Ensemble Q & William Barton | September 2024

Ensemble Q
& William Barton

2

ADELAIDE
ADELAIDE TOWN HALL
Thursday 3 October, 7.30pm
• Pre-concert talk: 6.45pm,
Prince Alfred Room
BRISBANE
QUEENSLAND CONSERVATORIUM
GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY THEATRE,
SOUTH BANK
Saturday 12 October, 7pm
• Pre-concert talk: 6.15pm,
Board Room
CANBERRA
LLEWELLYN HALL,
ANU SCHOOL OF MUSIC
Saturday 5 October, 7pm
• Pre-concert talk: 6.15pm,
Larry Sitsky Room
• Meet the Artists after the concert
MELBOURNE
ELISABETH MURDOCH HALL,
MELBOURNE RECITAL CENTRE
Tuesday 8 October, 7pm
• Pre-concert talk: 6.15pm,
Eva and Marc Besen Suite, Level 2
NEWCASTLE
CITY HALL
Thursday 10 October, 7.30pm
• Pre-concert talk: 6.45pm,
Mulubinba Room
• Meet the Artists after the concert
PERTH
PERTH CONCERT HALL
Monday 30 September, 7.30pm
• Pre-concert talk: 6.45pm,
Corner Stage Riverside, Terrace Level
• Meet the Artists after the concert
SYDNEY
CITY RECITAL HALL
Monday 7 October, 7pm
• Pre-concert talk: 6.15pm,
Function Room, Level 1
• Meet the Artists after the concert
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians
of the many lands on which we meet, work
and live, and we pay our respects to Elders
past and present – people who have sung
their songs, danced their dances and told
their stories on these lands for thousands of
generations, and who continue to do so.
—
ENSEMBLE Q
ALISON MITCHELL*
flute
HUW JONES*
oboe
PAUL DEAN
co-artistic director & clarinet
DAVID MITCHELL*
bassoon
PETER LUFF
horn
TRISH DEAN
co-artistic director & cello
PHOEBE RUSSELL*
double bass
—
WILLIAM BARTON
didgeridoo & composer
With special thanks to Musica Viva Australia
Ensemble Patrons Ian and Caroline Frazer for their
national tour support and to our Concert Champions
for their support of this tour within their states.
We also thank the Directors’ Circle and Amadeus
Society for their support of the 2024 Concert Season.
*Appears courtesy of
Queensland Symphony Orchestra.
3

From the Artistic Director
© Darren Leigh Roberts
A handful of years ago Paul Dean sent me a recording
of his recent concerto for cello and wind quintet. It’s a
gripping, virtuosic essay in wind and solo-cello writing,
at once a concerto and ensemble piece, such as those
Janáček wrote with such quirky precision. The piece
also prompted in me that automatic response to searing
originality: why hadn’t anyone previously written for this
instrumental/genre combination?
I programmed it during the storms of Covid, and
of course it never really got out the gate. Yet in
disappointment lies opportunity, and Paul and I began
conversations about getting the tour back on track in
a later season. We added a new twist: what if we put
the world’s oldest wind instrument – the didgeridoo –
alongside those Johnny-come-latelies from the 18th
and 19th centuries – those instruments that make up the
modern wind quintet – in a new work?
There was only one didgeridoo player, one composer,
whom we wanted to ask: William Barton, an artist of
astonishing charisma and power. (Who saw him play
with Yo-Yo Ma in Melbourne’s Hamer Hall? It was an
audacious, stunning match of equals.) William has
long shown his curiosity about the potential overlaps
between his sounds and traditions and those we
imported from Western Europe in the century following
colonisation. And as I look at the freshly delivered score,
I am struck by his determination for both cultures, both
sound worlds, to meet in that happy middle ground.
Benjamin Britten saw his War Requiem as a form of
reparation. No one involved in this commission had
such lofty aims; we were all caught up in sonic overlaps
and historical precedents. But what Will has delivered
and what Ensemble Q here plays – with the wonderful
Trish Dean as incomparable soloist in both Paul’s work
and in Breuer’s whip-smart arrangement of Brahms’s
Cello Sonata for soloist and wind ensemble (plus bass)
– is a symbol of cultural respect and reconciliation. And
I’ll take every one of these symbols I can get...
Paul Kildea
Artistic Director
4

Program
György LIGETI (1923–2006)
Six Bagatelles for Wind Quintet (1953)
12 min
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
Allegro con spirito (Fast, with spirit)
Rubato. Lamentoso (Flexible. Lamenting)
Allegro grazioso (Fast, graceful)
Presto ruvido (Quick, rough)
Adagio. Mesto (Béla Bartók in memoriam)
(Slow. Sad. In memory of Béla Bartók)
Molto vivace. Capriccioso (Very lively. Whimsical)
Paul DEAN (b 1966)
Concerto for Cello and Wind Quintet (2018)
25 min
I
II
III
New paths
Under the canopy
Homage to Les Six
INTERVAL
Johannes BRAHMS (1833–1897)
Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor, Op. 38 (Arr. Breuer) (1862–65)
26 min
I
II
III
Allegro non troppo (Not too fast)
Allegretto quasi Menuetto (Fairly fast, almost like a minuet)
Allegro (Fast)
William BARTON (b 1981)
Journey to the Edge of the Horizon (2024)
15 min
World premiere performances.
Commissioned by Musica Viva Australia with the support of
the Hon. Anthe Philippides SC and the WA Commissioning Circle.
Please ensure that mobile phones are turned onto flight mode before the performance.
Photography and video recording are not permitted during the performance.
5

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Masterclasses
Musica Viva Australia creates opportunities
for Australian and internationally acclaimed
artists to share their experience and expertise
with talented early-career artists and young
music students, creating an enriching learning
experience.
For details visit:
musicaviva.com.au/masterclasses
—
The following masterclasses are presented
as part of this tour:
WILLIAM BARTON
• Wed 2 October: Perth
Western Australian Academy
of the Performing Arts
• Thu 3 October: Adelaide
Ngutu College
10.30am–12pm (Closed to the public)
Daniel Hyde’s masterclass with the
ANU Chamber Choir in Canberra (August 2024).
© Peter Hislop
ALISON MITCHELL & PETER LUFF
• Wed 2 October: Perth
University of Western Australia
9.30–11.30am
PAUL DEAN & WILLIAM BARTON
• Fri 11 October: Brisbane
Queensland Conservatorium
Griffith University
5.15–7pm (Closed to the public)
PHOEBE RUSSELL & TRISH DEAN
• Thu 3 October: Adelaide
Masterclass with Pekka Kuusisto at
Monash University in Melbourne (August 2024).
© Elizabeth Dedman
—
Musica Viva Australia’s Masterclass program
is supported by:
Nicholas Callinan AO & Elizabeth Callinan
Caroline & Robert Clemente
Rosemary & John MacLeod
Patricia H Reid Endowment Fund
Andrew Sisson AO & Tracey Sisson
Mick & Margaret Toller
David Wallace & Jamelia Gubgub
Anonymous (1)
Musica Viva Australia Masterclasses in Western
Australia are also supported by Wesfarmers Arts.
7

