In Conversation

A multiple award winning German violinist, composer and arranger, Florian Willeitner integrates classical, jazz and folk music from all over the world, and has founded the production company Pool of Invention in pursuit of that goal. He’s touring Australia as part of the Vision String Quartet, thanks to Musica Viva. Conductor Jeffrey Tate described the quartet as “the most perfect expression of human behaviour”, and Der Tagesspiegel praised them as “amazingly vivacious, vivid and electrifying”.

Florian has an incredibly refreshing take on making music, and his passion for reinvention and ensuring music remains relevant for modern audiences is infectious.

Florian Willeitner and the Vision String Quartet will perform at the City Recital Hall on October 7 and 9.

An award-winning composer specialising in the rich and vibrant Latin American aesthetic, Daniel Rojas is an acclaimed pianist known for his stunning improvisations at the keyboard. Limelight Magazine has said he “is a master of his craft, both as a pianist and composer and the Sydney Arts Guide has called his performances “energetic and emphatic” and “joyously explosive”.

He’s bringing that energy once again to the Willoughby Symphony Orchestra on October 14 and 15, as he teams up with fellow pianist Yerim Lee to premiere his passionate new work Romanza y Danza de los Muertos.

Daniel talks about his influences behind this new composition, as well as his work more broadly, and takes us back to his childhood in Melbourne where his creativity with improvisation and composition developed from a very early age. He also shares his vast knowledge of the origins, characteristics and influences of Latin American music.

A true leader of the next generation of choral singers, Elizabeth Scott is a highly skilful choral conductor who has led the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs’ young adult choir Vox since 2008. She’s worked with the Queensland, Adelaide and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras, and is a regular chorus master with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. She also has a passion for contemporary choral composers, and it’s one such composer who is the centrepiece of the upcoming performance she will be conducting with Vox, of David Lang’s The Little Match Girl Passion, which has been defined as one of the most profound choral works of our time.

Elizabeth has spent her career nurturing and developing younger singers so that they have the tools to enjoy music throughout their entire life, including through the commissioning of new music.

Vox performs The Little Match Girl Passion, and other works, at the Verbruggen Hall on Saturday, October 14.