2018 Artists
Flinders Quartet
Flinders Quartet (FQ) is instantly recognisable as one of Australia’s most loved chamber music ensembles. A quartet for the twenty-first century, FQ continues its second decade with acknowledged musical skill and maturity. The groups dynamic and stirring performances of a full spectrum of repertoire have audiences and critics articulating their esteem, and the quartet is a highly-respected force in Australian chamber music. FQ regularly commissions and premieres works by Australian composers. In 2018, the quartet will premiere new works by Andrew Ford and Iain Grandage, arrangements by John Rotar, and will revisit a commissioned work by Calvin Bowman. In their ongoing mission to further the Australian tradition of chamber music, FQ has previously commissioned and premiered works by Peter Sculthorpe, Katy Abbott, Ross Edwards, Elena Kats-Chernin, Stuart Greenbaum, Richard Mills, Paul Dean, Paul Grabowsky, Ian Munro and Tom Henry.
Building on its 2006 Limelight Award and 2007 Melbourne Prize for Music nomination, FQ was nominated for a 2007 ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) award for its performance of Gillian Whitehead’s Bright Forms Return in collaboration with new music ensemble Halcyon. In 2010, Flinders was again nominated for the Melbourne Prize for Music, and in 2011 received an ARIA nomination for its CD release with Karin Schaupp (guitar), Fandango.
The quartet is regularly invited to perform and tour for chamber music presenters such as Musica Viva, and is in demand at festivals throughout Australia often in association with some of the country’s finest talents, including Timo-Veikko (‘Tipi’) Valve, Slava Grigoryan, Kristian Chong, Ian Munro, Paul Dean, Karin Schaupp, Genevieve Lacey and Jayson Gillham. International engagements have taken FQ to the UK, Singapore, Canada, and most recently, Sweden and Finland, where it was invited to perform the complete string quartets by Sibelius.
Firebird Trio
Firebird Trio – like its mythical counterpart which shone magically through the darkness – sheds light on music from all epochs. Founded in 2010, Firebird Trio has performed nationwide to critical acclaim, with a vibrancy of imagination that echoes its name. Described by The Australian as ‘an ensemble of immense energy and focus’; and praised in The Age for their “togetherness, charisma and playfulness”, Firebird Trio has performed around Australia including for Musica Viva, Noosa LongWeekend Festival, Coffs Harbour Music Society, Camberwell Music Society, Macedon Music, Melbourne Recital Centre, 3MBS Marathon and ABC Sunday Live. Their performances are regularly heard on ABC Classic FM and 3MBS FM.
A rigorous commissioning program and commitment to the Australian musical voice has brought to public attention many new works from the likes of Paul Grabowsky, Tony Gould, Julian Yu, Don Kay, Andrian Pertout and resident pianist/composer Benjamin Martin.
As passionate chamber musicians the members of Firebird Trio have enjoyed educating the next generation of chamber musicians for Australian Youth Orchestra, Melbourne Conservatorium of Music at the University of Melbourne, VCA Secondary School and Monash University.
Firebird Trio continues to present a unique and thought-provoking concert experience. Thinking outside the box, Firebird Trio performances reflect the energy, colour and splendour of the Firebird, taking their name from Stravinsky’s iconic ballet suite.
Ensemble Liaison
Ensemble Liaison is a unique chamber music partnership formed in 2006 between David Griffiths (clarinet), Svetlana Bogosavljevic (cello) an
d Timothy Young (piano). As suggested by their name, collaborations form the basis of their artistic and musical vision, and partners to-date have included Nemanja Radulovic, Peter Coleman-Wright, Cheryl Barker, Emma Matthews, Ray Chen, Henning Kraggerud, Anthony
Marwood, Katie Noonan, Hervé Joulain, Roderick Williams, Wilma Smith, Tony Gould, Caroline Henbest, Paul Wright, Natsuko Yoshimoto, Elizabeth Sellars, Caroline Almonte, David Jones, Peter Wilson, Paul Grabowsky, Greta Bradman, the Exaudi Youth Choir and principals of The Australian Ballet.