Born in 2017 out of a desire to create an
ensemble with virtuosic integrity and a
dedication to performance of undiscovered
masterpieces, Ensemble Q has earned a
reputation for brilliant programming and the
highest performance standards. Ensemble Q
is a Company-in-Residence at the Queensland
Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) and the
ensemble members hail from Concertmaster
and Principal seats in the Queensland,
Melbourne and Sydney Symphony
Orchestras, soloists and chamber musicians
on the national touring network, and leading
faculty at Queensland Conservatorium and
The University of Queensland.
With a core artist list of some of the finest
musicians in Australia, Ensemble Q is directed
by Co-Artistic Directors cellist Trish Dean and
clarinetist Paul Dean.
Ensemble Q appears at festivals including
the Australian Festival of Chamber Music and
the Queensland Music Festival. Ensemble Q
performs regionally in NSW and QLD and
at the UKARIA Cultural Centre in SA, and
conducts a boutique concert series in Sydney.
They are regular artists for ABC Classic and
4MBS Classic FM.
Comprising string quintet, wind quintet, piano
and percussion, Ensemble Q’s repertoire
possibilities are endless and range from the
most exquisite solos through to full chamber
symphonies. Ensemble Q programs are based
on a belief in the impact and quality of every
work presented, from unknown gems from the
past through new works by young Australian
composers, to the greatest masterpieces,
all presented in convincing and passionate
performances at a world-class level.
Ensemble Q’s mentorship program has
provided significant placements for highly
talented young artists to perform alongside
Ensemble Q core artists and international
guests. Ensemble Q also runs an orchestral
training program for tertiary students,
providing professional side-by-side
placements in support of companies including
the Lisa Gasteen National Opera School,
Opera Queensland, 4MBS Festival of Classics,
The Queensland Choir and the Queensland
Music Festival.
8

arton
William Barton is Australia’s leading
didgeridoo player; he is also a composer,
multi-instrumentalist and vocalist.
William first learnt the didgeridoo from
his uncle, Arthur Peterson, an elder of the
Wannyi, Lardil and Kalkadunga people,
and was working from an early age with
traditional dance groups and fusion/rock jazz
bands, orchestras, string quartets and mixed
ensembles.
Throughout his diverse career he has forged
a path in the classical musical world, from
performances with the London, Berlin
and Bremer Philharmonic Orchestras to
historic events at Westminster Abbey for
Commonwealth Day 2019, at Anzac Cove in
Gallipoli and for the Beijing Olympics.
William holds honorary doctorates from
both Griffith University and the University
of Sydney, and has released five albums on
the ABC Classic label, including Heartland
(2022) with Véronique Serret and the words of
William’s mother, Aunty Delmae Barton. This
record epitomises the new musical language
that William has been developing.
William was named Queensland Australian of
the Year for 2023. In 2022 he was recognised
for his work with the Australian Chamber
Orchestra for the soundtrack from the film
River, winning two Screen Music Awards, an
ARIA Award and an AACTA Award.
His other awards include the prestigious Don
Banks Music Award from the Australia Council
in 2021, Best Original Score for a Mainstage
Production at the 2018 Sydney Theatre
Awards, and Best Classical Album at the 2012
ARIA Awards for Birdsong at Dusk.
With his prodigious musicality and building on
his Kalkadunga heritage, William has vastly
expanded the horizons of the didgeridoo.
9

About the music
The oppression and suffering György Ligeti
faced in his early years was so extreme as to
be utterly inconceivable to most Australians
today. By the time he was 33, he had survived
a Nazi regime that took the life of every
member of his family save his mother, and a
Stalinist administration that ruthlessly policed
thought and artistic expression. That he
emerged from this turmoil as an accomplished
and skilful artist is wholly remarkable; the
fact that he pushed against established
creative boundaries with works such as these
Six Bagatelles is even more so. In fact, the
Bagatelles’ chromaticism was deemed so
‘dangerous’ by the Soviet authorities that they
censored its last movement at its premiere.
Fresh and daring as they still sound, the Six
Bagatelles are hardly criminally dangerous to
modern ears. They were arranged by Ligeti
from his Musica Ricercata for solo piano (1951–
53), a work that uses a very simple organising
principle: its first movement is constructed
using only two notes, its second using three,
and so on until the eleventh movement, which
uses all twelve tones of the chromatic scale.
The Six Bagatelles correspond to movements
3, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 10 of Musica Ricercata; Ligeti
chose to enhance them using the colours of
the wind quintet. The most striking example
of this colouring comes at the end of the
second bagatelle: in barely ten seconds,
Ligeti takes the listener on a journey from a
brooding unison through frenzied dissonance
to peaceful consonance by simply adding and
subtracting instruments. From the glittering
tapestry of the third bagatelle, where glorious
melodies soar over interlocking septuplets,
to the raucous, topsy-turvy antics of the sixth,
Ligeti’s endless creativity and playfulness,
miraculously conjured from a life of such
hardship, are on full display.
© KIRAN PHATAK 2021
—
Brisbane born and bred clarinetist Paul
Dean is regarded as one of Australia’s
foremost musicians in his multiple capacities
as soloist, chamber musician, composer
and artistic director. He currently holds
positions as Head of Winds at Queensland
Conservatorium, Griffith University, Co-Artistic
Director of Ensemble Q and conductor of
both the Queensland Youth Orchestra 2 and
the Brisbane Symphony Orchestra. Recent
commissions include a clarinet quintet for
Michael Collins and the Wigmore Soloists,
a string quartet for the Orava Quartet,
a symphony for the Queensland Youth
Symphony and an orchestral work for the
Queensland Symphony Orchestra.
The composer writes:
GYÖRGY LIGETI
The cello is without doubt my favourite
instrument – I even tried, unsuccessfully, to
learn it in high school – so when that coincided
with the fact that it is played by my favourite
person, it was a no brainer that I wanted to
write a piece such as this.
10

