Recordings

Inner Landscapes explores themes of loss, belonging and our connection to place through a program of deeply expressive chamber music. The concert combines Schubert's dramatic Death and the Maiden in Gustav Mahler's arrangement for string orchestra, John Corigliano's deeply personal Soliloquy, and Jessie Montgomery's acclaimed Rounds for piano and strings. The centrepiece is Stanhope's new clarinet concerto, written for Omega Ensemble Artistic Director David Rowden. Inspired by birds, frogs and other wildlife found around Sydney Harbour, the work transforms observations of the natural world into a vivid musical journey. Recorded live in concert at the City Recital Hall, Angel Place, Sydney on 15/07/2026 by ABC Classic. Producer David Houston. Engineer Matt Hiley. Program John Corigliano: Soliloquy Franz Schubert: String Quartet No. 14, Death and the Maiden (arr. Gustav Mahler) Jessie Montgomery: Rounds Paul Stanhope: Paludarium Dreams (world premiere) Artists David Rowden (clarinet/artistic director) Vatche Jambazian (piano) Omega Ensemble

A brave and boundary pushing performance by the Omega Ensemble with electronics included. Mizzy Mazzoli’s Tooth and Nail features the solo viola of Neil Thompson and electronics, gently preparing us for what is to come. It is not often you see a piece to be performed by string quartet be described as ‘part rave, part string quartet’ but this is exactly what audiences were greeted by when Omega Ensemble unleashes Anna Meredith’s Tuggemo. We then get a chance to catch our breath and a sip of water as we are immersed in the textural and harmonically rich world of Daniel Wohl’s Interference Patterns. Pierre Jalbert’s Howl then brings to life the unique form and rhythm of Ginsberg’s titular poem, before the night closes with a roaring rendition of Danny Elfman’s Piano Quartet. Recorded live at ACO on the Pier 2/5/26 Recording engineer Jack Prest. Producer Matt Hiley. Program Missy Mazzoli: Tooth and Nail Anna Meredith: Tuggemo Daniel Wohl: Interference Patterns Pierre Jalbert: Howl Danny Elfman: Piano Quartet Artists David Rowden (clarinet and artistic director) Mark Ingwersen (violin) Asmira Woodward-Page (violin) Neil Thompson (viola) Paul Stender (cello) Vatche Jambazian (piano)

Omega Ensemble spotlights three distinguished soloists at City Recital Hall. Trumpet soloist David Elton brings his experience as Principal Trumpet of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and former Principal Trumpet of the London Symphony Orchestra. Piano soloist Vatche Jambazian has been a finalist in the ABC Young Performer of the Year and was a prizewinner at the Los Angeles International Piano Competition. Clarinettist David Rowden is soloist in Gerald Finzi’s concerto, the work both evoking the English countryside and combining with turbulent rhythms. Recorded live in concert at City Recital Hall in Sydney on 12 February 2026. Producer André Shrimski. Engineer Andrew Edgson. Program Jessie Montgomery: Starburst. Gerald Finzi: Clarinet Concerto. Dmitri Shostakovich: Concerto No. 1 for Piano, Trumpet and Strings. Lachlan Skipworth: A Turning Sky. Artists David Elton (trumpet) Vatche Jambazian (piano) David Rowden (clarinet & artistic director) Omega Ensemble

The Omega Ensemble visits the work of two Australian composers, including a world premiere, in this final of their 2025 national tours. Ella Macens's Through the Mist is an appropriately atmospheric exploration of sound, coming to a conclusion in an uncharacteristically fraught coda. Featuring a string quintet with piano, each instrument gets its own moment of virtuoso expressivity, including the audience themselves. The piece has its world premiere on this tour. Bartók and Westlake sit either side of Macens in this more introspective program from the trailblazing Sydney-based ensemble. Recorded live in concert at Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre, Narrm/Melbourne, on December 2, 2025, by ABC Classic. Producer Jennifer Mills. Engineer Niyi Adepoyibi. Program Béla Bartók: Contrasts Ella Macens: Through the Mist Nigel Westlake: Rare Sugar Artists David Rowden (clarinet/artistic director) Véronique Serret (violin) Emma McGrath (violin) Neil Thompson (viola) Paul Stender (cello) Harry Young (double bass) Vatche Jambazian (piano)

