Omega Ensemble are one of Australia’s top chamber music ensembles, champions of new works but also enthusiastic interpreters of the legends of the past.  They also have a rich history with ABC Classic, regularly invited into the studio for radio broadcasts in addition to having released three critically acclaimed albums since 2016.  So when their 2020 concert season was cancelled due to COVID, ABC Classic dove into our archives to revive those studio recordings, never before released to the public. Thus, the Master Series was born.  This series of digital releases takes listeners on a journey through the rich history of chamber music, exploring landmark works by Mozart, Beethoven, Faure, Nielsen and Hindemith.  Released fortnightly from May 29, these recordings will go some way to keeping audiences in touch with the wonderful musicians of the Omega Ensemble – until the next time we can see them in the concert hall.  Omega Ensemble Master Series: Beethoven: Quintet in E-flat major for Piano and Winds, Op. 16 – released May 29Hindemith: Kleine Kammermusik, Op. 24 No. 2 – released June 12Nielsen: Wind Quintet, Op. 43 – released June 26Fauré: Piano Trio, Op. 120 – released July 10Mozart: Kegelstatt Trio, K. 498 – released July 24

Sydney’s Ensemble Offspring celebrate their 25th anniversary with a new album of contemporary Australian music that celebrates birds – nature’s own composers.“Ensemble Offspring’s birdsong program…takes on a particular poignancy in the context of recent fires.” 4 stars The Sydney Morning HeraldABC Classic is thrilled to announce Ensemble Offspring’s new album, Songbirds, a surprising and beguiling collection of chamber works for flute, clarinet and vibraphone inspired by butcherbirds, blackbirds, lorikeets and leafcutter ants, frogs and flamingos. Originally intended to accompany the ensemble’s 25th birthday concert tour, Birdsong at Dusk, the album is being released to celebrate both this major milestone and the creativity and endurance of the ensemble even in the face of a global pandemic.With a little help from nine Australian composers, Claire Edwardes (percussion), Jason Noble (clarinet/bass clarinet) and Lamorna Nightingale (flutes) capture the calls and songs of Australia’s birds and create something new: familiar, yes, but unique and engaging and exciting too.Throughout their rich history Ensemble Offspring have been an extraordinary force in Australian music: bold, risk-taking and tireless advocates of work by living composers – championing female and First Nations Australian artists in particular – and have fostered the creation of over three hundred works of new music. So it is no surprise that seven of these nine pieces were written by some of Australia’s leading composers especially for the musicians of the ensemble.After many seasons spent listening and recording in Central Australia, Hollis Taylor brings us the song of the pied butcher bird in Bitter Springs Creek 2014, while Kate Moore takes the liquid melodies of the European blackbird and intertwines alto flute, bass clarinet and vibraphone in an intricate counterpoint. Fiona Loader’s Lorikeet Corroboree is an upbeat, punchy work which weaves the crazy chatter of Australia’s rainbow lorikeets in with some older, ground-dwelling composers, with fragments from Papageno’s magic flute, Vaughan Williams’ the Lark Ascending and the scintillating sound world of Messiaen. Meanwhile Gerard Brophy makes flamingos dance and humming birds buzz in his brand new 3 movement tour-de-force Beautiful Birds.Sydney based Ensemble Offspring are Australia’s musical mavericks, championing living new music in all its forms. A group of Australia’s most innovative and virtuosic instrumentalists led by acclaimed percussionist, Claire Edwardes, the group celebrates living composers and creates musical experiences that stimulate the senses and pique curiosity. Nominated for an ARIA Award for their ABC album and podcast Classic Kids: Music For The Dreaming, winners of the 2019 SidneyMyer Performing Arts Group Award and the 2016 APRA Award for Excellence by an Organisation and touring widely around Australia and internationally, they are one of Australia’s most exciting and unique ensembles. TRACKLISTING1. FIONA LOADER Lorikeet Corroboree2. HOLLIS TAYLOR / JON ROSE Owens Springs Reserve 20143. BRETT DEAN Notes from the Twittersphere4. JANE STANLEY Desert Rose (from Four Desert Flowers)5. FELICITY WILCOX People of this Place6. TRISTAN COELHO DaybreakGERARD BROPHY Beautiful Birds7. I. Lyrebirds8. II. Flamingos9. III. Hummingbirds10. HOLLIS TAYLOR / JON ROSE Bitter Springs Creek 201411. KATE MOORE Blackbird Song

