Light–Song: Concert 2 Program
Presented in association with Adelaide Festival
Generously supported by Mary Lou Simpson OAM and the Miriam Hyde Circle
Program
Sofia Gubaidulina Fairytale Poem
Hilda Paredes The Song of the Tepozteco [Australian Premiere]
Kim Falconer, Flute
Slava Grigoryan, Guitar
Vonda Last Awakening
Elena Kats-Chernin Fast Blue Village 5 [World Premiere]
Melody Eötvös The Saqqara Bird
Kaija Saariaho Vers toi qui es si loin
Kate Suthers, Violin
Today’s concert has a special significance as we acknowledge the recent passing of Sofia Gubaidulina. A visionary composer, her bold and deeply expressive language reshaped contemporary music.
The ASO dedicates Light–Song to her memory.
Vale Sofia Gubaidulina (24 October 1931 – 13 March 2025).
An introduction from Curator, Cathy Milliken
Curating these two contemporary music concerts for the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra at the Adelaide Festival 2025 has been an exciting and deeply personal journey. As a composer myself, I approach curation much like composition—seeking balance, contrast, and a narrative that invites listeners into a world of sound and meaning.
The first concert, Light, explores the interplay between illumination and shadow. Light cannot exist without darkness, just as Shakespeare so beautifully expresses in Sonnet 43: “When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see.” This program embraces that duality, showcasing music that shimmers, flickers, and reveals its brilliance against moments of depth and introspection.
The second concert, Song, celebrates the joy of melody and storytelling in its many forms. Birdsong, myths and legends, and the gentle hum of voices in a village square all weave through the program, highlighting music that sings—sometimes literally, sometimes with rhythm, sometimes through lyrical instrumental writing. It seems elemental to consider how song elevates our communication whether in community folksong, in concert or by listening to song in nature. While my curation brief was to present works solely by women composers, I want to emphasize that the field is vibrant and expansive. There is so much more extraordinary music by women to discover, and the richness of these programs is a testament to that. I am honored to include my own work alongside pieces by esteemed composers whose music I deeply admire. It is both humbling and thrilling to share these works with audiences, and I hope that through these concerts, listeners will find both light and song resonating in new and unexpected ways.
Program Note
Not all fairytales have happy endings. But Sofia Gubaidulina’s 1971 Fairytale Poem does, and it is magically unexpected. The main character of this story is not a child tempted by a gingerbread house, or princess trapped in a tower. Instead, it is a humble piece of chalk.
The chalk has an ordinary existence, wearing itself down on a blackboard. It longs to experience life outside, and one day its wish is granted. A boy takes the chalk to the pavement, and together they draw majestic castles and pretty flowers. Its fragments fade peacefully into the stunning landscapes they create.
In her notes on the work, the Russian composer wrote of her intimate connection to the fairytale, which she thought represented an artist’s journey. While she crafted Fairytale Poem for a radio show, its ethereal harp and tense strings transform the concert hall into an otherworldly space.
Similarly mysterious in tone is Hilda Paredes’ 1986 The Song of the Tepozteco. This atmospheric piece shares a different sort of tale – one of a god who races up a mountain path above Tepoztlán, a Mexican town in which the composer once lived.Guitar is placed in the spotlight, with eerie support from the strings. Paredes intended to highlight and manipulate the balance between these particular instruments.
The following work brings us home to Australia. Ngaanyatjarra singer-songwriter Vonda Last stepped into orchestral composition with Awakening, having participated in the 2023 MSO First Voices Composer Program. Last has spoken about the way her piecereflects Country, flourishing with movement and life. It is imbued with the rhythm and songs of generations, and with her memories of the regional town where she spent her childhood. The composer draws out sustained tones from each instrument to create a work that’s evocative and sprawling in scale.
We continue to listen to Australian women’s voices through Elena Kats-Chernin’s Fast Blue Village 5. This piece has existed in several iterations – for string quartet, solo piano, and an ensemble featuring harpsichord and accordion. For ASO listeners, Kats-Chernin has again revised the work, upending its finale and injecting new ideas that keep the energy at a roaring high.
Kats-Chernin had initially worked on this piece when she attended an exhibition showcasing the works of, and addressing the stigma surrounding, artists with schizophrenia. In the past, Kats-Chernin has spoken publicly about her son’s diagnosis, and how deeply this experience has informed her own musical journey.