Ava, an accomplished academic and broadcaster finds herself reflecting on the significance of her life, the importance of her accomplishments and what it is to be human, and in particular, female. As she contemplates an affair she had with a younger man while filming a documentary Ava evokes Aphrodite who explains how she obtained power through her beauty and warns her of its risks. Ava is left questioning why, despite all that one can achieve, do women still allow men to judge and rank their beauty. Renowned US composer Nico Muhly and Australian librettist Laura Lethlean have written this work specifically for Sydney Chamber Opera. This is the world premier performance. Recorded at Carriageworks, Sydney on 27 and 28 June, 2025 by ABC Classic. Producer, Virginia Read. Engineer, Richard Hundy. Program Nico Muhly: Aphrodite Libretto by Laura Lethlean Artists Jessica O'Donoghue (soprano) — Ava Meechot Marrero (soprano) — Aphdodite Jack Symonds, conductor Omega Ensemble David Rowden, clarinet Veronique Serret, violin Mark Ingwersen, violin Neil Thompson, viola Paul Stender, cello Vatche Jambazian, piano Rebecca Lloyd-Jones, percussion

The latest instalment in The Hush Foundation’s recording series, Peaceful Moments is this week’s Feature Album on ABC Classic. Guitarist Matt Withers joins pianist Vatche Jambazian to perform gentle music by Natalie Nicolas. “Peaceful Moments was born from a visit to Westmead Children's Hospital, not to observe the patients, as Hush has traditionally done, but to understand the needs of the staff,” Nicolas says. “Drawing from my PhD research on music for calm and catharsis, Peaceful Moments is a collection of musical reflections on small, quiet moments, and others that offer a sense of stillness. It’s designed as a guide for transition, a way for workers to step out of their high-pressure environments and use music to re-centre themselves as they move from work to home. In these pieces, I hope they can find a space to rest, reset, and reconnect with themselves.”

Max Richter's re-imagining of Vivaldi's "Four Seasons", featuring violin virtuoso Veronique Serret is paired with two world premieres by Jessie Montgomery and Elena Kats-Cherin. Besides his inestimable talents as a clarinet soloist, the Omega Ensemble's director David Rowden has a knack for curating highly original programmes for his band of gifted players, hence there are two new world premieres commissioned for this program. Opening this unique concert is a two-part concerto which David and violinist Veronique Serret perform with a string ensemble to which is added a harp and piano written by the American Grammy-award-winning composer Jessie Montgomery (who is also a violinist). She describes her "Concerto Grosso" as a "contemporary take on the Baroque practice of ripieno dynamics ('ripieno' referring to the ensemble playing the accompanying role in the concerto), and improvisation in the solo part. The piece is composed in a way that allows the [violin] soloist to decide in the moment either to play what is on the page or depart and add their own flourish against the ensemble backdrop"; a role the skilled improviser and composer Serret is eminently suited to play. When it came to choosing a companion piece, David recalled a decade-old memory of the Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin playing him a piece she was composing for the British clarinettist and conductor Michael Collins to play alongside a performance of Mozart's beloved Clarinet Concerto completed just months before that composer's death. After all this time, Elena's mellifluous melodies, notes David, have been "stuck in my head like a bright and wonderful ear-worm. I thought it time to give the work a go myself, and I'm grateful for Elena for not only writing such a challenging and brilliant work, but for adapting it in a foot-stamping new version for our ensemble." Kats-Chernin's "Ornamental Air", with its electrifying clarinet part and sumptuous string-section harmonies, also employs the talents of harpist Georgia Lowe and Omega Ensemble's keyboard virtuoso Vatche Jambazian. Despite being just over a decade old, Max Ritcher's "The Four Seasons Recomposed" has become something of an enduring sensation (and a chart-hitting album to boot. He'd already achieved the top spot on the Billboard charts in 2015 with his work "Sleep"). Writing in the "Guardian" in 2012 shortly after he had completed the work, he reminisced about how Antonio Vivaldi's four violin concertos (published in 1725) that musically depict country-folk either relishing or enduring the vicissitudes of Mother Nature, became an annoyance as their iconic melodies were abused by advertising agencies to sell any manner of things. Therefore he created his extended fantasia on the Venetian's music "to resolve the love/hate relationship I had with the work. . .and reclaim Vivaldi's original as a musical object rather than a sonic irritant. The best way to do that, I decided, would be to take a voyage through Vivaldi's landscape and to make new discoveries there." Recorded live in concert at the Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre,, Narrm/Melbourne, on April 15, 2024 by ABC Classic. Producer Duncan Yardley. Engineer Russell Thomson. Program Jessie Montgomery: Concerto Grosso [World Premiere] Elena Kats-Chernin: Clarinet Concerto “Ornamental Air” [New Version; World Premiere] Max Richter: The Four Seasons Recomposed Artists Veronique Serret (violin) David Rowden (clarinet) Omega Ensemble

