Lunch hours wouldn't be the same without our concerts

Music

Adelaide's most popular daytime concert series is returning to the University of Adelaide, starting this month.

Award-winning Russian pianist Rem Urasin will launch the 2007 season of Friday Lunch Hour Concerts, performing Beethoven's Moonlight sonata at Elder Hall on 2 March - his only performance in South Australia as part of his national tour.

Urasin, winner of the People's Choice Award at the 2004 Sydney International Piano Competition, will begin his recital with Beethoven's beloved sonata, which was voted No.1 in a survey of the top 100 piano works by ABC Classic FM.

The Friday Lunch Hour Concert Series, run by the University's Elder Conservatorium of Music, last year delighted crowds of more than 16,000 across 30 concerts, and won an 'Oscart' award from The Advertiser for being the Best Value music series in Adelaide.

The series of weekly concerts features an assortment of musical treasures, from classical masterpieces to Australian premières performed by staff and students from the Elder Conservatorium and visiting artists from across the nation and overseas.

Admission to the concerts, held at 1.10pm on Fridays, costs only $6.

"The Lunch Hour Concert Series plays a vital role in showcasing the work of the Conservatorium. It provides wonderful experience for our young performers, as well as giving composition students the chance to have their works performed," said the new Director of the Elder Conservatorium, Dr David Lockett.

"The concert series is an important part of life on campus, and it is also an important part of the life of the city of Adelaide. To see so many people attending these concerts each Friday makes you realise that the University's staff and students are really making a connection with the people of Adelaide through their music," Dr Lockett said.

Postgraduate students will feature prominently throughout this series. On 9 March, Kathryn Selby, one of Australia's leading pianists, will perform piano trios by Beethoven and Ravel with Niki Vasilakis, a brilliant young Adelaide-born violinist who is currently completing her Masters degree at the Elder Conservatorium, and Emma Jane Murphy, former principal cellist with the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

On 23 March, pianist Paul Rickard-Ford, PhD candidate in performance, and his duo piano partner Natalia Sheludiakova, have chosen a Russian program which includes Rhapsody on Russian Themes by Diana Weekes. Diana is a Lecturer in Piano at the Elder Conservatorium and is also a PhD candidate in composition.

The talents of undergraduate students are also showcased in all of the large ensembles including the Elder Conservatorium's Symphony Orchestra, Wind Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra. The first major ensemble concert is on 30 March and the program includes the magnificent Seventh Symphony by Beethoven and a Tuba Concerto by Vaughan Williams. The soloist is Stevan Pavlovic, one of the Conservatorium's talented third-year students.

The Friday Lunch Hour Concerts will be held in Elder Hall at the University of Adelaide's North Terrace Campus at 1.10pm every Friday from 2 March to 22 June. Tickets are $6, available at the door from 12.30pm on the day of each concert. Special subscription passes are also available for $75 - for more information contact the Concert Office on (08) 8303 5925.

To view the full program, visit: www.music.adelaide.edu.au