Winter

I leant upon a coppice gate When Frost was spectre-grey, And Winter’s dregs made desolate The weakening eye of day. The tangled bine-stems scored the sky Like strings of broken lyres, And all mankind that haunted nigh Had sought their household fires.

– Thomas Hardy (1840–1928)

SIMON GLEESON WITH PAUL KILDEA Elements

SATURDAY 5 JUNE 7.00PM

Musical theatre star Simon Gleeson is best known for his acclaimed interpretation of Jean Valjean in Les Misérables, for which he received the 2015 Helpmann Award for Best Male Actor in a Musical. He has played iconic musical theatre roles including The Russian/Anatoly Karpov in Chess, Curly in Oklahoma!, and Raoul in the Australian premiere production of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Love Never Dies.

Conductor, writer and pianist Paul Kildea is known as an international authority on Benjamin Britten, and recently conducted Neil Armfield’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the Adelaide Festival. Paul has been Head of Music at the Aldeburgh Festival (1992–2002), Artistic Director of Wigmore Hall (2003–05) and is currently the Artistic Director of Musica Viva Australia. Simon and Paul share a special rapport born from a mutual love of musical theatre. In this unique and very intimate UKARIA experience, you can enjoy a two-course dinner while Simon and Paul perform music from Simon’s debut album, Elements, alongside other songs for which they have a strong connection and history. Mingling composers such as Stephen Sondheim and Rogers and Hammerstein alongside the likes of Elton John and George Harrison, this concert showcases the essence of what makes Simon the acclaimed artist he is: a captivating storyteller with a rich and extraordinary voice.

Note | This concert will be presented with cabaret-style seating, and includes a two-course dinner. Tickets Adult (A) $130

GENEVIEVE LACEY WITH KATHERINE TONKIN Music to Play for Plants

SUNDAY 6 JUNE 2.30PM Music to Play for Plants is a gentle ode to the botanical world: poetic texts and tunes woven into a quiet incantation. Hildegard von Bingen, Bassano and Telemann interlaced with Hafiz and Marvell; Wisława Szymborska and Mary Oliver in conversation with Ros Bandt and Andrea Keller.

Nature inspires humans in a myriad of ways. Some of today’s offerings trace a dreamy, romantic love for our environment. Others are more charged, reminding us that our role as caretakers of this miraculous planet has never been more urgent. Music to Play for Plants offers an invitation to dream and hope, looking out onto the glorious backdrop of the UKARIA gardens and the ancient Peramangk landscape beyond.

Katherine Tonkin is regarded as one of Australia’s finest theatre actors. Her extensive body of work includes productions for the Melbourne and Sydney Theatre Companies, Belvoir and Malthouse Theatres, Sydney Opera House, as well as playing to festivals both nationally and farther afield in London, Beijing, Prague and Shanghai. Genevieve Lacey is an endlessly curious artist, whose collaborations lead her down a series of uncommon paths. She brings to all her work her lyrical musicianship, her love for the natural world, and her generous connection with audiences. Genevieve Lacey | Recorders Katherine Tonkin | Actor Jim Atkins | Sound Design

Duration | Approximately seventy minutes without interval.

Note | Complimentary afternoon tea will be served after the performance. Tickets Adult (A) $55 Concession (C) $50 Student (S) $25

JULIAN SMILES WITH DIMITY HALL AND BERNADETTE HARVEY Haunted Spring

SUNDAY 13 JUNE 2.30PM

Julian Smiles (cello) and Dimity Hall (violin) have been central figures in Australia’s chamber music landscape for the past three decades. Core members of the Australia Ensemble (since 1991) and the Goldner String Quartet (since 1995), they’ve performed together all around the world, made over thirty recordings on leading labels, and premiered many works by Australian and international composers. Few pianists can rival Bernadette Harvey’s authority, passion, and finesse when it comes to Australian music. Concertos and sonatas have been written for her nimble and mighty fingers, which have been described as ‘blisteringly virtuosic’ (The West Australian). Composers such as Carl Vine, Elena Kats-Chernin, Ross Edwards, Nigel Westlake and Matthew Hindson have made immeasurable contributions to our sense of national identity. The existence of their work ensures that chamber music remains a living, thriving art form – something infinitely more than a museum of sounds from a bygone age. All of the music in this program was composed within the last twenty years, offering a beautiful snapshot of the contemporary Australian sound. Carl Vine Strutt Sonata for Cello and Piano

Elena Kats-Chernin Blue Silence for Cello and Piano

Ross Edwards Haunted Spring for Violin and Cello

Ross Edwards ‘Orison’ from Vespers for Mother Earth

Nigel Westlake Piano Trio Matthew Hindson ‘Epic Diva’ from Piano Trio

Duration | Approximately seventy minutes without interval.