Post-post-modern chanteuse Meow Meow returns to The Music Show to talk about The Red Shoes, the third show in her series of Hans Christian Anderson adaptations. She goes into both the music and the research behind the show, including the revelation of a Danish ballet dancer whose "feet ran away with her", that may have inspired the tale. Alto saxophonist and composer Tessie Overmyer has released her debut album as bandleader, Tidelands. She explains to Andrew Ford why she composes music on guitar, the headspace you need to be in to improvise, and how The Goodies influenced this record. The Red Shoes is at Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney 4 Oct - 9 Nov, and at Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne 19 Nov - 6 Dec Tessie Overmyer's Tidelands is out now via ABC Jazz. Music heard in the show: Title: I Lost Myself Artist: Meow Meow, Thomas Lauderdale, Pink Martini Composer: Meow Meow, Thomas M. Lauderdale Album: Hotel Amour Label: Heinz Records Title: Sonata for Violin and Piano; VIII. Artist: Anna da Silva Chen, Vatche Jambazian Composer: Alex Turley Album: Sonata for Violin and Piano Label: ABC Classic Title: Fake Plastic Trees Artist: Meow Meow Composer: Thom Yorke, Johnny Greenwood Album: Mermaid Label: Independent release Title: À quoi ça sert l'amour Artist: Meow Meow, Thomas Lauderdale, Pink Martini Composer: Michel Emer Album: Hotel Amour Label: Heinz Records Title: Beautiful Strangers Artist: Mavis Staples Composer: Kevin Morby Album: Sad and Beautiful World Label: ANTI- Title: The Messiah's Shoe, The Imposter, Intro to Sunset Walk, Ecky Thump Artist: Tessie Overmyer, Sandy Evans, Tom Avgenicos, Harley Coleman, Kevin Hunt, Jonathan Zwartz, George Greenhill Composer: Tessie Overmyer Album: Tidelines Label: ABC Jazz Title: I Am Artist: Shellie Morris Composer: Shellie Morris, Miriam Frank, Rosemary Plummer, Marlene Plummer Album: Singing For Our Little Ones Label: Independent release The Music Show was made on Gadigal and Gundungurra Land, and mixed by Harvey O'Sullivan.

