We are proud to have a full program of seven concerts lined up once again for the 2024 Season of Song. Subscribe to our email list on the Contact page or make sure to check this page a few days before each concert to be aware of changes in performers, times, et cetera. If you have booked tickets for a performance, you will of course be notified of changes if you have provided a valid email address that you regularly check.
For prices please see tickets.
Tribute to Oliver
Sunday 25th February at 3pm
Wesley Music Centre, 20 National Circuit, Forrest
At the start of a new Art Song Canberra season, we pay tribute to the driving force behind the organisation for almost three decades. Oliver Raymond OAM has tirelessly promoted the case of art song in Canberra, provided a platform for local and visiting artists, kept the organisation afloat and championed the artform as no other. Some of the many singers who appeared over the years come together in song to celebrate and pay tribute to this man.
The details of the program are a surprise, as they should be!
Romantic Masters
Sunday 7th April at 3pm
Wesley Music Centre, 20 National Circuit, Forrest
Andrew Goodwin (tenor) and Roland Peelman (piano)
“…having both clarity and strength, a tenor such as you always wanted them to be” – Australian Stage
Australia’s most beautifully accomplished tenor returns to Canberra with one of the finest and joyfully poetic moments in the entire art song repertoire: Schumann’s Dichterliebe (a Poet’s Love), based on the poems of Heinrich Heine and written during his blissful year of marriage to Clara. Dipping into the rich body of Russian poetry, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff both wrote superb songs, rarely heard in the West. It pays to have a Russian speaking tenor in Australia!
Dolcissimo
Sunday 19th May at 3pm
Wesley Music Centre, 20 National Circuit, Forrest
Anna Fraser (soprano) and Hannah Lane (Italian triple harp)
“filled with emotional depth and subtlety” – Adelaide Advertiser
This most delicate program of early Italian baroque, accompanied on a historic 17th century harp, celebrates the seductive sweetness of the female voice. Reflecting the unashamed erotic images of the painters in the wake of Titian or Giorgione, composers opened up a new world for the solo voice: poetic, virtuosic and utterly seductive. Two eminent Baroque specialists take you inside the opulent world of the North Italian palazzi with music by Luzzaschi, Caccini, Rossi and Frescobaldi.
Lost voices from the Holocaust
Sunday 28th July at 3pm
Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture (note different venue)
Christina Wilson (mezzosoprano), Alan Hicks (piano) and Chris Latham (violin)
In association with ‘Music of memory’
Between July and October 1944, untold numbers of musicians and artists perished in the camps of Terezin and Auschwitz. Amongst the many atrocities of WWII, this period arguably represents one of the greatest artistic losses to humanity. In bringing their music back to life, this recital tells the story of the many forgotten musicians: C.S Taube, Leo Kok, Heinz Lewin and James Simon to name a few.
Airs and Graces
Sunday 1st September at 3pm
Wesley Music Centre, 20 National Circuit, Forrest
Michael Burden (countertenor), Liam Green (harpsichord) and Ruby Brallier (cello, viola da gamba)
“Burden sang with beautiful, warm tone and impressive projection” – Classic Melbourne
Long before the piano took its central place in the production of art songs, singers performed with the support of basso continuo: a bass instrument combined with a keyboard instrument that could fill out the harmony. Named a solo madrigal, or an ‘air de cour’, or simply a song or ‘Air’, the approach to language in the local/regional traditions defined the style. Much of this repertoire that developed around the courts in Europe is still being recovered. In this recital, young counter-tenor Michael Burden presents some of the vocal gems that were heard outside the opera houses of the day in Paris, London, Venice and Rome.
Orphic Hymns
Sunday 20th October at 3pm
Wesley Music Centre, 20 National Circuit, Forrest
Jane Sheldon (soprano)
“a stunning performance” – Washington Post
Best known for her original rendition of Kats-Chernin’s Eliza Aria, Jane has developed an international reputation for specialised contemporary opera and art music. On this occasion, Jane comes to Canberra performing songs from her upcoming album, part of a growing body of work based on the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke. Her 2022 album, I am a tree, I am a mouth was listed in the New Yorker’s Notable Performances and Recordings of 2022. The new works are inspired by Rilke’s Sonnets to Orpheus and will be contrasted with other settings of Rilke and poets who have found personal expression via the Orpheus myth.
SEVEN DEADLY NECESSARY SINS
November (dates tbc)
Venue (tbc) (note different venue)
Rachel Mink (chansonnière) and Sally Whitwell (piano)
“…a talent in full flight, embellished with playful flourishes, meticulous detail and appearances from kindred spirits” – The Age
Inspired by Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls by Mona Eltahawy as well as Kurt Weill’s own take on the Seven Deadly Sins, Sally Whitwell is devising a new cabaret show for the here and now. The book advocates a muscular, out-loud approach to teaching women and girls to harness their power. See and hear how a feminist manifesto is transformed by a Canberra girl into a cheeky show about the do’s and don’ts, but especially the do’s!