THE ENSEMBLE

The Australian Haydn Ensemble, founded in 2012 by Artistic Director and Principal Violinist Skye McIntosh, has quickly established itself as one of Australia’s leading period-instrument ensembles, specialising in the repertoire of the late baroque and early classical eras. It takes its name from the great Joseph Haydn, a leading composer of the late eighteenth century, when style was transitioning from Baroque to Classical. Based around a small core of strings and flute, the Ensemble performs in a variety of sizes and combinations, ranging from string or flute quartet or quintet, to a full orchestra. AHE has developed a flourishing regular series at the City Recital Hall, the Sydney Opera House Utzon Room and in Canberra, where it was Ensemble in Residence at the Australian National University during 2014, and performed at the 2022 and 2023 Canberra International Music Festival. AHE also regularly performs throughout regional NSW and presents education workshops to students of all ages, focusing on imparting eighteenthcentury historical performance techniques. In January 2019, AHE presented programs at the Peninsula Summer Music Festival and the Organs of the Ballarat Goldfields Festival in Victoria, receiving glowing reviews. In 2022 the Ensemble performed at the Adelaide Festival to great acclaim.

In 2016, the group released its debut ABC Classics recording The Haydn Album, which reached number one on the Australian Aria Classical charts. It received rave reviews, one claiming that the Ensemble stood “proudly shoulder to shoulder with the many period instrument ensembles found in Europe”. In October 2017, AHE released Beethoven Piano Concertos 1 & 3 on the ABC Classics label, showcasing newly commissioned chamber versions of the works in the style of the eighteenth century, in collaboration with Aria award-winning historical keyboardist Dr Neal Peres Da Costa. Reviewers have been extremely enthusiastic: “This recording is remarkable not only for the pianist’s wonderfully free and fluent playing, but also for the excellent performance of the Ensemble.”

The Ensemble has presented a host of unique chamber music and orchestral programs, working with a range of world-class musicians such as Erin Helyard, Neal Peres Da Costa (Australia), Catherine Mackintosh, Melvyn Tan, Benjamin Bayl, Chad Kelly (UK), Marc Destrubé (Canada), Midori Seiler (Germany) as well as singers Sara Macliver (Australia), Stephanie True (Canada), Simon Lobelson (Australia), Helen Sherman (UK) and David Greco (Australia). AHE is particularly interested in presenting unusual programs of eighteenth-century chamber versions of larger orchestral symphonic and concerto works by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, as well as bringing to a wider audience some of the lesser-known contemporaries of these composers, such as Abel, Albrechtsberger, C.P.E. Bach, J.C. Bach, David, Graun, Hoffmeister and Vanhal.

Members of the Australian Haydn Ensemble bring a wealth of expertise from first-class period and modern ensembles and orchestras around the world, such as the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of the Antipodes, Concerto Köln, English Baroque Soloists, English Chamber Orchestra, Irish Chamber Orchestra, Julliard 415, Les Talens Lyrique, New Dutch Academy, Apollo’s Fire and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

To commemorate its 10th anniversary, the Ensemble recorded its third CD, with music by Mozart, for release in the coming months. In October 2023, the Ensemble will undertake a tour of the United States including performances at Carnegie Hall and at the opening of the new Australian Embassy in Washington DC.