ABC Classic is proud to release the latest instalment in its composer commission series with this world premiere recording of Alex Turley’s Sonata for Violin and Piano, featuring violinist Anna da Silva Chen and pianist Vatche Jambazian. Turley works frequently with all of Australia's major orchestras and has collaborated with a diverse group of artists including Banks, Ben Folds, Dan Sultan, Electric Fields, Genesis Owusu, G Flip, Hoodoo Gurus, Lime Cordiale, Ngaiire and Rüfüs Du Sol. He was the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s Young Composer in Residence in 2022, the winner of UNSW’s 2024 Layton Composer Fellowship, and currently holds a Creative Leadership Fellowship from the Forrest Research Foundation. His music has been premiered in venues including the Sydney Opera House, the Myer Music Bowl and the Kennedy Center. His music ‘ranges from pulsating energy to contemplative stasis’ (Limelight),but while much of his work evokes specific locations, atmospheres, and emotional states, this sonata marks a deliberate departure from that approach, inviting the listener to draw their own conclusions, focusing attention on the intrinsic qualities of the instruments and the compositional choices that emerge from their interplay. ‘The violin-piano duo,’ says Turley, ‘has a rich and longstanding repertoire. By giving this work the rather traditional title “Sonata for Violin and Piano”, I sought to engage directly with this lineage, offering a personal response to the form through an exploration of some of my favourite ways to use these two instruments.’ For Turley, one of the most rewarding aspects of composing is leaving space for interpretation, allowing performers to inhabit the work with their own choices. ‘The opportunity to hear how Anna and Vatche brought this piece to life – through both their broad interpretive decisions and the smallest of nuances – was a particularly gratifying part of the process.’ Artists Anna da Silva Chen (violin) Vatche Jambazian (piano)

David Rowden directs the Omega Ensemble on a program that plays on the idea of light-hearted "Elevator Music", the concert's title taken from Graeme Koehne's homonymous work of 1997. Koehne's Dances on the Edge of Time for two clarinets (David Rowden and Michael Collins) is preceded by Mozart's joyful 'Eine Klein Nacthmusik' and Anna Clyne's Stride. Michael Collins closes the program with a brilliant performance of Copland's masterful Concerto for Clarinet. Originally written for Michael Collins, Elena Kats-Chernin's Ornamental Air Mov. III is performed as an encore in this arranged format for two clarinets (with David Rowden). Recorded live in concert at the City Recital Hall, Angel Place August 19, 2025 by ABC Classic. Producer, Josinaldo Costa. Engineer, Andrew Edgson. Artists Michael Collins (clarinet solo David Rowden (clarinet solo, artistic director) Omega Ensemble Véronique Serret (violin) Emma Jardine (violin) Marcus Michelson (violin) Adele Ohki (violin) Madeleine Jevons (violin) Anna McMichael (violin) Marlane Bennie (violin) Harmonnia Junus (violin) Neil Thompson (viola) Molly Collier-O'Boyle (viola) Beth Condon (viola) Paul Stender (cello) Rachel Siu (cello) Adrian Whitehall (double bass) Jacques Emery (double bass) Paul Nicolaou (harp) Vatche Jambazian (piano) Program Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Allegro from Serenade No. 13, 'Eine kleine Nachtmusik' Anna Clyne: Stride Graeme Koehne: Dances on the Edge of Time [Omega Ensemble Commission; World Premiere] Aaron Copland: Clarinet Concerto Elena Kats-Chernin: Movement III from Ornamental Air