I have written quite a few pieces that feature
the cello but this one was a wholly different
process and a work of pure indulgence and
love. Coming straight after finishing my opera
Dry River Run, I found a new need for melody
and its reaction to the harmony in my writing.
There is nothing like spending two years
writing two hours of libretto-based music to
liven up your sense of drama and cohesiveness
and learn about your harmonic language.
It is more than possible that no such work
of music as a concerto for cello with wind
quintet exists, and now that I have written it, I
hope that others will follow suit. The interplay
between the solo string instrument and the
mini orchestra of winds was enormous fun
to play with and I have often thought that
it wouldn’t be the last time I write for this
combination.
Much of my music has a theme or story behind
it, yet this piece is pure music for music’s sake,
and whilst it contains images of some of Trish’s
and my favourite things, there is no underlying
story behind the music.
PAUL DEAN
The first movement, New paths, is a reflection
of my compositional changes following the
time spent bunkered down writing the opera.
And I guess in a subliminal way, it reflects Trish
and I moving to Brisbane and finding new dog
walks and the like. It’s dense and exploratory
in a way that such a new combination deserves
and highlights the virtuosity of all the players
on stage.
The second movement, Under the canopy,
basically just laid itself out in front of me one
morning on our daily constitutional with our
two dogs Mia and Bear. Over our local park
there is a phenomenal collection of leopard
trees and in the early light of the Brisbane
summer day, they create a canopy and
explosion of light and colour that takes my
breath away every morning. Being one of our
favourite places, my musical picture of that
image had to appear in this piece.
The third movement, Homage to Les Six, was
my attempt to write music that, while complex,
was and is also fun to play and to listen to. I
have been obsessed with the music of Les Six
for over three decades and in particular, the
music of Francis Poulenc. While the second
Viennese School were strutting their stuff and
the post-Wagner and post-Debussy world
were also battling it out, Poulenc and his
friends made remarkable music that enticed,
entertained and moved audiences in a way
so entirely their own that it has never been
achieved by any other group or school of
composers. The playfulness between the
instruments and the complex and intricate
rhythm are central to the drama and humour
and virtuosity of the combination of friends on
stage performing it together (which is the true
essence of chamber music).
The work is, of course, dedicated to Trish
Dean, the love of my life. Her patience and
encouragement throughout drove the course
of the drama and the mood. The piece is a
simple and honest gift of love and friendship
and companionship.
© PAUL DEAN
11

Brahms entitled his first Cello Sonata ‘Sonate
für Klavier und Violoncello’ (for piano and
cello), indicating that in this work the piano
is not relegated to a mere accompanying
role. He started composing this ambitious
sonata in 1862, but he was a fierce self-critic
with perfectionist tendencies. He did not finish
the piece until 1865 – by which time he had
discarded its middle movement, and added
what we hear now as the finale. The sonata
thus lacks the traditional slow movement. It
was the first duo-sonata Brahms permitted
to be published, and with its almost historical
feel it marked a turning-point in Brahms’
compositional style.
The lyrical and expressive first movement,
Allegro non troppo, links itself to the other
movements with the interval of a minor sixth,
outlined in the first two bars. The second
movement, Allegretto quasi Menuetto, is
light-hearted yet wistful; Brahms’ studies of
music from the Renaissance to the Classical
period are evident.
The energetic Allegro third movement is
often referred to as a fugue, but is in sonata
form. Melodic similarities between its subject
and Bach’s Contrapunctus 13 from the Art of
Fugue are apparent. This homage to Bach
demonstrates Brahms’ mastery in welding
fugue and sonata form, and his command
of fugal techniques including stretto (parts
overlapping as they enter), inversion and
imitation.
© ERICA FRYBERG 2013
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Heribert Breuer (b 1945) is a notable German
conductor, composer and music educator. He
is the founder and conductor of the Berlin Bach
Academy and is represented by the German
National Library with a substantial catalogue
of compositions and arrangements.
In Breuer’s version of Brahms’ first Cello Sonata
for cello, wind quintet and double bass, the
original cello part is completely untouched and
the focus in the arrangement is on the creation
of a work that feels very much like Brahms’
symphonic works, utilising the wind instruments
similarly to the way he employs them in his
larger works. The overall effect creates a
whole new soundworld within a very familiar
context. The clever addition of the double
bass underpins and binds the cello and winds
together in a cohesive, satisfying way.
Heribert Breuer writes: ‘Due to its polyphonic
structure, this composition, whose outer
movements draw on themes from Bach’s Art
of Fugue, lends itself ideally to the expansion
of the piano part to the tonal range of six very
different instruments. According to the critics,
the concluding fugue in particular invoked
the impression of a chamber symphony,
as it brings out the compositional structure
much more graphically than is possible in the
original version.’
© TRISH DEAN 2024
12

© Keith Saunders
WILLIAM BARTON
William Barton writes:
The sounds of earth and the culture of my
people are embedded in my DNA, a direct
connection to the feeling that we are here in
this space because of thousands of years of
ceremony.
Around the fire in the night, the legacy of our
people and the landscape is awakened within
the glowing embers rising to the stars beyond
embracing elemental change: the storms,
clouds, the wind carrying the lullaby of our
ancestors radiate with us, as the gentle rains
pass through the landscape, the memories and
spirit are suspended in the air singing with the
song of the landscape – the songlines of our
people.
The sacred spirit of our mother country gives
breath to the life of the landscape as the dawn
becomes day and the sun journeys across
the sky, the rivers, the valleys, the many seas,
acknowledging all existence of life – the
sacred waters of the native well where the
memories of Everlast are a continuum. The
waters flow from the sacred earth, a vessel
within each rain drop, full circle of life.
Reflections of light from the native well dance
across the spinifex grass.
The sacred tree of life remembers those songs
of the ancients on the wind, as the energy
of the evening wind gently travels upon the
rocky outcrops of the rugged beauty in the
Selwyn and Argylla ranges. The spirit flows
to the many sacred waterholes connecting to
the river ways and creeks, the songlines of our
mother country.
The sun has travelled across the day sky ready
to greet the evening star.
The spirit eagle takes flight. The small birds,
insects and other animals follow.
The custodians of the land prepare the
ceremony for the Journey to the Edge of the
Horizon, acknowledging those before us who
have created a safe space of connection to our
eternal and internal chant. We now journey
together to the Edge of the Horizon where
we find truth and honesty and the best of
humanity, where the view of our world is about
understanding and caring, and our lullaby
will be carried on the wind to the Edge of the
Horizon for many centuries to come.
That sacred magic place exists upon the
horizon. We are already there. We just need
to listen.
© WILLIAM BARTON
KALKADUNGU, MOUNT ISA,
FAR NORTH WESTERN QUEENSLAND
13

