Australian Chamber Orchestra Collective presents Mozart & Brahms – one concert only

Ten years ago, ACO Collective began its musical journey across the country. In celebration of this milestone the 17-piece string ensemble, which joins Australia’s most talented and dynamic emerging string players with the professional musicians of the ACO, will embark on an eight-stop tour across regional New South Wales and Queensland from 29 August to 15 September.

The tour – titled Mozart & Brahms – will be directed by charismatic Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto in his second year as ACO Collective Artistic Director, and will feature Britain’s leading clarinettist, Matthew Hunt, as soloist.

Kuusisto, who is renowned the world over for his fiery and exuberant style of music-making, will lead the ensemble for performances of string music by Mozart and Bartók.

“The Mozart is perfect, pocket-sized and sweet, with very few dark clouds,” Kuusisto said. “The Bartók is fun, grotesque, heartbreaking and revolutionary. It’s a party before the war breaks out, before you try to make your escape, and you have to decide which elements of your life you leave behind, and which elements you take with you.”

The concerts will also feature Brahms’ soulful Clarinet Quintet. Written from the heart, the mellow, haunting quality of the clarinet is the perfect vehicle for expressing Brahms’ autumnal temperament in his later years.

The ACO Collective will also offer a series of string workshops and education concerts for local school students throughout the tour. Students in Armidale, Bellingen, Lismore, Toowoomba and Cairns will have the opportunity to play alongside ACO Collective musicians in string workshops tailored in collaboration with local string teachers and ensemble leaders, while students in Port Macquarie, Lismore and Mackay will explore and discover their own responses to music during interactive school’s concerts.

Concert Program
MOZART Divertimento in D major, K.136
BARTÓK Divertimento
BRAHMS (arr. strings) Clarinet Quintet in B minor
Featuring Pekka Kuusisto Director, Matthew Hunt Clarinet and the ACO Collective

NORPA and Telstra present
ACO Collective Concert
Mozart & Brahms
Sunday 3 September 2017, 2.30pm
NORPA at Lismore City Hall
$20-55
Bookings: www.norpa.org.au or call 1300 066 772