The creation of new works is also a priority for Ensemble Liaison, with commissions by Paul Grabowsky, Ian Munro, Gordon Kerry, Tony Gould, Stuart Greenbaum, Elena Kats-Chernin, Jane Hammond, Thomas Reiner, Aleksander Sedlar, Mark Viggiani and Mary Finsterer. Countless arrangements by the trio have also formed an integral part of their programming and artistic vision.
Ensemble Liaison performed their debut concert for ABC Classic FM in 2006 and their inaugural Concert Series was held in Melbourne in 2007. The Ensemble Liaison & Friends series has recently completed its 10th anniversary season at the Melbourne Recital Centre. Described by Limelight magazine as a ‘national treasure’, they have performed across Australia and New Zealand including a ten-concert tour for Chamber Music New Zealand, appearances at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, Townsville, Port Fairy Spring Music Festival and the Woodend Winter Arts Festival, and in 2012 gave a series of festival performances in Central Europe. Critics have hailed their performances with superlatives such as “spellbinding”, “flawless”, “a revelation”, “moving” and “joyous”. They have been regularly recorded for broadcast on ABC Classic FM and 3MBS and have released recordings on both the Melba Recordings and Tall Poppies labels. They have recently established the EL label, and their first CD, Oblivion has featured as CD of the week on ABC FM. They wereensemble-in-residence at Monash University from 2010-2016.
Ayse Goknur Shanal
Brisbane born soprano Ayșe Göknur Shanal is one of Australia’s most versatile classical singers. She has performed in England, USA, Germany, France, Ireland, Japan and Turkey. As the Dame Joan Sutherland Scholar, she studied at London’s prestigious Royal College of Music and was an adjunct member of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
Ayșe has won many prestigious awards and scholarships, including the Australian Singing Competition, the Dame Joan Sutherland Scholarship and Award, Opera Foundation Australia’s Metropolitan Opera Award (New York), McDonald’s Operatic Aria, the Queens Trust for Young Australians, Symphony Australia’s Young Performers Award (Vocal Category), and the Sonderpreis der Loreley Festspiele at the Neue Stimmen International Singing Competition.
Ayșe has appeared as a guest artist with Opera Australia and Turkish State Opera. She has performed at the Aldeburgh Festival (UK) and the Sydney Festival, and has been featured as a soloist with the Symphony Orchestras of Sydney, Penrith, Queensland, Melbourne, Adelaide, West Australia, and with the Australian Haydn Ensemble.
This year, Ayșe has performed at Sydney Opera House, Melbourne Recital Centre, Bowral Autumn Music Festival, Art Song Canberra, and in Mersin, Turkey. She will be performing for Beleura House, Lieder Society of Victoria, returning to the Sydney Opera House, as well as touring England, Wales, Scotland. She will also be embarking on recording projects with pianist Ashley Hribar.
Ayșe has released two CDs. The first of these, called Love and Life, with Evgeny Ukhanov, features Schumann’s Frauenliebe und Leben and Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder, and is released through Taslig Records. The second CD, called Çanakkale-Gallipoli Songs, with pianist Patrick Keith et al., through Wirripang.
Orpheus Piano Trio
The Orpheus Piano Trio formed in early 2012. Comprising pianist Helena Kernaghan, violinist
Kaori Sparks and cellist Sam Goble, the trio enjoy the challenge of being an interstate, rural dwelling ensemble with members calling Albury and Castlemaine home.
All members of the Orpheus Piano Trio are established performers in their own rights, and have gained experience performing and studying internationally throughout Europe, Asia and Australia. Sam and Helena have been collaborating in duo and trio combinations since meeting at the Victorian College of the Arts in 1997. Kaori and Helena first collaborated in
2011 for the Help Japan fundraiser concert series in their current hometown of Albury. Since their first concert in Castlemaine in 2012, Orpheus Piano Trio have performed regularly in various venues around Victoria and the Riverina. Highlights of these early years include performing at Melbourne’s Bennett’s Lane jazz club for the William Poskitt Memorial
concert, as well as regional tours with stops in Wodonga, Bright, Wangaratta, Wagga Wagga, The Capital Theatre Bendigo & St Matthews Church Albury.
