Content courtesy Selby & Friends
Selby & Friends celebrates chamber music masterpieces by Beethoven in its 2018 season-opener.
Kathryn Selby AM, Artistic Director and pianist, welcomes brilliant young Australian violinist Grace Clifford and American virtuoso cellist Clancy Newman to the stage in this 6-concert tour.
All works on the program were chosen by the Selby & Friends’ audience during 2017. Over the past four seasons, a high point of every year was a Selby & Friends Basically Beethoven concert exploring the great composer’s chamber music.
In March, guest artists Grace Clifford (violin) and Clancy Newman (cello) return to join Kathryn Selby for the piano trio partnership acclaimed by the Sydney Morning Herald’s reviewer last year: “This was the real thing … that sense of witnessing a really thoughtful, enlightening conversation”.
The 2018 season opens with a program chosen by the audience: Beethoven by Ballot
Grace Clifford – Violin | Clancy Newman – Cello | Kathryn Selby – Piano
Ludwig van Beethoven
- Piano Trio in B-flat major, WoO39
- Violin Sonata No. 5 in F major, Op. 24, Spring
- Cello Sonata No. 3 in A major, Op.69
- Piano Trio in B-flat major, Op. 97 Archduke
About the young star
Grace is 18 years old and entering her fourth year in the Bachelor of Music program at the Curtis Institute, studying with Pamela Frank and Ida Kavafian and, immediately prior, with the late Joseph Silverstein. During the 2016–17 season Grace had the privilege of performing violin concertos with the Adelaide Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Melbourne Symphony, and Melbourne Chamber Orchestra and playing piano trios with Kathryn Selby and Clancy Newman on a six-concert Australian tour with Selby & Friends. Grace was a fellow at Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute for the summer of 2017.
A highlight in the 2015–2016 year was playing violin and viola in performances of Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire in Philadelphia and Washington as part of Curtis on Tour, and in New York with renowned soprano Lucy Shelton.
From 2009 to 2014 Grace was in the pre-college program at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, studying with Dr Robin Wilson, who continues to be a mentor. During this time Grace had many wonderful performance experiences in Australia, culminating in winning the 2014 ABC Symphony Australia Young Performer of the Year and three performances of the Beethoven Concerto with the Adelaide Symphony. She also won Best Recital, Best Chamber Performance, and the People’s Choice Award.
In 2013, Grace was chosen by audition to study with Professor Ana Chumachenco at the Kronberg Academy Masterclasses in Germany. In 2012, Grace was awarded fourth prize in the Junior Section of the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition in Beijing.
Head along to Selby & Friends
- March 11, 2018 – Elder Hall, 2.30pm
- March 13, 2018 – City Recital Hall, 7pm
- March 14, 2018 – Tatoulis Auditorium, Methodist Ladies’ College, 7.30pm
- March 15, 2018 – James O. Fairfax Theatre, National Gallery of Australia, 7.30pm
- March 17, 2018 – Mittagong Playhouse, 5pm
- March 18, 2018 – Uniting Church, Turramurra, 2.15pm
Tickets can be purchased on the website or at the door (subject to availability, and excluding Canberra).
Image supplied. Credit: Anthony
