B Minor Mass

Not strictly an Ironwood event, but lots of us (and Ironwood course members) are playing for Sydney Philharmonia Choirs concert of JS Bach's B minor Mass this week in Sydney's Angel Place Recital Hall.

It was a reunion of sorts from the workshop - the whole second row of firsts & seconds had been at the course! Tonight we've been rehearsing with the full choir and soloists Sara Macliver, Tobias Cole, Tobias Cole , Paul McMahon, Andrew Collis.

David (2nd Bassoon) has been trying to fake Nicole (viola) out by putting his instrument up too early - a common orchestral trick& one which causes fits of giggles...The violas & the bassoons are honorary 'deskies' (that's stand partners to you guys from the USA). We often sit in the same section of the stage in a baroque orchestra. Julia says that bassoons & violas tend to have the same low IQ - we wont say anything about 2nd violinists, will we Julia?!....Neal(harpischord) has been very well behaved, and not displaying his vampire teeth too often...(only on very dissonant chords...).

Pekka Kuusisto (violin, Finland) is in Sydney doing recitals this week for Musica Viva (our national chamber music promoter) & Danny (Ironwood's cellist) has been listening to his concert tonight, on a rare night off from playing. Pekka is a fabulous improviser; those who haven't heard him yet should look up the documentary film '4' (director Tim Slade, producer Joanna Buggy) - Pekka is the solo violinist for Vivaldi's 'Winter' concerto. Danny & Neal feature in the 'Summer' section of the film, which was shot in Northern Australia.

Melbourne Concert

Hi everyone,
Well, we've done our marathon travel weekend, complete with delayed flights. Julia is keeping a photographic record of every delayed flight (oops, I was just about to write 'fright'....;) she has to get. Just as well we had our laptops with new wireless 'dongle' connections to keep us amused & to play on YouTube. 50 points to the techhead who can tell us where the term 'dongle' originated.

We drove from Melbourne Airport to Sorrento; and Nicole displayed new talents- eating singapore noodles with chopsticks (no less!) while driving. (yes, we all got there in one piece).

St Johns Sorrento is a pretty little church built in 1874, and is a well known Victorian venue for chamber music. There was a fantastic friendly audience, mostly locals we think, who welcomed us very warmly, on quite a cold evening. ABC Classic FM recorded our concert, and we will let you know the likely future broadcast date.

After the concert, Danny navigated along dark rural, kangaroo-ridden roads, to 'Chez Fredersdorff' where Julia's dogs Billy & Milly greeted us. (Along with the open fire & much champagne & blue cheese). We all collapsed well after midnight..zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......

How to play the violin

Hi to all.
Whilst waiting for our delayed flight to Melbourne we found this very instructional video clip on the net. Useful information for all violinists.....
We also found some good coffee in Sydney Airport at Gourmet Cellars Wooohoooo!
Oh and a special thanks to all those who came to our concert at Vaucluse House last night. It was really nice to have you in the audience.

Dancing with Strangers

Ironwood are busy rehearsing for concerts which will take place tomorrow at 6.30pm in Vaucluse House in Sydney and at 8pm on Friday at St Johns Anglican Church Sorrento on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria.
It was a case of no rest for the wicked for us, as we have barely had time to rest after the Early Music Winter Workshop, but the rehearsals are going well and the concerts should be great. On the program; Mozart and Haydn Quartets K80 in G major and Opus 54 no 1 in G major, as well as Paul Stanhopes Dancing with Strangers, based on the based on the literary work of Inga Clendinnen, and Enyato I by Ross Edwards.
Hope to see you there!

Early Music Winter Workshop

Ironwood have just returned from Riversdale, the location of their first Early Music Winter Workshop. We were thrilled by the fantastic response from students from all over Australia who brought their wonderful personalities, energy and enthusiasm to this unique place. We enjoyed a week of Chamber music and lessons, culminating in daily cocktail concerts, and were lucky enough to fill in the extra time with art classes, yoga, flow classes or simply chilling out looking at the stunning view.
Meanwhile the chef extraordinaire, Andreas Lippa, was to totally spoil us all with his wonderful cooking….it really was a week to remember for tutors and students alike.One of the most impressive things being that every single student blossomed both personally, and as musicians. We feel very touched by the dedication and passion that each student demonstrated, and are amazed at the transformation that happened in everyones playing over a relatively short period.
Ironwood are already planning for next years workshops and will keep everyone up to date. In the meantime, please feel free to send any feedback etc that you may have in response to this workshop. Thanks to all involved for a wonderful week.

Welcome!

Welcome one and all to the new Ironwood blog. We will be writing regular reports about our touring schedule, concerts, education programs and residencies, as well as keeping you up to date with the movements of each member of the group, and any interesting information about historically informed performance practice.
First on the agenda will be a post about our recent Early Music Winter Workshop. Watch this space!