Music from one century ago inspires new work
Elena Kats-Chernin has composed a new violin concerto, Fantasie im Wintergarten, which will receive its world premiere as part of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra’s concert ‘Wild’ at Adelaide Town Hall on 21-22 April 2023, conducted by Ben Northey.
This is Kats-Chernin’s first violin concerto and it was commissioned by Adelaide Symphony Orchestra with support by Mary Lou Simpson. Acclaimed Australian violinist Emily Sun is ASO’s ‘Artist in Association’ and had long wished for a violin concerto written by Kats-Chernin; to premiere the composer’s first, is a veritable honour. This collaboration of two powerhouse women of Australian music – one well-established, one undeniably on the rise – dreamed and imagined the new work together; meeting up in Sydney between busy concert calendars to discuss lyrical melody lines, edgy rhythmic sounds and shades of light and dark.
The concerto draws inspiration and musical themes from the Wintergarten in Berlin, a place where variety shows were performed in the 1920s. Read about it in Elena’s own words in Limelight magazine, below.
Emily’s solo career is on the rise, balancing her time between Australia, Britain and concert-giving destinations across the globe. She’s now an in-demand violin concerto soloist, made even more so having been awarded Adelaide Symphony Orchestra’s Artist in Association position for 2023. Emily recently spoke with ABC Classic Drive’s Russell Torrence on Harmony Day (21 March 2023) about her personal and family experience of growing up in Sydney with Chinese heritage, and the importance of music being a universal language. “Music is a global language, it transcends borders and that’s what’s amazing about it, it brings people together” says Sun.
Elena Kats-Chernin’s Fantasie im Wintergarten will receive its world premiere with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Benjamin Northey, in the concert Wild, performed at the Adelaide Town Hall on Friday 21 April at 7.30pm and Saturday 22 April at 6.30pm [sold out]. Tickets are available here.
Read a sample of media articles below:
SA Style, April Issue: Emily Sun & ASO ‘Wild’
Advertiser SA Weekend: 8th Apr 2023: The Sun Queen, Emily Sun & ASO ‘Wild’
BBC Music Mag Limelight Magazine, 20th Mar 2023
