November, 2007

Last Tour of 2007 !

2007 is quickly coming to a close and I would like to take this opportunity to send my sincerest thanks to you all for supporting us at Selby & Friends this, our very first year. It has been a marvellous 'experiment', and one which has brought much joy, and with it also many lessons learned. Your support has also brought about our second season which approaches in 2008 and to which we are all looking forward immensely. It will be a year packed with more wonderful music and music-making, and I am sure, some surprises along the way!

The November tour was a delight, especially as TRIOZ spent so much lovely time together. From boiling hot venues to hours at the airport delayed due to fog, it gave us time to explore our little ensemble and see just how much pleasure we all gained from being and working together again. And what repertoire! Talking about performing Haydn, Beethoven and Schubert is quite another thing to rehearsing and actually bringing the works to life each day and night on stage, and I think I can safely speak for my two lovely colleagues when I say it was one of those incredible touring experiences that will remain in our memories for a very long time.

And it would seem this pleasure was not only felt by the performers. Here are some snippets from those who attended our concerts:

• What a spellbinding, superb concert!!! Thank you for coming down and having already subscribed for next year we are waiting with eager anticipation. I am very familiar with all 3 works you played and have several world renown recordings of the "Ghost" and the Schubert. But I have NEVER heard it played better!! Congratulations!! (Bowral - 10 Nov)
  
  
• Just wanted to let you know that we really enjoyed your last concert (as well as all the other ones). One of the things we particularly like is the way you interact with each other - your enjoyment communicates itself to us, and I think this feeds back. Whatever, there's always a really lovely, relaxed atmosphere as well as fantastic music, and I never want it to stop! We're looking forward to next year - hope you are too. (Adelaide - 11 Nov)
  
  
• On Sunday my wife & I attended the Trio's concert at Elder Hall, Adelaide. It was magnificent!! With Niki, Emma-Jane & you are absolutely supreme. You manage to harmonise to perfection. I particularly like the way that you relate to each other, with acknowledgements, smiles & obvious camaraderie. Please keep up the good work. It'll be great in 2008....See you then... (Adelaide - 11 Nov)
  
  
• I just wanted to write how much I thoroughly enjoyed tonight's performance!!! Miss Selby, I think your new combination is your best yet: long may you continue together creating such glorious music! While there have been some dark times lately, I actually think it's turned out for the best incredibly well. Bravo for persisting. Your partners' vivacious charm, refined musicianship and superb ensemble make the perfect foil to the passion, intelligence and exquisite finesse of your own playing. Three wonderfully communicative, vibrant and distinctive personalities in perfect balance... just as a piano trio should be. I was totally captivated!! I look forward to hearing much, much more of the three of you together. Many thanks to you all for a truly memorable night out. (Melbourne - 14 Nov)
  
  
• Just to say how much I enjoyed the concert on Tuesday night, it was fabulous playing and truly satisfying..(Sydney City- 13 Nov)
  
  
• Thank you so much for today's concert. It was a truly wonderful concert and much appreciated. The joy with which you play the music brings a great deal of pleasure into our lives and we thank you most sincerely for it. We look forward to all kinds of musical treats next year. (Sydney - 18 Nov)
  
  
• Thank you for yesterday’s wonderful finale to an exhilarating series of concerts this year. We have come up from Gerringong for each of your Sundays at Monte and have been lost in admiration for the way you, your partners in TRIOZ and your guests have risen above the difficulties of the venue to share music-making of the highest quality. We were very disappointed at the demise of MTA, whose concerts we had attended, whenever we could, for several years. But your combination with Niki and Emma-Jane (not only your individual musicianship but your obvious shared pleasure in the music and your bonding as a group) has been a revelation and we hope it will continue for many years to come. Please pass on our thanks to them as well. To all of you, the very best for Christmas and the new year and we look forward eagerly to the next series of concerts. (Sydney - 18 Nov)

Here is a little from the critic's perpesctive. If you are interested, you can read more at www.selbyandfriends.com.au/2007/reviews -

"The extremely long and slow second movement (Ghost Trio) really tests the players, who rose to the challenge to convey its mysterious and haunting essence. Emma-Jane Murphy was especially eloquent on the cello. Schubert's magnificent trio in B flat is a perennial favourite. All the instruments are equal but the piano is more equal than the others. There are few pianists in this country as thoroughly equipped to meet its challenges as Kathy Selby. She can flash over the keys with quicksilver speed and delicacy, punch out crisp staccato chords and sing with the sweetest cantible tone, as required. And Schubert requires it all." Adelaide Advertiser, 14 Nov, '07

Niki's big news!

I'm thrilled to announce that our very own Niki Vasilakis has been named Young Australia South Australian of the Year for 2007 and she will now be going off to Canberra on Australia Day 2008 to join other state winners to learn who will be named Young Australian of the Year for 2008! Needless to say, we are extremely proud of Niki and delighted for her and her husband Tim that she should have such a wonderful climax to a terrific year of achievement. I am sure you join with me in congratulating her for this wonderful acknowledgement, and wish her the very best in January.

First Tour for 08 - TRIOZ

with Irina!

S&F returns in 2008 to your favourite venue and a couple of new ones. If you have not already had a chance to have a look at our line-up for 2008, please follow this link to see the entire terrific season at a glance - www.selbyandfriends.com.au/2008/index.html.

There is really nothing I like better than giving gifts, and since the end of the final tour last week, I have been casting my eye around for suitable Christmas presents for family and friends, especially as my children will soon be on school holidays and now is really the only opportunity I have to bring gifts into my house unseen, to hide them away! I have always been somewhat of a practical gift-giver, preferring something that gives more lasting pleasure and if you are like me, you might like to consider giving concert tickets as a Christmas gift this year. This is, i know, a shameless advertisement for the S&F 2008 season, but I hope you will still take a moment to consider that not only will your music-loving friend or family member enjoy receiving the gift of a live concert experience, but those of us on stage will also enjoy their presence whilst we continue to be able to practice our craft! So the way I see it, it benefits us all in a wonderful full-circle way!

