Photo: Dylan Henderson
UKARIA honours our First Nations by fostering a shared sense of respect for this land, and we acknowledge and pay our respects to the Peramangk, traditional custodians of the land on which the Cultural Centre stands.
Sunday 4 February 10
Sunday 11 February
Paul Lewis
Saturday 24 February 12
Sunday 25 February
Brooklyn Rider
Sunday 24 March 18
Australian String Quartet
Andrea Lam
Sunday 7 April 20
JACK Quartet
Sunday 21 April 22
Momentum Ensemble
Christoph Altstaedt
Rachelle Durkin
Sunday 28 April 24
Dudok Quartet Amsterdam
Sunday 12 May 26
Trio Karénine
Saturday 25 May 28
Phil Slater Quintet
Sunday 9 June 32
Alexander Melnikov
Friday 14 June 34
Saturday 15 June
Sunday 16 June
VOCES8 A Cappella Academy
Sunday 7 July 36
Satu Vänskä Konstantin Shamray
Sunday 21 July 40
Siobhan Stagg
Nico de Villiers
Friday 6 September 42
Saturday 7 September
Sunday 8 September
James Morrison
Saturday 13 July 38
Simon Tedeschi
Paul Cutlan
Cameron Undy
Friday 18 October 44
Saturday 19 October
Sunday 20 October
UKARIA 24
Olli Mustonen
Saturday 7 December 48
Sunday 8 December
Joshua Bell
Our vision is to share world-class musicians in an intimate environment that makes both them and us feel at home. Artists tell us how much it means to play for such a receptive and engaged community of listeners.
We are fortunate to collaborate with other venues, orchestras and presenters to ensure that artists coming to Australia have multiple engagements, so you can hear them as concerto soloists, in recital and playing chamber music with friends.
Our commitment to providing educational opportunities continues with our A Cappella Academy (directed by Tim Wayne-Wright), which this year will feature VOCES8 as Ensemble-inResidence. We’re also delighted to welcome Momentum Ensemble back for the first time since Nicolas Altstaedt’s UKARIA 24 weekend in 2018, and it could not be more fitting to have his brother Christoph with us to conduct the next generation of talented musicians.
Iain Grandage builds on the success of his hugely popular ‘Women of Song’ series, bringing four leading contemporary voices to UKARIA in 2024. There’s jazz, too. Toby Chadd has curated a new series celebrating Australian artists and the icons who have inspired them: the Phil Slater Quintet will give us their take on Miles Davis in May, and Simon Tedeschi, Paul Cutlan and Cameron Undy honour the legacy of Dave Brubeck in June.
This will be our only printed brochure and contains our activities from February to July. To assist with your planning, we have also included the dates of our weekend events in September and November. There is one final event that falls beyond the calendar of this program which we have decided to include because of its special significance: to hear Joshua Bell in the intimacy of UKARIA will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
In early June we will release a digital guide for the second part of our season.
As always, we look forward to sharing these performances with you.
Ulrike Klein AO Alison Beare Founder CEO
Photo: Randy Larcombe
‘All the others translate: the painter sketches A visible world to love or reject; Rummaging into his living, the poet fetches The images out that hurt and connect.
From Life to Art by painstaking adaptation Relying on us to cover the rift; Only your notes are pure contraption, Only your song is an absolute gift.
Pour out your presence, O delight, cascading The falls of the knee and the weirs of the spine, Our climate of silence and doubt invading;
You, alone, alone, O imaginary song, Are unable to say an existence is wrong, And pour out your forgiveness like a wine.’
Photo: Dylan Henderson – W.H. Auden (1907–1973), The ComposerSUNDAY 4 & SUNDAY 11 FEBRUARY
‘His weighting and voicing of chords has thought, and perfection abounds in everything he does. He is a true poet of the piano.’
– InReview
Following the success of parts one and two in February 2023, Paul Lewis returns to UKARIA to complete his landmark Schubert cycle, in which he performs the complete sonatas in four concerts over two years in leading venues across the globe, from London’s Wigmore Hall to the Oslo Opera House and the Sala São Paolo in Brazil.
‘Schubert’s completed piano sonatas take us on a unique and heart-wrenching journey through the last twelve years of his life. From the charming lyricism of the early sonatas to the transcendent creativity of the late masterpieces, via harrowing moments of despair as his health started to decline.
The sonatas express with directness and sincerity some of the most fundamental elements of human experience – longing, consolation, despair, joy, loss, nostalgia, and hope. In our time, his music is as essential and poignant as ever.’
– Paul Lewis
SUNDAY 4 FEBRUARY 2.30PM
‘… the most delicate nuance, significance everywhere, the keenest expression of the particular, and finally the whole suffused with a romanticism… And the heavenly length …’
– Robert Schumann (1810–1856)
Sonata No. 4 in A minor, D. 537
Sonata No. 9 in B, D. 575
Sonata No. 18 in G, D. 894
SUNDAY 11 FEBRUARY 2.30PM
‘Art should forget its constraints, mix the disparate, be unreasonable, want more than it can do and do more than anybody can want. Boundless is beautiful. […] Where Schubert’s music used to appear too long, suddenly it cannot be long enough.
