Government House, Macquarie Street Sydney 6.45pm

JULIAN YU New Work (commissioned for SOE by Ars Musica Australis)
BRAHMS Trio for clarinet, cello and piano
BEETHOVEN Quintet op. 16 for piano and winds

SOLD OUT

RESONATE SERIES
Art Gallery of NSW

MAHLER Symphony No. 4 in G major (chamber arrangement)

guest artists Andrea Katz (piano),
Merlyn Quaife (soprano)

The Sydney Omega Ensemble returns for Resonate’s birthday with a chamber performance of Mahler’s gorgeous Symphony No.4 in G major. Joined once again by pianist Andrea Katz, this talented ensemble has enthralled audiences in recent years with its extraordinary musicianship and brilliant programming. Mahler’s beautiful 4th Symphony culminates in a child’s marvelous vision of heaven, with the song Das Himmlische Leben, sung by renowned soprano Merlyn Quaife.

The concert will be preceded by a champagne reception and private viewing of the Intensely Dutch: Image, Abstraction and the Word exhibition. Doors open at 7pm. Seating commences at 7.45pm.

Andrea Katz - Piano

Andrea Katz made her concert debut at the age of fourteen. She has appeared with all major orchestras in Argentina and Israel, where she also performs in recital, chamber music concerts and radio broadcasts.
Since becoming an Australian resident in 1994, she has appeared in Lieder and chamber music recitals including her own series of Lieder and Art Song concerts at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
Some of the programmes have included performances of Schubert’s Die Winterreise and Schwanengesang and Brahms Four Serious Songs with Australian baritone Jonathan Summers (and a subsequent recording for ABC Classics), Love and Death songs from Schubert to Britten with soprano Merlyn Quaife, a Wolf programme with baritone Peter Coleman-Wright and  two evenings with soprano Yvonne Kenny. She has also preformed in recitals with violinists Pekka Kuusisto, Gil Shaham and Julian Rachlin.
She is a member of The Sydney Soloists.
In 2000 and 2001 she took part in the production of Tango Sinfónico for the Sydney Festival and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. This included the casting of Tango musicians and dancers, devising the programme and also performing duets with Argentine pianist and composer Pablo Ziegler.

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Merlyn Quaife - Soprano

A performer of great versatility, Merlyn Quaife's regular performances include opera, oratorio, chamber music, lieder and contemporary music. She began her singing studies at the University of Melbourne with Brian Hansford. In 1979, she was awarded a DAAD Scholarship by the German Government to study with Prof Hanno Blaschke at the Munich Hochschule. This was followed by further study in London with Mme Celia Bizony, a Baroque Music specialist.

Since her return to Australia, Merlyn has appeared with each of the State Opera Companies. Her roles have included Marzelline (Fidelio), Leila (Pearl Fishers), Rosalinda (Die Fledermaus), Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor), Pamina (Magic Flute), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) and Denise in the Australian premiere of Tippet's opera The Knot Graden for Spoleto Festival, Melbourne. Other premiers have included Mrs Samsa in Brian Howard's Metamorphosis (VSO), the title role in Gillian Whitehead's A Bride of Fortune (WAOC) and Chiang Ch'ing in John Adam's Nixon in China (SOSA) for the 1992 Adelaide Festival.

In 1993 she premiered the title role in Gordon Kerry's Medea with Chamber Made Opera (Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra). It was with this role that she made her American debut at the Kennedy Center, Washington DC in 1994 and 1995. In 1998 she repeated the role in a new production for the Berliner Kammeroper to critical acclaim. There was a further performance in Dusseldorf for the Festival '8 Tage Oper'.

In 1997, she performed Mrs Nordstrom in a highly acclaimed MTC production of Sondheim's A Little Night Music. Merlyn has performed with all the ABC orchestras: works including Penderecki's Te Deum conducted by the composer, Handel's Messiah, Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre, Tippet's Symphony No.3, Orff's Carmina Burana, Mozart's Requiem and many new Australian works.

She has also performed with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the Voronesz Philarmonic (Russia) and the Berliner Capella. Merlyn has performed and recorded extensively in Germany, Austria, Holland, Belgium and Spain. She is also a regular soloist at St. Francis, Melbourne's oldest Catholic Church, where orchestral Masses are used as an integral part of the service on Feast Days. Along with her busy performance career, Merlyn is Co-ordinator of Voice at the Faculty of Music, University of Melbourne.

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