For our series Resonance, we asked four of Australia’s most celebrated classical music ensembles and solo artists to respond to the theme “birth, destiny and what we leave behind” – inspired by Sydney Festival Visual Artist in Residence Telly Tuita and his Tongan ancestors and heritage, which informs his practice.
Their musical reflections embrace the last works left by great composers like Purcell and Haydn, navigate Bach’s celestial themes and platform the unpublished music that women couldn’t leave behind due to centuries of gender bias. Don’t miss the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Bach Akademie Australia, Omega Ensemble and London-based mezzo-soprano Lotte Betts-Dean responding to this thought-provoking conversation.
Australian Chamber Orchestra
ACO Up Close: Legacies
What do we leave behind? Our creations, our influence. ACO Up Close returns with a quartet of musicians, following the musical legacies of Bach and Haydn into our own century. Running through the program are moving stories of music left unfinished and challenges handed to future generations.
"The finest chamber orchestra on Earth."
– The Telegraph
When: 23 January
Where: ACO On The Pier (The Thirsty Mile)
Bach Akademie Australia
Bach: Birth and Destiny
The music of Bach – perfect and universal – is the connecting thread in a compelling program that looks to the heavens for inspiration. Voices and instruments dance and resound in music from the high Renaissance to our own time, from Europe to the Pacific – with the Morning Star as our guiding light.
"An opportunity to really dig down deep into Bach’s words and music – a profound and rewarding experience."
– Limelight
When: 9 & 11 January
Where: ACO On The Pier (The Thirsty Mile)
Omega Ensemble
Dark with Excessive Bright
From beautiful simplicity to pandemonium beyond recognition, Omega Ensemble presents a program of contemporary masterworks, featuring Missy Mazzoli’s Grammy-nominated double bass concerto Dark with Excessive Bright (with Jaan Pallandi as soloist) and groundbreaking music from American Samuel Adams.
"A spectacular edge-of-your-seat performance."
– The Daily Telegraph
When: 18 January
Where: ACO On The Pier (The Thirsty Mile)
Lotte Betts-Dean
Hear the electrifying voice of one of Australia’s most exciting vocal exports. Virtuosic mezzo-soprano Lotte Betts-Dean traces the resonance of vocal composition, through centuries of art song, folk arrangements and opera to contemporary works, electronics and pop. With firebrand young Sydney-based pianist Ronan Apcar, Betts-Dean weaves a time-travelling tapestry.
"Impressive control, an irrepressible sense of drama and extraordinary self-assurance."
– The Guardian
When: 16 January
Where: ACO On The Pier (The Thirsty Mile)