– Alfred Brendel (b. 1931)
Sonata No. 19 in C minor, D. 958
Sonata No. 20 in A, D. 959
Sonata No. 21 in B flat, D. 960
PRE-CONCERT LUNCH 12.30PM
Two-Concert Pass
Adult $126 | Concession $117
Individual Concerts
Adult $70 | Concession $65 | Student $35
Pre-Concert Lunch (Sunday 11 February 12.30pm)
Two Courses | $75 per person
Complimentary afternoon tea will be served during the interval of both concerts.
Brooklyn Rider has redefined how we think about the string quartet today. Honouring the medium’s deep historical roots yet continually expanding its possibilities for innovation and renewal, they find equal inspiration in musical languages ranging from late Beethoven to Persian classical music; from American roots to the endlessly varied voices of today’s leading classical composers.
Brooklyn Rider is a twenty-first-century reincarnation of the artist collective Der Blauer Reiter (The Blue Rider; founded by Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc in 1911), who published an eclectic almanac of artwork, essays and music that offered a vision for the future and an open embrace of diverse traditions, media and aesthetics.
The quartet’s 2023–24 engagements at leading concert venues and festivals around the world are a testament to their universal appeal: Brooklyn Rider will be Ensemble-in-Residence at the Beethovenfest Bonn; perform a triple concert cycle at London’s Wigmore Hall; play concerts at the Kölner Philharmonie and Antwerp’s DE SINGEL; and embark on their first Australian tour, which includes performances at the Perth Festival, Melbourne Recital Centre, Sydney Opera House and UKARIA. Pick either one of their thoughtprovoking programs (or – better yet – join us for the whole weekend) and discover why they’re being hailed as ‘the future of chamber music’ (Strings).
Johnny Gandelsman Violin
Colin Jacobsen Violin
Nicholas Cords Viola
Michael Nicolas Cello
Two-Concert Pass
Adult $126 | Concession $117
Individual Concerts
Adult $70 | Concession $65 | Student $35
Complimentary afternoon tea will be served during the interval on Sunday only.
SATURDAY 24 FEBRUARY 7.30PM
Three genre-defining works of the repertoire commune with three new commissions to invoke the four classical elements of earth, air, fire and water. A celebration of our home planet, Colin Jacobsen’s A Short While to Be Here reflects on life’s transience and pays homage to Ruth Crawford Seeger – one of America’s most visionary twentieth-century composers.
Akshaya Avril Tucker’s Hollow Flame grapples with the devastating effects of climate change. Developed through the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music’s ‘Composing Earth’ program, the work attempts to reconcile the conflicting emotions of grief, fear, anxiety, empathy, numbness and anger in an eviscerating string soundscape.
Andreia Pinto Correia’s Aere senza stelle (Air Without Stars) evokes the dust storms from the Sahara Desert to the Iberian Peninsular, conjuring sonic clouds that mirror the structure of extracts from Dante’s Inferno. Then comes Henri Dutilleux’s startlingly original Ainsi la nuite (Thus the Night), inspired by Proust’s preoccupations with time and memory.
Conflagrations are reignited after the interval with Shostakovich’s eighth string quartet, dedicated to ‘victims of fascism and war’. Osvaldo Golijov’s Tenebrae extinguishes the flame with a deeply haunting meditation on the contrasts of human experience, revealing the fragility and vulnerability of our planet.
EARTH
Colin Jacobsen
A Short While to Be Here
FIRE
Akshaya Avril Tucker
Hollow Flame
AIR
Andreia Pinto Correia
Aere senza stelle
AIR
Henri Dutilleux
Ainsi la nuit
FIRE
Dmitri Shostakovich
String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110
WATER
Osvaldo Golijov
Tenebrae
SUNDAY 25 FEBRUARY 2.30PM
Juxtaposing familiar works with the new and lesser known, Brooklyn Rider explores a boundless sandbox of musical creativity, dialogue, and play: the medium of the string quartet itself. Haydn’s C major Sun quartet is one of the prototypical jewels of the Classical era, replete with pioneering inventiveness and an enduring love of the genre. The program segues from the veritable father of the string quartet to a highly anticipated new chapter of The Brooklyn Rider Almanac. In part inspired by The Blue Rider (the quartet’s namesake), this celebration of the project’s twentieth anniversary adds to a diverse and novel body of works penned by luminous musical creators from the jazz, folk, and indie rock worlds.
Brooklyn Rider’s enduring relationship with Philip Glass (perhaps the most iconic ambassador of musical minimalism) is honoured with his Quartet Satz – a seven-minute sojourn into mesmeric bliss, described by the Kronos Quartet as ‘something that encapsulates his entire vision in one work’. It serves as the perfect prelude to Dvořák’s American – a perennial masterpiece that radiates warmth from the inside out, providing the most picturesque conclusion to a weekend of unmissable chamber music.
‘They are four classical musicians with the energy of young rock stars jamming on their guitars, a Beethoven-goes-indie foray into making classical music accessible but also celebrating why it was good in the first place.’
– Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Joseph Haydn
String Quartet in C, Op. 20 No. 2, Hob. III: 32 Sun
Various
The Brooklyn Rider Almanac, Book II
Philip Glass Quartet Satz
Antonín Dvořák
String Quartet No. 12 in F, Op. 96 American
‘This is the kindliest season of the year.
The sun’s gold arrows all Have lost their barbs; thick fall
The berries ripe, and still Each bird may have his fill.
Now peace and plenteousness have spread their wings
After the blessed rains
On autumn hills and plains. We too give thanks and bless This southland’s graciousness.’
– Dorothea Mackellar (1885–1968), Australian Autumn (1924)
Photo: Dylan Henderson
SUNDAY 24 MARCH 2.30PM
Andrea Lam is recognised as one of Australia’s leading pianists. Her latest engagements include performances with the Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras as concerto soloist; playing Bach’s Goldberg Variations with Paul Grabowsky in a national tour for Musica Viva Australia; and recording the ARIA-nominated album Nocturnes with Emily Sun for ABC Classic.
Andrea’s first collaboration with the Australian String Quartet (ASQ) at their 2021 Dunkeld Festival of Music revealed a rare artistic synergy. Joining forces once more, Andrea and the ASQ play the neglected Quintet in D minor, H. 49 by Frank Bridge, whose mastery of string textures left an indelible influence on the compositional voice of Benjamin Britten. This ambitious, muscular work has an extraordinarily demanding piano part, making it an ideal companion to Schumann’s Quintet in E flat, Op. 44 – perhaps the most iconic quintet ever written.
Dale Barltrop
Violin
Francesca Hiew
Violin
Christopher Cartlidge
Viola
Michael Dahlenburg Cello
Andrea Lam
Piano
Frank Bridge
Piano Quintet in D minor, H. 49
Robert Schumann
Piano Quintet in E flat, Op. 44
TICKETS
Adult $70 |
Concession $65 |
Student $35
Complimentary afternoon tea will be served during the interval.
Photo: Jacqui Way
SUNDAY 7 APRIL 2.30PM
‘… expert in the most ferociously difficult modern scores…’
– The New Yorker
Christopher Otto (violin), Austin Wulliman (violin), John Richards (viola) and Jay Campbell (cello) are the JACK Quartet. Formed in 2005 and based in New York City, this fearless foursome are champions for many of today’s most creative voices (John Luther Adams, Caroline Shaw, Liza Lim, and Elliott Carter, to name only a few). The JACK Studio program has commissioned over forty composers to date, dismantling outmoded classical music pipelines through residencies, readings and recordings.
The quartet’s singular devotion to innovation and experimentation yields a radical embodiment of the technical, musical and emotional aspects of every work they touch, creating performances that ‘are a model of flawless ensemble and intonation’ (Gramophone). Among their honours are three GRAMMY nominations; an Avery Fischer Career Grant; the Fromm Music Foundation Prize; and Lincoln Center’s Martin E. Segal Award. We are honoured to present an ensemble universally recognised as one of the most respected experimental string quartets performing today.
Nathaniel Giles
Miserere (arr. Christopher Otto)
Elliott Carter
String Quartet No. 1
Liza Lim String Creatures
Adult $70 |
Concession $65 | Student $35
Complimentary afternoon tea will be served during the interval.
Photo: Beowulf Sheehan
SUNDAY 21 APRIL 2.30PM
Momentum Ensemble are a group of dynamic musicians powered by the Australian Youth Orchestra (AYO). Dedicated to bringing new interpretations and unconventional works to venues that transcend the boundaries of the traditional concert hall, the program acts as a revolutionary training platform for talented young artists at the cusp of their professional careers. Joining them as guest soloist is awardwinning operatic soprano Rachelle Durkin, who spent twenty years as a Principal Artist at The Metropolitan Opera in New York.
Conductor Christoph Altstaedt is a hugely respected educational figure with a demonstrable commitment to supporting the next generation of musicians. In constant demand across Europe, he works with youth orchestras and students from Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic and Finland. His first collaboration with the AYO brings together a unique and rarely performed program of musical satire and theatre centred around HK Gruber’s Frankenstein!! – a hugely entertaining setting of children’s rhymes by the Viennese poet HC Artmann.
‘Music, art and literature give people comfort, strength, encouragement and joy of life in every phase of life. I would like as many people as possible to have access to this wealth.’
– Christoph Altstaedt
György Ligeti
Mysteries of the Macabre (arr. Elgar Howarth)
Nicholas Vines
Carnival of the Megafauna
HK Gruber
Frankenstein!! A pan-demonium for chansonnier and ensemble after children’s rhymes (ensemble version)
TICKETS
Adult $70 | Concession $65 | Student $35
Complimentary afternoon tea will be served during the interval.
Photo: Maja Baska
SUNDAY 28 APRIL 2.30PM
The Dudok Quartet owe their existence to the Dutch architect Willem Marinus Dudok (1884–1974), who moonlighted as a composer and had a deep love of music. In 2014 the quartet was honoured with the prestigious Dutch Kesjes Prize, and since then they’ve picked up accolades at the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition and the Joseph Joachim International Chamber Music Competition in Weimar.
