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November, 2007
Thank you to everyone who has sent TRIOZ good wishes on our appointment as resident ensemble at City Recital Hall Angel Place. It has been an exciting and busy year and we have now set up a website that will enable you to know more about our activities in the future - www.trioz.com.au. We will keep adding to the site so please come and visit us often. The end of the 2007 season is upon us (beginning this weekend!) and what a wonderful program we have for you to complete this very first season of S&F! To be honest, when I programmed this particular concert, I wondered about it because it is a very specific look at the development of the piano trio genre within a specific period of music history - namely the Classical period. However, it is such a wonderful snapshot of the period in question, and with some of the most beautiful works, that it is the concert we have really been looking forward to. In fact for Emma-Jane, this concert is her favourite of the year. Having programmed the composer who began the process in Haydn, and Beethoven (who studied for a short time with Haydn – but more about that at the concerts!), and finally Schubert who venerated Beethoven above all others, this program provides not only a stunning bird’s eye view of three men of genius at work on a specific art form within a fairly short space of time, but also, somehow, a unique and quite wonderful full circle tribute to the way in which they touched each other's lives, and work, in mysterious ways. I hope you'll join us at the concerts. Tickets are still available to most of the concerts listed below from just $27. Please call the office on 02 9969 7039, or email info@selbyandfriends.com.au to book your tickets. If you live near Bowral, you might like to come along to Oxley College on Saturday the 10th of November at 5pm as Oxley presents TRIOZ in concert with this same marvellous program. You can call the school direct for tickets on 4861 1366 or visit Angus & Robertson in the town to purchase tickets there too. Program Dates and Venues
I would also like to thank you so much for the wonderful response to the announcement of the 2008 National Season touring Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra and Bowral. I am thrilled you so obviously approve of the programming for next year. We are all very excited that this will be the second year of S&F's existence, and of course we cannot do any of it without you. Our move to City Recital Hall Angel Place has been embraced and you continue to show that you enjoy our popular venues in Melbourne, Adelaide and Canberra. I visited the Recital Room at Oxley College in Bowral just recently and it is a lovely space indeed, perfect for chamber music. I hope by now you have received your own copy of the 2008 season brochure, but if not, you can access the details of the season, including printing out a ticket order form, by following this link to the website - http://www.selbyandfriends.com.au/2008/index.html We have recently also added a new facility to the S&F website which gives Sydneysiders the option to either book online directly through City Recital Hall (http://www.selbyandfriends.com.au/2008/citytickets.html), or continue to book tickets through the Selby & Friends office by calling us on 02 9969 7039, faxing us on 02 9958 7111 or emailing us by clicking here. For Adelaide, single tickets will also soon be available through both BASS and FringeTix (for our February 24 performance only). I hope these added conveniences help and please let me know if there is anything else I can do to make life easier in this regard.
I hope to see you in November and will be in touch again soon after as there will be more news to tell you then, and some Christmas prizes too! Warm regards, Kathy
For immediate release With a string of glowing reviews and concerts all over the country, the internationally-acclaimed piano trio TRIOZ is now resident ensemble in Sydney’s most outstanding chamber music venue – City Recital Hall Angel Place. From February to October 2008, Selby & Friends will present five subscription concerts full of musical excellence from seasoned chamber music performers. After only one year as TRIOZ, and under the bigger umbrella of ‘Selby & Friends’, it’s quite a vote of confidence from the venue to present them as their ensemble in residence. TRIOZ is Australia’s premiere piano trio comprising three highly polished Australian performers: virtuoso violinist Niki Vasilakis, one of the stars of the new international film ‘4’ and SBS television’s Classical Destinations, the brilliant and popular former Principal Cello of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Emma-Jane Murphy, and internationally renowned concert pianist and Artistic Director of Selby & Friends, Kathryn Selby. “City Recital Hall Angel Place has shown forward thinking and innovation to extend this unique opportunity to TRIOZ and we are immensely proud to be associated with it and the wonderful people there,” says Kathryn Selby. “It’s exciting for the arts industry as a whole when a venue is prepared to become so immersed in the artistic programming.” In 2008 guest violist Irina Morozova will join TRIOZ for the first concert and America’s award-winning Parker String Quartet collaborates with Kathryn Selby for a highly anticipated fourth concert of truly national string quartets and piano quintets. In demand as a recital soloist, chamber musician and teacher, Kathryn Selby is a founding member of TRIOZ, is Artistic Director of Selby & Friends, and formerly, was the founding member and manager of Macquarie Trio Australia. “When the architects and acoustician designed the City Recital Hall Angel Place based on the classical configuration of the 19th century European concert hall - the ideal shape for hearing western classical music - they had in mind performances from musicians as outstanding as those performing in Selby & Friends,” says Bronwyn Edinger, General Manager, City Recital Hall Angel Place. “It is fitting that at a time when this venue has recently been announced a finalist the 2007 City Of Sydney Business Awards, that we are able to present musicians of such international calibre and recognition in residence.” “The intimacy between audience and performer and the elegance of its surrounds perfectly complements the sense of occasion that these artists bring to Sydney audiences,” she adds. Subscriptions and single tickets on sale now – 02 9969 7039 or www.selbyandfriends.com.au Concert bookings City Recital Hall Box office 8256 2222 or www.cityrecitalhall.com
