TRANSFIGURED ENSEMBLE - ODES AND EMPERORS
THURSDAY 14TH NOVEMBER 2024 8PM
TICKETS $35 | CONCESSION $25
PERFORMERS
Zoë Black + Monica Curro, violin
Caroline Henbest + Christopher Moore, viola
Molly Kadarauch + Daniel Smith, cello
Stefan Cassomenos, piano
Steven Newton, voice
PROGRAM
Joseph SUK Serenade for Strings Op 6
I. Andante con moto
Joseph HAYDN String Quartet in C major Op. 76 No. 3 “Emperor Quartet”
II. Poco adagio, cantabile
Arnold SCHOENBERG Ode to Napoleon
interval
Arnold SCHOENBERG ‘Verklärte Nacht’ (Transfigured Night) for string sextet
Transfigured Ensemble presents two of Arnold Schoenberg’s greatest chamber works alongside sublime music from Haydn and Suk.
“Ode to Napoleon” was composed during the 2nd world war as a protest against tyranny. Set to Lord Byron’s scathing poem castigating Napoleon, this work served Schoenberg in expressing his own feelings concerning later day tyrants, as it does still do for those of us performing and listening to it in modern times. Concluding the program is Schoenberg’s exquisite and much loved “Verklarte Nacht” (“Transfigured Night”) for string sextet, inspired by Richard Dehmel’s poem of two lovers walking in the moonlight.
ABOUT THE ENSEMBLE
ZOË BLACK, VIOLIN
Zoë Black has performed throughout the world as soloist, chamber musician and as a member of Australian Chamber Orchestra, with whom she held the position of Assistant Leader for five years.
Born in Melbourne, she performed with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra aged just eight years old. After graduating from Victorian College of the Arts in 1992, Zoë was awarded grants from Australia Council and Queen Elizabeth Silver Jubilee Trust as well as the major performance award of the Australian Musical Foundation in London where she studied at Guildhall School of Music under David Takeno, and subsequently at the Vienna Hochschule. Zoë has also studied and performed in Moscow and Tanglewood; with Juilliard, Guarneri and Takács quartets; and in Israel with Shlomo Mintz. She has performed with the likes of London Symphony Orchestra and Vienna Chamber Orchestra, and regularly appears at festivals nationally and internationally, most notably at Huntington Estate Music Festival and Vancouver Fest in Canada.
MONICA CURRO, VIOLIN
Monica Curro has been Assistant Principal 2nd Violin of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra since 1998, and was previously a core member of the Australian Chamber Orchestra. She has played with the Australian World Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, and Guest Concertmaster of West Australian Symphony Orchestra and Auckland Chamber Orchestra. In 2009, Monica was invited as the only Australian to play in the World Orchestra for Peace, and has since joined them regularly for concerts around the world. Monica has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Australian Youth Orchestra, and also as a tutor and orchestra director. Monica is a founding member of acclaimed ensemble PLEXUS, which since launching in 2014 has commissioned and premiered more than 110 new works.
CAROLINE HENBEST, VIOLA
Caroline Henbest is a violist and Feldenkrais Practitioner based in Melbourne. Since 2015 she has been Head of Viola at the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM).
Originally from the UK, Caroline relocated to Australia to be Principal Viola with the ACO. After 8 years full-time and 10 years part time, she moved on to new projects, but she still maintains close ties with the group, and particularly their Emerging Artists program.
She regularly performs in festivals such as Music by the Springs, The Stradbroke Island Chamber Music Festival and the Port Fairy Spring Music Festival.
Caroline undertook her Feldenkrais Practitioner training through the Feldenkrais Institute of Australia in Melbourne. The Feldenkrais Method is a learning system that uses movement as it’s vehicle. She teaches regular Awareness Through MovementÒ classes and has incorporated this method into her teaching practice.