The Australian Chamber Orchestra announces a new series of digital releases - ACO ORIGINALS – featuring four world premiere recordings of works commissioned by the orchestra in recent years.The Australian Chamber Orchestra are known throughout the world for their thrilling and exciting performances of traditional classical repertoire, taking a fresh approach to the old masters like Bach, Beethoven and Mozart. At the same time the orchestra have been fearless champions of new music and living composers, commissioning new works that push the boundaries of how an orchestra can and should sound.Four of these commissions from recent years are now receiving their world premiere releases in the ACO ORIGINALS series, with new music to be released fortnightly beginning Friday, May 29.The four works chosen – by Samuel Adams, Missy Mazzoli, Olli Mustonen and Brett Dean – showcase the orchestra at their very best and celebrate the sound and personality that the orchestra has developed over the decades since their establishment.Samuel Adams strived to write something deeply expressive for the musicians to play. “What strikes me about the ACO is the personality of the ensemble,” he says. “They have a wonderful profile when they come on stage. So much of this piece is about exploring interpersonal dynamics. I would be happy if an audience member leaves the concert feeling like they understand something, that they didn’t previously, of the personality of the ensemble.”Missy Mazzoli’s piece, Dark with Excessive Bright, was commissioned by Principal Bass Maxime Bibeau in celebration of his 20th year with the orchestra. “I was inspired in no small part by Maxime’s double bass, a massive instrument built in 1580 that was stored in an Italian monastery for hundreds of years and even patched with pages from the Good Friday liturgy’, says Mazzoli. ‘I imagined this instrument as a historian, an object that collected the music of the passing centuries in the twists of its neck and the fibres of its wood, finally emerging into the light at age 400 and singing it all into the world.’Olli Mustonen’s Sonata for Cello and Chamber Orchestra was originally composed for cello and piano and dedicated to the great Heinrich Schiff, with this version or chamber orchestra receiving its world premiere in September 2015. Mustonen believes that music should be a spiritual quest, a search for something beyond oneself. ‘Even a good concert can leave you untouched,’ he comments. ‘To become memorable, I feel it should strive for an experience of transformation, the feeling that you have been taken to another world.’Brett Dean’s Electric Preludes takes inspiration from sources as diverse as the paintings of Australian artist Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, a rusty, squeaky swing in an abandoned playground and the paintings of Dean’s wife, Heather Betts, with whom he has shared a llong and rich personal and creative partnership. “But the most striking image that fired my fantasy throughout the entire compositional process,” says Dean, “Was that of Richard standing with the ACO, his exotic electric fiddle under his chin, taking mere breaths of sound and embryonic motivic shapes and transforming them, with the help of this impressive piece of electronics and sound designer Bob Scott at the mixing desk, filling the hall and enticing the orchestra’s manifold responses.”Recorded live in concert during their premiere seasons, this series of four recordings captures the electrifying energy of this remarkable orchestra. In 2020, as the orchestra celebrates 30 years of fearless leadership with ACO Artistic Director Richard Tognetti, it is fitting that these visionary works are available to listeners worldwide.Since its establishment in November 1975, the Australian Chamber Orchestra has become one of the world’s most daring and exciting ensembles, renowned globally for its inspired programming, unrivalled virtuosity, energy and individuality, showcased through an extensive and ongoing program of international touring and recordings for many of the world’s top labels.“The Australian Chamber Orchestra is uniformly high-octane, arresting and never ordinary.” The Australian

