Resonate Magazine | Australian Music Centre

Image: Performance in Sydney  
© Roger Dilernia

Composer-pianist Margaret Brandman announces two international concerts of her works in the UK and the USA in November 2025.

CONCERT 1 - ST ALFEGE CHURCH, LONDON, UK

November 1st, 1.05 pm

The first international Bach to Brandman and Beyond concert will take place at St Alfege Church in Greenwich UK. Composer-pianist Margaret Brandman and UK/Australian flautist Mark Underwood will be performing a programme of Classical and Contemporary/Crossover works filled with joyful melodies, luscious harmonies, and rhythmic vitality.

The wide-ranging programme includes three Brandman flute and piano works-Silver Winds Suite, Do You Remember? and Jucaro Rhumba d'Amor-alongside her solo piano work Sarabande. The duo will also perform Mark Underwood's unique arrangement of Waltzing Matilda and as the title of the concert suggests - a Bach sonata. This London concert will be their third performance together this year.

Margaret and Mark share a long musical history, from being classmates in years 11 and 12 at the Conservatorium High School in Sydney in the late 1960s, to completing their music degrees at Sydney University in the following years. Since then both Margaret and Mark have had distinguished careers in music in their respective locations, UK and Australia, and have reconnected in recent years.

In late 2024 Mark commissioned Margaret to compose a three-movement flute and piano work for him - the Silver Winds Suite. On receiving the score he expressed the wish to present the premiere performance(s) of this work together with the composer. Consequently Mark travelled from his home in the UK to Sydney to perform the work with Margaret in their Bach to Brandman and Beyond concerts. For these Australian concerts they were joined by Sydney flautist James Fortune to form the Silver Winds Ensemble. The trio performed several of Brandman's compositions arranged for two flutes with piano.

The first two Bach to Brandman and Beyond concerts were presented at Mosman Art Gallery Grand Hall on the 18^th of May and at the Wollondilly Shire Hall, under the auspices of the 'Classics at Picton' organisation on the 25^th of May.

A review by Xavier Bichon for 2MBS Fine Music Sydney described the event:

"The Silver Winds Ensemble delivered a captivating performance at the Mosman Art Gallery Grand Hall. Flautists Mark Underwood and James Fortune, together with the radiant composer-pianist Margaret Brandman, offered a musical experience that shimmered with diversity, finesse, and flair. The crown jewel of the concert was the world premiere of Brandman's Silver Winds Suite, a luminous dialogue between Mark Underwood's refined articulation and Margaret Brandman's nuanced accompaniment. It was a celebration of musical partnership, intimate yet grand."

You can watch the three Latin inspired pieces arranged for Flute, Alto flute and Piano, performed at the Mosman concert on the 18^th of May here.

CONCERT 2 - CARNEGIE HALL, NEW YORK, USA

November 11th, 8 pm

Margaret Brandman will travel to New York to attend world premiere performance of her Bossa Sonora (version for cello). The concert will take place at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, performed by internationally acclaimed Romanian-born cellist Ovidiu Marinescu with pianist Carl Cranmer the artists who recorded Margaret's work for Resurgence Vol.2 in late 2024. The Resurgence Vol.2 album (nv6729) was released in July 2025 on Parma Recordings' Navona Label. Ovidiu comments Bossa Sonora " is such a sweet, catchy, perfect jewel of a piece".

Bossa Sonora is the second movement of Brandman's eight-movement suite of Latin dance style works La Vida Apasionada, originally commissioned by Australian violinist Vov Dylan for his Palace Orchestra. The La Vida Apasionada album was released on the Ambition Label (AMB292). The album launch concert took place on the 26^th of March this year at the Joan Sutherland Performing Arts centre in Penrith and the topped the ARIA Classical Charts that same week. The suite has since been arranged for multiple instrumental combinations: violin and piano versions recorded by Vov Dylan and Margaret Brandman (mmp8150), 'cello and piano versions, piano solos, and several versions for flutes with piano. The solo piano versions are all listed on the Australian Guild of Music and Speech syllabus for grades 6 and higher.

All scores and parts are available through the Australian Music Centre (AMC).

You can watch Overture to La Vida Apasionada - performed by Vov Dylan and Margaret Brandman here.