CHRISTOPHER MOORE, VIOLA, CONDUCTOR
Christopher Moore studied piano and violin before he discovered his passion lay in the rich harmonic and rhythmic complexities of the inner voices – so he bought a viola and the rest is history. After ten years as Principal Viola of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, he is now Principal Viola of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and is in high demand as a soloist and chamber musician in Australia and abroad. His colleagues at the Melbourne Symphony have even allowed him to conduct a few things here in there. He is the proud father of two wonderful daughters, Isabella and Dorothea. They both play musical instruments and sing in choirs, they’re just grand. Christopher also plays Theremin. If you don’t know what that is, just ask him.
Christopher is fortunate enough to play on a 1610 Giovanni Paolo Maggini viola - kindly on loan from an anonymous benefactor.
MOLLY KADARAUCH, CELLO
Molly Kadarauch is one of Australia’s preeminent and versatile cellists. Growing up in a family of musicians in the San Francisco Bay area, she began learning the cello to complete the family string quartet (with parents and brother on the violins/viola). She subsequently went on to study at the Purcell School of Music (London), The New England Conservatory of Music (Boston) and at the Hochschule Der Kuenste Berlin on a Fulbright Scholarship. After living and working in Berlin until 1996 she settled in Australia where she joined the Australian Chamber Orchestra as an Associate Principal cellist for 8 years. In 2010 she co-founded Sutherland Trio with violinist Elizabeth Sellars and pianist Caroline Almonte. Molly has participated in numerous Australian Festivals including Huntington, Peninsula, Adelaide, Renaissance Tours and most recently Port Fairy and Hepburn Springs. She has served as guest principal cellist with several major Australian and New Zealand Orchestras and is a passionate educator, having tutored students at the Queensland Conservatorium, ANAM, ACO Academy, Australian Youth Orchestras and Melbourne Conservatorium.
DANIEL SMITH, CELLO
Cellist Daniel Smith is a graduate of the Griffith Conservatorium of Music and the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) has enjoyed a multitude of experiences as an educator, soloist, and as a chamber and orchestral musician. Throughout his studies and professional career, Daniel has performed with internationally recognised artists/ensembles including The Australian Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Modern, and The Australian World Orchestra. Chamber Music has long been one of Daniel’s passions. A founding member of the Partridge String Quartet, he is a 1st prize recipient of the 'Queensland International Chamber Music Competition' (2019), and the 'Australian National Academy of Music's Chamber Music Competition' (2018) In 2020 Daniel was selected as one of the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s ‘Emerging Artists’, resulting in the opportunity to tour with members of the ensemble as the ‘ACO Collective’ on tours throughout the year. Daniel has participated in masterclasses with some of the world’s leading cellists including Nicolas Alstaedt, Li-Wei Qin, and Alban Gerhardt.
STEFAN CASSOMENOS, PIANO
Melbourne pianist and composer Stefan Cassomenos is one of Australia’s most vibrant and versatile musicians. He has been performing internationally since the age of 10, and is now established as one of Australia's leading pianists. As the recipient of multiple prizes including the Second Grand Prize in the prestigious International Telekom Beethoven Competition Bonn 2013, Cassomenos has performed throughout Europe and Asia, and now performs regularly in Australia, Germany and the UK.
He has performed concertos with several major Australian symphony orchestras, as well as orchestras overseas. Cassomenos is a founding member of chamber ensemble PLEXUS, which since launching in 2014 has commissioned and premiered over 110new works. Cassomenos'own compositions are regularly commissioned and performed throughout Australia. Cassomenos is joint Artistic Director of Port Fairy Spring Music Festival, withviolinist Monica Curro.
Cassomenos is generously supported by Kawai Australia.
STEPHEN NEWTON, VOICE
Stephen Newton began his musical journey when he joined a church choir in Sydney at the age of 8. He was a member of that choir for 13 years and during this time began learning the double bass. He undertook tertiary studies at the University of New South Wales, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and the Australian National Academy of Music. These years were heavily influenced by his mentor Richard Gill, who encouraged a broad musical development that included composition, singing and playing the double bass. In 2006, he joined the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and since then has been very fortunate to have performed with many wonderful orchestras and chamber ensembles.