Led by the virtuoso clarinettist David Rowden, the Omega Ensemble return to the Melbourne Recital Centre with a typically imaginative program of music both new and old. Despite being feted as a pianist who comfortably straddles both the classical music and jazz genres, Joe Chindamo noted in a 2018 conversation with the vibraphone virtuoso Nick Parnell “My work in jazz could be described as composition in real time. . . I have always been a composer, the piano probably distracted me, in a way.” Chindamo’s instincts have served him well, given he has received a number of commissions from various illustrious Australian ensembles in the last few years. Responding to the question of his compositional process, Chindamo describes how he gets into a role “much as an actor does. I try to feel the character, the mood of the music and what I’m trying to portray” except that in this new three-movement work, entitled “The Next Room”, the mood changed dramatically during its composition when his beloved canine companion passed away. “From that moment”, the composer wrote, “the narrative of this work became unshaken, with a purpose as single minded as Louis’ vigilance over one of his beloved bones. The work became an expression of life’s meaning: love, loss, grief, yearning, remembrance, hope, sadness, and immense gratitude.” While Nigel Westlake’s impressive symphonic oeuvre both for the concert platform and the sound-stage, in particular his scores to John Weiley’s “Antartica” and Chris Noonan and George Miller’s “Babe”, have enchanted audiences far and wide his output of chamber music, though less-known, is equally unique. Written in response to a commission from the Sydney-based Macquarie Trio for their 2003 concert season, Westlake writes how “veiled string melodies and flowing piano gestures form the basis” for the opening of his three-movement Piano Trio, before its lyrical nature “gains momentum and aggressive in nature for a brief period.” The second movements’ “contemplative nature”, in which all three players are given the most piquant and delicate of filigree passages, is offset by a dynamic finale, one “featuring a dazzling display of furious semi-quaver passages, aggressive rhythmic devices and whimsical, jazz-influenced melodies.” Just as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was inspired by the pioneering clarinet virtuoso Anton Stadler to compose one of his most beloved concertos, it was another master of the instrument, the young musician Richard Mühlfeld, whose artistry drew the increasingly reclusive Johannes Brahms, who had become acutely aware of his advanced age as a number of friends had recently passed away, out of an avowed retirement to write several forward-looking chamber works for the instrument. “To hear the clarinettist would be an experience for you, a Gaudium”, the composer wrote to the pianist and composer Clara Schumann (the object of Brahms’ affection for most of his adult life). “You would be enraptured, and I hope my music would not spoil the effect for you.” Certainly the 1892 premiere of his Clarinet Quintet was enthusiastically received by the discerning Viennese public and its effortless lyricism and reflective beauty have captured audiences ever since. Recorded live in concert at the Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre,, Narrm/Melbourne, on December 2, 2024 by ABC Classic. Producer Duncan Yardley. Engineer Adeniyi Adepoyibi. Program Joe Chindamo: The Next Room Nigel Westlake: Piano Trio Johannes Brahms: Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115 Artists Omega Ensemble: David Rowden (clarinet) Emma McGrath (violin) Mark Ingwersen (violin) Neil Thompson (viola) Paul Stender (cello) Vatche Jambazian (piano)

Bells, birds and the changing environment is the focus of this unique, dynamic recital presented by the Omega Ensemble. Speaking with Limelight Magazine contributor Jason Blake during the rehearsals of this typically unique Omega Ensemble program the group’s artistic director, the Sydney-based clarinet virtuoso David Rowden noted how “all the music on this program is about asking audiences to pause, reflect and consider the state of our planet and our place in it.” The newly-commissioned work featured in this concert does just that, courtesy of the collaborative talents of the New Zealand/Australian composer Miriama Young, the academic Kathryn Bowen (who is Professor of Environment, Climate and Global Health at the University of Melbourne) and five Victorian teenagers who responded to a call-out from Young through ABC Regional Radio for field recordings of those places that are special to them. The submissions, which included a recording of Jubilee Falls in the state’s Warby-Owens National Park and another by the Yarra River, proved to be an uncanny match to Young’s original vision of the work. “I already had a sense of the kind of sounds I wanted to create with Omega, and I’d done a lot of the drafting of the piece before we got the soundscapes. And luckily, somehow, the soundscapes miraculously fitted together with everything I’d done. You know when things are in that flow state? When things just connect in beautiful ways? Well, that was kind of what happened for me.” Sourcing recordings from young people living in rural areas affected by climate change also resonates with the prevailing theme of the Australian composer, arranger and saxophonist Jabra Latham’s evocative nature study of his home state of Tasmania and how devastating bushfires have irrevocably reshaped both the natural and urban environment, not to mention the cycle from catastrophe to renewal, hence the last of the four movements that make up “Fire Music” bares this title. Just as Miriama Young’s “DuskLit” formed in a collaborative manner, so too was Latham’s work, in that he had the benefit of working with arts patron Dr. Marie Heitz on a narrative that would evoke the tragedy and aftermath of such a cataclysmic natural event. Speaking with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra Principal Bass Trombone Mitch Nissen, Latham obverses “it’s great as a composer to have that interaction with someone who’s commissioning” a piece. Recorded live in concert at the Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre, Narrm/Melbourne, on 13 May, 2025 by ABC Classic. Producer Duncan Yardley. Sound Engineer Adeniyi Adepoyibi. Program Arvo Pärt: Spiegel im Spiegel Miriama Young: DuskLit [Omega Ensemble Commission; World Premiere] Pēteris Vasks: Piano Quartet Jabra Latham: Fire Music Artists Omega Ensemble: David Rowden (clarinet, artistic director) Emma McGrath (violin) Mark Ingwersen (violin) Neil Thompson (viola) Paul Stender (cello) Vatche Jambazian (piano)

