PLEASE NOTE: THERE HAS BEEN A VENUE CHANGE FOR THIS PERFORMANCE
An intimate exploration of time, memory and mythos, Night Tides stirs with nature’s eternal currents. This tender collection of works shimmers with poetic delicacy; water trembles, mythological worlds shimmer in nocturnal hues, and the alluring sonority of the voice weaves its way through the shifting textures of Halcyon’s characteristically chameleonic ensemble.
From Gordon Kerry’s evocative Three Malouf Songs, which paint a striking vision of Queensland’s Glasshouse Mountains, to Christine McCombe’s plaintive Ebb Tide, Australian composers lie at the heart of this program. Between these luminous, tidal movements flows the world premiere of a new arrangement of songs from Kevin March’s Mythweaver, composed of Sappho’s fragmented and ardent poetry. Lisa Cheney’s No Distant Place: I. The Soul’s Eternity, is a spellbinding instrumental interlude, as clarinet, piano and violin emerge and bloom like pinpricks of light. Elena Kats-Chernin’s Moondust, wordless melodies wax and wane in a nocturnal reverie. Paul Stanhope’s brief song My Love in her Attire features sinuous dovetailing lines for soprano, vibraphone and clarinet, which glimmer with a subtle wittiness.
Three Australian premieres further affirm Halcyon’s unfaltering devotion to new music curation: Moonlight, Summer Moonlight is Estonian Tõnu Korvits’ elegy to a solemn evening, while the frozen moment of a perfect shade of blue is illuminated in Hilary Tann’s …Slate, blue-gray. Quiet Songs is Jeremy Thurlow’s translucent sculpture of Yves Bonnefoy’s murmuring poetry.
As Halcyon celebrate 26 years of music-making, join artistic director and mezzo-soprano Jenny Duck-Chong for a breathtaking evening, as alongside a cast of Halcyon musicians both old and new, spectres of grief and reminiscence mingle with stunning evocations of nature’s radiance.
WORKS
Gordon Kerry - Three Malouf Songs (2015)
Christine McCombe - Ebb Tide (2016)
Kevin March - Two songs from Mythweaver (2009, 2021 chamber version) - world premiere
Lisa Cheney - The Soul’s Eternity from No Distant Place (2015)
Elena Kats-Chernin - Moondust (2019)
Paul Stanhope - My Love in Her Attire (2013)
Hilary Tann - Slate, blue-gray (2012)
Jeremy Thurlow - Quiet Songs (2014)
Tõnu Kõrvits - Moonlight, Summer Moonlight (2013)
ARTISTS
Jenny Duck-Chong mezzo-soprano and artistic director
Amy Moore – soprano
Jane Bishop – flute
Alex McCracken – clarinet
Maria Lindsay – violin
Heather Lloyd - viola
James Larsen – cello
Will Hansen - double bass
Stephanie McCallum - piano
Kaela Phillips – harp
Alison Pratt - percussion
Read the full program here
Night Tides
18 October at 7pm
Choirs Rehearsal Studio, Walsh Bay Arts Precinct
Wharf 4/5, 15 Hickson Rd Dawes Point
The Choirs Rehearsal Studio can be found behind the STC Box Office, in the breezeway, opposite the Sydney Dance Company.
The 324 and 325 bus runs directly to Wharf 4/5 on Hickson Rd from near Town Hall.
Tickets $58 full price/ $48 senior concession/ $33 student concession
Tickets available through Humantix here
All enquiries: info@halcyonartmusic.com.au