Meet the artists
BY SONYA HOLOWELL
Spirit of a yarn, shape of a Q
The spirit of a yarn is about relationship:
communication, communion, and
reciprocity. It’s this spirit which lies at
the heart of the collaboration between
Ensemble Q and William Barton. I had
the recent pleasure of speaking with Paul
and Trish Dean, Co-Artistic Directors of
Ensemble Q and clarinetist and cellist,
respectively. I also had an inspiring
discussion with William Barton, prolific
yidaki player and singer, who joins Paul as
a composer of the music converging in this
program.
Described as a kaleidoscope of sound,
the program reimagines chamber music
for a modern and diverse audience. Paul
and Trish talk of the electric quality of live
chamber music, with its immediacy and
its unique ability to foster intimacy with an
audience. The program itself is an interface
of cultures, histories and future possibilities,
weaving shape, light and texture in
harmonious tessellation. Music by Ligeti and
Brahms, paired with works by Paul Dean
and William Barton, create a forwardthinking
vision which opens up chamber
music to the Australian landscape.
Ensemble Q is the love child of Paul and
Trish Dean, and the current Ensemble-in-
Residence at Queensland Performing Arts
Centre. Running since 2017, the ensemble
consists of wind quintet, string quintet,
piano and percussion: an instrumental
scope inviting endless types of repertoire.
After a few minutes talking with the duo, I
suspected that the Q may stand for more
than just their home base. The Co-Artistic
Directors reflected an ethos of questioning
which permeates this ensemble: questioning
the relevance of chamber music for modern
contexts, and the potential ways in which
chamber music might be exploited for new
connections and complexities. Visually, in the
letter Q lies the circle of communication, with
the stroke of innovation taking them forward
into the unknown.
I was curious to know how these four
distinctive works fit together. That thread is
the instrumentation – cello and wind quintet,
which rarely assemble. The program was
built around Paul Dean’s Concerto for Cello
and Wind Quintet, and Brahms’ Cello Sonata
in E minor, arranged ‘to perfection’ as Paul
says, by Heribert Brauer.
Dean’s concerto was conceived in 2018
following the composition of his opera Dry
River Run. Trish sees brushstrokes of the vocal
writing carried through into her cello part in
the concerto: ‘It sings with lyricism,’ she says.
Paul mentions the sense of expressive
freedom found in the making of this work,
calling it a ‘work of great passion and love’
by someone ‘madly in love with both the cello
and the cellist’. As the music incubated on
walks together, the compositional process felt
like a documentary of his life with Trish.
‘I think this piece was, in many ways, the first
piece that I really felt like it was mine,’ he
says.
14

There is also beauty in the relationship
between Ensemble Q and William Barton,
whose work Journey to the Edge of the
Horizon closes the curatorial loop. Paul and
Trish both agree that William’s music is about
his virtuosity. This allows me to ask a question
I love asking of musicians; one which is
particularly pertinent to the classical sphere
where ‘virtuosity’ is frequently mentioned:
What does ‘virtuosity’ mean, to you?
Trish answers first.
‘It’s like a really controlled party. The rigour
needs to be there underlying the sense of
adventure.’
For Paul, virtuosity is the swan, with its openair
grace concealing underwater labour; or
a sports car, finely-tuned and controlled in
the harness of the skilled driver, executing
intention at every moment.
In my yarn with William, I want to better
understand his virtuosity, in his words.
William Barton is a Kalkadunga man
from Mount Isa in Queensland, whose
distinguished career as yidaki player,
singer and composer has been transmitted
intergenerationally and nurtured since
childhood. Interestingly, as for Paul, walking
has played a key role in William’s creative
process. In the modern day ceremony of
walking, the artist explains, ‘I don’t just walk
for myself; I walk for my people. I walk for my
nation and I walk for all people that I open
up that space to connect with.’ Connection is
both in his cultural DNA, and in the creative
intention for his work.
‘Journey to the Edge of the Horizon is me
aligning my cultural heritage and legacy
of the landscape with the modern world. I
imagine bringing people to a space and time
in that 17-minute performance – I want to
take people there.’
I want to go there, myself.
William’s piece is scored for yidaki, wind
quintet, cello, and bass, and also features
him singing – an alignment to the lyricism
running through the cello part, and, I
suspect, to Brahms and Ligeti, too. William
also aligns notions of the traditional versus
the contemporary which often come up
in discourse around First Nations art. He
doesn’t hesitate to pull one or the other off
their pedestal, to dissolve the sense of the
line.
‘Who is to say what’s traditional and
what’s contemporary? We’re nurturing
the fragility of that fine line, which is like
kangaroo sinew, of the Indigenous and
non-Indigenous worlds. I want to pierce the
stratosphere, to go to the heart of people
with my music. I don’t know what that makes
it. Contemporary? Traditional?
‘I call it journey music.’
William’s description of his relationship with
the yidaki returns organically to the idea
of virtuosity, from the idea of the virtuoso
knowing their instrument, to the instrument
knowing the player.
‘The didgeridoo, the yidaki; it knows me. It’s
a spirit that’s embodied within my soul that
was passed down to me from my elders.’
This reciprocity echoes in the bonds between
William, Paul and Trish (who have known
each other for two decades); extends to
many longstanding relationships with and
between the musicians of Ensemble Q; and
is reflected in each player’s communion
with their instruments. Through the chamber
music form, every voice is given the space to
sing: distinct yet connected, in the spirit of a
yarn, and the shape of a Q.
—
Sonya Holowell is a Dharawal woman,
vocalist, composer and writer.
© Keith Saunders
15

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16

O, the places you’ll go!
Musica Viva Australia is proud to have the
widest Oreaching education program in the
country, reaching over 170,000 students
every year in locations from Hobart to
Nhulunbuy, and Perth to Byron Bay.
In 2024, we partnered with the Stan Perron
Charitable Foundation and the Gardos
Family to return to remote northern WA,
with delivery of professional development
opportunities and a tour of Musica Viva
Australia In Schools ensemble Rhythm
Works to the Kimberley region. Professional
Development Manager Melanie
McLoughlin and WA State Manager Helen
Dwyer joined Rhythm Works musicians
Kevin Tuck and Elijah Shepherd at their
final stop in Kununurra, where they
delivered interactive performances for
students and face-to-face professional
development for teachers.
Marion Roberts, Assistant Principal from
St Joseph’s, Kununurra, was an enthusiastic
participant at one of the professional
development sessions.
‘We don’t have very many opportunities
for face-to-face professional developments
nowadays. We live so far up north in
a remote area, and it’s really special
when people do come here. It’s great
practising with experts in a nice supportive
environment before then showcasing it to
students to help them learn.’
The workshop provided valuable hands-on
activities, encouraging teachers to keep
it simple and focus on engaging students
through music. The positive feedback
underscored the importance of such
professional development opportunities,
especially for generalist teachers looking to
enhance their music teaching skills.
Meanwhile, Kevin Tuck and Elijah
Shepherd gave multiple performances of
the dynamic Rhythmworks percussion show
which uses a range of instruments from
African djembes, marimbas, electronic
loop machines, and wearable instruments
made out of PVC pipe.
Supported by the Perpetual Foundation –
Alan (AGL) Shaw Endowment, their tour
took Kevin and Elijah to schools in Darwin,
Alice Springs, Katherine, Nhulunbuy and
Wyndham as well as Kununurra, and they
found it inspiring to perform for young
students in remote areas.
‘When we come to see remote schools, we
realise that some of these children have
barely ever seen live music before,’ said
Kevin. ‘For me the highlights are always
in little moments, the moments when the
children come up to you and say, “I could
do this.” They can see they can actually
be involved in music, they can learn music
themselves, and compose their own music.’
VICTORIA DAVIES & HARRIET CUNNINGHAM
Thank you to the Trusts and Foundations, MVAIS Ensemble Patrons
and Annual Donors who help make this work possible.
To learn more about supporting our education and outreach programs, please
contact Zoë Cobden-Jewitt: zcobden-jewitt@musicaviva.com.au / 0409 340 240
17

