ASO at Hart’s Mill Program
We acknowledge that the land we make music on is the traditional country of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains. We pay respect to Elders past and present and recognise and respect their cultural heritage, beliefs and relationship with the land. We acknowledge that this is of continuing importance to the Kaurna people living today. We extend this respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are with us for this performance today.
Jamie Goldsmith / arr. Ferguson Wadna, Jamie’s Song
Acknowledgement of Country
Samuel Barber The School for Scandal, Overture Op. 5
John Psathas Call of the Wild [Australian Premiere]
I. She Stands at the Edge of the Incomprehensible
II. He Can Worship It Without Believing It
III. Tramontane
Adam Page Tenor Saxophone
Elena Kats-Chernin Re-inventions
I. Re-invention No. 1 for descant recorder (based on Invention No. 8 in F major by J.S. Bach)
II. Re-invention No. 2 for tenor recorder (based on Invention No. 4 in D minor by J.S. Bach)
III. Re-invention No. 3 for descant recorder (based on Invention No. 13 in A minor by J.S. Bach)
Genevieve Lacey Recorder
Lazaro Numa / orch. Ferguson Valentina
Enersto Duarte Brito / orch. Ferguson Cómo fue
Lazaro Numa / orch. Ferguson Cha Cha Riff
Lazaro Numa Trumpet
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Benjamin Northey Conductor/Presenter
Welcome
At the ASO, we’re always thinking of new places and different ways to present the amazing range of music a symphony orchestra can offer. From these conversations, tonight’s concert was born. As we explored the local area, the Port Adelaide Wonderwalls Festival was an inspiration in the creation of this evening’s vivid and eclectic mix of music. There’s jazz from Cuba, a contemporary saxophone concerto from New Zealand and Baroque music as re-imagined by one of Australia’s most celebrated composers. A big thank you to Arts SA for their generous support in helping us transform the Flour Shed tonight. We hope you enjoy the music.
About the music
ASO at Hart’s Mill is a program that celebrates transformation. With Lazaro Numa, we hear the evolution of Cuban music from its traditional roots to the jazz-inspired harmonies of today. With Elena Kats-Chernin, we hear Bach’s centuries-old work that inspired an Australian recorder suite. These pieces capture the spirit of change – a respect for music that came before, and for new music borne of friendship and collaboration.
During the pandemic, composer-trumpeter Numa used the internet to unite with his musical friends on the other side of the world. They intended to create a project showcasing the way Cuban music has developed over time, and lockdowns could not stop their vision. Where trumpet had once played simpler melodies in Cuban music, today it projects more technical and jazz-based harmonies – a significant stylistic change that Numa demonstrates through his Cha Cha Riff. He recorded the work with his circle of friends, but the orchestral arrangement adds yet another layer of complexity.
Jazz pianist-composer Mark Simeon Ferguson – who orchestrated Ernesto Duarte Brito’s Cómo fue – worked closely with Numa to realise this vibrant version of Cha Cha Riff. Ferguson also orchestrated the composer’s more sentimental work, Valentina. It was named after Numa’s daughter, and composed in 2016 around the time of her birth. Numa’s original music becomes an heirloom for Valentina, forever connecting her with her heritage.
Kats-Chernin’s Re-Inventions shares unusual links with Valentina: it reflects on the past and its role in music-making today, and it emerges from the Two-Part Inventions that Bach wrote for his own child. As a young pianist, Kats-Chernin studied the pieces of Bach, finding peace and clarity in their structure while enjoying the freedom to shape her own music around what was written. This was the spirit in which she composed her 2004 Re-Inventions, which stemmed from her spontaneity at the piano.
Kats-Chernin was improvising alongside recorder virtuoso Genevieve Lacey – and before they knew it, they were reminded of a moment from one of Bach’s inventions. Through their creativity, they had found the kernel of a new work. The Australian composer went on to write six pieces for recorder, each based on a different invention. Through her dreamy alterations to the original textures, mood, and energy of Bach, Kats-Chernin makes each invention her own.
