Christ Church Concerts Daylesford

07/07/2024

Gryphon Baryton Trio

Laura Vaughan, baryton
Katie Yap, viola
Josephine Vains, cello

Divertimento
Joyful music by Joseph Haydn written for the baryton - King of Instruments, and Instrument of Kings

Saturday 27 July 2024 2.30pm

The magnificent baryton was a Classical instrument with a large and rarely performed repertoire by Joseph Haydn, who composed over 130 works for it. The majority of this output takes the form of elegant and charming Divertimenti for baryton, viola and cello, the so-called 'Baryton Trios' in which the baryton plays a critical role. These delightful works are full of invention and colour, with the unique combination of low instruments creating unique and beautiful sonority.

The Gryphon Baryton Trio draws on the vivacity and combined chamber music and historical performance practice experience of Laura Vaughan, (baryton), Katie Yap, (Classical viola) and Josephine Vains (Classical cello). The little-known but magnificent baryton is, similar in size to a cello, with 6 gut bowed strings plus a course of 10 wire strings which resonate sympathetically and are also plucked like a harp. Producing stunning melodies within a rich, resonant cloud of sound, the baryton reached its zenith at the court of Prince Nikolaus Esterhazy in Vienna during the time of Haydn. There exists a beautiful and striking repertoire of chamber music for baryton which is very rarely performed.

Laura Vaughan talks about her baryton
“Favoured by Joseph Haydn’s employer, Prince Nicholas II of Esterházy, the Classical baryton is similar to a bass viol in having 6 bowed strings, frets and the same tuning, but has the super fun addition of 10 (in the case of my instrument) metal strings which run behind the fingerboard. These extra strings both vibrate sympathetically and are at times used as part of the melody, plucked by the left hand thumb. The sound is amazing! My baryton was made by Henner Harders, and is a copy of one by Daniel Agnatius Stadlmann, Vienna, 1732.”

concerts

Bookings: www.trybooking.com/eventlist/christchurchconcerts

07/07/2024

Gryphon Baryton Trio

Laura Vaughan, baryton
Katie Yap, viola
Josephine Vains, cello

Divertimento
Joyful music by Joseph Haydn written for the baryton - King of Instruments, and Instrument of Kings

Saturday 27 July 2024 2.30pm

The magnificent baryton was a Classical instrument with a large and rarely performed repertoire by Joseph Haydn, who composed over 130 works for it. The majority of this output takes the form of elegant and charming Divertimenti for baryton, viola and cello, the so-called 'Baryton Trios' in which the baryton plays a critical role. These delightful works are full of invention and colour, with the unique combination of low instruments creating unique and beautiful sonority.

The Gryphon Baryton Trio draws on the vivacity and combined chamber music and historical performance practice experience of Laura Vaughan, (baryton), Katie Yap, (Classical viola) and Josephine Vains (Classical cello). The little-known but magnificent baryton is, similar in size to a cello, with 6 gut bowed strings plus a course of 10 wire strings which resonate sympathetically and are also plucked like a harp. Producing stunning melodies within a rich, resonant cloud of sound, the baryton reached its zenith at the court of Prince Nikolaus Esterhazy in Vienna during the time of Haydn. There exists a beautiful and striking repertoire of chamber music for baryton which is very rarely performed.

Laura Vaughan talks about her baryton
“Favoured by Joseph Haydn’s employer, Prince Nicholas II of Esterházy, the Classical baryton is similar to a bass viol in having 6 bowed strings, frets and the same tuning, but has the super fun addition of 10 (in the case of my instrument) metal strings which run behind the fingerboard. These extra strings both vibrate sympathetically and are at times used as part of the melody, plucked by the left hand thumb. The sound is amazing! My baryton was made by Henner Harders, and is a copy of one by Daniel Agnatius Stadlmann, Vienna, 1732.”

concerts

30/06/2024

What a grim day to come out was yesterday, even for a concert. Temperatures around 5C and insistent rain. Despite this a lovely audience did venture out for our very special concert yesterday. Both artists; Lizzy Welsh and Joy Lee have played in Christ Church Concerts before and Joy three times including this concert.

