World premiere winds up tempo

Music

The ELDERHALL evenings 2008 concert season continues with the world premiere of Brazilian Passacaglia by young Adelaide composer Aaron Kenny.

Showcasing the award-winning Elder Conservatorium Wind Orchestra directed by Bob Hower, the concert, Connections, will be performed in the historic elegance of Elder Hall.

Aaron said he was thrilled and honoured to have his work performed. "To have a professional-grade ensemble like the Elder Conservatorium Wind Orchestra playing one of my compositions is amazing. It's very exciting and terrifying at the same time, like an emotional roller coaster," he said.

Aaron first fell in love with music at just five years of age listening to music on TV and working out favourite tunes on his grandmother's piano. Little more than 15 years later at just 21, he is completing his Honours in Musical Composition at the University of Adelaide.

He has already been a prize-winner, including the ASME (Australian Society for Music Education) Young Composers Award and the Sydney Eisteddfod. More recently he was nominated for a Young Australian Production Award in Sound and Music for his work on the feature-length student film musical Something About The KGB. Aaron describes Brazilian Passacaglia as being "like a mini-concerto for wind orchestra" full of Latin rhythms, harmonies and colours.

The concert also features the talents of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra's principal trumpet, Shane Hooton, in Richard Rodney Bennett's Concerto for Trumpet and Wind Orchestra. This includes an exquisite movement dedicated to Miles Davis. Bennett is also known for his film music including Murder on the Orient Express and Four Weddings and a Funeral.

There will be favourites by Grainger and Stanhope, and the evening finishes with Elegy by Camphouse.

In November, the Elder Conservatorium Chorale and Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Keith Crellin, presents Purcell's only opera written in 1689, Dido and Aeneas.

In her book Opera, Susan Sutherland writes that Purcell's Dido and Aeneas is "now recognised as a miniature masterpiece with melodies that are timeless".

This production will be performed in a semi-staged version with staging and direction by guest director Rob Croser. Artistic director of Independent Theatre, Croser most recently adapted and directed the very successful season of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

ELDERHALL evenings:
Connections Monday 13 October 8.00pm

ELDERHALL evenings:
Dido and Aeneas Saturday 1 November 6.30pm
Elder Hall, North Terrace Campus, University of Adelaide

Tickets for each concert are $25 (adult), $20 (concession), $14 (student)

For more information and bookings, phone (08) 8303 5925

ELDERHALL evenings is generously supported by ETSA Utilities and the Helpmann Academy