Like countless other musicians across Australia Dan Russell, Artistic Director of the Phoenix Collective Quartet, has faced disappointment after disappointment over the last few months, having had to reschedule the quartet’s Tales of War program 4 times to adhere to travel restrictions and lockdowns – but now the PCQ are back and ready to deliver the final three quarters of their 2021 program – all in a period of 6 weeks.
Phoenix Collective, in their ‘normal’ annual program take four weekends per year to travel from Canberra to the NSW Central Coast via Sydney performing a concert (or two) at each stop, and this year is no exception, but the recent Covid restrictions have seen them restructure their schedule to pack 3 of their four planned programs into the next two months. Russell and Phoenix are a grande example of the sheer resilience and professionalism that Australian musicians are showing in this difficult time. Their positivity in the face of loss of income, continual change and relentless administrative hurdles is remarkable. Bravo!
The best way to support musicians right now is to get out there and attend concerts, so here’s what’s happening in the coming months with Phoenix Collective.
5 to 7 NOV – Tales of War
String quartets by Shostakovich, Barber (aka Adagio for Strings) and Joe Hisaishi’s Princess Mononoke (Studio Ghibli).
Music Video trailer:
12 NOV – The Priest, the Intellect, the Eccentric & the Pirate
CANBERRA ONLY Vivaldi | Bach | Biber | Pandolfi
Phoenix Collective’s Baroque concerts are diverse and unique. Works by master composers such as J.S Bach and Vivaldi but also featuring fascinatingly ‘out-there and unknown’ composers like Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber and Giovanni Antonio Pandolfi Mealli.
26 to 28 NOV – The Juliet Letters
Phoenix Collective Quartet & Jacqueline Dark present a song cycle for voice and string quartet written by Elvis Costello and the Brodsky
Quartet.
“So there was this professor in Verona who answered letters addressed to Juliet [Capulet]…. Well, if that sounds like the start of a tall story I suppose it is…” Costello
17 to 19 DEC – Much Ado about Nothing
Brahms | Mozart | Korngold
A charming program of brilliant chamber music for violin and piano. Featuring Eric Wolfgang Korngold’s quirky and not often performed Much ado about Nothing.
It is advisable to buy your tickets in advance. With reduced capacity we’ll see concerts like these selling out fast in the coming weeks.
All bookings can be made via the Phoenix Collective website.
Many more concerts are being listed every day by classical and independent musicians, check the classikON Concert Finder for what’s on in your city and share the joy as music re-emerges.