2016 was an exciting year for the trio as they were featured as Ensemble-in-Residence for the 1st annual Albury Chamber Music Festival. In recent years the group have extended their regional performances to venues such as The Old Castlemaine Gaol, Cope Williams Winery in Romsey, and the Deniliquin town hall. For their second year as Ensemble-in-Residence at Albury Chamber Music Festival, they presented Shostakovich’s trio and Messiaen’s ’Quartet for the End of Time’ with clarinettist David Griffiths. 2017 saw the trio release their first studio recording of works by Shostakovich and Dvorak.
With an established reputation and following throughout regional Victoria and New South Wales, Orpheus Piano Trio will continue to focus on bringing music of the highest standard to many country towns that are sometimes left off the map of the larger groups of Australia.
Daniel Dries
Daniel Dries was born in Sydney in 1971. He completed a Master of Music degree at the
University of Newcastle in 1995, majoring in organ performance. His teachers included
Professor Michael Dudman and Anthony Jennings. He has also attained Associate Diplomas in organ performance from the Royal College of Organists and the Royal College of Music in London.
In 2005 Daniel completed a Doctor of Creative Arts degree at the University of Wollongong. This research project focussed on the French Symphonic organ tradition, with a particular emphasis on the life and work of Marcel Dupré.
Daniel has given many recitals at venues in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. From 2000 to 2005 Daniel was Organist and Director of Music at St. Stephen’s Uniting Church, Macquarie Street, Sydney. From 2001 to 2005 Daniel was also Head of Music at SCEGGS Darlinghurst. From 2002 to 2004 Daniel conducted the annual massed-choir performance of Handel’s Messiah at the Sydney Town Hall, involving 500 singers and musicians.
In 2006 Daniel completed a Bachelor of Theology degree at Charles Sturt University. He was ordained a priest in the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle, where he served in parishes including Christ Church Cathedral, Newcastle and All Saints’, Belmont. Daniel was inducted as the eleventh Rector of Christ Church St Laurence, Sydney in January 2013.
Ashley Hribar
Ashley Hribar is an Australian born pianist and composer of German and Slovenian parentage. He has developed a reputation as a most versatile musician embracing multimedia, world music, cross-disciplinary arts forms and a broad range of traditional genres.
Ashley has a deep interest in contemporary aesthetics and is an advocate for Australian music endeavour – ‘Cultural ownership is an important element to engagement, particularly in an increasingly globalized world where the uniqueness of innovation can be easily overwhelmed’; Recent projects include Anatolia –arrangements of Turkish folksongs with soprano Ayșe Göknur Shanal (Sydney Opera House) and Sound and Colour in Scriabin’s Piano Sonatas incorporating video projections of Australian opals (2017 European Tour). Future projects include Index of Opals – commissioning Australian composers to write especially for the Australian Stuart & Sons, collaborations with indigenous musician/artist Robert Wuldi.
In 2005, Ashley was the winner of the International Gaudeamus Interpreters Competition (Holland) and the Michael Kieren Harvey Award (2008) and has since performed in prominent venues and festivals including the: Mersin International Music Festival (Turkey), Koper Biennale (Slovenia), Ultima Festival, En Blanc en Noir Festival (France), Gaudeamus Festival, Melbourne Recital Centre, and The Port Fairy Spring Festival.
Ashley’s compositions are poly-stylistic collages often using extended techniques, voice and the deployment of objects. Recent works include Walkabout (2018) for piano and didgeridoo and the soundtracks to Richard III commissioned by Silents Now (U.K.) and to The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. He composed and performed the music for Betty Rettet die Volksbühne (Die Volksbühne, Berlin) in collaboration with actress Bettina Lamprecht. His solo piano works Paganini Variations, ‘ash’ Fantasie plus a cadenza and arrangement for Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue appear on his album Piano Rhapsody (Auster Records). His solo album for The Wizard Tone Records Improvisation Series was nominated for the South Australian Arts Awards in 2017.
Ashley is indebted to the invaluable guidance of his teachers Ann Adamek, Stefan Ammer, Stephen McIntyre, Eleonora Sivan, Gil Sullivan, Graham Williams and Karl-Heinz Kämmerling. In 2018, he completed his performance PhD at the University of Adelaide focusing on the music by American composer, Frederic Rzewski.
Ashley is a passionate visual artist, who enjoys painting, drawing and carving Australian opals.