Welcome

Although it’s always wonderful to perform large works with a full symphony orchestra and chorus, many of us find the intimacy and connection of performing chamber music really nourishes the soul and stimulates the spirit. This is one of those programs that invites us to go within ourselves through three very slow-moving, thought-provoking works by Latvian Pēteris Vasks, performed alongside two new Australian works.

I vividly remember the first time I heard the music of Vasks. I was driving up north to visit my family when ABC radio played his Musica Dolorosa for string orchestra, and I was so moved that I had to pull over to the side of the road between Armidale and Tamworth and just close my eyes to listen to this gently unfolding music that rose to such a cathartic climax. It made me keen to explore his music more and that brings us to the three works you’ll hear today.

Vasks’ music has a distinct voice in the tradition of the spiritual minimalists such as Arvo Pärt and Henryk Gorecki. But it’s blended with a national sentiment as heard sometimes in his Missa, where he invokes the folksong of his homeland Latvia – a country where singing is central to the national psyche. When I began rehearsing this program with the Chamber Singers, I read them a quote by Vasks that I share with you now:

Most people today no longer possess beliefs, love and ideas. The spiritual dimension has been lost. My intention is to provide food for the soul and that is what I preach in my works.

We are very excited to bring to you this concert in which the new works by Maria Lopes and Stuart Greenbaum invite further connection with the Latin words of the Pater noster and Dona nobis pacem as well as the Missa itself, commencing with Deborah Cheetham’s important Acknowledgement of Country.

In the words of E.M. Forster – ‘only connect’.

Brett Weymark OAM

Artistic and Music Director