September, 2007
The most recent tour earlier this month with my guest, the phenomenal cellist Li-Wei, was a treat from beginning to end. In fact, when I took Li-Wei to the airport and said good-bye it was with regret as the tour was such a joy and by the reaction from members of the audience and the critics, you all felt the same way. I hope he will find time to come back again in the near future. Here are some excerpts from your lovely emails so gratefully received -
Here is a little from just two reviews received from the critics. If you are interested, you can read more at www.selbyandfriends.com.au/2007/reviews - "Adelaide music lovers should take note that the Selby & Friends concert series contains some gems... an absolute winner." Advertiser, 14 Sept, '07 "From the opening ... it was obvious that this was to be no ordinary performance but a finely wrought interpretive realisation. Given a stunning performance by Li-Wei, it (Rossini) concluded a concert that those present will not soon forget." Canberra Times, 17 Sept, '07
I would like to thank you so much for the incredible response to the announcement of the details of the 2008 National Season to tour Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra and Bowral. The response has been marvellous and I am thrilled you so obviously approve of the programming for next year. We are all very excited that this will be our second year of existence, and of course we cannot do any of it without you. Tickets ordered are being sent out this week so please continue to send in your forms for processing. Our exciting move to the wonderful City Recital Hall Angel Place has been embraced and you continue to show that you enjoy our popular venues in Melbourne, Adelaide and Canberra. I just visited the new Recital Room at Oxley College in Bowral and it is a lovely space indeed, perfect for chamber music. I hope by now you have received your own copy of the 2008 season brochure, but if not, you can access the details of the season, including printing out a ticket order form, by following this link to the website - http://www.selbyandfriends.com.au/2008/index.html We have recently also added a new facility to the website which gives you the option - in Sydney only - to either booking online directly through City Recital Hall , or continuing to book your tickets through the Selby & Friends office by calling us on 02 9969 7039, faxing us on 02 9958 7111 or emailing us at info@selbyandfriends.com.au.
Thank you to everyone who sent TRIOZ such good wishes on our appointment as resident ensemble at City Recital Hall Angel Place. It has been an exciting and busy year and we are now in the process of setting up a website that will enable you to know more about our activities in the near future. Well, the end of the 2007 season is upon us and what a wonderful program we have for you to finish off this very first wonderful season of S&F! To be honest, when I programmed this particular concert, I wondered about it because it is a very specific look at the development of the piano trio genre within a specific period of music history - namely the Classical period. However, it is such a wonderful magnifiying glass on the period in question, and with some of the most beautiful works from that period, that it is the concert we girls have been really looking forward to. In fact for Emma-Jane, this concert is her favourite of the year. Having chosen the composer who began the process in Haydn, and Beethoven (who studied for a short time with Haydn – but more about that at the concerts!), and finally Schubert who venerated Beethoven above all others, this program provides not only a stunning bird’s eye view of three men of genius at work on a specific art form within a fairly short space of time, but also, somehow, a unique and quite wonderful full circle tribute to the way in which they touched each other's lives and work in mysterious ways. Tickets are available to the concerts listed below and start from just $27. Please call us on 02 9969 7039, or email info@selbyandfriends.com.au to book your tickets. Program Dates and Venues
Your response to the prizes offered in the last newsletter was overwhelming. I am delighted that so many of you understood my thought process when naming the concerts for 2008 so clearly and I only wish I had offered more prizes. However, there were happy winners in all categories and so I would like to offer some more. The first person from each city representing the 2007 series (which means 2 chances in Sydney and one each in every other city) to respond with CLASSICAL in the subject heading will win 2 free tickets to the very classical TRIOZ tour coming up this November. Your tickets will be waiting for you in your name at the box office just prior to the concert. This is a perfect opportunity to give yourself, or a friend, a gift! Come to think of it, by then Christmas is just around the corner so perhaps this could even be considered an early Christmas present.