ABC Jazz presents Kiri, an exquisite and ravishing new album from Australian trumpeter Niran Dasika and Japanese pianist Sumire Kuribayashi.Recorded live at the Wangaratta Festival of Jazz in 2018, Kiri captures two exciting young artists utterly in synch with each other, demonstrating the sort of chemistry that only comes from a deep musical connection.Dasika met Kuribayashi met in Tokyo in 2015, shortly after he moved to Japan, and over the following years they played together in various combinations. Says Dasika, “As with all good musical collaborations it started from an unlikely chance meeting and was sustained by a combination of friendship and shared musical vision.”The compositions on this album are inspired by the ‘nihonga’ paintings of renowned Japanese author and painter Kaii Higashiyama, which occupy a special place in Dasika and Kuribayashi’s relationship.“When I moved back to Australia at the end of 2017,” Dasika recalls, “Sumire gave me a book of Higashiyama prints as a parting gift. This book remained open on my piano music stand in Perth for about three months, during which I would sporadically open to a page that caught my interest and improvise, playing the piano and singing melodies, until it started to sound like how the painting feltto me. I don’t consider myself at all knowledgeable about art, but Higashiyama’s paintings seem to me, with only some simple colours and geometric shapes, to really capture the feeling of being in nature.“The first sketch I wrote was for the painting ‘Kiri’ (Mist) which forms the cover artwork for the album. ‘Kiri’ depicts just a few tree trunks fading into the distance, but there’s something about the textures that conveys the feeling of cool, damp mist on my skin. ’Evening Tide’ shows a shoreline at night with barely anything visible yet I can hear the sounds of the waves crashing unseen on the shore.”Most of the compositions on the album fill no more than a single page when written out, but such is the connection between these two that these outlines can become over ten minutes of music in a performance.“Both Sumire and I approach improvising in this project from a very compositional angle. By playing together over several years we’ve been able to develop enough trust and mutual understanding that we anticipate each other’s reactions and can create longer spontaneous forms in the moment.”Born in Canada and raised in Melbourne with Indian and German heritage, Niran Dasika is a trumpeter gaining increasing attention around Australia and abroad for his distinctive, ethereal trumpet sound and compositions. Niran’s virtuosic trumpet playing has placed him in high demand both in Australia and in Japan, where he spent some years performing and recording on albums from Blue Note Records, Sony Music, Diskunion Records and more. Awarded 2nd place at the 2017 National Jazz Awards, in 2019 Niran was the recipient of the APRA AMCOS Professional Development Award and the Jazz Bell Awards Young Australian Jazz Artist of the Year, in addition to being nominated for the Freedman Jazz Fellowship.Sumire Kuribayashi is a Japanese pianist and composer gaining increasing renown within Japan and overseas. She has performed with Japanese jazz legends Hino Terumasa, Hideaki Kanazawa, Naoko Terai and has released four critically acclaimed albums under her own name. Jazzconvention.net said of Sumire, ”Belonging to the young generation of Japanese jazz scene, Kuribayashi has become in the last few years one of the most appreciated pianists both for her noteworthy creative qualities and the remarkable storytelling that crosses the textures of her music.”TRACKLISTING1. Kiri (Mist) 11’572. Seikyou (Green Echoes) 7’133. Wildflower / Iku Haru (Passing Spring) 12’464. Hana Akari (Bright Cherry Blossoms) 7’155. Bochou (Evening Tide) 9’576. Spring Hymn 5’08Niran Dasika trumpetSumire Kuribayashi piano