© Priscilla du Preez
HELP BUILD OUR MUSICAL FUTURE
A bequest to Musica Viva Australia is a generous investment in the
future of Australian music – whether through education programs,
world-class concert series or nurturing the artists of tomorrow.
For nearly 80 years, we have established ourselves as the bedrock
of Australia’s cultural firmament with a presence in every state
and territory and have grown to become the world’s busiest
chamber music organisation.
Be confident that your gift to Musica Viva Australia
will resonate with the largest possible audiences
of all ages and locations for years to come.
For information about our bequests program, please visit:
musicaviva.com.au/support-us/planned-giving
or contact Zoë Cobden-Jewitt, Director of Development
zcobden-jewitt@musicaviva.com.au | 0409 340 240

THANK YOU TO OUR WONDERFUL DONORS!
It's the generosity of our donor family that brings our work to life. Their support enables us to continue
to create, produce and present, year after year – for almost 80 years – showcasing the finest artists;
supporting the next generation of talent; and providing industry-leading education programs to
students of all ages, right across the country. We can't thank you enough.
DIRECTOR’S CIRCLE
Thank you to these committed donors who support the
vision of Artistic Director, Paul Kildea, and the work of
Musica Viva Australia across the entire season.
Darin Cooper Foundation
ENSEMBLE PATRONS
Our artistic vision for 2024 is made possible thanks
to the extraordinary generosity of our Ensemble Patrons,
each of whom supports the presentation of an entire
national tour for this season.
Long Lost Loves (and Grey Suede Gloves)
Peter Griffin AM & Terry Swann,
Ms Felicity Rourke & Justice François Kunc,
Susie Dickson (supporting Anna Dowsley)
Esmé Quartet
Bruce & Charmaine Cameron
The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge
Ensemble Patrons Ian Dickson AM & Reg Holloway
Other Tour Support Kim Williams AM &
Catherine Dovey
Commissioning Donor Richard Wilkins
Organ Scholar Patrons Ian & Cass George
The Choristers’ Circle We thank all members for their
support of each chorister
Pekka Kuusisto & Gabriel Kahane
Chamber Music Foundation
Ensemble Q & William Barton
Ian & Caroline Frazer
MVAIS ENSEMBLE PATRONS
MVAIS Ensemble Patrons support the exceptional ensembles
which deliver childhood music education programs for
Musica Viva Australia In Schools.
Colours of Home
Anthony Strachan
Da Vinci’s Apprentice
Kay Vernon
Game Day!
Anonymous
Music in my Suitcase
Valerie & Michael Wishart
Taking Shape
Ray Wilson OAM
EMERGING ARTISTS PATRONS
The collective support of our Emerging Artists Patrons enables
the artistic development of the next generation of Australian
chamber musicians via our Masterclasses, Strike A Chord and
FutureMakers programs.
Nicholas Callinan AO & Elizabeth Callinan, Caroline &
Robert Clemente, Rosemary & John MacLeod, Patricia H.
Reid Endowment Fund, Andrew Sisson AO & Tracey Sisson,
Mick & Margaret Toller, David Wallace & Jamelia Gubgub,
Anonymous (3)
CONCERT CHAMPIONS
The mainstage concerts of our 2024 Season are brought
to life thanks to the generosity of our Concert Champions
around the country.
ACT Andrew Blanckensee & Anonymous,
Dr Ray Edmondson OAM & Sue Edmondson,
Malcolm Gillies AM & Dr David Pear, Dr Sue Packer,
Sue Terry & Len Whyte, Anonymous
NSW Patricia Crummer, Pam Cudlipp, The Darin Cooper
Foundation, Dr Jennifer Donald & Mr Stephen Burford,
Charles Graham in acknowledgement of his piano teacher
Sana Chia, Katherine & Reg Grinberg, Alison & Geoff Kerry,
Ray Wilson OAM
QLD Andrea & Malcolm Hall-Brown, Andrew & Kate Lister,
Barry & Diana Moore, The Hon Anthe Philippides SC,
Anonymous (2)
SA Don & Veronica Aldridge, The late Lesley Lynn,
Dr Susan Marsden & Michael Szwarcbord
VIC Bibi Aickin & Alexandra Clemens, Peter Lovell &
Michael Jan, In memory of Paul Morawetz, Presented by
friends in memory of Dr James Pang, Dr Michael Troy,
The late Dr G D Watson, Dr Victor Wayne &
Dr Karen Wayne OAM, Igor Zambelli, Anonymous (2)
WA Jan James in memory of her sister Anne Wilding
& Anonymous, Dr Robert Larbalestier AO, For Stephanie
Quinlan (2), Deborah Lehmann AO & Michael Alpers AO,
Valerie & Michael Wishart
AMADEUS SOCIETY
The Amadeus Society is a group of passionate music lovers
and advocates in Sydney and Melbourne, who have joined
together to support the extraordinary artistic initiatives of
Musica Viva Australia.
Tony Berg AM & Carol Berg AM, Tom Breen &
Rachael Kohn AO, Dr Annette Gero, Katherine &
Reg Grinberg, Jennifer Hershon, Fred & Claire Hilmer,
Penelope Hughes, Stephen & Michele Johns, Michael &
Frederique Katz, Philip Robinson, Andrew Rosenberg,
Ray Wilson OAM
19

