Classic Afternoon: The Elements

“Music is the conduit through which I live my life. It’s the way I view my challenges, my successes.” Meet CSO Concertmaster, Kirsten Williams, who will direct the upcoming Classic Afternoon: The Elements, presented by Canberra Weekly.

“…a characteristic and delightful combination of what are now familiar conventions of form with quirky surprises, musical experiments and dramatic gestures. It seems there was nothing Haydn liked better than to play with his listeners’ expectations,” writes Yvonne Frindle.

Inspired by a poem by George Meredith, “The Lark Ascending” is one of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ most beloved works.

In the Second Piano Concerto and other creative output of that period, Rachmaninoff displays “…a new assuredness of style…an almost overwhelming abundance of melody,” writes Scott Davie.

“I start with a provocation. Is the beauty and virtuosity of Western classical music still enough? Should it be entering the debates of our time?…I also ask us to reflect on how and why music can process seemingly intractable notions and turn them into feelings that we can respond to. Climate change comes to mind…what can music do?”