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Adelaide Summer
Orchestra
A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER
Edvard Grieg – Piano Concerto in A Minor
Jean Sibelius – Symphony No 5 in E flat major
NORWOOD CONCERT HALL
17 January 17 2016
7pm
Conductor – Bryan Griffiths
Bryan Griffiths is a active conductor, comfortable in both wind ensemble and orchestral repertoire.
He has worked with professional, community and educational ensembles and is currently studying
for a masters in music, majoring in wind conducting at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music under
the tutelage of Dr.John Lynch.
In 2015, Bryan made his conducting debut with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, directing
performances of the ABC Classic FM ‘Keys to Music’ program. He was invited to both conduct,
teach and perform on Horn at the Federal University of Santa Maria’s ‘Festival Internacional de
Inverno’ held in Southern Brazil. Active in community music, Bryan has worked with a number of
ensembles including the Adelaide Summer Orchestra, Adelaide University Medical Orchestra and is
a past musical director of the Burnside Symphony Orchestra. Bryan’s strong interest in music
education as led him to be regularly engaged as a conductor with the South Australian Music Camp
and he was an inaugural director of the Adelaide Youth Wind Orchestra.
As a Horn player, Bryan was a member of Adelaide Symphony Orchestra from 2010 - 2015 and prior
to his appointment he performed casually with the ASO, TSO, Sydney Sinfonia, Adelaide Art
Orchestra and the Australian Youth Orchestra. He has also appeared as a soloist with the Adelaide
Youth Orchestra, Elder Conservatorium Chamber Orchestra, Unley Symphony and Burnside
Symphony orchestras performing repertoire from Mozart’s horn concerti to Britten’s Serenade for
tenor horn and strings. Bryan has also been a guest lecturer in brass and woodwind classes at the
Elder Conservatorium of Music.
In 2015, Bryan was awarded an Australian Postgraduate Award and the Kathleen E Armstrong
Bequest by the University of Sydney, and in 2009 was the recipient of the University of Adelaide’s
EMR travel scholarship. In 2011 he received a Bachelor of Music with first class honours from the
Elder Conservatorium, where he studied horn with Philip Hall and Philip Paine.
Soloist – Mekhla Kumar
Adelaide-born pianist Mekhla Kumar is a prize winning solo artist and chamber musician. In 2007
Mekhla studied at the Elder Conservatorium of Music with Professor Stefan Ammer, where she
completed her Bachelor of Music and graduated with distinction. Following this she undertook
Honours, achieving first class. In 2013, under the tutelage of Dr. Tibor Szsasz Mekhla achieved a
rare 100 percent for her Master’s degree at the ‘Hochschule für Musik’ in Freiburg, Germany. In
2014 she achieved another perfect score for the postgraduate course "Advanced Studies".Mekhla is
a recipient of the Principal's Scholarship, the Patrick Cecil Greenland Scholarship, the EMR
travelling Scholarship and was awarded the Rotary Club of Burnside’s "Carpe Diem" Trust. In 2012
Mekhla received the "Emerging Artist Award" from the Elder Conservatorium and the Helpmann
Academy and was awarded a grant from the Ian Potter Cultural Trust. Mekhla has performed as a
soloist with the Elder Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra and has participated in master classes
with Roy Howat, Bart van Oort, Leslie Howard, Imogen Cooper, Bernd Glemser, Claudio Martinez
Mahner, Robert Hill and played alongside Marc-André Hamelin. Mekhla performs throughout
Germany and Australia and has broadcast live for German radio stations. Recent performance
highlights include the premiere of an arrangement made especially for Mekhla’s chamber music
ensemble of Igor Stravinksy’s “The Rite of Spring” for two pianos and percussion, concert
performances throughout Germany of the rarely performed “Linea” for two pianos, vibraphone and
marimba by Luciano Berio and a solo recital at the "Bach Festival" in Adelaide. Highlights for 2015
include collaborating with Grammy nominated Estonian-born bassoon virtuoso, Martin Kuuskmann,
with the Langbein Quartet in a performance at Elder Hall that included "Invocation" by Jakub
Jankowski, performing Scriabin Sonatas at the Port Fairy Spring Music Festival and at Elder Hall in
celebration of the centenary of Scriabin's death.
Also in 2015, Mekhla received an Australian
Postgraduate Award to study a Performance PhD on the Liszt Sonata in B minor at The University of
Adelaide. Mekhla is one half of a newly formed piano duo with Konstantin Shamray and has given
recitals across Australia.