Note | Complimentary afternoon tea will be served after the performance. Tickets Adult (A) $55 Concession (C) $50 Student (S) $25

ENSEMBLE Q Dreams and Prayers

SUNDAY 20 JUNE 2.30PM

‘I had always the intuition that, in order to achieve the highest possible intensity in a performance, musicians should play, metaphorically speaking, “blind” … Blindness, then, reminded me of how to compose music as it was in the beginning: An art that springs from and relies on our ability to sing and hear, with the power to build castles of sound in our memories.’

– Osvaldo Golijov (b. 1960)

Ensemble Q was born in 2015 out of a desire to create a collective of exceptional players and to provide mentoring opportunities for Australia’s finest young musicians. Under the co-artistic direction of Paul and Trish Dean, the ensemble is renowned for its dynamic programming and unique synergy, creating performances charged with electricity and excitement. Natsuko Yoshimoto returns to Adelaide to lead the ensemble in the second string quartet of Pavel Haas – From the Monkey Mountains – and Osvaldo Golijov’s The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind. Natsuko Yoshimoto | Violin Anne Horton | Violin Imants Larsens | Viola Trish Dean | Cello Paul Dean | Clarinet Jacob Enoka | Percussion

Duration | Approximately seventy minutes without interval.

Note | Complimentary afternoon tea will be served after the performance. Tickets Adult (A) $55 Concession (C) $50 Student (S) $25

LAURA JEAN

SATURDAY 26 JUNE 7.30PM

2020 This concert has been rescheduled from the 2020 Season

‘It is a quiet urgency that makes Laura Jean compelling’

– The Monthly

Melbourne-born singer/songwriter Laura Jean became an indie folk sensation with the release of her debut album in 2006. Championed by Snow Patrol and Bon Iver, she went on to record with Paul Kelly, The Drones and Oh Mercy, tour with Marlon Williams, Aldous Harding, Adalita and Jenny Hval, and perform at the National Gallery of Victoria, Dark Mofo and the Sydney Town Hall. Her eponymous 2014 album was shortlisted for the Australian Music Prize and described as ‘an uncompromising triumph’ by Rolling Stone. Revered for the striking beauty of her voice and the piercing immediacy of her lyrics, Laura Jean has embraced a multitude of styles, from the classicallyinspired folk of Our Swan Song, to the bright synth pop of 2018’s Devotion – a nostalgic, coastal-inspired love letter to youth gone by.

Laura Jean | Vocals Erkki Veltheim | Violin / Arrangements Stephen King | Viola Sharon Grigoryan | Cello Bree van Reyk | Percussion

Duration | Approximately two hours, including a twenty-minute interval. Tickets Adult (A) $65 Concession (C) $60

ANDREW BLANCH AND EMILY GRANGER Suite Magica

SUNDAY 4 JULY 2.30PM

Amongst the exciting emergence of a new generation of classical musicians, guitarist Andrew Blanch stands out. He’s found his own path as a soloist, winning first prize in the 2019 Adelaide International Guitar Competition and the 2015 Melbourne International Guitar Competition. His collaborators include Ariel Nurhadi (with whom he released the album Alchemy on ABC Classic in 2020), baritone José Carbó (of The Metropolitan Opera in New York), the New Zealand Guitar Quartet, and American harpist Emily Granger. Emily grew up in Kanas City, Missouri, and is rapidly establishing herself as one of the world’s most exciting new exponents of her instrument. She’s performed as Guest Principal Harp of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, collaborated and performed with artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Renée Fleming and Jonas Kaufmann, and is a founding member of the Chicago Harp Quartet, with whom she has released two albums.

Guitar and harp is an exquisite combination that whispers its secrets only in the most intimate and transparent acoustic. Small suites by Máximo Diego Pujol and Marco Pereira bookend this concert, which also includes works by Ravel and Granados, and the premiere of a new work for the duo by Elena Kats-Chernin. Duration | Approximately one hour without interval.

