Tag: Sydney Symphony

Jayson Gillham shows why he has the world at his fingertips | News Local

Lovely article from the Daily Telegraph about Tait Awardee, Jayson Gillham, and a stunning review for his City Recital Hall concert in Sydney on the 24th October. His tour now continues to Adelaide with the Adelaide Symphony and then ends with a sold-out recital at the Melbourne Recital Centre.

CHILDHOOD piano lessons for brilliant young virtuoso Jayson Gillham’s meant a 500km round car trip with his mum from his home in Dalby, Queensland. All those miles and effort paid off when, at the age of 17, he reached the semi-finals of the gruelling Sydney International Piano Competition. A scholarship and move to London, where he is now based, added further polish and eventually led to a Masters degree at the Royal Academy of Music. Now he is back on home ground after a much-acclaimed Sydney Symphony debut earlier this month performing Beethoven’s Piano concerto No. 4 with piano great Vladimir Ashkenazy conducting. And, as part of that triumphal tour, Gillham played a program of Bach, Handel, Beethoven and Schumann in the latest of the SSO’s International Pianists In Recital series. He opened with what he describes as a “here I am” piece in Bach’s Toccata and fugue in C minor BWV 911, which incidentally opens his newly-released debut recording for ABC Classics. 

DAZZLING 

The work, with its deft interplay between left and right hand, showed off Gillham’s grace and elegance, as well as a dazzling and smoothly-controlled technique. His articulation and accuracy in both hands, complemented by astute use of the sustain pedal, meant that all the “voices” of the double fugue came through with crystal clarity. The prodigious variations in Handel’s Chaconne in G indulged Gillham’s flashier side, albeit seasoned with great taste, sensitivity and judgment. This was a reading carved not of granite, but more one of polished marble Beethoven considered Handel the greatest composer of them all so the eight-minute set of variations made an apt curtain-raiser to the final piece of the first half, the Waldstein sonata. Here the 30-year-old soloist forsook blood and guts for a more refined approach to Beethoven and at times the rondo finale was a little rushed. 

This was a reading carved not of granite, but more one of polished marble. 

Jayson Gillham performs Chopin. 
The second half was all Romance with Schumann’s lengthy piano workout, the Etudes symphoniques, which complete with the five posthumous variations clocks in at 37 minutes. This listener would have preferred the Schubert sonata Gillham performs on his new CD! As if this set of 12 variations wasn’t enough to convince the audience of Gillham’s prowess, the encores were. Liszt’s Paraphrase on Verdi’s Rigoletto quartet is a favourite showstopper, but Gillham had more. The evening started with and ended with Bach, albeit Rachmaninoff’s spectacular transcription of the violin partita No.3. If, like Bach, Gillham wanted to announce “Here I am!”, we all certainly got the message loud and clear.

DETAILS

Steve Moffatt, NewsLocalOctober 25, 2016 8:07am

October 25, 2016 8:07am

●CONCERT: Jayson Gillham in recital

●WHERE: City Recital Hall Angel Place

●WHEN: Monday, October 24

Source: Jayson Gillham shows why he has the world at his fingertips | News Local

Who will be Limelight's Artists of the Year? You decide

Below is the link to vote for Limelight’s Artist of the Year. We are thrilled to see that Tait Awardees;  Amy Dickson, saxophone & Jayson Gillham, piano, have been nominated.

amy-dickson
Amy Dickson

Amy was recently awarded the honour to be the Young Australian of the Year in the UK for 2016, the latest accolade in a quickly growing list of prizes. The UK Australia Day Awards, introduced by the non-profit Australia Day Foundation, recognise those Australians who excel in their fields in the United Kingdom.
Australia Day Foundation Director, Dick Porter said: “Amy is an outstanding young Australian and we are delighted to recognise her success with this award.”
The award was presented by the Australian High Commissioner, the Honourable Alexander Downer AC at Australia House, London.