20
COMMISSIONS
Musica Viva Australia is proud to support the creation
of new Australian works through The Ken Tribe Fund
for Australian Composition and The Hildegard Project.
We are grateful to the following individuals and
collectives for their generous support of this work:
Carrillo Gantner AC & Ziyin Gantner, Alison & Geoff Kerry,
D R & K M Magarey, The Hon. Anthe Philippides SC,
Playking Foundation, Richard Wilkins
Musica Viva Australia also thanks the Adelaide
Commissioning Circle, the WA Commissioning Circle,
and the Silo Collective for their support in bringing
new Australian works to life.
LASTING GIFTS
We are deeply appreciative of those who have chosen to leave
a bequest to Musica Viva Australia in their will, to make a lasting
impact that not only celebrates their passion for music but
enables music for future generations of audiences and artists
alike. Your legacy will live on through our work.
LEGACY DONORS
We proudly honour the generous legacies of those donors who
are no longer with us, and the impact their support still has today.
NSW The late Charles Berg, The late Stephan Center,
The late Janette Hamilton, The late Dr Ralph Hockin in
memory of Mabel Hockin, The late Geraldine Kenway,
The late Judith Osborne Finalson, The late Elizabeth Varley,
The late Kenneth W Tribe AC
QLD
The late Steven Kinston
SA The late Edith Dubsky,
In memory of Helen Godlee, The late Lesley Lynn
VIC In memory of Anita Morawetz, The family of
the late Paul Morawetz, The late Dr G D Watson
WA
Anonymous
CUSTODIANS
We thank those who have notified us of their intention
to leave a gift to us in their will.
ACT Margaret Brennan, Clive & Lynlea Rodger,
Ruth Weaver, Anonymous (3)
NSW Catherine Brown-Watt PSM & Derek Watt, Graham
Blazey, Jennifer Bott AO, Lloyd & Mary Jo Capps AM, Andrew
& Felicity Corkill, Peter Cudlipp, Liz Gee, Suzanne Gleeson,
David & Christine Hartgill, Annie Hawker, Dorothy Hoddinott
AO, Mathilde Kearny-Kibble, Elaine Lindsay, Trevor Noffke,
Dr David Schwartz, Ruth Spence-Stone, Mary Vallentine AO,
Deirdre Nagle Whitford, Richard Wilkins, Kim Williams AM,
Megan & Bill Williamson, Ray Wilson OAM, Anonymous (14)
QLD John Nightingale & Leslie Martin, Anonymous (2)
SA
(4)
TAS
Monica Hanusiak-Klavins & Martin Klavins, Anonymous
Kim Paterson QC, Anonymous
VIC Elizabeth & Anthony Brookes, Julian Burnside AO KC,
Ms Helen Dick, Robert Gibbs & Tony Wildman,
Penelope Hughes, Helen Vorrath, Anonymous (8)
WA Janice Dudley, Anne Last, Graham Lovelock,
Robyne Tamke, Anonymous (3)
ANNUAL DONORS
We’re thankful to our annual donors who support our work where
it’s needed most and for all they enable us to do – both on and
off the stage – for Australian musicians, artists and music lovers,
including our extensive education and outreach programs.
MAJOR GIFTS
NSW The Berg Family Foundation,
Patricia H. Reid Endowment Fund, Anonymous
QLD
ACT
Ian & Caroline Frazer
Marion & Michael Newman
NSW Ian Dickson AM & Reg Holloway,
J A Donald Family, Katherine & Reg Grinberg,
Elisabeth Hodson & the late Dr Thomas Karplus
NSW Michael & Frédérique Katz,
Vicki Olsson, Richard Wilkins
QLD
Andrea & Malcolm Hall-Brown
$100,000+
$50,000+
$20,000+
VIC Mercer Family Foundation, The Morawetz Family
in memory of Paul Morawetz, The Morawetz Family in
memory of Anita Morawetz, Marjorie Nicholas OAM,
Rosemary & John MacLeod
ACT
Mick & Margaret Toller, Anonymous
NSW Gresham Partners, Anthony Strachan,
Richard Wilkins, Ray Wilson OAM in memory of
James Agapitos OAM, Anonymous
QLD
SA
Anonymous
Jennifer & John Henshall
VIC Peter Lovell & Michael Jan, In memory of
Dr Ian Marks, Mercer Family Foundation,
Joy Selby Smith, Mark & Anna Yates, Anonymous
WA
Legacy Unit Trust
$10,000+
$5000+
ACT Goodwin Crace Concertgoers, Craig Reynolds,
Sue Terry & Len Whyte, Anonymous
NSW Judith Allen, Maia Ambegaokar & Joshua Bishop,
Tom Breen & Rachael Kohn AO, Thomas Dent, Sarah &
Tony Falzarano, Robert & Lindy Henderson, Catharine &
Robert Kench, Ruth Magid & Bob Magid OAM,
Lynda O’Grady, David & Carole Singer, Diane Sturrock,
Kim Williams AM & Catherine Dovey
QLD
Ian & Cass George, Anonymous
SA Aldridge Family Endowment,
Fiona MacLachlan OAM
VIC Joanna Baevski, Julian Burnside AO KC &
Kate Durham, Anne Frankenberg & Adrian McEniery,
Mr Carrillo Gantner AC, Leanne Menegazzo, Bruce Missen,
Ralph & Ruth Renard, Greg Shalit & Miriam Faine,
Anonymous (2)

