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fortyfivedownstairs Chamber Music Festival 2023
1 March - 12 March
fortyfivedownstairs Chamber Music Festival 2023
1 – 12 March 2023
A program of outstanding musicians and ensembles, curated by award-winning pianist and fortyfivedownstairs board member, Coady Green. Click on the titles for more info and to purchase tickets.
7:30pm, Wednesday 1 March
Sulki Yu, Josephine Vains, and Rob Cossom present
Music for Reflection
Curated by violinist Rachel Beesley, this soulful program features works by J.S. Bach, Pärt, Edwards, Abbott, Ravenscroft, Leek, and Cossom, performed by violinist Sulki Yu, cellist Josephine Vains, and percussionist Robert Cossom. A concert full of nocturnal echoes and colourful imaginings performed by three acclaimed Melbourne musicians.
7:30pm, Thursday 2 March
Lyric Opera presents
In Their Words: Kouvaras, Hammond, Cawrse
The opening event of Lyric Opera’s 2023 season, this concert features three major song cycles by renowned Australian composers Linda Kouvaras, Jane Hammond, and Anne Cawrse, performed by three of Melbourne’s most exciting vocal talents – Linda Barcan (Kouvaras’ Art and Life), Bailey Montgomerie (Hammond’s Sea Voyage), and Samantha Hargreaves (Cawrse’s This Too Shall Pass), accompanied by Coady Green.
7:30pm, Friday 3 March
Tristan Lee, Gintaute Gataveckaite, Coady Green, and Georgina Lewis present
One Piano Eight Hands
Following their sell-out, virtuosic 2021 events showcasing rarely heard works with eight hands on one piano, Tristan Lee, Gintaute Gataveckaite, Coady Green, and Georgina Lewis perform truly dazzling works that are rarely heard on the concert platform. Featuring works by Liszt, Levinac, Mazzoli, Rachmaninoff, Kouvaras, Brahms, Greenbaum, and more.
7:30pm, Saturday 4 March
Khashayar Amri (piano) and Billie Tumarkin (voice) present
Women, Life, Freedom, Rebirth: Classical Works by Iranian Composers
As the revolution continues in Iran, and fury and frustration grows, young Iranian composers channel their rage in this transformative music. Performed by pianist Khashayar Amri and vocalist Billie Tumarkin, this program showcases works by Iranian composers whose voices rise against oppression.
3pm, Sunday 5 March
Coady Green presents
Virtuoso Piano Works for the Left Hand Alone
For centuries, piano music for the left hand alone has been an intriguing genre. Far more than a mere curiosity, left-handed repertoire has attracted some of the greatest composers. Here, internationally award-winning pianist Coady Green presents a kaleidoscopic program of works by Brahms, Wagner, Yoshimatsu, Blumenfeld, Saint-Saëns, Hyde, and more.
7:30pm, Tuesday 7 March:
Andrea Katz (piano) and Nicholas Dinopoulos (bass-baritone) present
Nostalgia
Songmakers Australia Artistic Director and pianist Andrea Katz goes back to her homeland Argentina in a soul-searching voyage to the music that shaped her youth, as Nicholas Dinopoulos sings songs and tangos by Gardel, Mores, Piazzolla, and Ziegler, threaded together with some of the most iconic Argentinian piano pieces.
7:30pm, Wednesday 8 March
Solstice Trio presents
Melody At My Will
Performed by Natasha Conrau (violin), Georgina Lewis (piano), and special guest Gemma Kneale (cello), Melody At My Will features works that sit at the boundaries of contemporary classical, jazz and electronic music, and place a microscope over the fleeting and seemingly insignificant moments in a human life, giving them a melody and a spotlight. With works by Feldman, Greenbaum, Keller, Mazzoli, McIntyre, Adams, Luebbers, and Lang.
7:30pm, Thursday 9 March
The Institute for Enquiring Minds presents
Michael Leslie, J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations
Born in Sydney in 1934, legendary pianist Michael Leslie has lived and worked for most of his life in Munich and has performed extensively across Europe and internationally. This will be a lecture recital with Leslie giving a short introduction before performing Bach’s beloved Goldberg Variations.
7:30pm, Friday 10 March
Duo Eclettico and Tiriki Onus present
Of Birds and Monuments
This concert features Linda Kouvaras’ Herring Island Piano Sonata, Jane Hammond’s Songs of the Helmeted Honeyeater, and a special world premiere preview of excerpts from Kouvaras’ new work – the Buluwirri Bugaja Piano Suite, with text by Tiriki Onus and sound by Roger Alsop. Supported with a generous grant from City of Melbourne.
7:30pm, Saturday 11 March
Taxithi Project presents
Helen Yotis: Songs of the Revolution
Singer Helen Yotis-Patterson (Taxithi) will lead audiences into the centre of the Greek uprising, supported by the virtuosic bouzouki-playing of Jacob Papadopoulos, and accompanied by pianist Andrew Patterson. Featuring music by composers such as Mikis Theodarakis, Manos Hadjidakis, Stavros Kougioumtzis, Manos Loïzos, and Yiannis Markopoulos, and the powerful lyrics of Lefteris Papadopoulos and Grigoris Bithikotsis.
5:30pm, Sunday 12 March
Divisi Chamber Singers present
Australian Art Songs for Chamber Choir
Divisi Chamber Singers have, over the last few years, skyrocketed to become one of Australia’s most exciting and vibrant chamber choirs, winning a host of awards. This concert celebrates Australia’s own thriving contemporary choral tradition, with a program of works by Meta Cohen, Robert McIntyre, Juliana Kay, and more, plus the Melbourne premiere of Joe Twist’s exciting new Australian Song Cycle. Supported with a generous grant from City of Melbourne.