Omega Ensemble: Night and Now

When performing his own piano concertos, the great showman Frédéric Chopin preferred dark and smoky salons to the grand concert halls of Paris. As a matter of practicality, Chopin arranged his own concertos for small ensembles, often performing with string quartets in the private apartments of friends and patrons.

In this tradition, Omega Ensemble’s 2021 Season opens with a program of stunning “quin-certos”, including Chopin’s first piano concerto performed by acclaimed pianist Clemens Leske in an intimate arrangement for piano quintet.

The program also features new works by two of Australia’s most celebrated composers, including a premiere performances of Gordon Kerry’s Clarinet Quintet by Clarinettist David Rowden, and the world premiere of Elena Kats-Chernin’s ‘Night and Now’, a new flute quintet based on her Flute Concerto (2015), originally written for flautist Sally Walker who will also premiere this new arrangement.

Program:

• Frédéric Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11 (for Piano Quintet)

• Elena Kats-Chernin: Flute Quintet “Night and Now” (after Flute Concerto) [World Premiere]

• Gordon Kerry: Clarinet Quintet