Omega Ensemble: Chopin, Kerry and Clara

A Romantic concerto, a world premiere quintet and a celebration of Clara Schumann.

Program
Frédéric Chopin Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor (arr. for Piano and String Quintet)
Gordon Kerry Clarinet Quintet [World Premiere] *
Clara Schumann Piano Trio in G minor
*Commissioned by Omega Ensemble and supported by Kim Williams AM

About The Music
The supreme pianist-composer, Chopin was in fact not the showman performer his virtuosic music would suggest, instead preferring local salons to the grand concert halls of Paris. With Chopin at the piano, the composer's larger works, including his two piano concertos, were performed far more frequently in private with small ensembles than in public with large orchestras.

Chopin’s breathtaking first concerto is presented here in a beautiful arrangement for piano and string quintet that captures all the romance of the original.

This fiery work is accompanied by Clara Schumann’s emotional Piano Trio, considered by many to be her most challenging work, and the world premiere of a new Clarinet Quintet by award-winning Australian composer Gordon Kerry written for Artistic Director and Clarinetist David Rowden.