David Rowden is an internationally acclaimed clarinetist and Artistic Director of Omega Ensemble, known for his expressive artistry, technical brilliance, and commitment to contemporary classical music. Based in Sydney, his performances have captivated audiences across the globe, from London’s Royal Albert Hall to the Sydney Opera House. A graduate and Associate of the Royal Academy of Music, David has commissioned and premiered over 60 new works and collaborated with leading composers and performers. A passionate advocate for new music, and a leading voice in Australia’s classical music scene, today David joins Vanessa Hughes to discuss Omega Ensemble's plans for the rest of the year. Also, David performs two pieces live in the Eugene Goossens Hall, accompanied by Vatche Jambazian. Music Messager, André: Solo de Concours Brahms, Johannes: Clarinet Sonata No.1, Op.120: I. Allegro appassionato David Rowden (clarinet) and Vatche Jambazian (piano)

Chief Conductor of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and former Principal Cellist of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Umberto Clerici is your Performer of the Week on ABC Classic. After a career spanning more than 20 years as a soloist and orchestral musician, Umberto Clerici has taken his deep-understanding and passion for music into the world of conducting, achieving rapid acclaim. Umberto is now the Chief Conductor of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. As a cellist, Umberto remains beloved by audiences worldwide, having performed internationally as a soloist at New York’s Carnegie Hall, Vienna’s Musikverein, the great Shostakovich Hall of St Petersburg, Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome, the Salzburg Festival, and is one of only two Italians to have ever won a prize for cello in the prestigious International Tchaikovsky Competition. This year, Umberto Clerici is appearing as the Guest Director with Omega Ensemble for their upcoming program in March (La Musica Notturna | 24 — 27 March 2025 — Omega Ensemble). For this week's Drive Live, Umberto returns to the cello, joining Vanessa Hughes in the Eugene Goossens Hall to perform music by Vivaldi, and to discuss some of the finest cellists in history, like Boccherini and Sollima. Music Vivaldi, Antonio: Cello Sonata in E minor: I. Largo Umberto Clerici (cello), Vatche Jambazian (piano)

Named for Alice Chance's whimsical work, Échappsodie is a performance of nuance, poise and passion by Sydney's Omega Ensemble. Opening with David Rowden's signature virtuosic command on full display in Debussy's Première Rhapsodie for clarinet and piano, the concert traverses French colour and melismatic bloom, without getting bogged down in any overly-intellectual definitions of impressionism. As the Australian Chance describes of Échappsodie, a play on the French 'échapper' – to escape – the listener should picture not a French attic in dappled afternoon light but "imagine a sunny living room in Marrickville. Imagine two wide-eyed friends, one of them saying 'what if you did this? Is this idiomatic for the clarinet?' "And the other saying, 'No, but I'll try it anyway!'" Recorded live in concert at the Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre, Narrm/Melbourne, on February 13, 2024, by ABC Classic. Producer Jennifer Mills. Engineer Russell Thomson. Program Claude Debussy: Première Rhapsodie Gabriel Fauré: Piano Quintet No. 1 Alice Chance: Échappsodie Artists Omega Ensemble David Rowden (clarinet/Artistic Director) Peter Clark (violin I) Natalia Harvey (violin II) Neil Thompson (viola) Paul Stender (cello) William Hansen (double bass) Vatche Jambazian (piano)