Dudok has become a fixture on the international touring circuit, performing at Vienna’s Konzerthaus, London’s Wigmore Hall, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, and the Beethoven-Haus Bonn, along with regular appearances at their local Concertgebouw and Muziekgebouw halls in Amsterdam. The Quartet plays instruments generously on loan from the Dutch Musical Instrument Fund (NMF), often using gut strings and changing their bows according to the demands of the repertoire. They are looking forward to their debut at UKARIA: a place where the architecture ennobles the music, and the music ennobles the architecture – just as Dudok does for its namesake.
Judith van Driel Violin
Marleen Webster Violin
Marie-Louise de Jong Viola
David Faber
Cello
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
String Quartet No. 23 in F, K. 590
Grażyna Bacewicz
String Quartet No. 4
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
String Quartet No. 3 in E flat minor, Op. 30
Adult $70 | Concession $65 | Student $35
Complimentary afternoon tea will be served during the interval.
Photo: Green Room Creatives – Yuri Andries
SUNDAY 12 MAY 2.30PM
Drawing inspiration from the indomitable spirit of Anna Karenina, three young Parisians came together in 2009 to form a trio. They enrolled in a chamber class with Quatuor Ysaÿe, and later crossed paths with Menahem Pressler, Alfred Brendel and the members of the legendary Trio Wanderer, who guided and nourished their sensibilities as chamber musicians.
Prizewinning performances in the ARD International Competition in Munich, the International Chamber Music Competition in the Netherlands, and the Joseph Haydn Competition in Vienna followed, along with the prestigious Nordmetall-Ensemble Prize from the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festspiele. A recording contract with the French label Mirare has yielded six critically acclaimed albums to date, cementing their reputation as one of the most promising trios of their generation.
Camille Saint-Säens
Piano Trio No. 1 in F, Op. 18
Joaquín Turina
Piano Trio No. 1 in D, Op. 35
Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Trio in B flat, Op. 97 Archduke
Charlotte Juillard Violin
Louis Rodde Cello
Paloma Kouider Piano
TICKETS
Adult $70 | Concession $65 | Student $35
Complimentary afternoon tea will be served during the interval.
Photo: Lyodoh Kaneko
SATURDAY 25 MAY 7.30PM
Miles Davis’ influence extends beyond jazz: he is a defining presence in twentieth-century culture. His output – think Kind of Blue, Birth of the Cool, Bitches Brew – constantly reinvented what music could be, and perhaps more than any other jazz artist he is both revered by musicians and beloved by audiences.
Australian Phil Slater, like Davis both a trumpeter and composer, is perfectly placed to give us a very personal take on this titan’s work. In this concert, Phil captures a remarkable moment in time, exploring the trailblazing recordings Davis made with his quintet (including Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter) in the 1960s. Alongside his own hand-picked quintet, Phil will perform a host of Davis’ original material, and explain just what makes these recordings so compelling. And we’ll have the chance to hear some of Phil’s own music so inspired by Davis, bringing a defining jazz legacy both home to Australia and right up to date.
Phil Slater
Trumpet
Matt Keegan
Saxophone
Matt McMahon
Piano
Brett Hirst Bass
Simon Barker
Drums
TICKETS
Adult $70 |
Concession $65
Photo: Simone Coleman
‘Winter garden, the moon thinned to a thread, insects singing.’
– Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694)
‘A net to snare the moonlight, A sod spread to the sun, A place of toil by daytime, Of dreams when toil is done.’
– Vachel Lindsay (1879–1931)
Photo: Dylan Henderson
‘… an unforgettable experience.’
– Hamburger Abendblatt
Alexander Melnikov is a contemporary torchbearer of a pianistic tradition that can be traced back to the nineteenth century. At the Moscow Conservatory, Alexander honed his craft under the guidance of Lev Naumov (the ‘Godfather of the Russian piano school’; himself a student of the legendary Heinrich Neuhaus), and was introduced to Sviatoslav Richter, who promptly invited him to festivals throughout Russia and France. Meteoric ascension was all but assured: prizes at the Robert Schumann Competition in Zwickau (1989) and the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels (1991) swiftly followed, leading to his selection as a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist (2000–02). Then came a recording contract with harmonia mundi – one of the world’s most prestigious labels. Many of the albums in his impressive corpus of recordings have attained reference status, winning awards such as the Diapason d’Or, the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik, an Echo Klassik and a GRAMMY nomination.
In Australia to perform concerti with the Melbourne and Sydney Symphony Orchestras, Alexander makes his debut at UKARIA with an all-Rachmaninov program. The kaleidoscopic diversity of this music – which encompasses everything from haunting melodies to
pyrotechnics of the highest order – will reveal Alexander as one of the quintessential Russian virtuosi of our time.
Sergei Rachmaninov
Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42
Variations on a Theme of Chopin, Op. 22
Études-Tableaux, Op. 39
TICKETS
Adult $70 | Concession $65 | Student $35
Complimentary afternoon tea will be served during the interval.
Photo: Julien Mignot
‘VOCES8’s gorgeous sound, impeccable ensemble and intense responsiveness to text, harmony and melodic shape is all of the highest quality. Hearing them sing is a joy.’
