Time is a River

The lifeblood of memory, music is the empowering tool through which composers pass on stories and honour the continuous flow of time. Franz Schubert’s stirring Death and the Maiden has long captured the imagination of audiences and mirrors the composer’s own inner turmoil with its thrilling climaxes, tortured freneticism, and darkly romantic source materials.

With the fragility of life at their centres, Arvo Pärt’s plaintive Mozart-Adagio and Graham Koehne’s Time is a River, both dedicated to loved ones passed, represent hopefulness and reinforce an inspiring message of life’s raw beauty and the innate power of music to heal. This reflective program also includes the world premiere of a moving work by ARIA award-winning composer and proud Yuin woman Brenda Gifford.

Program

• Arvo PÄRT Mozart-Adagio

• Franz SCHUBERT String Quartet No. 14, ‘Death and the Maiden’

• Brenda GIFFORD World Premiere*

• Graeme KOEHNE Time is a River

* Commissioned by Omega Ensemble and Penrith Performing and Visual Arts with the support of Richard Cobden