Musica Viva Australia's first national tour of 2023 features classical guitarist Karin Schaupp and the Flinders Quartet with Musica Viva's artistic director of competitions, Wilma Smith.
The tour opens in Sydney on February 18 followed by performances in Newcastle, Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane before concluding in Adelaide (as part of the Adelaide Festival) on March 9.
The centrepiece of this concert is a new work from composer and former Musica Viva Australia artistic director Carl Vine.
In 2019, when Paul Kildea took over the role of artistic director, he asked his predecessor to create a new work commissioned by a longstanding audience member, Kathryn Bennett, who wished to immortalise the joyous memory of her late daughter, Jennifer Bates.
An award-winning architect and passionate environmentalist who was embedded in the Newcastle community, Jennifer tragically passed away in a hit-run crash in 2016.
Extensive dialogue between Kathryn and Carl helped shape the final work, Endless, to be a celebration of Jennifer's life, a mother's way of remembering the joy her daughter imparted, and the contribution she made in the time she was given.
This work is incredibly meaningful for Kathryn who will be attending every performance of the national tour to witness the moving tribute to her daughter as many times as possible.
Schaupp will be joined on stage by the Flinders Quartet to premiere this celebration of life and music.
The program (with the exception of Adelaide) includes Southern Cross Dreaming by Australia's Richard Charlton, Imogen Holst's Phantasy Quartet, and contrasting works for guitar and strings from three very different Italians, ending with two movements from Boccherini's fiery Fandango.
In an artistic acknowledgement of Musica Viva Australia's presentation of The Cage Project at Adelaide Festival, Karin Schaupp and the Flinders Quartet will perform John Cage's work, Dream, during their Adelaide performance.
"I'm really excited about this national tour for Musica Viva Australia - it's a bucket list item for me as we persuaded Carl Vine (who is one of my favourite composers) to write for the first time for the guitar," Schaupp says.
Musica Viva Australia comes to Newcastle City Hall on Wednesday, February 22, at 7.30pm. Tickets are on sale now at musicaviva.com.au.
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