– BBC Music Magazine
Established in 2005 by brothers Paul and Barnaby Smith, GRAMMY-nominated British vocal ensemble VOCES8 epitomises the magic of a cappella singing. The ensemble’s reputation for world-class performances across a wide range of repertoire has grown exponentially, and in recent years, alongside their live performances, the ensemble has increased its global reach through high-quality video production. Their ten LIVE from London festivals, created as a specific response to the pandemic through The VOCES8 Foundation, have sold over 250,000 tickets across the globe.
Returning to Australia, and to UKARIA, for the first time since 2019, VOCES8 will be Ensemblein-Residence for our 2024 A Cappella Academy, directed by Timothy Wayne-Wright (a former member of The King’s Singers). VOCES8 will perform three bespoke programs in the first half of each concert, followed by recitals from Adelaide Chamber Singers, Aurora Vocal Ensemble and Festival Statesmen Chorus in the second half. Each concert will culminate in a collaborative work created especially for this Academy. In addition to the three concerts, Tim will present professional development workshops for singers and conductors, with details announced online in early 2024.
Andrea Haines
Soprano
Molly Noon
Soprano
Katie Jeffries-Harris
Alto
Barnaby Smith
Artistic Director / Countertenor
Blake Morgan
Tenor
Euan Williamson
Tenor
Christopher Moore
Baritone
Dominic Carver Bass
A Cappella Academy
Directed by Timothy Wayne-Wright
Adelaide Chamber Singers
Directed by Christie Anderson
Aurora Vocal Ensemble
Directed by Christie Anderson
Festival Statesmen Chorus
Directed by Jonathan Bligh
VOCES8 WITH ADELAIDE CHAMBER SINGERS
FRIDAY 14 JUNE 7.30PM
VOCES8 WITH AURORA VOCAL ENSEMBLE SATURDAY 15 JUNE 7.30PM
VOCES8 WITH FESTIVAL STATESMEN CHORUS SUNDAY 16 JUNE 2.30PM
TICKETS
Individual Concerts
Adult $70 | Concession $65 | Student $35
Complimentary afternoon tea will be served during the interval of the Sunday concert.
SUNDAY 7 JULY 2.30PM
Born to a Finnish family in Japan, violinist Satu Vänskä has developed an international profile through her role as Principal Violin with the Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO), a position she has held for the past twenty years. She was named Young Soloist of the Year by Sinfonia Lahti in 1998, and a few years later was prize winner of the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben. From 2001 Satu played under the auspices of Lord Yehudi Menuhin’s Live Music Now Foundation, which gave her the opportunity to perform with musicians including Radu Lupu and Heinrich Schiff.
The program for her recital with Konstantin Shamray weaves together an intricate tapestry of bagatelles, preludes, dances and lullabies. The first half offers postcards from Eastern Europe, with music by Valentin Silvestrov (Ukraine), Dmitri Shostakovich (Russia), and Fryderyk Chopin (Poland). The second half celebrates Satu’s Finnish roots with gorgeous vignettes by Aulis Sallinen and Jean Sibelius, before concluding with Beethoven’s Champagne sonata.
TICKETS
Adult $70 | Concession $65 | Student $35
Complimentary afternoon tea will be served during the interval.
Photo: Daniel Boud
Dave Brubeck and his new ‘cool’ jazz roared to popularity in the 1950s. Time Out was the first jazz record to sell one million copies, and the irresistible groove of its standout tunes, ‘Blue Rondo à la Turk’ and ‘Take Five’, ensure its enduring appeal.
This concert is a rare chance to hear those iconic tracks – and more – live. Virtuosity and flair are a must to perform Brubeck, and this Australian trio led by pianist Simon Tedeschi has both in spades. But there are hidden depths beneath the apparent breeziness of this music: daring rhythms, huge technical virtuosity and deep roots in the classical tradition. Tedeschi – equally at home in the classical concert hall as the jazz club, and a brilliant communicator – unpacks the music for us, and provides revealing contrasts with some classical works that show just how daring Brubeck’s music really was.
Simon Tedeschi
Piano
Paul Cutlan
Alto Saxophone / Clarinet
Cameron Undy Bass
TICKETS
Adult $70 | Concession $65
Photo: Keith Saunders
SUNDAY 21 JULY 2.30PM
‘The songs gathered here suit Stagg’s soprano to a tee, which has an innate expressivity – it’s a voice that compels you to drop everything and listen.’
– Limelight
Australian soprano Siobhan Stagg was a member of the Deutsche Oper Berlin from 2013–19, and has appeared as a guest artist in major roles at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Dutch National Opera, Opernhaus Zürich, Bayerische Staatsoper, and the Festival d’Aix en Provence, among others. South African pianist Nico de Villiers has performed as a concerto soloist and collaborative pianist around the world, and is recognised as a leading authority on the life and music of Dutch-born American conductor, composer and pianist Richard Hageman (who won an Academy Award in 1939 for his score for John Ford’s film Stagecoach).
In 2022 Siobhan and Nico recorded Voices (the first album dedicated solely to Hageman’s songs), which was selected as ‘Editor’s Choice’ by Limelight. In this recital, Siobhan and Nico present their favourite works from their album, alongside the music of Richard Strauss and Henri Duparc, whose distinctive musical language shaped and inspired the lush, post-Romantic sound world of Hollywood’s Golden Age.
