2018 Concerts

St Cecilia 2018

Sunday 18th November 3:00 PM

Glebe Town Hall 160 St John’s Rd Glebe

Glebe Music Festival

$35/$25

Josie and the Emeralds once again celebrate St Cecilia, Patron Saint of Music, with music that was performed on St Cecilia’s Day in 16th century Europe and music celebrating the gift of music itself!

Plus two new works featuring Laura Vaughan, bass viol:

Alice Chance: Viol Juice for bass viol and viol consort

Brooke Green: Sorrow and Hope for bass viol and Josie and the Emeralds

Click on this link if you would like to make a tax deductible donation through The Australian Cultural Fund to support the creation of these new works.

Josie Ryan, soprano
Laura Vaughan, guest artist, treble / bass viol
Alice Chance, composer, bass viol
Brooke Green, director, composer, treble viol
Imogen Granwal, tenor viol
Catherine Upex, bass viol

IMG_0486Brooke, Fiona, Laura and Josie after our October “pre-Cecilia” concert in Singleton

Past concerts

Sunday 7 October 2018 2:00 PM

SACRED SPACES Sisters Chapel

30 Queen St Singleton Hunter Valley NSW

Josie and the Emeralds celebrate St Cecilia, Patron Saint of Music, with music that was performed on St Cecilia’s Day in late 17th Century London, one of the most eagerly anticipated music days of the year. Henry Purcell, John Blow and Giovanni Battista Draghi were renowned for the “excesses of pleasure” they created for this “glorious day” where St Cecilia is cast as the “Divine Cecilia,…Our art’s inspirer, Music’s patroness”. This program includes excerpts from these Odes to St Cecilia, madrigals and consorts from the English Renaissance and music that pays homage to refugees in Australia’s offshore detention centres on Manus Island and Nauru.

Plus two World Premieres featuring Laura Vaughan, bass viol:

Alice Chance: New Work for bass viol and viol consort

Brooke Green: Sorrow and Hope for bass viol and Josie and the Emeralds

Click on this link if you would like to make a tax deductible donation through The Australian Cultural Fund to support the creation of these new works.

$35 (adult) and $5 (school student) and include a complimentary Convent-made afternoon tea. Available at www.trybooking.com/TJRX and at the door from 1.30pm.
Arrive from 1.30pm to choose your preferred seat. If you have a group of 8 or more, there is a $5 discount on each ticket – please contact the Sacred Spaces office directly. This is only for prebooked tickets (not at the door).

Josie Ryan, soprano
Laura Vaughan, guest artist, treble / bass viol
Alice Chance, composer, bass viol
Brooke Green, director, composer, treble viol
Fiona Ziegler, tenor viol
Catherine Upex, bass viol

Music in this stillness

Wednesdays 11, 18, 25 April, 2 & 9 May

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Overview

Music in this stillness is a series of 5 concerts inspired by The Lady and the Unicorn tapestries. Late medieval and early Renaissance music by Guillaume de Machaut, Guillaume Du Fay and Gilles Binchois features, along with premieres of new Australian compositions by Moya Henderson, Alice Chance, Bree van Reyk, Victoria Pham, Amanda Cole, Lyle Chan and Brooke Green.

Performers include: Bree van Reyk, organetto; Josie Ryan and Amy Moore, sopranos; Elizabeth Rumsey, viola d’arco; Brooke Green, vielle, treble viol; Fiona Ziegler, Catherine Upex and Alice Chance, viols.

The contemporary compositions incorporate the little-known medieval instrument, the organetto or portative organ which is depicted in the tapestry representing the sense of hearing. With only 20 keys, this tiny instrument produces an enchanting sound. Made in the 1980s by Ronald Sharp, builder of the Sydney Opera House Grand Organ, it has been generously loaned by the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences for this project.

 Contemporary compositions

 Moya Henderson: The hem of her dress, a fanfare for solo organetto

Mofa Henderson: O dieses ist das Tier das es nicht gibt for soprano, organetto, treble and bass viols

Alice Chance: Ça va bien, a happy blues for soprano, organetto, treble and bass viols. Here, the composer depicts The Lady as self-sufficient and quite content, luxuriating in her paradise garden.

Victoria Pham: A Aurore, for soprano, organetto, viola d’arco and bass viol. Dedicated to George Sand whose words “shaped with colour and woven with threads of The Lady and The Unicorn’s burgundy and amber” inspired the music for this work.

 Brooke Green: Le Miroir à La Licorne (The Mirror to The Unicorn) for soprano, organetto, and vielle: a palindrome that incorporates the enigmatic phrase that appears in the last tapestry, Mon seul desir (here translated as My sole desire).