Our first tour for 2008 is really just around the corner and it is quite appropriate in that we ended 2007 with a very loving look at the Classical period, and we start the New Year with an intimate inspection of the Romantic period. Mendelssohn, Schumann and Brahms knew each other and quite well in one case especially, so it will be a real pleasure delving into their lives and learning more about them. Our special guest will be violist Irina Morozova who will join us for two gorgeous piano quartets - one from a teenage Mendelssohn of such breathtaking genius, and the other a very mature Brahms!

Tickets are still available to the concerts listed below as are subscriptions for the season. Please call us on 02 9969 7039, or email info@selbyandfriends.com.au to book your tickets. Tickets can also be booked online through Angel Place for Sydney only (and you can call their box office on 8256 2222), and also single concert tickets will be available very soon through FringeTIX and BASS in Adelaide.

Program in February

Schumann - Piano Trio in A minor, Op.88 'Fantasiestücke'
Mendelssohn – Piano Quartet No.2 in F minor
Brahms - Piano Quartet No. 2 in A major, Op. 26

Dates and Venues - 2008

Bowral - Saturday 16 February @ 5:30pm at The Recital Room, Oxley College
Canberra - Monday 18 February @ 7:30pm at the NGA
Sydney - Tuesday 19 February @ 7pm at City Recital Hall, Angel Place
Melbourne - Wednesday 20 February @ 8pm at Melba Hall
Adelaide - Sunday 24 February @ 2:30pm at Elder Hall, University of Adelaide

A Little Lunch Music!

You may recall that the Australia Council awarded me the prestigious Fellowship award for 2007 and 2008 at the end of last year which not only assisted me in presenting the first national S&F series, but also enabled me to work closely with school children, and I have spent the year travelling around the country doing just that. It has been an extraordinary experience, seeing first hand the enormous breadth and variety of talent being lovingly fostered by many fine schools nationwide.

In 2008, I am taking a slightly different approach with this marvellous grant. Whilst I will still have the opportunity to work with students, I will also be curating a new series of concerts at City Recital Hall, aimed not only at schools and talented, interested musicians of the future, but also the general public.

The aim of this new series is to present a different kind of lunchtime experience - a chance to sit back, munch on a sandwich and explore music with me and my friends. In fact, this series is quite different in that its focus will be primarily to look at the 'composer' in more depth and the effect the composer's wishes have on performance practice and combinations of instruments and indeed the performer too. In fact, I am hoping my friends will be very open about their own experiences as performers and working with their instruments. The concerts will take place once a month at 12:30pm in the foyer of City Recital Hall at a cost of only $5 per person and will be an opportunity to interact with the artists and explore with us certain aspects of performance, instrumentation and history that we cannot explore in a more conventional concert setting. The concerts will present some wonderful and brilliant young Australian artists as well as some beloved familiar friends and I will send you more details in the New Year. I am putting it all together now with City Recital Hall so if you would like more information about these new one-hour concerts, please email me and I will keep you up to date on all relevant information. The concerts begin in February and all bookings will be through City Recital Hall Angel Place.

Something new on the website!

One of the most wonderful aspects of presenting a series like Selby & Friends is the mail I receive. I truly love receiving emails, snail mail and faxes from you all, especially when you comment on the concerts and really tell me what you think (as seen above). So, I thought that perhaps you might like to let each other know what your opinions are as well and we could all share our thoughts together. To that end, I am in the process of creating an S&F blog on the website which should allow you to see what other people around the country have to say and then comment yourself. This really is an experiment so it may have its problems to begin with. Please venture onto the site again soon and have a look at its slightly new look and perhaps give the blog a try!

Christmas presents!

Well it is Christmas, and as I said above, I really love giving presents so I pretty much look for any excuse to do so! This Christmas I would like to give as many as I can.

Here are the prizes:

1) 2 tickets to each concert in the 2008 season;

2) an entire season of 5 free concert programs to one lucky person - the programs will be somewhat revamped next year and I look forward to your feedback;

3) and a slightly more difficult to win special one-off subscription to the music buff out there! You can only win one prize to make it fair!

1) As we have 5 tours next year and 5 cities that we visit on each tour, I am going to split the first prize into 5 equal parts - someone from each city will have the chance to win 2 free tickets to one of the concerts next year and each winner gets to choose for which concert they want tickets. The first person from Adelaide, Bowral, Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney to answer this question will win two free tickets to the concert of their choice in the 2008 season:

Question: TRIOZ will perform Rachmaninov's huge second piano trio during the April tour in 2008. Why did he name it 'Elegiaque'?

2) The first person from Adelaide, Bowral, Canberra, Melbourne or Sydney to answer this question will win an entire season of 5 concert programs - I will send you a voucher which you will just need to present at each concert to redeem your concert program:

Question: Who was the composer featured in each and every program during this past season?

3) This one is a little harder! For this question you needed to catch me out in an error!

Question: One work listed in the 2007 season brochure was entitled incorrectly. Did you notice which one? If so and you are the first to answer correctly, you will win one full subscription in the city of your choice.

Good luck and I'll be watching for your emails!

Till 2008!

May I wish you, your family and friends the most lovely Christmas season together. I hope the festive season will be a peaceful and happy one for you all and I look forward to seeing you in February. In the meantime, I also wish you a very happy and safe New Year!

Warm regards,

Kathy