Van Diemen’s Band Tours For Musica Viva

Musica Viva Australia presents Tasmanian Baroque ensemble, Van Diemen’s Band, in seven cities across Australia from 26th April to 14th May.

Van Diemen’s Band comprises some of the country’s most highly respected early music specialists. Founded in 2016 by violinist Julia Fredersdorff, Van Diemen’s Band explores the creativity and freedom of expression in music of the baroque while deferring to historical sources on style and instrumentation. Presenting a program that explores the historic borderlands of Europe, Van Diemen’s Band will highlight some of the remarkable music that was composed in times of significant, sweeping change – whether that be as the result of cultural exchange or violent conquest.

This time of great geopolitical turmoil reflects the circumstances of the composers featured in the program, many of whom experienced the tensions of seventeenth-century Europe first-hand. Works by Becker, Scheidt, Albinoni and Biber share the bill with living composers María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir (Iceland) and Donald Nicolson (Australia), who will be performing as part of the ensemble.

Tour dates for other cities: Perth Concert Hall – 26 April, 7:30pm/ Adelaide Town Hall – 28 April, 7:30pm/ Melbourne Recital Centre – 3 May, 7pm/ Conservatorium Theatre at Queensland Conservatorium, Brisbane – 5 May, 7pm/ Newcastle City Hall – 10 May, 7:30pm/ Llewellyn Hall at ANU, Canberra – 12 May, 7pm/ Melbourne Recital Centre – 14 May, 7pm

The program: ‘Borderlands’
BECKER Sonata No. 5 in F Major (1674)/ SCHEIDT Galliard Battaglia (1621)/ BECKER Paduan/ SAINTE-COLOMBE Les Pleurs/ SCHEIDT Courant/ ERLEBACH Courant/ ANON Sonata Jucunda/ BIBER Ciacona from Mensa Sonora (1680)/ ROSENMÜLLER Sonata No. 9 in D Major (1682)/ NICOLSON New work (2022)/ ALBINONI Sonata No. 5 in C Major (1700)/ SIGFÚSDÓTTIR Clockworking (2013)/ MUFFAT Sonata in D Major (1677)