After their acclaimed European tour, the Affinity Quartet return to the Mechanics Institute Lawson [The MIL] on Friday 25 October 2024 commencing at 8.00 pm. Doors open at 7.00pm for hot food and bar.

Date        Friday 25 October 2024.

Doors      7pm (Bar and food available)

Tickets    https://www.trybooking.com/CTPKJ

Showtime             8.00pm (approx.)

Alice Chance Gifts from a Thieving Bluebird [7′]

Beethoven String Quartet Opus 18 no.2 in G Major [26′

Interval

8.55 pm- 9.35 (approx.)

Schubert String Quartet no.14 ‘Death and the Maiden’

Award-winning ensemble Affinity Quartet showcases the virtuosity and synergy that made history when they won all three top prizes at the 2023 Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition with a ‘highly committed and suavely flexible account’ of Schubert’s String Quartet ‘Death and the Maiden’. (The Age) Affinity Quartet pairs Schubert’s poetic and monumental ‘Death and the Maiden’ with Beethoven’s Second String Quartet in G Major. It was Beethoven’s idiosyncratic musical development and emotional depth and range in the form that would inspire Schubert to compose his own string quartets. Alongside these pivotal works, Affinity Quartet premières Australian composer, Alice Chance’s new work for Affinity Quartet, commissioned by Musica Viva Australia to be performed at their Sydney Morning Masters Series and the Melbourne Recital Centre. Reflecting on Schubert’s rich fantasy and metaphors of love and destruction in Death and the Maiden, Chance draws on Marie-Catherine d’Aulnoy’s 17th century fairy tale l’Oiseau bleu with and Rossini’s The Thieving Magpie to explore how objects gifted to loved ones can communicate significance across time and realms.

Website http://alicechance.com

Personnel

Shane Chen, violin
Nicholas Waters, violin
Isabella Bignasca, viola
Mee Na Lojewski, cello