March
Romantic Piano Classics performed by Anna Gulikov and Gareth Szakos, final year piano students at Sydney Conservatorium of Music under the tutelage of Gerard Willems.
May
Three Piece Suite – chamber music trio: Rachel Westwood (violin); Valmai Coggins (viola), Deborah Coogan (cello). Three professionals with world-wide accolades honoured composers who included John Playford, Franz Joseph Haydn, Zoltan Kodaly, Gregory van der Struik, Percy Grainger, Fritz Kreisler, Jacob Gade, Franciso Tάrrega and others.
June
Sirius Chamber Ensemble – Melissa Coleman (flute), Ian Sykes (clarinet), Alison Evans (bassoon), Benjamin Burton (piano). Programme included Bach’s Flute Sonata BWV 1031, Glinka’s Trio Pathétique for clarinet, bassoon and piano, Oblivion for flute, bassoon and piano by Astor Piazzolla, Robert Schumann’s Fantasy Pieces for clarinet and piano Op.73, Mozart’s Divertimento K.439 for flute, clarinet and piano, Bahar Bagai from “5 postcards” for flute clarinet, bassoon and piano composed by Elaine Fine in 1959.
August
The Tasman Soloists – Kent McIntosh (tenor), Robert Johnson (French horn), Sharolyn Kimmorley AM (piano). The audience was delighted by Richard Strauss’ Das Alphorn, four English Art Songs of simple, melancholy beauty, music by Lehάr, Schubert with Flanders & Swann to conclude.
October
Alf & Pearl Pollard Awards for Performance Excellence held in association with Sydney Eisteddfod. Ten of the most outstanding instrumentalists aged 11-15 from the 2017 Eisteddfod. Performances are followed by an audience vote and the awarding of prizes.
November
José Carbo (tenor), John Martin (piano). Delightful solos from each artist and interspersed operatic arias from Gluck, Tosti, Chopin, Schumann, Schubert, Fauré, Hahn, Grieg, Verdi, Albert Arlen’s Clancy of the Overflow. The evening concluded with three Christmas Carols with audience participation.