Jayson is currently enjoying great success in Australia, to date he has played at QPAC in recital for Medici Concerts, Beethoven’s 4th piano concerto with the Sydney Symphony, a recital at Sydney’s Recital Hall and he is to play Beethoven’s 3rd piano concerto with the Adelaide Symphony, his tour ends with a recital in the Melbourne Recital Centre.

Jayson Gillham
Jayson Gillham

Who will be Limelight’s Artists of the Year?

Vote here for who you’d like to see honoured in our Australian and International Artists of the Year Awards.

Each year, Limelight’s experienced team of reviewers painstakingly selects a group of winning recordings in each of five categories for our annual Recording of the Year Awards. In addition, this year our critics have created a shortlist of 40 outstanding musicians and ensembles – 20 Australian and 20 International artists – for our annual Limelight Artists of the Year Awards.

Some are established artists and some are relative newcomers. Several of the international artists have thrilled Australian audiences in performance while others have released stunning recordings or have achieved accomplishments of note in their field. The nominees include performers, composers, ensembles and conductors, all of whom are in the running to win one of two inaugural Limelight Artist of the Year Awards.

Now it’s your chance to be involved. We’d like you, Limelight readers, to vote for the Australian and international artist that you would most like to see honoured. The public vote will then be combined with the votes of our critical panel, and the announcement of the lucky winners will be made in our special holiday issue of Limelight, out January 5, 2017. And please note, for the purposes of these awards, a non-Australian with a post at an Australian orchestra has been counted as an Australian artist rather than as an International.

Voting closes at midnight on Sunday November 6

Australian Artists

Australian Haydn Ensemble
Australian World Orchestra
Nicole Car
Brett Dean
Amy Dickson
Ross Edwards
Asher Fisch
Jayson Gillham
Richard Gill
Erin Helyard
Elena Kats-Chernin
Piers Lane
Latitude 37
Emma Matthews
Joseph Nolan
Dene Olding
Alondra de la Parra
Seraphim Trio
Stuart Skelton
Richard Tognetti

International Artists

Pierre-Laurent Aimard
Choir of Trinity College Cambridge
Joyce DiDonato
Christoph von Dohnányi
Mahan Esfahani
Franco Fagioli
Susan Graham
Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Stephen Hough
Jerusalem Quartet
Lang Lang
Paul Lewis
Felicity Lott
Pumeza Matshikiza
Andris Nelsons
Jordi Savall
Takacs Quartet
Daniil Trifonov
Yuja Wang
John Wilson

Please note: By entering this poll you agree to receive Limelight’s Weekly Newsletter. If you already receive our Weekly Newsletter you still need to fill out the form; this will update your information with your vote. If you have any trouble accessing the voting button above, please click here.

by Limelight Magazine on October 14, 2016 (October 14, 2016) filed under Classical Music | Orchestral | Chamber | Instrumental | Vocal & Choral | Opera | Comment Now

Source: Who will be Limelight’s Artists of the Year? You decide

Yelian He plays cello concerto with the Sydney Symphony

2015 is a pretty special year for me. It’s the first year I’ve spent experiencing the 30’s, the first time my cello was swabbed and searched instead of me in an airport, and it’s the first time I’ve performed a concerto without a conductor – and with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra to boot.

 

https://instagram.com/p/21bFLsKQvt/

 

Speaking of, I must mention that all of these fantastic experiences happened during the month of May as a result of winning the inaugural Australian Cello Awards Grand Prize in 2014 (ACA Website, next competition in 2017). That was a highlight not soon forgotten in itself and I’m sure I’ll be hearing even greater things from CEO Roland Gridiger and his team at MOST. But as I was trying to say, my excitement grew endlessly (so too did practice) as my debut with the Sydney Symphony drew nearer.

On the way to my first rehearsal, I was nervous about what to expect. There have been times in the past where the concerts haven’t lived up to expectations owing to insufficient rehearsal time or difficulties in communication. When I arrived I was greeted by the Concertmaster Andrew Haveron before meeting the Orchestra for some one-on-one time with the Bach Concerto; this is when general & interpretational decisions are brought up so there are fewer surprises during rehearsal. It was clear from the start Andrew was confident and accommodating – vital qualities for a good musician, and a good human being.