WA Rodney Constantine, Jace Foundation,
Deborah Lehmann AO & Michael Alpers AO,
Zoe Lenard & Hamish Milne
ANNUAL GIFTS
$2500+
ACT Liz & Alex Furman, Goodwin Crace Concertgoers,
Dr Andrew Singer, Anonymous
NSW D Barbeler & K Kemp, Christine Bishop, Gay
Bookallil, Susan Burns, Hon J C Campbell KC & Mrs Campbell,
Dr James Gillespie & Ms Deena Shiff, Charles & Wallis
Graham, Kevin & Deidre McCann, Andrew Rosenberg,
Geoffrey White OAM & Sally White OAM
QLD Jocelyn Luck, Barry & Diana Moore,
Barbara Williams & Jankees van der Have
SA
DJ & EM Bleby, Ann & David Matison
VIC Alastair & Sue Campbell, Dhar Family,
Anne Frankenberg & Adrian McEniery, Kingsley Gee,
Angela & Richard Kirsner, Bruce Missen, Michael Nossal &
Jo Porter, Prof. John Rickard, Murray Sandland, Maria Sola,
Sing Off – Genazzano & surrounding schools,
Wendy R. Taylor, Helen Vorrath
WA
Mrs Morrell, Robyn Tamke
$1000+
ACT The Breen/Dullo Family, Christopher Clarke,
Dr Jean Finnegan, Kingsley Herbert, Claudia Hyles OAM,
Margaret & Peter Janssens, Clive & Lynlea Rodger, Odin Bohr
& Anna Smet, Kristin van Brunschot & John Holliday,
Ruth Weaver, Anonymous (2)
NSW David & Rae Allen, Dr Warwick Anderson,
Christine Bishop, Vicki Brooke, Catherine Brown-Watt PSM,
H2 Cairns Foundation, Robin & Wendy Cumming,
Trish & John Curotta, Nancy Fox AM & Bruce Arnold,
John & Irene Garran, Kate Girdwood, Bryan Havenhand &
Anna Kaemmerling, Annie Hawker, Lybus Hillman,
Dr Ailsa Hocking & Dr Bernard Williams, Dorothy Hoddinott
AO, Mathilde Kearny-Kibble, Mrs W G Keighley, Ms Kathryn
Magarey, Prof. Craig Moritz, Laurie Orchard, Paul O’Donnell,
Trish Richardson in memory of Andy Lloyd James,
Dr Robyn Smiles, Geoff Stearn, Hon. Prof. Ross Steele AM,
Graham & Judy Tribe, Kate Tribe, John & Flora Weickhardt,
Andrew Wells AM, Megan & Bill Williamson, Anonymous (6)
QLD George Booker & Denise Bond, Prof. Paul &
Ann Crook, Stephen Emmerson, Prof Robert G Gilbert,
Robin Harvey, Lynn & John Kelly, Keith Moore
SA Ivan & Joan Blanchard, Richard Blomfield,
Peter Clifton, Zoë Cobden-Jewitt & Peter Jewitt,
Elizabeth Ho OAM, in honour of the late Tom Steel,
Joan Lyons, Dr Leo Mahar, Ruth Marshall & Tim Muecke,
Geoff & Sorayya Martin, Diane Myers, Leon Pitchon,
Jennie Shaw, Anne Sutcliffe, Colin & Sandra Taylor,
Robert & Glenys Woolcock, Anonymous (6)
VIC Russ & Jacqui Bate, Jan Begg, David Bernshaw &
Caroline Isakow, Jannie Brown, Alison & John Cameron,
Mrs Maggie Cash, Alex & Elizabeth Chernov, Dr Glenys &
Dr Alan French, Mary-Jane Gething, Naomi & George
Golvan KC, John & Margaret Harrison, Lyndsey & Peter
Hawkins, Virginia Henry, Doug Hooley, House for Music,
Helen Imber, The Hon. Dr Barry Jones AC & Ms Rachel
Faggetter, Angela Kayser, Peter Kingsbury, June K Marks,
Janet McDonald, Ruth McNair AM & Rhonda Brown in
memory of Patricia Begg & David McNair, Christopher Menz
and Peter Rose, D & F Nassau, Barry Robbins, Ms Thea Sartori,
Mr Charles Tegner, Ray Turner & Jennifer Seabrook,
Lyn Williams, Anonymous (2)
WA Dr S Cherian, Michael & Wendy Davis, In memory
of Raymond Dudley, Dr Penny Herbert in memory of Dunstan
Herbert, Anne Last & Steve Scudamore, Hugh & Margaret
Lydon, Marian Magee & David Castillo, Dr Bennie Ng &
Olivier David, Prof Robyn Owens AM, Margaret & Roger
Seares, Ruth Stratton, Philip Thick & Paula Rogers,
Christopher Tyler, Anonymous (3)
$500+
ACT Prof. Michael Bessell, Margaret Brennan,
Peter Cumines, Jill Fleming, Marjorie Gilby, Robert Hefner,
R & V Hillman, Janet Kay, Margaret Lovell & Grant Webeck,
Margaret Oates, Robert Orr, Helen Rankin, Diana Shogren &
Anne Buttsworth, Dr Paul & Dr Lel Whitbread, Anonymous (3)
NSW Dinah Beeston, Alexandra Bune AM, Neil Burns,
Christopher Burrell AO & Margaret Burrell, Robert Cahill &
Anne Cahill OAM, Lucia Cascone, Lyn Casey, Richard Cobden
SC, Pam Cudlipp, Howard Dick, Dr Arno Enno & Dr Anna
Enno, James Graham AM & Helen Graham, Anthony Gregg,
The Harvey Family, The Hon. Donald Harwin, David & Sarah
Howell, Megan Jones, Jocelyn Kelty, Bruce Lane, Graham &
Sue Lane, Olive Lawson, Trish Ludgate, Dr Colin MacArthur,
DR & KM Magarey, Dr V Jean McPherson, Michael & Janet
Neustein, Stephen O’Doherty OAM, Profs Robin & Tina
Offler, Christina Pender, In memory of Katherine Robertson,
John & Sue Rogers, Penny Rogers, Peter & Heather Roland,
Christopher Sullivan & Jim Lennon, Matthew Westwood,
Mrs Jenny Williams, Anonymous (14)
QLD Geoffrey Beames, Janet Franklin, Timothy Matthies
& Chris Bonnily, Anonymous (2)
SA Terence & Caroline Donald, Elizabeth Hawkins,
Dr Iwan Jensen, The Hon. Christopher Legoe AO QC &
Mrs Jenny Legoe, Helga Linnert & Douglas Ransom,
Julie Mencel & Michael McKay, Trish & Richard Ryan AO,
Tony Seymour, Dr Lesley Smith, Anonymous (3)
VIC Coll & Roger Buckle, Pam Caldwell, Kate Cherry,
Joanne Etheridge, Andrea Goldsmith, Prof. Denise Grocke
AO, Dr Anthea Hyslop, Nancy James, Dr Jerry Koliha,
Traudl Moon OAM, Hannah and Larry Neff, Eda Ritchie AM,
Prof. Lynne Selwood, Darren Taylor & Kent Stringer,
Maureen Turner, Ian Watts OAM, Tony Way, Anonymous (6)
WA Mr Harry Anstey, Jennifer Butement, Fred & Angela
Chaney, Dr Barry Green, Susan Harrington, Russell Hobbs &
Sue Harrington, Graham Lovelock & Steve Singer,
Paula Nathan AO & Yvonne Patterson, NevarcInc, Lindsay &
Suzanne Silbert, Peter & Cathy Wiese, Anonymous (4)
THANK YOU
We are grateful to our donors at all levels,
including those who contribute up to $500.
Every gift really makes a difference.
21

GOVERNMENT PARTNERS
Musica Viva Australia is assisted by
the Australian Government through
Creative Australia, its principal arts
investment and advisory body.
Musica Viva Australia is
supported by the NSW
Government through
Create NSW.
Musica Viva Australia is a Not-for-profit
Organisation endorsed by the Australian
Taxation Office as a Deductible Gift Recipient
and registered with the Australian Charities
and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC).
CONCERT PARTNERS
Perth Concert Series Sydney Morning Masters Series MVA at The Edge Series Major Project Partner
Project Partner 2O24 Season Partner Legal Chartered Accountants
Piano & Tuning Media Partner Hotel Partner Hotel Partner
Print Partner Wine Partner (act, nsw, qld, vic) Wine Partner (sa) Wine Partner (wa)
EMERGING ARTISTS PARTNERS
Competitions
Principal Partner
Strategic Partner
University Partner
FutureMakers Lead Partner
Key Philanthropic Partner
Key Philanthropic Partner
FutureMakers Residency Partner
22