Note | Complimentary afternoon tea will be served after the performance. Tickets Adult (A) $55 Concession (C) $50 Student (S) $25

SONYA LIFSCHITZ WITH CHRISTINE JOHNSTON Above / Below

SUNDAY 18 JULY 2.30PM

The field shimmering with flowers, the stars swirling in the heavens, the song of the lark fills the blue abyss.

– Apollon Maykov (1821–1897)

Ukrainian-Australian pianist Sonya Lifschitz is at the forefront of cross-disciplinary collaboration in Australia. Innovative and fiercely creative, Sonya re-contextualises the classical canon and pushes the boundaries of conventional concert practices. Conceived as a reflection on the cyclical nature of life, Above / Below pairs the poetic, lyrical vignettes of Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons, Op. 37a (based on the twelve calendar months of the year) with the abstract mysticism of George Crumb’s Makrokosmos, Book I (based on the twelve signs of the zodiac). Joining Sonya is performance artist Christine Johnston (known affectionately as ‘Madame Lark’), whose uncanny ability to mimic Australian birdcalls – along with her gift for narration – has seen her appear at festivals and concerts across the country. In this concert, she’ll play the musical saw, imitate the song of the lark, and recite poetry as Sonya juxtaposes two widely divergent musical voices, allowing them to speak to each other in surprising and illuminating ways. Duration | Approximately one hour without interval.

Note | Complimentary afternoon tea will be served after the performance. Tickets Adult (A) $55 Concession (C) $50 Student (S) $25

AUSTRALIAN STRING QUARTET Fischer and Schumann

FRIDAY 23 JULY 11.00AM Throughout his life, Schumann penned only three string quartets, each composed quickly in 1842, his ‘year of chamber music’. The A major Op. 41 quartet – dedicated to his contemporary and friend Felix Mendelssohn – was written after an intense period studying the quartets of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. Schumann’s reverence for their craft is echoed through his use of formal structure and rhythmic interplay, but the intensely pained beauty and tenderness of melody and harmony is utterly his own.

Moravian violinist and composer Pavel Fischer’s third String Quartet – the Mad Piper – takes its name from the bravery and heroism of Scottish legend Bill Millin, who led troops into battle during World War II with nothing but his bagpipes and a knife. This exhilarating quartet blends the traditions of folk and western art music with seamless ease, and draws life from the ancient tunes of Scotland and Southeast Europe to create an explosive and engaging start to this program. Duration | Approximately one hour without interval.

Note | Complimentary Devonshire tea will be served prior to the performance from 10.00am. Tickets Adult (A) $50 Concession (C) $45 Student (S) $25

TIMO-VEIKKO VALVE AND AURA GO Beethoven: The Complete Cello Sonatas

SUNDAY 25 JULY

2020 This concert has been rescheduled from the 2020 Season

‘A journey through this cycle is like time travel. These works are a cornerstone of my artistic identity.’

– Timo-Veikko Valve

‘When it comes to Beethoven, pianists are exceptionally lucky. Beethoven turned to the piano more often than any other instrument, leaving us with a body of work that expresses the struggle, suffering, and despair of the human condition, right alongside the joy and humour – ultimately the unvanquishable human spirit.’

– Aura Go

Ahead of a new album release for ABC Classic, Timo-Veikko Valve joins Aura Go to perform the complete Cello Sonatas of Ludwig van Beethoven. Experiencing the cycle in one day gives us an especially intimate conversation with Beethoven, meeting him at various times across his life. There is a special alchemy between the instruments in these works, the piano and cello completely equal, fully evolved partners. Also included is the complete works for cello and piano by Anton Webern (one of the central members of the Second Viennese School), offering a fascinating contrast. 11.30AM

Ludwig van Beethoven Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 1 in F, Op. 5 No. 1 Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 4 in C, Op. 102 No. 1 Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 3 in A, Op. 69

Followed by Light Lunch (separate booking required)

2.30PM

Ludwig van Beethoven Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 2 in G minor, Op. 5 No. 2 Anton Webern

Sonata for Cello and Piano Two Pieces for Cello and Piano Drei kleine stücke, Op. 11 Ludwig van Beethoven Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 5 in D, Op. 102 No. 2

Duration | Each concert will run for approximately one hour without interval. Full Package (Two concerts and a Light Lunch) Adult (A) $120 | Concession (C) $110 | Student (S) $70 Two-Concert Pass Adult (A) $90 | Concession (C) $80 | Student (S) $40 Single Tickets Adult (A) $50 | Concession (C) $45 | Concession (S) $25 Light Lunch | $35 per person