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Australian Chamber Orchestra (Photo of Australian Chamber Orchestra)

Australian Chamber Orchestra

Known for energetic performances, the Australian Chamber Orchestra presents an eclectic program with works by Pink Floyd, Shostakovich, and more.

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About the Program

Sydney-based Australian Chamber Orchestra brings its distinct give-and-take style back to the Kennedy Center with two evenings of chamber standards and modern masterpieces.

On September 29, the group brings its "astonishingly warm…heavenly playing" (The Times, London) to two Ravel works arranged by the orchestra's veteran leader and violinist, Richard Tognetti. Also performed are works by Handel, Elgar, Bartók, and an astounding re-working of Carl Vine's daring Smith's Alchemy.
 
The next night, September 30, the Australian Chamber Orchestra takes audiences from the Arab world to the rock arena. Oud master Joseph Tawadros and percussionist James Tawadros join to perform a medley of Joseph's Egyptian-flavored compositions. The group then crosses continents and genres to perform Pink Floyd's "Shine on You Crazy Diamond," a tribute to the late Syd Barrett. The evening comes to a close with the clear and powerful sound of two masterpieces by St. Petersburg–born Dmitri Shostakovich. Part of the Kennedy Center's Focus on Russia.

Performance Timing:  1 hour, 37 minutes, with one 15-minute intermission

  Program:
SAXTON - Birthday Piece for Richard Rodney Bennett
ANONYMOUS - Sonata Chiquitanas XVIII, mvts 1 & 2 (Bolivia)
SHOSTAKOVICH - String Quartet No. 7 in F-sharp minor, Op. 108
TRADITIONAL - 'Yo era niña de casa alta' (Sephardic)
TAWADROS - Compositions
SHOSTAKOVICH - Prelude & Scherzo for String Octet, Op. 11
SEEGER - Andante for Strings
PINK FLOYD - "Shine On You Crazy Diamond," pts. 1-5
TAWADROS - Rose, Compositions, Dahab

The Australian Chamber Orchestra is presented in association with the Embassy of Australia.

Additional support is provided by Chevron.

International Programming at the Kennedy Center is made possible through generosity of the Kennedy Center International Committee on the Arts.

[Quantas logo.] Qantas is the Official Airline of the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

Focus on Russia is supported through the generosity of the HRH Foundation.

The Fortas Chamber Music Concerts are supported by generous contributors to the Abe Fortas Memorial Fund, and by a major gift to the fund from the late Carolyn E. Agger, widow of Abe Fortas.



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Additional Resources

About the Kennedy Center Fortas Chamber Music Concerts Series

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