Winner of the Sydney International Piano Competition

Wednesday 29th August 2012, 8pm

Winner of the Sydney International Piano Competition

The Sydney International Piano Competition of Australia is internationally recognized as one of the world’s great Piano Competitions.

The Competition was inaugurated in July 1977 and is held every four years. It was admitted as a member of the Federation of International Music Competitions in 1978, and is presented in association with the University of Sydney and with the co-operation of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The Competition is unique in providing air fares, accommodation and daily allowance for a maximum of 36 selected competitors, all of whom play in the first two recital stages.

Kuss Quartet and Naoko Shimizu

Friday 14th September 2012, 8pm

Jana Kuss - violin, Oliver Willie - violin, William Coleman - viola, Mikayel Hakhnazaryan - cello and Naoko Shimizu - viola

Kerry - String Quintet, Mozart - String Quartet no 21 in D major K575, Kurtág - Officium Breve in Memoriam Andreae Szervánszky op 28, BRAHMS - String Quintet no 2 in G major op 111

Making their Australian debut, Berlin’s renowned Kuss Quartet play alongside internationally acclaimed Japanese violist Naoko Shimizu. Kuss, celebrated for their exciting programmes as well as their sincere, honest and captivating interpretations, are regular guests at the most renowned international concert halls. Shimizu was the first female principal viola of the Berlin Philharmonic.

“ .. provocative, driving, impassioned playing .... the purity of sound was almost heavenly ...” Houston Chronicle
 

Enso Quartet

Friday 16th November 2012, 8pm

Maureen Nelson - violin, John Marcus - violin, Melissa Reardon - viola, Richard Belcher - cello

Ginastera - Quartet no 2 op 26, Boccherini - Quartet in G minor op 32 no 5, Haydn - Quartet in C op 20 no 2, Debussy - Quartet in G minor

With a 2010 Grammy nomination for “Best Chamber Music Performance,” the NYC-based Enso String Quartet has quickly become one of the USA’s most exciting young ensembles. Shortly after the group’s inception at Yale University in 1999, Enso had success at the Banff International String Quartet Competition and won the Concert Artists Guild International Competition, and has consistently received high praise for performances ever since.

“…the Enso players filled the Coolidge Auditorium with glorious sonorities, whatever they were playing.” The Washington Post