TICKETS
Adult $70 |
Concession $65 | Student $35
Complimentary afternoon tea will be served during the interval.
Photo: Simon Pauly
Dubbed a ‘genius’ by Ray Brown and ‘one of the best’ by Dizzy Gillespie, James Morrison is a legendary figure in Australian jazz. He has recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra, rock legends INXS and the European Brass Ensemble; performed at the Royal Albert Hall for the BBC Proms; written the opening fanfare for the Olympic Games; played for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and for US Presidents Bush, Clinton and Obama. He frequents the world’s most famous jazz clubs (Birdland, The Blue Note and Village Vanguard in New York; the New Morning in Paris; Ronnie Scott’s in London) and has played with many of the greats, including Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Quincy Jones, Ray Charles, B.B. King and Wynton Marsalis.
Building on his immensely popular ‘What Is Jazz?’ in September 2022, James’ second weekend will feature three exceptional guest artists with the James Morrison Quartet in three concerts celebrating the art of collaboration.
Tickets, artist line up and full program available in Autumn 2024.
Photo: Dylan Henderson
‘There was a sense of eavesdropping on a master pianist playing for his own pleasure.’
– Limelight
Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, Olli Mustonen has a unique place in today’s music scene. During an illustrious career spanning thirty-five years, Olli has brought his extraordinary musical insight to many of the world’s most significant orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestras, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw, Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris and all of the London orchestras.
Following the tradition of the great masters such as Rachmaninov, Busoni and Enescu, Olli combines the roles of composer, pianist and conductor in an equal balance that is quite exceptional, often bringing them together in fascinating triple-role performances. His longstanding relationships with a network of internationally celebrated colleagues makes him the ideal candidate to curate our flagship weekend event in 2024.
Tickets, artist line up and full program available in Autumn 2024.
Photo: Frank Schinski
Photo: Marnie Richardson
‘… his affinity for music making as an expression of not just who we are but how we are, is palpable… as is his great humanity.’
– Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award Citation 2012
In 2019 Helpmann Award-winning composer Iain Grandage brought some of the finest contemporary voices (Missy Higgins, Kate Miller-Heidke, Emma Donovan and Meow Meow) to UKARIA as part of a four-part series showcasing Australia’s women of song. Iain accompanied them all on cello and piano, amplifying their multifaceted talents with exquisite new arrangements for strings specially tailored to the intimacy of UKARIA.
After the completion of his term as Artistic Director of the Perth Festival in 2024, he will return to UKARIA to curate a new four-part series that features wordsmiths and songsmiths, performers and poets, all collaborating with exquisite musicians of the highest order. These contemporary weavers of song and story will bring all-new creations into the hall at UKARIA, singing stories of human connection and joy. We can’t wait to share the details in early 2024.
Tickets and artist line up available in February 2024.
SATURDAY 7 DECEMBER 2.30PM
SUNDAY 8 DECEMBER 2.30PM
‘Mr. Bell doesn’t stand in anyone’s shadow.’
– The New York Times
With a career spanning almost four decades, GRAMMY Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell is one of the most celebrated artists of his era. Bell has performed with virtually every major orchestra in the world, and continues to maintain engagements as a soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, conductor and as the Music Director of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
Bell has collaborated with peers including Renée Fleming, Chick Corea, Regina Spektor, Wynton Marsalis, Chris Botti, Anoushka Shankar, Frankie Moreno, Josh Groban, and Sting, among others. In 2019, Bell joined his long-time friends and musical partners, cellist Steven Isserlis and pianist Jeremy Denk, for a ten-city American trio tour.
Bell has been nominated for six GRAMMY awards, was named ‘Instrumentalist of the Year’ by Musical America, deemed a ‘Young Global Leader’ by the World Economic Forum, received the Avery Fisher Prize, and was named an ‘Indiana Living Legend’ in 2000. He has performed for three American presidents and the justices of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Bell also participated in President Barack Obama’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities’ mission to Cuba on an Emmy-nominated PBS Live from Lincoln Center special; Joshua Bell: Seasons of Cuba, celebrating renewed cultural diplomacy between Cuba and the United States.
Joshua Bell will be travelling with his pianist, and the full program details will be announced on our website in 2024.
Adult $100 |
Concession $95
Please note: afternoon tea will not be provided during the intervals of these concerts, however the bar will be open to purchase refreshments.
Photo: Shervin Lainez
The UKARIA Foundation was established in July 2018. Its aim is to support UKARIA’s cultural program in perpetuity. Musicians from across Australia and around the world have established UKARIA as a South Australian cultural icon. Join us in creating its future by making a donation to the UKARIA Foundation.
Your gift will build the corpus and the investment income will support the cultural program in perpetuity. It will enable us to engage great artists, commission new work and develop the residency program.
Your donation will be used to support outstanding artists in the forthcoming season.