Building on the success of our first Women of Note album last year, ABC Classic is thrilled to be releasing the second volume in our now annual celebration of Australia’s female composers.This 2CD album, released in time for International Women’s Day (8 March), begins with music from pioneers of Australia’s musical heritage: Margaret Sutherland, Miriam Hyde, Dulcie Holland, and introducing Linda Phillips, whose work as a critic and as chief adjudicator of the prestigious Sun Aria competition across three decades helped to shape this country’s musical landscape, but whose compositions – prized by such artists as Dame Joan Sutherland – have been unjustly neglected in Australia’s recorded music catalogue. Her quartet Exaltation, a swirling mixture of melancholy and exuberance, shows the composer exploring the musical legacy of her family’s Jewish background.Five other world premiere recordings feature on the album. Multiple award-winning composer Mary Finsterer is represented by a live concert recording of her double bass concerto Lake Ice, an exploration of music as storytelling and as journey, guided by the beautiful yet rarely heard sonorities of the bass as solo instrument. From Miriama Young we have a re-imagination of the historical soundworld of Sydney Harbour in Time and Tide, blending field recordings ancient and modern with brass and percussion instruments. We are also delighted to be presenting the first commercial recording of music by rising star Ella Macens: her soaring orchestral work The Space Between Stars.The other two world premiere recordings are by Indigenous Australian composers. From Yorta Yorta woman, opera singer, composer and educator Deborah Cheetham comes Eumeralla, a war requiem for peace: a powerful and poignant response to the resistance war fought by the Gunditjmara people in southwest Victoria and to the troubled spirits of all who fell in those battles, on both sides. And Yuwaalaraay composer Nardi Simpson gives us Wilga’s Last Dance, honouring the only traditional melody from her people that was ever recorded.Moya Henderson takes us to the Tasmanian wilderness with her transcendent string quartet Kudikynah Cave, evoking moments of ecstatic stillness during the raft journey to the cave’s entrance, along the Franklin River. Katia Tiutiunnik draws inspiration from the moment a mother first feels her baby move inside her womb for her flute and piano duet The Quickening. Katy Abbott, always alert to the quirks and foibles of humanexistence, applies wit and humour to the multiple meanings of the word Punch in a work for brass ensemble. Amanda Cole marries marimba and cowbells in her energetic percussion solo Glocken Blocken. Rachel Bruerville (Dancing on Tiptoes) and Natalie Nicolas (We Won’t Let You Down) worked with teenagers in hospital mental health wards to create music of joy and profound optimism. And Elena Kats-Chernin’s beloved Eliza Aria is presented in its original version for quizzical soprano solo over delicately plucked stringsTRACKLISTINGCD 1DULCIE HOLLAND 1913–2000 Sonata for violin and piano 1 I. Quasi recitativo – Andante – Vivo 2 II. Slow and somewhat rubato 3 III. AllegroAsmira Woodward-Page violin, Scott Davie pianoLINDA PHILLIPS 1899–2002 4 Exaltation (Chassidic Air and Dance)*Anne Gilby oboe, Isin Cakmakcioglu violin, Rachel Atkinson cello, Robert Chamberlain piano LIVE RECORDINGMIRIAM HYDE 1913–2005 5 Village FairSydney Symphony Orchestra, Dobbs Franks conductorMARGARET SUTHERLAND 1897–1984 6 Haunted HillsMelbourne Symphony Orchestra, John Hopkins conductorMOYA HENDERSON born 1941 7 Kudikynah CaveAcacia QuartetKATIA TIUTIUNNIK born 1967 8 The QuickeningLaura Chislett flute, Stephanie McCallum pianoELENA KATS-CHERNIN born 1957 9 Eliza Aria from Wild Swans – Concert SuiteJane Sheldon soprano, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Ola Rudner conductorCD2KATY ABBOTT born 1971 1 PunchBrass ensembleMARY FINSTERER born 1962 2 Lake Ice: Missed Tales No. 1*Kees Boersma double bass, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Jessica Cottis conductor LIVE RECORDINGAMANDA COLE born 1979 3 Glocken BlockenClaire Edwardes marimba and Almglocken (cowbells)MIRIAMA YOUNG born 1975 4 Time and Tide*2018 Sydney Symphony FellowsRACHEL BRUERVILLE born 1991 5 Dancing