Get ready for a magic carpet ride! Claire Edwardes, the “Sorceress of Percussion”, joins the flamboyant conductor Nicholas Milton and his Canberra Symphony Orchestra on Wednesday and Thursday for the final concert of 2015, RACHMANINOV.
Chief conductor and artistic director Milton has put together a vibrant and varied program for the orchestra’s last outing this year.
Edwardes is an internationally acclaimed percussion soloist, chamber musician and artistic director. She specialises in the marimba, but is always open to exploring new options as even the most common object could be found to create the most interesting sound.
Her power in performance is her ability to bring music to life, taking the audience on an adventure as they listen.
At Llewellyn Hall this week Edwardes will perform the concerto Golden Kitsch, a piece she co-wrote with Australian composer Elena Katz-Chernin.
“It is thoroughly engaging and entertaining,” Edwardes said. “There’s something almost child-like about the piece and I think the audience experiences a youthful fascination as they watch and listen, all the while they are being taken on a magic carpet ride that they don’t even know they have taken until they hit the ground at the end!”
The performer/composer is extremely fond of the work and the journey she took writing it.
“Elena and I workshopped the piece at great length. She made many visits to my studio as she was writing it and it was probably the truest collaboration I’ve ever had with a composer,” she said.
The night will open with the orchestra morphing into a Mexican dance band to perform Arturo Marquez’s Danzón No. 2, with the intoxicating Latin rhythms set to get the audience swaying in their seats.
To finish the evening and the season, audiences will be delighted by Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances. Perhaps the Russian composer’s final work, it reflects on the events of his life. So too, will the performance will encourage you to reflect on the year almost gone and the series of wonderful performances our very own orchestra has given us in 2015.
What: Canberra Symphony Orchestra Llewellyn Series/04 RACHMANINOV
When: 4 & 5 November, 7.30pm
Where: Llewellyn Hall, ANU
How much: From $20. Visit www.cso.org.au for more information.
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