13 FEB — 17 FEB 2024
Melbourne & Sydney

Échappsodie

“… Omega Ensemble never fail to move the hearts and minds of their audience”

— Limelight

Escape from the everyday

Program

CLAUDE DEBUSSY
Première Rhapsodie

GABRIEL FAURÉ
Piano Quintet No. 1

ALICE CHANCE
Échappsodie (World Premiere)*

Approx. 90 mins without interval

* Alice Chance's Échappsodie in a new arrangement by the composer commissioned by Omega Ensemble and supported by Peter Howard and Modest Expectations Foundation.

About the music

— One of the leading exponents of French musical Impressionism, Claude Debussy's music represents an extraordinary palette of colour, beauty and innovation. Commissioned by the Paris Conservatoire, Première Rhapsodie was originally written as a ʻsolo de concoursʼ (competition solo) to test the virtuosic abilities of students, but it has since graduated to a work of significance performed by leading clarinetists.

— Laden with blissful melodies, rich textures and an expansive musical language, Gabriel Fauré's Piano Quintet No. 1 is an expressive work that represents a critical change in French music. Exhibiting a near orchestral sound, the Quintet is noted for unleashing the full emotional range from each player through three stormy and cathartic movements.

— A rising star in both her native Australia and current home in Paris, Alice Chance's Échappsodie (a play on words using the French ʻéchapperʼ meaning ʻto escapeʼ) takes fragments of Debussy's Première Rhapsodie and reconstructs them into a captivating exploration of virtuosity, beauty and colour.

  • David Rowden, clarinet & Artistic Director
    Peter Clark, violin
    Natalia Harvey, violin
    Neil Thompson, viola
    Paul Stender, cello
    Vatche Jambazian, piano

  • ALICE CHANCE | COMPOSER

    Alice Chance’s music has a twist of playfulness, and it’s very important to her that listeners and performers feel welcome within it. You can often find Alice asking audiences contribute to her music with their phones, voices, imaginations, or all three.

    A three-time finalist in the APRA AMC Art Music Awards. Alice was also the vocal arranger and original music director of the hit Australian musical FANGIRLS.

PERFORMANCES & TICKETS

  • Melbourne

    Tue 13 Feb 2024, 7:00 PM
    Elizabeth Murdoch Hall
    Melbourne Recital Centre

    Tix: $39.00-$79.00

    Book Tickets

  • Sydney

    Sat 17 Feb 2024, 2:00PM
    The Neilson
    ACO Pier 2/3

    Tix: $39.00-$89.00

    Book Tickets

  • Sydney

    Sat 17 Feb 2024, 7:00 PM
    The Neilson
    ACO Pier 2/3

    Tix: $39.00-$89.00

    Book Tickets

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