Call of the Wild is a similarly collaborative piece as composer Ioannis (John) Psathas worked with Adelaide instrumentalist Adam Page to craft a concerto for saxophone and orchestra. Psathas is a New Zealand-born composer, and this 2021 work was commissioned by Orchestra Wellington and the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra. Psathas uses his music as a storytelling medium; the concerto was inspired by the generations of his family who survived war and racism on their lifechanging journey from Athens to Taumarunui.
Samuel Barber composed his Overture to The School for Scandal in 1931. It was the first major piece he wrote for an orchestra, and the Philadelphia Orchestra premiered it two years later – a milestone that paved the way for his career in, and remarkable influence on, American music.
© Stephanie Eslake 2024
Artists
Benjamin Northey | Conductor
Australian conductor Benjamin Northey is the Chief Conductor of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and the Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor – Learning and Engagement of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. In 2025, he takes up the position of Conductor in Residence with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
Northey studied conducting at Finland’s Sibelius Academy with Professors Leif Segerstam and Atso Almila and completed his studies at the Stockholm Royal College of Music with Jorma Panula in 2006.
Northey appears regularly as a guest conductor with all major Australian symphony orchestras, Opera Australia (La bohème, Turandot, L’elisir d’amore, Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, Carmen), New Zealand Opera (Sweeney Todd) and the State Opera South Australia (La sonnambula, L’elisir d’amore, Les contes d’Hoffmann).
His international appearances include concerts with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, the Hong Kong Philharmonic , the National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia, the Malaysian Philharmonic and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.
An Aria Awards, Air Music Awards , and Art Music Awards winner, he was voted Limelight Magazine’s Australian Artist of the Year in 2018. Northey’s many recordings can be found on ABC Classics.
In 2024, he conducts the Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Queensland and Christchurch Symphony Orchestras and the Hong Kong Philharmonic.
Adam Page | Saxophone
Adam Page is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, music educator and record producer based in Adelaide. Critically acclaimed for his solo multi-instrumental looping performances, Page has also carved his path internationally as a composer, writing major works for the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Wellington, and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra in which two concerts were broadcast on ABC Classic FM.
Page has appeared at festivals including WOMADelaide, WOMAD NZ, Glastonbury, The Big Day Out, The Edinburgh, Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth Fringe, Blue Mountains Music Festival, Port Fairy Folk Festival, and Melbourne and Wellington jazz festivals.
Page has performed with Australian String Quartet, Grigoryan Brothers, Noel Gallagher, Katie Noonan, Ben Todd, The Shaolin Afronauts, 1.1 Immermann, Ross McHenry, Thomas Oliver, The Adelaide Sax Pack, Darren Percival, Mal Webb, Lisa Tomlins and the late Dr. Chandrakant Sardeshmukh. He has also recorded with artists such as Tim Minchin, Electric Wire Hustle, Julien Dyne, Mark de Clive-Lowe, Oisima, Spook City and Dave Whitehead (recording various sounds for The Hobbit films).
Page co-founded Adelaide’s Wizard Tone Studios recording studio and runs boutique record label Wizard Tone Records. He is currently a PhD candidate researching improvised techniques for looping pedals at the University of Adelaide’s Elder Conservatorium of Music.
Genevieve Lacey | Recorder
Musician and arts advocate Genevieve Lacey creates multi-artform pieces that combine her skills as performer, composer, and curator. Genevieve’s collaborations include Bower (a gentle experience of music and light with Marshall McGuire), Pleasure Garden (a listening garden), Recorder Queen (a semi-animated documentary film), and Breathing Space (a permanent sound installation for the National Museum of Australia).
A recorder virtuoso, Genevieve appears with Australian and international orchestras, including performances as concerto soloist in the Royal Albert Hall for BBC Proms, at London Jazz Festival, and on Thursday Island with Australian indigenous ensemble Black Arm Band.