Donations of $2 or more are tax deductible and the UKARIA Foundation is able to receive distributions from private and public ancillary funds.
www.ukaria.com/donate
Or phone (08) 8227 1277
Leaving a bequest can make a profound impact. In 2022 we received our first major gift from the estate of the late John Lane Koch. His generous legacy to UKARIA fully funded the acquisition of our magnificent Steinway D piano. If you would like to play a part in our future, please consider leaving a bequest, which you can direct to the Endowment Fund or a special project. For more information, please start a conversation with our CEO, Alison Beare, or request a brochure.
Thank you for considering a donation to support great artists, live performance and new works.
David McKee AO Chair UKARIA Foundation
Jeroen Berwaerts (trumpet) and Konstantin Shamray (piano) at UKARIA, Sunday 3 September 2023.
Photo: Dylan Henderson
The Garden Terrace is a magnificent gathering place and a welcoming setting for augmenting your concert-going experience.
The dining options on offer for concerts from February–April are available on the website at the bottom of the relevant event pages. Meals for subsequent months will be released in the New Year. Please pre-book your choice when you book your tickets or contact us at info@ukaria.com or on (08) 8227 1277. In order to finalise numbers for catering, platter bookings close at 5.00pm on the Wednesday before a weekend event, and lunch and dinner bookings close at 9.00am on the Monday before a weekend event.
You can also enjoy a glass of wine or barista coffee before concerts or during intervals. A range of sweets is also available. The bar is open ninety minutes before each performance.
Pre-booking required via www.ukaria.com/events or by phone on (08) 8227 1277.
Please Note | All dining options are in addition to the cost of the concert – you require two separate bookings (one for the concert, another booking for your meal option) in each instance.
Photo: Dylan Henderson
www.ukaria.com/events
Our website offers the easiest and most convenient way to book tickets twenty-four hours a day. There are no booking fees. You will receive a digital copy of your booking confirmation delivered immediately to your nominated email address. If you misplace your booking confirmation, you can log in to your UKARIA account at any time using your email and password and view your tickets, and consolidate your bookings into one list if you purchased on multiple different dates.
(08) 8227 1277
Our office is open Monday to Friday, from 9.00am to 5.00pm, except on holidays.
You will receive an email confirming your ticket purchase. If you do not receive this, please check your junk folder or log in to your UKARIA account via our website menu and you can view your bookings.
There is no need to print your tickets. On the day of the concert, your name will be on a list with the front-of-house team and they will check you off before entering the concert hall.
Give the ultimate experiential gift of music in nature by purchasing a UKARIA gift voucher for family and friends. Vouchers are valid for three years from the date of purchase and can be used to purchase concert tickets as well as pre-ordered dining options. Please note: vouchers are not valid for performances presented at UKARIA Cultural Centre by other organisations (for example, the Adelaide Festival, State Opera South Australia, etc.).
(08) 8227 1277
info@ukaria.com.au
Our office is open Monday to Friday, from 9.00am to 5.00pm, except on holidays.
Due to the intimacy of the venue, concerts regularly sell out, so we keep a waiting list. Please note that due to the nature of cancellations, tickets often only become available at short notice. To add your name to the waiting list, please sign up via the links on our website, or contact us on (08) 8227 1277 or at info@ukaria.com.
Concessions are available for students, pensioners and health care cardholders. Please note that Seniors Cards do not qualify for concession.
To ensure you receive all our latest news, make sure you’re signed up to the UKARIA mailing list. Go to the home page and scroll to the bottom at www.ukaria.com.
Photo: Dylan Henderson
• Management reserves the right to refuse admission or reject from the venue any person if it believes their presence is likely to cause a nuisance, disturbance or threat to other patrons, the venue, or its artists and employees.
• Any person under the age of fifteen attending ticketed events must be accompanied by an adult.
• If a person under the age of fifteen causes a disturbance or distraction to other patrons, staff may request that the accompanying adult remove the child from the venue.
• The use of cameras or any other recording devices are not permitted inside the auditorium. Mobile phones must be switched off at all times.
• Latecomers will only be admitted when there is a suitable break in the performance.
• Concession cards must be produced on request.
• Large bags and backpacks must not be brought into the auditorium. Patrons who must keep their belongings with them for medical or personal reasons may bring their bags into the auditorium if they are visually inspected by a front-of-house officer and do not cause an obstruction to venue safety.
You should not attend the venue or the event if:
• You are required to be in isolation as a result of COVID-19 diagnosis or pending test result;
• You are experiencing any of the symptoms of COVID-19.
You and your booking party may be refused entry or required to leave the venue or event if you or they:
1. Are exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19, as notified or as assessed by venue staff. These include: fever, chills or sweats, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose or loss of sense of smell.
2. Are required to be in isolation as a result of COVID-19 diagnosis/pending test result or have been directed to be in quarantine because of close contact with a person with COVID-19.
In these circumstances, tickets will not be exchanged or refunded unless required by law (including the Australian Consumer Law).
We ask that you and each member of your booking party make a reasonable assessment of your health status before attending our venue or the event. To avoid doubt, you will not be entitled to a refund if you or a member of your booking party attends our venue despite exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms and if you or they are then refused entry or asked to leave the venue or event.
All ticket sales are non-refundable once the order has been finalised, except as required by law, or as outlined in the Live Performance Australia Ticketing Code of Practice (if an event is cancelled, rescheduled or significantly re-located).