EDUCATION PARTNERS
Government Partnerships & Support
National Education Supporters
Anthony & Sharon Lee
Foundation
J A Donald Family
Marion & Mike Newman
In Schools Performance, Education & Development Program
• Gardos Family • Godfrey Turner Memorial Music Trust • In memory of Anita Morawetz
• Margaret Henderson Music Trust • Marsden Szwarcbord Foundation
• Perpetual Foundation – Alan (AGL) Shaw Endowment • Grieve Family Fund
National Music Residency Program
The
Benjamin
Fund
The Marian &
E.H. Flack Trust
Day Family
Foundation
• Aldridge Family Endowment • Carthew Foundation • Foskett Foundation
• Jennifer & John Henshall • Legacy Unit Trust
23

Stories to inspire
BY MATTHEW WESTWOODCAROLINE DAVIS
SINGING TO THE
ANCESTORS
It’s a damp, misty day on Sydney’s lower
North Shore, and the young singers of the
Choir of King’s College, Cambridge are
having a spiritual encounter with the oldest
living culture on earth.
King’s College was founded by Henry VI
in 1441, a mere six centuries ago. The
Cammeraigal people of Sydney, by
comparison, have lived on their land for
some 50,000 years. One might say these two
cultures are worlds apart. But, as people of all
lands have done when they meet, they sing.
The excursion to Georges Heights – near
Mosman, overlooking Sydney Harbour – has
been organised by Musica Viva Australia to
give the King’s choristers an understanding of
the ancient and continuing story of Australia’s
First Nations people.
Artist, curator and writer Djon Mundine
OAM, a member of the Bundjalung people of
northern NSW, offers the Choir a welcome to
Country, and invokes through song the spiritancestors
who lived and worked on this land.
A small fire is lit for a smoking ceremony.
The young men of the Choir respond with
the beautiful Irish ballad, The Last Rose of
Summer, and their unaccompanied voices
swirl with the eucalyptus smoke and the
raindrops falling from tree-ferns.
‘I am moved to tears by your singing,’
Mundine tells them. ‘The ancestors have
heard you.’
Thousands of people across the country
enjoyed the recent tour by the Choir of
King’s College, Cambridge – the Choir’s
ninth for Musica Viva Australia. The concerts
featured a new work, Charlotte, by Sydney
composer Damian Barbeler and poet Judith
Nangala Crispin, who traces her heritage
to the Bpangerang people of Victoria. It was
commissioned by Musica Viva Australia with
generous support from Richard Wilkins.
Crispin’s poem, On Finding Charlotte in the
Anthropological Record, and Barbeler’s
musical setting of it, concerns Crispin’s search
for her Aboriginal forebear, ‘grandmother
of my grandfather’. It speaks of the historic
injury done to Aboriginal people, the
massacre sites, dispossession and attempted
erasure of culture.
Paul Kildea, Artistic Director of Musica Viva
Australia, and Daniel Hyde, Director of
Music at King’s College, Cambridge, were
determined that the first performances of this
important new choral work should not be a
one-way transaction – a premiere without
cultural exchange or learning. This damp
Saturday at Georges Heights, a rest day in
the Choir’s hectic tour schedule, is an attempt
to form that bridge of understanding.
Singer Jack Harris, 22, says that while the
Choir had studied the text of Charlotte,
today’s outing is an opportunity to learn more
of the history of Aboriginal Australia. ‘Getting
to sing Charlotte is incredibly powerful – and
bringing it to audiences is a real privilege,’ he
says. ‘Obviously, there is a sense of reflection,
knowing what the history is, and being given
the opportunity to perform it is strange and
slightly uncomfortable, but in a way it’s a
positive challenge.’
24

Barbeler says his musical setting of Charlotte
was inspired, in part, by walking on Country
north of Wangaratta, Victoria – Charlotte’s
ancestral land. He was keen that the singers
have an opportunity to walk on Country in
Sydney, guided by an Aboriginal elder. ‘I felt
that the Choir needed to walk on Country as
well – walking in the Australian landscape is
such a creative experience in itself,’ Barbeler
says, referring to lessons he’d learned from
Indigenous mentors. ‘Even a short walk would
give them, I hoped, some understanding of
where the piece has come from.’
Crispin, too, has been moved by hearing the
Choir sing of her ancestor, in a poem that
acknowledges the tragic past of Australia’s
race relations. ‘To hear (the text) coming from
these beautiful children is so courageous,
it’s lovely,’ she says. ‘It gives me hope for the
future.’
A music commission such as Charlotte makes a lasting contribution to Australian culture.
To discuss how you can help Musica Viva Australia commission new Australian music,
please contact Matthew Westwood: mwestwood@musicaviva.com.au / 0416 286 588.
25

Tribute
Steven Kinston (1908–1996)
local university. He travelled to Italy, where
anti-Jewish feeling was less pronounced,
and was welcomed into both the University
of Florence and, simultaneously, that city’s
Luigi Cherubini Conservatorium of Music. In
1933 he graduated with an unprecedented
two degrees: one in medicine, with a
speciality in dentistry, and another from the
Conservatorium, where he also won a
national piano competition.
A dental practitioner and a fine pianist,
Dr Steven Kinston was one of a number of
European immigrants whose contribution to
Australia’s artistic life in the 1950s and 1960s
helped transform the soul and face of the
nation.
When he and his younger brother, Paul,
arrived in Brisbane in 1938 as Jewish refugees,
they found a place where the arts were
struggling to gain a foothold in a relatively
new nation. Over the next decade, Dr Kinston
contributed substantially to the development
of Brisbane’s artistic life, founding the Brisbane
branch of Musica Viva Australia.
Born in 1908 in the small town of Kolomea,
Romania, Steven Kinston grew up in
Czernowicz (Cernăutį), where anti-Semitism
and discrimination marred his childhood.
Although possessing high intelligence and
musical ability, he was barred entrance to any
At this time it became obvious to Dr Kinston
that his family needed to find a new life and
a new country if they were to survive
Mussolini’s alliance with Hitler. He was
granted refugee status by Australia, and
before emigrating, returned to Romania to
say farewell to his parents. The Romanian
government immediately conscripted
Dr Kinston into the army and prevented
his leaving the country. Only a series of
undercover arrangements allowed him and
his brother to cross the border to freedom.
After his arrival in Brisbane he auditioned
for the ABC and was accepted on its roster of
soloists. He also established a successful
dental practice.
When business and personal commitments
necessitated the family’s move to Sydney
many years later, Dr Kinston remained a
passionate supporter of Musica Viva Australia
and of the arts in general. His achievements
were made possible through the support and
encouragement of his wife, Lena. Throughout
their 53 years together, he was intensely
devoted to her and to their two children.
His lifetime commitment to his adopted country
was epitomised by one of his favourite sayings:
‘The soul of a country is expressed in its art.’
© DAVID COLVILLE
The concert in Brisbane on 12 October is presented in memory of Dr Steven Kinston.
26

Musica
Alchemica
National Tour: 9–23 November
TICKETS FROM $62
musicaviva.com.au/musica-alchemica
1800 688 482 (no booking fees)

Season 2O25
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