2009 Season Announced!

I'm very excited to announce that the details of the 2009 season have been finalised and printed and with luck, should reach you in the mail later this week. Next year the season will focus on the piano trio with TRIOZ as my guest artists and the scope of the programs is far reaching - from Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven through Schubert, Schumann and Mendelssohn to Sculthorpe, Bernstein, Miriam Hyde, Cassado and Kats-Chernin. I hope you will enjoy the variety of the programs and I look forward to your comments. Details of the season can now be found on my website. Just follow this link - http://www.selbyandfriends.com.au/2009/index.html

There have been a couple of small changes to concert times in 2009 but they are important to note - Melbourne will change to an earlier time of 7PM, as requested by many patrons. Bowral will also move to a 5PM start and Canberra will also begin just a little earlier at 7PM.

PSQ and The Nationalists

The New York Times calls them "something extraordinary, flawlessly balanced, perfectly tuned and sheathed in lustrous textures". The Parker String Quartet, the dynamic and brilliant ensemble currently resident in Boston, will be visiting Australia to tour with me in just a couple of weeks now. They are truly "an ensemble to watch" (Washington Post) as they keep adding more and more honours to their already overflowing list of achievements.

They have just been signed by the number one agency in the USA which is one of the most difficult challenges for even the most talented of artists. They have won numerous international string quartet competitions and are supporting these prestigious wins with a burgeoning career that will be fascinating to watch. Four highly intelligent and charismatic performers, they come to Australia after a comprehensive tour of Europe and I am very excited to be working with them.

If you would like to hear a snippet of their "incredibly committed performance" please follow this link to their website where you will find a selection of works to enjoy - http://www.parkerquartet.com/music_repertoire.html. The program for The Nationalists tour is truly one filled with gems. To begin we present a charming Quintetto by Irish composer John Field, a work that lies in manuscript form in the British Library, full of reworkings and revisions by Field himself that have never been published. It has been a fascinating work to research and I am sure you will love its Gaellic influence. Barber's poetic Adagio for Strings needs no introduction being a cult classic, but to be heard in its original structure (originally as the slow movement to Barber's String Quartet Op.11) will be a treat. Ligeti follows with his turbulent and very difficult String Quartet No.2, a work that will be released on the Naxos label by the Parkers later this year. And to end, the miracle that is the Dvorak Piano Quintet, one of my all time favourites and simply pure joy to both play and listen to.

Program

John Field - Piano Quintet in A flat major, H.34 (1815 - Australian premiere)
Samuel Barber - Adagio for Strings, Op.11
György Ligeti - String Quartet No.2 (1968)
Antonin Dvorák - Piano Quintet in A major, Op.81

Dates

Saturday 30 August - Recital Room at Oxley College, Bowral - 5:30pm
Sunday 31 August - Elder Hall, University of Adelaide - 2:30pm
Monday 1 September - Fairfax Theatre, National Gallery, Canberra - 7:30pm
Tuesday 2 September - City Recital Hall Angel Place, Sydney - 7pm
Wednesday 3 September - Melba Hall, University of Melbourne - 8pm

Single tickets are available to all concerts. You can contact us on 02 9969 7039 or email info@selbyandfriends.com.au

For Sydney single tickets, please call City Recital Hall on 8256 2222 or go through their comprehensive website -http://www.cityrecitalhall.com/events/id/205/Selby-and-Friends-2008-Recital-Hall-Concert-Series.

In Adelaide, tickets may also be purchased through BASS.

A Little Lunch Music- August and September

For those of you who attended the last concert in July, I am sure you will agree that the talents of those who performed were exceptional. A large number of gifted high school students from around Sydney were my guests and they were absolutely marvelous.

Our next two lunchtimes follow each other fairly closely. On Tuesday the 26th August at 12:30pm, Cathy McCorkill (clarinet) will join Emma-Jane and me in the presentation of works for clarinet/cello/piano - namely the trios by both Beethoven and Brahms will be highlighted with a special informative chat by Cathy about the clarinet and a careful look at how these two composers in particular were so drawn to the beauty of its sound. This will be followed on Wednesday 10th September by a performance by my very dear friend, violinist Charmian Gadd with pianist Daniel Herscovitch. They will both perform works by Schubert amongst others, and we will chat to them both in some depth. Tickets are $10 only and don't forget, you can bring your lunch! You can find out all details of these concerts by calling City Recital Hall on 8256 2222 or by visiting my website.

Sunday Afternoon in Turramurra

S&F and TRIOZ warmly invites you to a pleasant Sunday afternoon's listening!

Program

Gabriel Fauré - Piano Trio in D minor, Op.120
Antonin Dvorák - Piano Trio No.4 in E minor Op. 90 'Dumky'
Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Piano Trio in A minor, Op.50

When: Sunday, 9 November, 2008
Time: 2:30pm
Where: Turramurra Uniting Church

      Turramurra Avenue right near Pacific Highway
      Modern and light filled; fully cushioned pews
      Free Council Carpark next to the Church entrance
      Turramurra train station only 100 metres away
      No Steps!

Tickets are Full price: $45, *Seniors price: $41, *Student/Pensioner: $34 *please include proof of concession status to receive discount

How can you book tickets?You can book tickets one of two ways:

1) simply call us on 02 9969 7039 to book tickets over the phone
2) or print out the ticket order form on the Turramurra tickets link on the website at www.selbyandfriends.com.au, and send it to me. The details of where to send it are on the form itself or you can use the details at the bottom of this newsletter too.

Games and Prizes

What would a bumper issue like this be without some more fun!

Cover of the Bartok String Quartet CD to be won!
1) The Parker String Quartet has generously offered a CD to be won by one of my e-newsletter readers- a collection of 2 Bartok String Quartets recently released. To win this CD you must have tickets to one of the concerts in this next tour. The winner will be picked at random from those expressing interest in this fantastic disc (so please pop me an email asap), and if you haven't purchased your tickets yet, please do so. The winner will be advised by email and the CD will be at the box office waiting for you to pick up prior to your concert.
2) I have a few tickets to give away in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide only to e-newsletter readers. If you would like to win a double pass to one of the concerts presented in either of these three cities, please be the first to answer the following question correctly -

To whom was John Field 'apprenticed' as a young boy in London?

Best of luck!

Till Next Time ...

Hope to see you at a concert soon.

warm regards

Kathy