In this rich tapestry of American music, invention and reinvention are the warp and weft. There is balm for the soul and invigorating jolts of energy to raise the spirits high.

This concert opens with ‘Rising Sun Blues’, an English folksong imported to the American South. Its enduring influence can be traced as a thread through American culture ever since.

George Walker pays lyrical tribute to his grandmother, a former slave, in his 1946 work Lyric for Strings, while Florence Price refracts the Black folkloric tradition through the prism of Western string playing in her Negro Folksongs in Counterpoint.

Music by contemporary giants Morton Feldman, Bryce Dessner and John Adams continue the work of remaking and revitalisation, culminating in the world premiere of a new work for electric violin and strings by American composer Samuel Adams for Richard Tognetti and the Orchestra.

The concert reaches a peak with Tognetti’s string orchestra arrangement of Dvořák’s sublime American Quartet, written during a rural holiday in America in 1893. Fresh, optimistic and full of rustic charm, this is music to warm the soul.

ARTISTS 

Richard Tognetti Director & Electric Violin
Australian Chamber Orchestra

PROGRAM 

TRADITIONAL The House of the Rising Sun
JOHN ADAMS John’s Book of Alleged Dances: Selections
PRICE Five Negro Folksongs in Counterpoint: Selections
SAMUEL ADAMS New Work for Electric Violin and Strings* (World Premiere)
BRYCE DESSNER Aheym
WALKER Lyric for Strings
FELDMAN Rothko Chapel: 5th Movement
DVORÁK (arr. Tognetti) String Quartet No.12 in F major, Op.96 “American”

*Commissioned by the Australian Chamber Orchestra and Stanford Live.

ADDITIONAL TICKETING INFORMATION

Group Price
Purchase 8+ tickets in one transaction and save 20% (all reserves)

Concessions apply to
Full-time students
Pensioners
Health Care Card holders 

Mobile tickets will be emailed shortly after the order confirmation.

Please note: A one-off handling fee of $6.60 applies to all web, phone and mail bookings. A fee of $3.85 applies to over the counter bookings. An additional fee of $4.40 per transaction applies for delivery via Registered Post. All ticket / item prices include GST, if applicable.

RUNNING TIMES 

Start 7:30pm
20 minute interval*
Finish 9:30pm*

*Times are approximate and subject to change at any time.

FOOD & BEVERAGE

RIVERSIDE CAFÉ
View the Riverside Café menu.
Bookings are essential. Find out how to book.

GRAB & GO
View the Grab & Go menu.
No bookings necessary. 

Presented by Australian Chamber Orchestra