on TiptoesACO CollectiveNATALIE NICOLAS born 1992 6 We Won’t Let You DownACO CollectiveELLA MACENS born 1991 7 The Space Between Stars*Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Jessica Cottis conductor LIVE RECORDINGDEBORAH CHEETHAM born 1964 Eumeralla, a war requiem for peace* – excerpts 8 IV. Kooyeen-wanoong (Liber scriptus) 9 V. Tyookooyong-ee (Agnus Dei)Libretto by Deborah Cheetham, translated into Gunditjmara dialects by Gunditjmara language custodian Vicki Couzens and linguist Travers Eira.Deborah Cheetham soprano (Yorta Yorta), Linda Barcan mezzo-soprano, Don Bemrose baritone (Gungarri), Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus, The Consort of Melbourne, Dhungala Children’s Choir, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Benjamin Northey conductor LIVE RECORDINGNARDI SIMPSON born 1975 10 Wilga’s Last Dance*Royal Australian Navy Band* World premiere recording

“This was a superb concert. 5 stars.” Artshub“The idea of pairing Australia’s finest up and coming pianist with our finest contemporary conductor to perform and record a cycle is a great one.”LimelightABC Classic is thrilled to announce the release of the complete piano concertos by Beethoven, performed by pianist Jayson Gillham, with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra conducted by Nicholas Carter.This cycle – the first in twenty years recorded with an Australian pianist, conductor and orchestra – is a major contribution to the ongoing celebrations of Beethoven’s 250th anniversary.Beethoven’s five piano concertos stand at the very pinnacle of classical music. Written between 1795 and 1809, they trace the evolution of Beethoven’s music from the inheritor of the Classical style perfected by Mozart and Haydn, to the inventor of a style that was entirely his own: dramatic, expressive, and revolutionary.Recorded in five concerts performed over 10 days at Adelaide’s Elder Hall in June 2019, these recordings capture a soloist, conductor and orchestra totally in synch with each other, with a shared vision for the sound world and rhetoric of these mighty works. Reviews of the concert remarked at the “chamber music-like intimacy” between the performers, with a “sense of balance and support… often never heard before within these well-known and much listened to works” (Limelight).Internationally praised for his compelling performances, Australian-British pianist Jayson Gillham is recognised as one of the finest pianists of his generation. His debut album, released in 2016, immediately reached the No. 1 spot in both the Core Classical and Classical Crossover ARIA charts, while his latest album, 2018’s Romantic Bach, was described as “exceptional” and “a supremely satisfying recital from start to finish” by Limelight, and Gramophone said that, “many of these performances must bear comparison with famous recordings of the past by Rachmaninov, Myra Hess and Dinu Lipatti. Gillham comes up trumps every time.”Nicholas Carter was appointed Principal Conductor of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra in 2016 – the first Australian to be chosen as Principal Conductor of an Australian orchestra in over 30 years – and has established a reputation as a conductor of exceptional versatility, equally at home in the concert hall and opera house, and fluent in a diverse repertoire. Newly appointed as Chief Conductor of the Stadttheater Klagenfurt and the Kärntner Sinfonieorchester, Nicholas Carter will lead three new productions per season and appear regularly in the orchestra’s concert series.With a reputation for vitality and versatility, the much loved Adelaide Symphony Orchestra is South Australia’s largest performing arts organisation, established in 1936. For over 80 years, the ASO has been there to corroborate life and contribute to South Australia’s identity. Today the ASO plays a major role in Adelaide’s cultural and economic vibrancy, and enriches the community through a diverse program of world-class performances to more than 100,000 concertgoers each season.TRACKLISTING LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN CD1Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 151 I. Allegro con brio2 II. Largo3 III. Rondo: Allegro scherzandoPiano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 194 I. Allegro con brio5 II. Adagio6 III. Rondo: Molto allegroCD2Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 371 I. Allegro con brio2 II. Largo3 III. Rondo: AllegroPiano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 584 I. Allegro moderato5 II. Andante con moto6 III. Rondo: VivaceCD3Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73 ‘Emperor’1 I. Allegro2 II. Adagio un poco mosso3 III. Rondo: AllegroJayson Gillham pianoAdelaide Symphony OrchestraNicholas Carter conductor

