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The Song Company 40th Anniversary Gala
June 23 @ 3:00 pm
Join The Song Company for its 40th Anniversary celebration: Vespers for Mother Earth, a newly commissioned work for vocal ensemble and an eclectic array of instrumental forces by Ross Edwards. The expanded vocal ensemble will be joined on stage by Ensemble Offspring and an eagerly anticipated return to the director’s podium of former long-term Artistic Director, Roland Peelman.
Inspired by Monteverdi’s Renaissance masterpiece Vespro della Beata Vergine of 1610, Edwards’ vespers weaves symbols of day and night into a profound contemplation on the pressing ecological crisis of our time. It symbolises both a farewell to humanity’s destructive dominance and the dawn of a new era — a re-kindling of the sacred feminine principle, embodied by the night.
Edwards’ music is complemented by the program’s first half, which showcases music written for The Song Company over the last 40 years by luminaries of Australian music including Peter Sculthorpe, Elena Kats-Chernin, Nigel Butterly and Katy Abbott. It also looks to a vibrant future, showcasing the next generation of composers, such as Alice Chance and Sonya Hollowell and a captivating new work by Angus Davison.
The performers: The Song Company – Susannah Lawergren, Amy Moore, Jessica O’Donoghue, Hannah Fraser,
Timothy Reynolds, Louis Hurley, Hayden Barrington, Andrew O’Connor
Ensemble Offspring – Claire Edwardes, Lamorna Nightingale, James Nightingale, Dominic Longhurst, Nigel Crocker, Bree van Reyk plus Lindsay Dugan, Shakuhachi | Matthew Doyle, Didjeridu l Lu Liu, Pipa | Genevieve Lang, Harp | Julian Smiles, Cello
Roland Peelman, Guest Director