Genevieve is the 2025 Utzon Music Series curator for Sydney Opera House, and has been artistic director for Finding Our Voice, artistic advisor to UKARIA, the inaugural director of Musica Viva’s FutureMakers, and in 2018 was artist-in-residence at the Melbourne Recital Centre. She serves on the board of A New Approach and was Chair of the Australian Music Centre (2016-21). She has won ARIA, Helpmann, and Green Room awards; Churchill, Freedman, and Australia Council fellowships, the Melbourne Prize for Music (Outstanding Musician Award), and the Sidney Myer Individual Performing Arts Award. Breathing Space won Work of the Year: Electroacoustic/Sound Art at the Art Music Awards and Genevieve was named National Luminary.
Lazaro Numa | Trumpet
Born in Havana, Cuba, Lazaro Numa is an accomplished Cuban trumpeter and composer with over 15 years’ international experience performing latin, jazz, classical and pop. He studied the trumpet at the Amadeo Roldan Conservatory in Havana and left Cuba in 2008 to expand his international music career.
2016 was a memorable year for Lazaro, performing with Grammy-winning artist Diego El Cigala at WOMADelaide. He also toured with Chinese pop star David Tao in his Second to None tour to packed stadiums across China.
Later that year Lazaro composed and recorded in Havana his debut album called Mi Cuba featuring special guest Manuel “Guajiro” Mirabal, a founding member of the Buena Vista Social Club. Mi Cuba features Lazaro’s original compositions of traditional Cuban rhythms.
Lazaro has performed with some of the best Cuban bands including the Afro-Cuban All Stars, the Bar at Buena Vista, and the Havana Meets Kingston project. Now based in Adelaide, he is regularly touring Australia and Asia performing his original music, as well as supporting other Australian and international music acts.
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
Violins
Kate Suthers** (Concertmaster)
Cameron Hill** (Associate Concertmaster)
Holly Piccoli* (Principal 1st Violin)
Alison Heike** (Principal 2nd Violin)
Lachlan Bramble ~ (Associate Principal 2nd Violin)
Janet Anderson
Ann Axelby
Gillian Braithwaite
Hilary Bruer
Zoe Freisberg
Belinda Gehlert
Danielle Jaquillard
Michael Milton
Ambra Nesa
Julie Newman
Liam Oborne
Alison Rayner
Violas
Jacqui Cronin** (Guest Section Principal)
Martin Alexander~ (Acting Associate Principal)
Linda Garrett
Natalie Maegraith
Anna Hansen
Michael Robertson
Cellos
Martin Smith** (Guest Section Principal)
Andrew Leask~ (Acting Associate Principal)
Joseph Freer
Gemma Phillips
Cameron Waters
Double Basses
Belinda Kendall-Smith** (Acting Section Principal)
Harley Gray~ (Acting Associate Principal)
Jacky Chang
Gustavo Quintino
Flutes
Kim Falconer**
Alex Byrne
Piccolo
Lisa Gill* (Acting Principal)
Oboes
Joshua Oates**
Renae Stavely~
Cor Anglais
Peter Duggan*
Clarinets
Dean Newcomb**
Lewis Blanchard
Bass Clarinet
Mitchell Berick*
Bassoons
Mark Gaydon**
Contrabassoon
Jackie Newcomb*
Horns
Sarah Barrett~
Phillip Paine*
Emma Gregan
Timothy Skelly
Trumpets
David Khafagi**
Martin Phillipson~
Gregory Frick
Trombones
Colin Prichard**
Ian Denbigh
Bass Trombone
Amanda Tillett*
Tuba
Stanley McDonald*
Timpani
Andrew Penrose*
Percussion
Steven Peterka**
Sami Butler~
Jamie Adam
Amanda Grigg
Michael Marino
Harp
Carolyn Burgess* (Guest Principal)
Electric Piano / Celeste
Mark Ferguson* (Guest Principal)
** denotes Section Principal
~ denotes Associate Principal
* denotes Principal Player
Supported By