I hope to see you in November and in the meantime, I'll be watching for your emails! Warm regards, Kathy
August, 2007
I am delighted to announce the details of the Selby & Friends 2008 National Season are now available! I hope by now you have received your own copy of the 2008 season brochure, but if not, you can access the details of the season, including printing out a ticket order form, by following this link to the website - http://www.selbyandfriends.com.au/2008/index.html The season has many highlights indeed. As you can see from the photo above, the season boasts a cast of wonderfully talented individuals who are eager to share their love of music, and their craft, with you. TRIOZ will be presented in three programs during the year, and in a fourth, we will be joined by our friend, violist Irina Morozova, in a program of piano quartets. Following the incredible popularity of our US guests this year, I have invited the brilliant and virtuosic Parker String Quartet from Boston to join me in 2008. With works ranging from our dearly loved Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven, Brahms and Dvorak to Faure, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov, there is something for everyone in 2008, including those who love exploring the more recent masterworks for the chamber music genre. Two brilliant women composers, Englishwoman Rebecca Clarke and Australian favourite Elena Kats-Chernin are represented as well as the Classical Irish composer John Field who was to inspire Chopin so much with his Nocturnes, Bela Bartok and Barber with his gorgeous Adagio for Strings. All in all, it is a very exciting season which also includes some wonderful new venue arrangements in 2008! In Sydney we will be moving to the wonderful City Recital Hall Angel Place, a venue that can easily boast about its wonderful accoustics and position in the centre of the city. I am really thrilled to be able to present the Sydney season in such a fine chamber music venue and hope you will be equally delighted about the move. In Canberra, Melbourne and Adelaide we will remain in our current favourite venues, and S&F will be starting a new Saturday Twilight series in Bowral in the NSW Southern Highlands which is proving to be very popular already.
City Recital Hall Angel Place has appointed TRIOZ it's very first ensemble in residence! This is a great honour for us and gives us a most marvellous home in which to perform. All TRIOZ Sydney evening performances will take place at City Recital Hall Angel Place and the residency will also include performances in a marvellous new lunch time concert series that City Recital Hall Angel Place has asked me to program beginning in March 2008. I will send you details of these concerts when they are finalised. As the General Manager of City Recital Hall Angel Place, Bronwyn Edinger, has said, “When the architects and acoustician designed the City Recital Hall Angel Place based on the classical configuration of the 19th century European concert hall - the ideal shape for hearing western classical music - they had in mind performances from musicians as outstanding as TRIOZ. It is fitting that at a time when this venue has recently been announced a finalist the 2007 City Of Sydney Business Awards, that we are able to present musicians of such international calibre and recognition in residence.”