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
Piano Concerto in A minor Op.16
l. Allegro molto moderato
ll. Adagio
lll. Allegro moderato molto e marcarto
Grieg was born and died in Bergen, Norway and is Norway’s most famous composer. As a young
man in 1864, Grieg befriended another young Norwegian composer, Rikard Nordraak. Nordraak
believed that the future of their country’s art music lay not in a continued reliance on Germanic
models but in tapping into the rich heritage of folk song. Grieg quickly came to share this view.
Grieg expressed himself most successfully in miniature forms. The songs and brief piano works,
such as the many books entitled Lyric Pieces, stand among his finest achievements. His only
significant large-scale composition is this concerto.
The first performance was in Copenhagen in 1869. The première proved hugely successful. This led
to numerous further performances and the foundation of Grieg’s international fame. Grieg revised
the concerto on several occasions, the last revision shortly before his death is the one played today.
The first movement has one of the most familiar openings in the entire concerto repertoire. Much of
its memorability springs from its very simplicity and melancholic air. The second movement, ushered
in by muted strings, is a tender song without words. The finale follows on directly, led by an insistent,
march-like theme. It is modelled on the springdans (leaping dance), a Norwegian folk step. The
second theme in the movement offers strong contrast. At first it has a wistful and poetic tone but by
the end Grieg demonstrates that it can become a grand, triumphant hymn
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Symphony No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 82
I. Tempo molto moderato
II. Andante mosso, quasi allegretto
III. Allegro molto
Sibelius was confronting a crisis of compositional faith in the middle 1910s. Though he had never
intentionally aligned himself with either side of the conservative/progressive debate, the
progressives had essentially decided the matter for him and often made him the model-opposite of
their preferred “modern” sound. For his part, Sibelius was changing but not in a way that would
register quickly to either side. During his last meaningfully productive period, Sibelius was
concerned with a deepening of the connection between music and nature. Many of Sibelius’ later
works shared an earthbound spirituality reflecting his secluded forest retreat at Ainola. Predominant
among the works that came out of that meditative reverie was his fifth symphony. It was
commissioned for the celebration of Sibelius’ 50th birthday. Symphony No. 5 suffered through three
iterations before achieving completion. The first dated from 1915. 1915 was a Great War year and
Sibelius was depressed by the loss of life and financially stricken by the loss of access to his
German publishers. His diary entries from the time reveal a decidedly gloomy mood but also make
mention of the hopeful “mountain he would surely ascend” with the fifth. The symphony was
completed in time for his birthday concert but it was almost immediately revised in 1916 and again
for the final time in 1919.
The opening sunrise of the first movement has been best described by Sibelius himself: “…God
opens His door for a moment and His orchestra plays the Fifth Symphony.” This was no boast. Just
like the absolutely transcendent sounds of the “swan hymn” in the finale, Sibelius was merely
acknowledging his fortunate ability to gather the mysterious world around him into music. As an
experience, Sibelius’ fifth symphony is neither modern nor quaint, only lasting.
Adelaide Summer Orchestra
First Violin: Susan Currie,** Frances Griffin, Gabrielle Scherrer, Louise Carnell, Conrad Gittins,
Robyn Handreck, Charles Newland, Vicki Finlayson, Jean Ong, Alison Sims, Ashleigh Jones
Second Violin: Lewis Jones,* Gertraud Prenzler, Steve Salamon, Fiona Robertson, Athalie
Scholefield, John Salamon, Naomi Cain, Sally Armstrong, Suzanne Edwards
Viola: Stephen Dale,* Eve Tancibudek, Peter Allred, Chris Batty, Barry Rusanoff, Iarla Bastians,
Stewart Walker, Gitta Green
Celli: Jenni Eime,* Simon Chu, Kym Williams, Rosalie Day, Janis Svilans, Margaret Fraser,
Rhonda Hastie, Catherine Botrill, Aileen Chatterton
Double Bass: Bonnie Aué,* Holly Little, Daniel Webber, Quentin Dunne, David Schilling,
Tom Schilling, Sean Renaud
Flutes: Lydia Sharrad,* Scott Gunn
Oboes: Charles Klein,* Andreas Pretterhofer
Clarinet: Anna Day,* Lindsay Heesom
Bassoons: Timothy Rosen,* Caryl Lambourn
Horns: Natalie Williams,* Paul Hampton-Smith, Mark Lawrence, Andrew Heitmann
Trumpets: Carly Cameron,* Keith Miller, Greg Niedzielski
Trombones: Thomas Greer,* Bartholomew John O’Donovan, Cassandra Pope
Timpani: Andrew Timko
* denotes Principal
The Adelaide Summer Orchestra would like to thank their many
sponsors for their generous support
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Proceeds from this concert are donated to
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