Australian composer Melody Eötvös so eloquently captures the spirit of The Saqqara Bird with the written instruction she places inside her score: to play ‘light and mechanical.’ Her 2016 work was inspired by a wooden relic that looks like a bird. In her own notes, Eötvös highlighted the fact that nobody seems to know the function of this object, which was found in an 1898 expedition in Saqqara, Egypt.
Traditionally, composers will use woodwinds to represent birdsong. But in The Saqqara Bird, we hear chirping and whistling sounds through strings, winds, and even brass. Through her rigidly metronomic rhythms, Eötvös reminds us that this bird-like figure does not exist in nature.
Our enigmatic program comes to an end with Vers toi qui es si loin (Towards you who are so far away). The higher pitch of the instruments, from piccolo to glistening solo violin, creates an unsettling feeling in Kaija Saariaho’s 2017 work. Its haunting melodies were originally sung in the late Finnish composer’s opera, L’Amour de loin. Set in the 12th Century, it tells the story of a prince and a lady who fall in love from a distance. When at last they unite, the prince dies. This instrumental arrangement represents the lady’s tragedy and final prayer for her lost love.
– Stephanie Eslake, 2025
Artists
Clément Mao – Takacs | Conductor
Clément Mao – Takacs is one of the most brilliant leading figures of the new generation of conductors, combining impressive technical mastery with a thorough knowledge of styles and genres, an exciting blend which offers a committed new artistic vision. He created and is the artistic director of his own Secession Orchestra and Festival Terraqué.
Well known for his radical and innovative musical choices, his intense renditions are deeply praised by both critics and audience. He likes to work on the transversality and dialogue of arts through various collaborations —including theater and music company La Chambre aux échos. He mainly performs noteworthy and meaningful programs in musical cycles he designed, carefully choosing the projects and places where he can practice at his art at this best. He values personal and professional ethics as well as to the transmission of classical music to all the audiences.
He refuses to be specialized and conducts both the symphonic repertoire and opera, from Monteverdi to Kaija Saariaho, performing with the same ease and involvement Mozart, Wagner, Rossini, Schumann, Verdi, Mahler, Stravinsky. He always balances his programs between classical highlights and lesser/un-known pieces which he actively works to spotlight and/or rediscover, as well as including music nowadays music –he performed around a hundred of new pieces, suggesting and supporting commissions, having strong and friendly relationships with composers.
As a guest conductor, he has been invited to give concerts with best European orchestras: Oslo Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, LSO, Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, Copenhagen Philharmonic, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Odense Symphony He performed in major Opera Houses as FNOB (Helsinki), San Francisco, Opéras de Reims et de Nantes, Bergen and Aix-en-Provence Festivals.
He is also a solo pianist, a chamber musician and a composer. He writes articles and essays, and gives lectures and masterclasses. Clément is a graduate from the Conservatoire de Paris and Accademia Chigiana (Sienna), and was awarded the Price “Young Talent” by the Institut de France / Académie des Beaux-Arts.
Kim Falconer | Flute
One of Australia’s leading flautists, Kim Falconer has recently been appointed to the position of Section Principal Flute of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.
Born in Melbourne, Kim completed her Bachelor of Music degree with first-class honours at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music under the tutelage of Derek Jones. She then went on to further study for two years at the Australian National Academy of Music, where she studied with Virginia Taylor. In 2017, Kim moved to Sydney to undertake the Sydney Symphony Orchestra Fellowship.
While living in Sydney, Kim held contracts as Guest Principal Flute with the Opera Australia Orchestra and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. She also performed regularly with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra as Guest Principal Flute, having previously been on contract as Associate Principal Piccolo.
Kim holds her Licentiate Diploma with Distinction, for which she was awarded the Leslie Barklamb Flute Award. In 2015, Kim won First Prize in the Australian Flute Festival Open Competition, and was also awarded the prize for Best Performance of the Set Work – Paul Dean’s Falling Ever Deeper.
In 2018, Kim embarked on an intensive study trip to England, Scotland and Ireland. On this trip, she studied privately with Michael Cox, and was a Concert Performer at the William Bennett International Summer School and the Scottish International Flute Summer School.
Later this year, Kim will perform at the Australian Flute Festival as a Featured Artist.
Aside from music, Kim is an avid scuba-diver, and has earnt her Deep Water 40m certification.