 

https://instagram.com/p/3IjYnRqQvf/

 

A Concerto without a conductor is a trust building exercise, and it’s easy to lose your nerve or get too excited. There’s bound to be more communication between the musicians, leading to more ideas being aired, but you also better know the score intimately! Not only will there be questions from the orchestra, knowing how the 1st violins bow a particular sequence of quavers or how the cellos phrase another section makes all the difference in rehearsals and performances, all the while giving a brilliant unique interpretation of the work.

It’s not difficult when you play with a wonderful orchestra, to get carried away in the passion of a running passage and/or to indulge the slow movement so much everyone else thinks it’s like watching paint dry; it’s happened many times during my earlier years and I’m embarrassed to say that wasn’t too long ago, which is why I advocate discipline and self-control! Having said that, it doesn’t mean I’m to be lifeless on stage when not playing anything either. Here’s me and the SSO taking a couple of minutes off after the rehearsals to shred the piece we just spent hours rehearsing. (It’s definitely the SSO’s good nature that I’m allowed to get away with this…but what can I say? Music’s got to be enjoyed by the ones playing and the ones listening!

 

About two weeks prior the SSO’s website had listed the concert as SOLD OUT which meant the only chance of securing a ticket was to wait and chance it at the returns desk. As a performer the adoration of your audience is key! Don’t believe me? Try playing for a hall half-empty (or half-full depending on your philosophical bend) and tell me you don’t wish you’d have given more love and attention to them more often; for a concert organizer that’s also a great reason not to see you again any time soon. I’m sure both the Australian Cello Awards and the Sydney Symphony have worked very hard to push this concert to the public, and if anybody else was involved, I thank you sincerely for making all of this a fantastically memorable event!

 

Toby Thatcher, Conductor – Ensemble Eroica 24th September

Next concert with young Australian conductor, Toby Thatcher with his London group, Ensemble Eroica.

Toby was recently announced as the new assistant conductor with the Sydney Symphony.

September 24th 2015, 19:30

Ensemble Eroica Season Opener – Stone(s) from the Moon

Picture

Commenced in the autumn of 1822, Schubert’s enigmatic B minor symphony provides us with one of art’s great questions; intentional or not? And in either case, does it matter? The work is a glorious example of non-conformity, forcing its way into the symphony canon. To borrow eminent Austrian conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s quote (intended for Bruckner’s equally enigmatic Ninth Symphony), the work conjures mystery, fascination, and perplexity equal to that of suddenly stumbling across a ‘stone from the moon’.

In another enigmatic example of compositional intrigue, Johannes Brahms wrote of his second symphony that this was a work of such‘melancholy that you (his publisher) will not be able to bear it. I have never written anything so sad, and the score must come out in mourning’. It is not blasé to state that this opinion of the work is rarely shared by interpreters, the symphony seemingly borrowing more from Haydn and the classical form than from such romantic intentions.

London-based American Flautist Alyson Frazier is a multiple prizewinner and founding member of contemporary music group ensemble x.y. Garnering reviews as a ‘theatrical and compelling performer’ who is ‘impressively accomplished with a beautiful singing tone’. We are thrilled for this collaboration.

PROGRAMME:

Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D major Op. 73
– interval –
CPE Bach: Flute Concerto in D minor Wq. 22
Schubert: Symphony No. 8 in B minor D. 759 “Unfinished”

Ensemble Eroica
Conductor – Toby Thatcher
Flute Soloist – Alyson Frazier

Tickets will be available at the door. £10 (£3 students). Complimentary refreshments will be available during the interval break.

St James’s Church, Sussex Gardens
W2 3UD London, United Kingdom

Below are links to the event on both Facebook and our website:

https://www.facebook.com/events/503162629841793/

http://www.ensembleeroicalondon.com/season-calendar.html