'Music from the Heart' follows 'Bach and Beyond'

Felicity Woodhill, founder of Inspire Music Australia, reports on September's Music and Tea at the Gallery concert: Bach and Beyond – Conversing and Connecting Through Music

Congratulations to cellist Tom Carolan, whose performance opened the concert and was a prelude to his HSC performance exam. He was nominated to audition for Encore – the HSC performing arts showcase at the Opera House.

Violinist Nicola Benedetti believes, "Music's power is born out of its social practice and the art of creation and interaction. It is conversation."

[Nicola Benedetti: ‘Music teaching is vital to a child’s education’ 2019, presented by the Royal Philharmonic Society. Listen to the speech.]

Wollongong has been joyously alive with music conversations in September, with gigs, concerts, jazz, street music, Spin Fest and the 50th birthday celebrations of the Wollongong Conservatorium.

Led by Ann Lehmann-Kuit, Bach and Beyond offered rich conversations, as the musicians and audiences brought to life music of the past to create personal and collective feeling and meaning in the present.

Violinist Beatrice Colombis performed the first sonata from J.S. Bach’s Sei Solo a violinist senza basso accompagnato. 'Sei solo' translates to "you are alone." Beatrice's ability to be alone and play with ease illuminated Benedetti's suggestion that music may offer "... a gift from the depth of one person's soul to another, or the capturing of a moment's emotion, or a lifetime's devotion to a god, or simply improvised expression and a means of communication".

The exquisite and highly nuanced ensemble (conversation) between Beatrice and her mother, pianist Laura McDonald, amplified the dramatic character of the works they performed, offering the audience a rich tapestry of sound with which to engage.

Music invites the individual into a private conversation with their own emotions and memories and connects people through sharing space, time and emotional and cognitive responses.

At Bach and Beyond, there were those with tears in their eyes at the conclusion; for one attendee, it was a response to their first live classical music concert. For another, the music connected them to their youth in Vienna, bringing memories closer to the surface. For one woman, the depth of her internal delight in the music was ever present through her movement and physical expressions of deep joy.

Join us in October for Piano Music from the Heart  – a selection of the lighter works by the great composers of the classical and romantic period.