This will be your gentle reminder that the brilliant young Australian cellist Li-Wei will be arriving in just a couple of weeks to tour with me for the September 5-11 tour. Described by the New York Times as a cellist with "...a meltingly beautiful tone, flawlessly centered intonation and an ironclad technique” and by Strad magazine as "...the most gifted young cellist I have heard. Aside from an extraordinary technical fluency, he has a musical intelligence and sensitivity which is breathtaking both for its maturity and profound vision”, it is easy to understand why his visit is so eagerly anticipated. In addition to his busy international career as a performer, Li-Wei has recently been appointed Artistic Director of the Jin Mao Concert Hall in Shanghai and is also the Head of Cello Studies at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music. And to top it all off, he has just become a father for the first time! For Sydneysiders, I have checked with the RTA and Apec websites and from what I have researched, the Harbour Bridge will be open and all public transport will be operating for the Sunday 9th September concert in North Sydney which occurs at the end of the conference timetable. Free parking as you know is available onsite under the venue. Tickets are available to the concerts listed below and start from just $27. Please call me on 02 9969 7039 to book your tickets now. Program Beethoven – Sonata for Cello and Piano in F major, Op. 5 #1 Sollima - 'Alone' Dates and Venues Melbourne - Wednesday 5 September@ 8pm at Melba Hall
Niki, Emma-Jane and I had a marvellous time touring in July/August. Here is just a sample from the critics: * Beethoven's Op.1, the Piano Trio in E flat major, demanded a dramatic switch from the languid themes of Andalusia to a highly energised, tight construct. The transition was instant - glance from violinist to cellist to pianist, then into the intricate rhythms with a newly classical spring. Vasilakis's seductive legato again prevailed in the slow movement, and in the scherzo the joke was on the audience, with Selby and cellist Emma-Jane Murphy playing the recurring ornaments with an almost caricatured diligence. As for the finale, it was like a floodgate had opened. The notes rushed out, pell mell, almost too fast to hear, but thrilling nevertheless. Sydney Morning Herald, 3 August, 2007 * The E Flat Trio from Beethoven's Opus 1 set brought back memories of the recent chamber music competition where pretty well every piano trio by this composer was attempted, even if the TrioZ version demonstrated the incalculable advantages of experience and insight. Selby kept the pace moving without having to urge, her contribution firm and consistently at the centre of the action. ... the second movement Adagio which showed the group speaking as one in an illuminating performance of rich sonority. The Age, 3 August, 2007 * The standout was indoubtedly Trioz's splendid handling of Beethoven's controlled emotion in the slow movement Adagio of his Piano Trio Op.1 No 1, an early gem in the composer's output, with long lyrical lines that sparkled with vibrant colours undr the player's attention. Also memorable were the sturdy Brahmsian harmonies and rhythms of the Finale of Dvorak's Piano Trio No 3 Op 65. Trioz played with true grit and determination to give a triumphant and vital end to this symphonically scaled work... The Adelaide Avertiser, 8 August, 2007
As you know, I love giving gifts and I think this bumper newsletter deserves lots of them! Here goes: 1) the first person to email me with what they believe is the correct reason the last tour for 2008 is called 'One and Only' will receive one free full subscription to the series of their choice for 2008! 2) the second and third people to correctly respond will each receive two free tickets to Li-Wei's recital coming up shortly in September. 3) my dear friend and colleague Niki Vasilakis is one of the superstars of the critically acclaimed new film '4' which features the music of Vivaldi's Four Seasons and opened this week in both Sydney and Melbourne. The first 5 people from both Sydney and Melbourne to respond with 'Movie' as the subject of their return email will receive a complimentary double pass each to attend a session of '4' in their hometown. (Canberrans and Adelaideans will hopefully receive the same opportunity later in the year or next year when the movie opens in those cities, so stay tuned!) Best of Luck!