       “250 years ago, Ludwig van Beethoven, the Grand Mogul from Bonn (as Haydn cheekily referred to him) was born. The German composer, whose own extraordinary story famously includes suffering from profound deafness from his late 20s, would become regarded as the great musical liberator, forging the course of the Romantic movement and beyond.” Richard TognettiIn 2020 the Australian Chamber Orchestra will celebrate two monumental anniversaries: 30 years of fearless leadership with ACO Artistic Director Richard Tognetti and 250 years since the birth of the great Ludwig van Beethoven.To celebrate both milestones, ABC Classic is releasing a collection of the ACO’s legendary Beethoven recordings – including never-before released recordings of two of his greatest works: Symphonies 5 and 6.These recordings represent some of the orchestra’s finest performances, including two #1 albums and three ARIA Award-nominees, and feature collaborations with some of Australia’s finest artists – soprano Nicole Car, and pianistsTamara Anna Cislowska andErin Helyard.Beethoven has endured for centuries as one of the most popular and beloved composers around the world, with his music found everywhere from concert halls, to film soundtracks, to disco-era chart-toppers. He was a true musical revolutionary and is credited with paving the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras. His music has always been a mainstay of the ACO’s core repertoire, but this marks the first time that they have recorded these two monumental symphonies.Since its establishment in November 1975, the Australian Chamber Orchestra has become one of the world’s most daring and exciting ensembles, renowned globally for its inspired programming, unrivalled virtuosity, energy and individuality, showcased through an extensive and ongoing program of international touring and recordings for many of the world’s top labels.★★★★★“The Australian Chamber Orchestra was splendid in its all-Beethoven concert… [achieving] revealing clarity that gleamed like the colours of an old master newly restored.” – Sydney Morning Herald“[Beethoven’s] Fifth is always a crowdpleaser, and the ACO made it exceptionally so. This was the stuff of dreams.” – LimelightTRACKLISTING  CD1Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 *1   I.   Allegro con brio2   II.  Andante con moto3   III.Allegro –4   IV.AllegroSymphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68 ‘Pastoral’ *5   I.   Awakening of cheerful feelings on arrival in the countryside6   II.  Scene by the brook7   III.Merry gathering of country folk –8   IV.Thunder, Storm –9   V.  Shepherd’s song. Cheerful and thankful feelings after the stormCD2String Quartet in B-flat major, Op. 130, with Grosse Fuge, Op. 133 (arr. for string orchestra by Richard Tognetti)1   I.   Adagio ma non troppo – Allegro2   II.  Presto3   III.Poco scherzoso4   IV.Alla Danza tedesca5   V.  Cavatina6   VI.Grosse Fuge7   Romance for Violin and Orchestra in F major, Op. 50      Satu Vänskä– violin8   Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73 ‘Emperor’: II. Adagio un poco mosso     Tamara-Anna Cislowska– piano9   Ah! perfido ... Per pietà, non dirmi addio, Op. 65     Nicole Car – sopranoCD3Sonata for Violin and Piano in G major, Op. 30, No. 3 1   I.   Allegro assai2   II.  Tempo di Minuetto, ma molto moderato e grazioso3   III.Allegro vivaceSonata for Violin and Piano in A major, Op. 47 ‘Kreutzer’ 4   Ia.Adagio sostenuto –5   Ib.Presto6   II.  Andante con Variazioni7   III.Presto     Richard Tognetti – violin     Erin Helyard– fortepiano8   Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61: I. Allegro ma non troppo     Richard Tognetti– violin* Never previously released