As promised the concert took us on a journey starting with several 17th century baroque works by Biber and Leonarda. We then had the opportunity to hear some contemporary works, written for both artists by Australian composers, two of whom were present for the concert. Allan Walker’s “Spring Dance” and Rohan Drape’s “trees”, both works for solo harpsichord. Biddy Connor was travelling in China and unable to join the concert. Lizzy Welsh played her “The Glass Violin” a piece for solo violin, glasses and voice. These contemporary works were interesting and in some cases challenging, but fascinating to hear these early instruments playing such different works.

The concert rounded up with two more works from the baroque period with Frescobaldi and Farina. It was exciting to hear the combination of the old and new and we are grateful that through our series we have these exciting opportunities.

29/06/2024

A wonderful concert yesterday with Lizzy Welsh and Joy Lee with a lovely audience who braved the chill and damp. Some more details and photos later.

In the meantime our next concert coming up on Saturday 27 July with the Gryphon Baryton Trio. Joyful music by Joseph Haydn written for the baryton - King of Instruments and Instrument of Kings. Look out for more detail on this concert in the coming weeks.

Bookings: www.trybooking.com/eventlist/christchurchconcerts

28/06/2024

Long-time collaborators and early / contemporary music specialists will play works from baroque to contemporary with their early music instruments.

23/06/2024

23/06/2024

17/06/2024

We’re getting excited about our June concert with Lizzy Welsh (baroque violin) and Joy Lee (harpsichord). With their early music instruments they will be playing wonderful baroque music along with several works by contemporary composers. Lizzy and Joy are leading interpreters and commissioners of new works and have extensive first-hand experience of the relationships formed between composers and performers and the influence they can impress upon the creation of musical languages. Collaboration by our two artists initially involved performing new compositions in Australia’s leading new music ensembles. With their training in early music performance their partnership
evolved to performing together on baroque violin and harpsichord.

Lizzy completed the world’s first Doctoral Research into creating new music for baroque violin. One of the contemporary pieces at our concert will be “The Glass Violin” by Biddy Connor and formed part of this research. The piece is inspired by the tragic struggle of Princess Alexandra of
Bavaria (1826-75) with the rare psychiatric condition “the glass delusion”, which led her to believe she had swallowed a grand piano made of glass. As part of understanding how to make new music for these instruments, our program examines how music was made in the baroque era, with works of some of the famous composer/performers of the 17th century including Frescobaldi, Farina and Biber.
Concert bookings: https:www.trybooking.com/eventlist/christchurchconcerts

14/06/2024

The Wombat Post talking about our next concert on Saturday 29 June with Lizzy Welsh, baroque violin and Joy Lee, harpsichord.

https://thewombatpost.com.au/2024/06/14/lizzy-welsh-and-joy-lee-return-to-christ-church-concert-series/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR2tRAAqm22DRY1xPXTuw4hnjUT2T4jqZ94h6qDEuZ16WOV0RjYceWaoqtc_aem_ZmFrZWR1bW15MTZieXRlcw

Lizzy Welsh (baroque violin) and Joy Lee (harpsichord) will return to the Christ Church concert series on Saturday 29 June 2024 with an exploration of composer-performer relationships from the 17th century to the present.

08/06/2024

Our next concert on Saturday 29 June brings together long-term collaborators Lizzy Welsh and Joy Lee as early music performers. The concert will be an exploration of composer-performer relationships from the 17th century to the present. It has been a natural progression for their artistic relationships to extend into imagining new sounds for baroque instruments, in their case baroque violin and harpsichord. This concert program will include Baroque composers, Heinrich Biber, Isabella Leonarda, Girolamo Frescobaldi and Carlo Farina along with three contemporary composers Rohan Drape, Allan Walker and Biddy Connor.

The concert promises much and provides another opportunity to hear wonderful baroque music with the bonus of new music written for these early music instruments.

Bookings: use the link
Link: https://www.trybooking.com/eventlist/christchurchconcerts

01/06/2024

The evolution of western art music has long been driven by the relationships between composers and performers. As two of Australia’s leading interpreters and commissioners of new works, keyboardist Joy Lee and violinist Lizzy Welsh have extensive first-hand experience of these relationships and the influence they can impress upon the creation of musical languages.
Joy and Lizzy’s collaboration began initially performing new compositions in Australia’s leading new music ensembles. As each of them independently trained in early music performance, their partnership evolved to include performing together on harpsichord and baroque violin. Their concert at Christ Church Daylesford on Saturday 29 July promises much and provides yet another opportunity to listen to wonderful baroque music with the added bonus of new Australian music written for these early music instruments. The combination will certainly appeal to our audiences.