Your ticket is transferable and can be given to friends or family if you are unable to attend.
If you wish to request a credit for tickets, meals or light meals the request for credit must be made by email/phone at least 14 days before the date of the event.
We do not offer refunds except as required by law, or as outlined in the Live Performance Australia Ticketing Code of Practice (if an event is cancelled, rescheduled, or significantly re-located).
UKARIA reserves the right to change artists, programs, venue opening and/or performance times should this become necessary.
UKARIA will offer a bus service from the Adelaide CBD to the Cultural Centre for the following performances on Sunday afternoons. In each instance, the bus will arrive at the pick-up point at 12.45pm and depart at 1.00pm.
Paul Lewis – Part Three
Sunday 4 February
Paul Lewis – Part Four
Sunday 11 February
Brooklyn Rider – Sandbox of Invention
Sunday 25 February
Australian String Quartet with Andrea Lam
Sunday 24 March
JACK Quartet
Sunday 7 April
Momentum Ensemble with Christoph Altstaedt and Rachelle Durkin
Sunday 21 April
Dudok Quartet Amsterdam
Sunday 28 April
Trio Karénine
Sunday 12 May
Alexander Melnikov
Sunday 9 June
VOCES8 with Festival Statesmen Chorus
Sunday 16 June
Satu Vänskä and Konstantin Shamray
Sunday 7 July
Siobhan Stagg and Nico de Villiers
Sunday 21 July
Joshua Bell
Sunday 8 December
• Bus fares are $30 per person return.
• There is ample and unrestricted parking along South Terrace on Sundays.
• The bus will depart from the corner of South Terrace and Hutt Street ninety minutes prior to the start time of the performance. Upon returning to the CBD after the event, the bus will return to the pick-up point, or drop patrons at the nearest taxi rank.
• The size of the bus will vary on the number of bookings. If there are less than five, the bus will be replaced by a car.
• The driver will display an A-frame sign next to their vehicle, so look out for the red UKARIA logo.
1. Online
www.ukaria.com/events
A UKARIA account is required. To set one up, simply add your email and password, and fill in the concert details.
Whenever you add a concert to your cart online, you will be prompted with the option to add the bus service (if applicable). If at the time of your booking you don’t add a bus fare but decide you require one later, you can add it to your booking at any time (up until 5pm on the Wednesday before the date of the performance).
2. By Phone (08) 8227 1277
Our office is open Monday to Friday, from 9.00am to 5.00pm, except on holidays.
Terms and Conditions
• The cost of the ticket is a flat fee of $30 return.
• We do not offer a reduced price for one-way travel.
• If you arrive after the departure time and miss the bus, your concert and bus ticket are non-refundable.
• Tickets for the bus service will be taken off sale at 5.00pm on the Wednesday before the date of each applicable concert.
Please contact us on (08) 8227 1277 or at info@ukaria.com if you have any further queries.
119 Williams Road, Mount Barker Summit
The UKARIA Cultural Centre is located just 40kms from the Adelaide CBD and is an easy drive on the South Eastern Freeway, which takes approximately 40 mins. Take the Nairne/ Bald Hills Road exit (after the Mount Barker exit). UKARIA Cultural Centre is 1km from the junction of Williams Road. Please drive slowly as Williams Road is unsealed. Once you enter the car park observe the 20kmph speed limit.
There is ample parking on site and multiple entry points from the car park through the garden to the building on paved paths. Please take care to not park across multiple spaces.
There are multiple disabled parking bays at the top right of the Cultural Centre. Head straight up the driveway on your righthand side, where you will see ‘Disabled Parking’ signs near the Garden Terrace. Please display your permit. The concert hall is wheelchair friendly.
Due to the small size of UKARIA’s auditorium, we can only offer limited easy-access seating. If you have booked with a larger group and you require seating in the front row and/or a seat close to an exit for mobility reasons, we would ask ablebodied members of your group to sit in the row behind so that we can accommodate as many mobility-impaired patrons as possible. Please advise UKARIA at the time of booking of any easy-access seating requests at info@ukaria.com or on (08) 8227 1277.
UKARIA is open ninety minutes before each performance. For access outside of concert hours, please email info@ukaria.com.
For events presented by UKARIA, seating is unreserved. Doors to the concert hall generally open thirty minutes before the commencement of a performance. Please note events presented at UKARIA by other organisations may have allocated seating.
We welcome photography inside the main hall before or after the concert, or at interval if applicable. During performances, all unauthorised photography and recording of the artists is strictly prohibited.
The UKARIA Cultural Centre has free Wi-Fi for guests. Please ask a staff member for the password if you require access.
February–July 2024 Season is proudly presented by UKARIA.
Design: Orange Fridge
Copywriter: Dylan Henderson
Venue Photography (Including Cover): Dylan Henderson
Season Partner:
Photo: Dylan Henderson
UKARIA Cultural Centre
119 Williams Road, Mount Barker Summit SA 5251 Australia
UKARIA Head Office & Postal 911, Level 9, 147 Pirie Street
Adelaide SA 5000 Australia
P +61 8 8227 1277
E info@ukaria.com
www.ukaria.com