ISBN 978-1-876829-84 1 A new publication on the early Australian composer, Roy Agnew (1891-1944) is most welcome. This oft-neglected figure in Australian music enjoyed a diverse career as a piano and composition teacher, pianist, composer, and broadcaster. Co-authors, Dr Rita Crews OAM and Dr Jeanell Carrigan AM … Read more
Peter RoennfeldtPublished by the Queensland Music Teachers’ Association, Taringa, QldISBN 978 0 646 84826 6 A centenary is always worth celebrating! In Australia, 100 years is not long in terms of Western civilisation, so it is, indeed, wonderful that the Queensland Music Teachers’ Association (QMTA) has been in existence since 1921 and continues to flourish. … Read more
Tamara-Anna Cislowska (Piano)ABC Classics (4855891) I first learnt of the Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi (b 1950) via two teenage sons at the time some years back. He was well-known as a composer of “game” music, a genre which has now risen significantly in the music composition world. So much so, that even ABC Classic FM broadcasts a … Read more
ABC Classics 485 5703 This 5 CD set is a very pleasing collection of some well-known and not so well-known piano music. Played by Australian pianists, including Tamara-Anna Cislowska, Roger Woodward, William Chen, Gerard Willems, Simon Tedeschi, Sally Whitwell, Michael Kieran Harvey, Jayson Gillham and Duncan Gifford to name just a few, the selections are … Read more
NV6353 Performed by a combination of the Moravian Philharmonic, Janacek Philharmonic and Zagreb Festival Orchestras, this album of 6 outstanding and diverse works from composers who are similarly eclectic, makes for a truly appealing recording of new music. From accessible orchestration with lyrical themes or nostalgic ideas, to some featuring more contemporary musical vocabulary, this … Read more
Sally Whitwell ABC 481 6592 To record the complete works of any respected composer is a daunting and emotionally grueling task, let alone a composer still living. Sydney pianist, Sally Whitwell, has said of the recording of the complete Etudes for Solo Piano (2 books of 10 Etudes each) that it was almost like a … Read more
Last week I and my friend Justyn Reis had the pleasure of attending a vocal recital by soprano Charlotte de Rothschild, sensitively accompanied by my old friend, pianist @Barry Walmsley. It took place at the Castlereagh Boutique Hotel, Sydney. What a delightful and interesting night it was! “Family Connections” was the theme and she presented … Read more
In her Sydney-only recital, British soprano Charlotte de Rothschild will weave a fascinating story of her famous family’s connections with the great composers of Europe. With her reputation as an international artist and after years of research, no-one is better placed than the soprano Charlotte de Rothschild to tell the unique story of the Rothschilds … Read more
Faulkner, S.: Rhythm to Recover – A Practical Guide to Using Rhythmic Music, Voice and Movement for Social and Emotional Development, published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers (2017) (This review first appeared in The Studio (May 2017), published by MTA of NSW.) Simon Faulkner has become one of the world’s leading exponents on the use of … Read more