Sunday afternoon 26 March sees the return of The Galston Concerts for 2023.
The double bill in Galston Uniting Church – an organ prelude from 1.30pm; the main concert from 2 till 3ish – will feature top talent winners of national competitions.
Samuel Giddy returns to perform prelude music by Vivaldi and Bach following his October win as Open Champion of the Organ Music Society of Sydney annual nationwide competition.
Sam, Senior Organ Scholar at St Andrews Cathedral, has toured Germany and England, with highlights including his concerts in Chester and Guildford Cathedrals. Yet Sam looks forward to again playing Galston’s historic but splendidly restored Forster and Andrews historic organ – “a fine instrument” says world-travelling Sam.
The main concert will feature the Cousin Quartet, winners in 2020 of Musica Viva Australia’s inaugural Strike A Chord National Chamber Music Championship for secondary-school ensembles.
The ‘Cousin’ are actual cousins – two sister-and-brother pairs – who have been complementing their group prowess with solo successes in Germany, Italy and Switzerland before their first quartet tour for concerts in Japan later in 2023.
Cousin’s Galston program aims to please in a ‘time travel’ journey: music by Mozart in Salzburg, Mendelssohn in Leipzig, Brahms in Vienna and Greig in the fiords of Norway. Pops ‘encores’ – from the world of Japanese animé (Castle in the Sky by Joe Hisaishi) and a bluegrass version of Waltzing Matilda – will keep the audience smiling all the way home!
Says concerts director Rob Harris: “Young they may be but for sure the Cousins and Sam are excellent!”
Audience members can book in advance on trybooking.com (search Galston for 26 March) or by phoning the Galston Uniting office on 9653 2039 or Rob Harris on 0428 248 348.