Amanda Cole: Loom Patterns Portative Organ Solo with electronics

Lyle Chan Wandtepicche: Composed for narrator and portatif organ, Lyle Chan’s Wandteppiche (“wall tapestries”) is an English-language adaptation of Rainer Maria Rilke’s vivid descriptions of La Dame à la Licorne. The narrator evokes the six panels for a lover who cannot be there, the words carried on music that they both remember. The same Rilke words are on the walls of the walkway greeting viewers as they enter the AGNSW’s tapestry room.

Bree van Reyk: The Sharp Organetto

Curated by Jason Catlett and Brooke Green, this project is made possible by an anonymous donation to the Art Gallery Foundation in memory of Stephen Alward, a patron of the visual arts and music.

 

Music in this stillness: Concert 5

Wednesday 9 May 7:30pm – 8:30pm

Art Gallery of NSW: Foyer

Josie Ryan, soprano

Brooke Green, vielle, treble viol (Music Director)

Catherine Upex, tenor/ bass viol,

 with guest artist:

Bree van Reyk, organetto

New works for organetto and Josie and the Emeralds by contemporary Australian composers

Early music from the time of the tapestries

Moya Henderson: O dieses ist das Tier das es nicht gibt (World Premiere) for soprano, treble and bass viols, organetto

Bree van Reyk: New Work (World Premiere)

Amanda Cole: New Work for organetto and electronics (World Premiere)

Lyle Chan: Wandteppiche for organetto and speaker (Public Premiere)

Moya Henderson: The Hem of her Dress, organetto solo

Alice Chance: Ça va bien, for soprano, treble and bass viols, organetto

Brooke Green: Le Miroir à La Licorne for soprano, vielle, organetto

Guillaume de Machaut, Bartolomeo Tromboncino and Gilles Binchois.

Music in this stillness: Concert 4

Wednesday 2 May 7:45pm – 8:45pm

The Intercontinental, Sydney: Cortile

Corner: Macquarie and Bridge Sts

Free event!

Amy Moore, soprano

Brooke Green, treble viol, (Music Director)

Laura Vaughan, tenor viol

Catherine Upex, bass viol,

Early Music associated with The Lady and the Unicorn tapestries

In music from medieval and Renaissance Europe, The Lady was idealised in various ways . This program includes a Chanson Royale by Guillaume de Machaut, beautiful motets by Guillaume Dufay and Tromboncino and a rondeau by Gilles Binchois with an intriguingly close connection to the sixth tapestry: ‘Mon seul et souverain desir’.  There is also one of the most famous early Renaissance pavanes: Belle qui tiens ma vie by the Catholic priest and dance theorist Thoinot Arbeau.

Concert 3: Wednesday 25 April

 Amy Moore, soprano

Brooke Green, vielle, treble viol, (Music Director)

Elizabeth Rumsey, viola d’arco,

Catherine Upex bass viol,

How is the Lady idealised in music from the time of the tapestries? This program includes music by Guillaume de Machaut, Guillaume Dufay, Josquin Desprez and one of the most famous early Renaissance pavanes Belle qui tiens ma vie by the Catholic priest and dance theorist Thoinot Arbeau.

Concert 2: Wednesday 18 April

 Amy Moore, soprano

Brooke Green, vielle, treble viol, (Music Director)

Elizabeth Rumsey, viola d’arco,

Catherine Upex bass viol,

How is the Lady idealised in music from the time of the tapestries? This program includes music by Guillaume de Machaut, Guillaume Dufay, Josquin Desprez and one of the most famous early Renaissance pavanes Belle qui tiens ma vie by the Catholic priest and dance theorist Thoinot Arbeau.

Concert 1: Wednesday 11 April

 Josie Ryan, soprano

Brooke Green, vielle, treble viol (Music Director)

Elizabeth Rumsey, viola d’arco, tenor viol

Catherine Upex bass viol,

 with guest artists:

Bree van Reyk, organetto

Alice Chance, bass viol,

How is the Lady idealised in music from the time of the tapestries? This program includes a secular Lady singing a Chanson Royale by Guillaume de Machaut, the Lady as Virgin Mary by Guillaume Dufay and a rondeau with an intriguingly close connection to the sixth tapestry: ‘Mon seul et souverain desir’ by Gilles Binchois.

New works for organetto and Josie and the Emeralds by contemporary Australian composers:

Alice Chance: Ça va bien (World Premiere)

Victoria Pham: A Aurore (World Premiere)

Moya Henderson: The Hem of her Dress (Public Premiere)

Brooke Green: Le Miroir à La Licorne (Public Premiere)