I hope to see you in September and in the meantime, I look forward to hearing from you. Warm regards, Kathy
June, 2007
Our visit from the wonderfully exciting Janaki String Trio was a memorable one indeed! Their performances around the country were simply stunning, and judging by your warm and very enthusiastic reaction at their concerts, I understood you enjoyed listening to them as much as I did, and indeed performing with them as well. They loved Australia and the many lovely Australians they met while they were here. I know they took away many wonderful memories, not the least of which was the unanimous regard in which they were held by our discerning critics. If you are interested in the marvellous things they had to say about our young friends, please visit my website on http://www.selbyandfriends.com.au/reviews.html I am still receiving emails from members of the audience who were amongst those lucky enough to win one of their CDs or perhaps purchased one at interval, and are still thrilling to their extraordinary sound. After they left Australia, they winged their way back to the West Coast only to leave again rather quickly to go to Italy to perform. Katie, the violist, is auditioning for principal viola with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and I know, like me, you wish her well as it is her hometown and she really wants to win this big prize. TrioZ returns to the stage for the approaching third national S&F tour in just a few weeks' time. Many exciting things have been happening for TrioZ in the last few months, more of which I'll tell you about next time. In the meantime, we have been seeing quite a bit of Niki on both the big screen and the small. She is one of the stars of the soon to be released film '4' which charts a path around the world with four violinists amidst the music of Vivaldi's Four Seasons. I hope to have some passes to give away with my next newsletter. Don't miss it. Both Niki and Emma-Jane have been guests on Spics & Specs, ABC TV's popular music trivia show, and I've been busy hosting several programs on ABC Classic FM and presenting solo recitals around the country. Both Emma-Jane and I will be heading north to Townsville within the next couple of weeks to participate in the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, so if you happen to be there too, please do come and say hello! I hope you will also come and see us for the upcoming tour we have planned for you in late July and early August. Our program is wonderful, a real '1,2,3' of melody and innovation, and not just in the completely coincidental numbering of the trios themselves! The Turina is a true mix of the Basque and Impressionism, the Beethoven is one of his true early masterpieces and the Dvořák is one of my favourites. Lately, I find myself drawn more and more to its rich melodies and the unremitting joy with which one revels in them. Perhaps it is all the cold, and wonderfully wet weather we have been having. Tickets are still available to all the concerts listed below and start from just $27. Please call me on 02 9969 7039 to book your tickets now. Program Joaquín Turina - Piano Trio No.2 in B minor, Op.76 Dates and Venues North Sydney - Sunday 29 July@ 2:30pm at Monte Sant' Angelo College, Miller Street Canberra - Monday 30 July@ 7:30pm at the NGA Sydney City - Tuesday 31 July@ 7pm at St Andrews Cathedral, Town Hall Melbourne - Wednesday 1 August@ 8pm at Melba Hall Adelaide - Sunday 5 August@ 2:30pm at Elder Hall, University of Adelaide
Before I go I would like to extend a very big and special thank you, not only to those wonderful people who have made a generous and very kind donation to Selby & Friends this year, but also to the lovely folks over at the Australian Business and Arts Foundation. I have literally been overwhelmed by the generosity of so many from the audience who have lifted this series onto their very wide shoulders and carried it to places only dreams are made of. It is important to me that you know how very much it has meant to me and my colleagues and friends to have the ability to mount such a wonderful series at such short notice, to see and enjoy its success and to then be in a position to be able to contemplate the creation of a subsequent series for 2008. If you are interested in learning more about this wonderful program, please visit my website on - http://www.selbyandfriends.com.au/donations.html I hope to see you in July/August and please stay tuned as I am almost ready to announce the details of the 2008 National Touring Season for S&F which promises to be really quite wonderful. I have listened to all your suggestions and comments and believe I have found the right mix for 2008. I will be interested to know if you feel the same way. Stay warm, Kathy
April 29, 2007 Classical Recordings: Muscular Enthusiastic Strings
THE Janaki String Trio, formed in Los Angeles in 2005, clearly regards Krzysztof Penderecki’s String Trio as its signature work. A vigorous reading of the work was the centerpiece of the group’s New York debut concert early this year, and it is offered twice — in a studio production and a live recording — on this introductory CD. The difference between the two recorded accounts is not enormous: the live version is a hair faster and perhaps a touch wilder in spirit. Replacing one with another work would have been better. Still, it is easy to see the Penderecki’s appeal to these musicians, whose repertory tilts toward contemporary music. It begins with an explosion of fortissimo percussive chords, repeated with an almost brutal vehemence. In the work’s 12-minute span, its two connected movements push toward extremes of brashness and beauty and demand an interpretive flexibility to make the transitions plausible. ALLAN
April 27, 2007
May Tour Approaches !
Tour Details - first the dates and venues!
Now, the Program!
Krzysztof Penderecki - String Trio (1990) Tickets are still available to all the concerts listed above and start from just $27. Please call me on 02 9969 7039 to book your tickets now. Another chance to be a winner?
One More Thing ... |
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2008 National Season Announced! 
