Classical music isn’t supposed to be fun. Or is it? The question arises about that particular F-word every time Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra – takes to the stage, because they always seem to be enjoying themselves so much.
They smile and chat and play with elan. Should they be doing that? I mean, this is classical music and it’s supposed to be serious, isn’t it? Well yes, and no.
Camerata’s artistic director and orchestra leader, violinist Brendan Joyce, says the orchestra is serious about the music and has just revealed a stunning and busy program for 2024, but more on that later.
Joyce wants the journey into next year to continue to be enjoyable and to be seen to be enjoyable.
“Why do it otherwise?” he says. “I encourage people to demonstrate their enjoyment whether they feel like it or not. And we like to talk to our audience too. In my mind the days of just walking out and playing without explanation are over. When you taste wine, you want someone to give you a rundown and so it should be with music.”
Camerata’s founder, former UQ music lecturer Elizabeth Morgan, took Joyce aside early in the piece.
“She basically slapped me in the face with this – Brendan, have you thought about the audience? I mean at the end of the day it is all for the audience. I’m an audience member too sometimes and I’m all for abstract art but I also love stories and tend to get attracted to works that have narratives.”
And there will plenty of narratives in Camerata’s season 2024, which will include four mainstage concerts, a regional Queensland tour and two seasons with Queensland Ballet as their live music partner, with a recital series yet to be announced and other treats.
February’s opening concert features acclaimed Brisbane pianist and artistic director of Brisbane Music Festival Alex Raineri returning to the stage with Beethoven’s Piano Concert No. 1. The program also features Wagner’s sweet Siegfried Idyll. I heard this piece at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville this year and it is gorgeous and I will be hearing it again when I attend The Ring Cycle in December.
“But if you don’t want to go to The Ring Cycle you can just wait for our first concert next year,” Joyce offers. “The Siegfried Idyll has all the themes of the whole thing and it is over in just 15 minutes, not 15 hours.” Point taken.
Next year Camerata is also collaborating with Australian guitar virtuoso Karin Schaupp, a Brissie girl who thankfully stayed here, as Joyce points out.
That concert, Serenade, will be in May. In September Camerata continues its collaborations with singer-songwriter Lior in a concert called Ngapa William Cooper. This fits Joyce’s narrative theme because it’s a musical story about an Indigenous Australian who protested against Nazi atrocities in the lead up to World War II, championing the Jewish cause at a time when Indigenous Australians were not recognised.
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It will feature Lior and Dr Lou Bennett, an academic and singer who is a descendant of the man at the centre of the story.
Baroque violin virtuoso Davide Monti is back to close out 2024 in a mainstage performance called Baroque Labyrinth.
The company is currently working on a schedule for their regional tour, and regional touring is very important to Joyce. He’s from Ayr in North Queensland and loves taking music back to the regions.
Camerata employs more than 130 artists across 50 concerts each year and, yes, some of them will also be playing in The Ring Cycle. We can expect more storytelling and some very beautiful music again in 2024. And some fun too.
camerata.net.au
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