Slava Grigoryan | Guitar
Regarded as a wizard of the guitar, Slava has forged a prolific reputation as a classical guitar virtuoso.
Collaborations have played a huge part in Grigoryan’s career, most notable of these are in the trio with legendary USA guitarist Ralph Towner and Austrian guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel and the duos with brother Leonard Grigoryan and wife Sharon Grigoryan.
He has received 3 ARIA awards and an incredible 24 ARIA Award nominations. He has been touring internationally and performing as a soloist with orchestras and chamber music ensembles since 1996, regularly throughout Europe, Asia, Australia and the USA, as well as more exotic performances in Brazil, South Africa, India and the Middle East.
Slava is the Artistic Director of the Adelaide Guitar Festival, a position he has held since 2009.
Kate Suthers | Violin
Violinist Kate Suthers is a musician in demand as a leader, chamber musician and ensemble player.
Based in the UK until her appointment as Concertmaster of the ASO, her versatile career spans string quartet to symphony orchestra, and ranges from the music of Hildegarde von Bingen to world premieres. She has worked with numerous composers including Thomas Adès, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Anna Meredith, Jörg Widmann, Jonny Greenwood and Sir James MacMillan, as well as Australian composers Matthew Hindson and Paul Stanhope. She has also collaborated across art forms in theatre, film, and dance, and enjoys working with artists of different traditions.
Before holding positions in the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Kate studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London with renowned violinist and teacher György Pauk. Whilst at the Royal Academy, Kate directed the Soloists Ensemble for a recording with Trevor Pinnock and Linn Records, and worked with many great musicians including Clio Gould, John Adams, Andrew Haveron and Semyon Bychkov. In 2022 Kate was made an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM).
Born in Sydney, Kate has performed with the Australian Youth Orchestra, European Union Youth Orchestra, and more recently with the Australian World Orchestra. Kate is a keen if sporadic reader, enjoys walking, and likes searching out great food, wine and coffee at any opportunity.
Kate Suthers plays a Carlo Carletti violin from Pieve di Cento, Bologna, c.1920.
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
Violins
Kate Suthers** (Concertmaster)
Holly Piccoli* (Acting Associate Concertmaster)
Emma Perkins* (Acting Principal 1st Violin)
Alison Heike** (Principal 2nd Violin)
Helen Ayres~ (Guest Associate Principal 2nd Violin)
Janet Anderson
Erna Berberyan
Minas Berberyan
Julia Brittain
Nadia Buck
Belinda Gehlert
Danielle Jaquillard
Michael Milton
Ambra Nesa
Julie Newman
Liam Oborne
Alison Rayner
Niki Vasilakis
Violas
Justin Julian**
David Wicks~ (Guest Associate Principal)
Martin Alexander
Lesley Cockram
Natalie Maegraith
Rosi McGowran
Cellos
Martin Smith** (Guest Section Principal)
Sharon Grigoryan~
Joseph Freer
Gemma Phillips
Cameron Waters
Double Basses
David Schilling**
Belinda Kendall-Smith~ (Acting Associate Principal)
Harley Gray
Gustavo Quintino
Flutes
Julia Grenfell** (Acting Section Principal)
Alex Byrne
Piccolo
Lisa Gill* (Acting Principal)
Oboe
Renae Stavely~
Cor Anglais
Peter Duggan*
Clarinet
Dean Newcomb**
Darren Skelton
Bass Clarinet
Mitchell Berick*
Bassoons
Jackie Newcomb** (Acting Section Principal)
Contra Bassoon
Leah Stephenson* (Acting Principal)
Horns
Sarah Barrett~
Emma Gregan
Philip Paine*
Timothy Skelly
Trumpets
David Khafagi**
Martin Phillipson~
Gregory Frick
Trombones
Colin Prichard**
Ian Denbigh
Bass Trombone
Amanda Tillett*
Tuba
Stan McDonald*
Timpani
Andrew Penrose*
Percussion
Steven Peterka**
Sami Butler~
Ryan Grunwald
Harp
Jessica Fotinos*
Keyboards
Katrina Reynolds* (Guest Principal)
** denotes Section Principal
~ denotes Associate Principal
* denotes Principal Player
We acknowledge that the land we make music on is the traditional country of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains. We pay respect to Elders past and present and recognise and respect their cultural heritage, beliefs and relationship with the land. We acknowledge that this is of continuing importance to the Kaurna people living today. We extend this respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are with us for this performance today.