Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Event Details

Presented by The York Festival The Silver Sands Guitar Quartet features four acclaimed virtuosi (Jonathan Paget, Ingrid Riollot, Ethan Dorrian, Craig Lake), who perform dynamic classical music with a cross-over feel. The four acclaimed soloists bring decades of experience as global performers and recording artists and their collaborative efforts create an exhilarating and moving artistic experience.

The group is actively involved in performing original arrangements, Australian repertoire, and commissioning new works and their debut quartet CD is due for release in September 2024. Hypnotic and ambient, the CD program “World in a Single Grain” features original works by acclaimed Australian composers (such as Marián Budoš, Robert Davidson, and Richard Charlton), a premiere by WA composer Azariah Felton, and original arrangements created by the group.

The program was conceived on the lines from the famous William Blake poem… “To see the world in a grain of sand, And a heaven in a wildflower, Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, And eternity in an hour.”

Program - “The World in a Single Grain” Stairs (2006) – David Pritchard, US-based composer This is a scintillating example of contemporary pop minimalism—with a hynotic ambience somewhere between Philip Glass and Enya. The work makes an aural analogy to the paradoxical stairs in drawings by Max Escher. Cliffs (2015) – Robert Davidson, Australian composer (Brisbane) An enchanting musical depiction of the Brisbane River, this work by acclaimed Queensland composer Robert Davidson combines haunting textures, beautiful melodies, and piquant counterpoint. To His Servant Bach, God Grants a Final Glimpse(1989) – Graham Koehne (arr. Paget), Australian composer (Adelaide) This is a new arrangement of Australian-composer Graham Koehne’s celebrated contemporary tribute to Bach. Gili Mimpang (2018) – Ian Seaborn, Australian composer (Adelaide) A beautiful evocation of an underwater landscape, this work is also a homage to Australia’s ongoing love-affair with the island of Bali. Outcrop (2017/2023) – Azariah Felton (ed. Paget), Australian composer(Perth) This is a new adaption of a stunning post-minimalist work by Perth composer Azariah Felton, retitled “Outcrop.” Combining rock and minimalist influences, it evokes the topography of south-west WA. Manta Ray Ballet (2017)– Richard Charlton, Australian composer (Sydney) With the appeal of a contemporary rock ballad, Charlton playfully caricatures the Manta Ray’s graceful underwater movements. This is especially fitting to WA given the region’s acquatic landmarks-- such as Ningaloo reef. A lendo do coboclo (1922) – Heitor Villa-Lobos, arr. Paget, Brazilian composer A delightful arrangement of Villa-Lobos’s “A Lendo do coboclo” (the legend of the native). The Passing of a Black Star (2016) – Marián Budoš, Australian composer (Canberra) This is a virtuosic and poetic tribute to rock legend David Bowie by Canberra-based composer Marián Budoš. A true audience-pleaser, this work is both fun to listen to and to play. It deserves to become a real Australian classic.

Further information for this event is available online at the event's website

Featured Australian Works

Featured artists

• Performer Silver Sands Guitar Quartet