Review: AYO Chamber Players

Home / Magazine / Review: AYO Chamber Players

In one swift twist of the volume knob, from the first note the AYO Chamber Players played, audiences were captivated with ferocious musical energy. Ninety minutes later, the Primrose Potter Salon at Melbourne Recital Centre had been transformed into a captivating canvas – alive with a musical spectrum of colors, textures and shades of the human experience.

With deep reverence, Lee Bradshaw, the Flinders Quartet and selected Australian Youth Orchestra chamber musicians gathered for two concerts on Sunday, October 5th, to perform the world premiere of Bradshaw’s Four Rooms, commissioned by Flinders Quartet as part of their Healing and Awakening project, in memory of Emmanuel (Manny) Arcaro. Alongside other works on memory and loss – Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Memoria and Felix Mendelsohn’s String Quartet Op. 80 dedicated to his sister Fanny – the audience sat in stunned silence, then rose to their feet, awakened by the profound power of music to express the deepest, most difficult emotions and united in their applause.

With this impact it’s hard to believe the 18 AYO musicians only came together a week ago for an intensive period of coaching, under the guidance of brilliant mentors and tutors; the members of the Flinders Quartet (Elizabeth Sellars, Wilma Smith, Helen Ireland and Zoe Knighton) as well as tutors Lyndon Watts and Yoram Levy.

Throughout the week – which coincided with Mental Health Week – participants were also joined by two clinicians from Headspace – Australia’s national youth mental health foundation. Through Headspace’s involvement, the musicians received one-on-one mental health consultations to promote positive wellbeing in young musicians and facilitate a safe environment to perform a piece close to the hearts of the AYO community.

Together with the Flinders Quartet, the AYO musicians performed over two concerts, in two string quartets, a brass quintet, a wind quintet and combined string octet with each musician bringing their own energy and style, but all with an absolute commitment to musical excellence.

Not only was the quality obvious, the friendship and support for each other was loud and clear. In every bar the musicians knew each other’s role and exchanged smiles, guiding each other through the music – one of the joys of playing great chamber music. Two technical highlights in the first half of the programs were the brilliant solo moments every group had and shared together.

In Holly Harrison’s Swoop, violinist Ian Chiao wasn’t afraid to bend time, knowing he’d be caught by the powerful playing of the second violin Sara Barbagallo. Likewise, in Valerie Colman’s Red Clay and Mississippi Delta, for wind quintet, clarinetist, Karen Chen mastered the blues style with bends and leaps, bringing the house down with a killer clarinet solo.

These moments attested to the versatility of AYO musicians, which carried through into Lee Bradshaw’s Four Rooms, where Julia Hill, Morgan Ip, Sara Barbagallo, Ian Chiao, Sterling Rieck, Felix Hughes Chivers, Joshua Jones and Erna Lai, performed alongside Flinders Quartet in this confronting and important work.

With raw and unique harmony, Bradshaw skillfully threaded a needle through the complex psychological states inside a mental health struggle. Each musician on stage took a deep responsibility in every note they played and alongside the experienced Flinders Quartet, the performance was elevated – creating something truly special. 

The performance of Bradshaw’s Four Rooms was able to transport every person in the room into the consciousness and psyche of someone who is struggling, something that is confronting and normally hard to comprehend. Yet through this piece, the audience was left with a greater understanding and awareness. As Bradshaw explained before the piece was performed:

Review by Lola Schuele