Six of the best in the Barn

TEN Days on the Island’s A Weekend In The

Life Of A Piano will feature solo performances and collaborations with pianists Sonya Lifschitz, Paul Grabowsky and Alex Raineri in six concerts at Rosny Barn during the next three days.

Tomorrow at 6pm, Raineri will play works by Schumann, Beethoven and Mozart, then at 8pm Grabowsky will play some of his jazz favourites.

On Saturday at 6pm Lifschitz will be joined by one of the Kransky Sisters, Christine Johnston, for their Above/Below concert.

“It centres on two pivotal piano cycles, Tchaikovsky’s Seasons and the 20th century work Makrokosmos, by American composer George Crumb,” Lifschitz said.

“Seasons is based on the 12 calendar months, and Makrokosmos is based on the 12 zodiac signs and they are paired correspondingly.

“Tchaikovsky’s lyrical romantic language is matched with Crumb’s mystical and mythical haunting and ethereal music, which uses a lot of the inside of the piano with strumming, plucking and different objects to draw out sounds. It very much plays with the texture, colour and timbre of the instrument.

“Essentially the performance is a musical meditation and reflection on recurring patterns of nature and the recurring patterns and cycles of life.”

Lifschitz said Johnston was one of Australia’s most remarkable performing artists.

“She will be reciting poetry I commissioned for this project and will create a connective tissue through the works,” Lifschitz said.

“She will play her musical saw, vocalise, do bird calls and will create a sonic backdrop.”

Grabowsky will perform with Lior at 8pm on Saturday.

On Sunday at 5pm, Lifschitz will perform Robert Davidson’s work Stalin’s Piano, then at 7pm Raineri will team with Paul Kildea for

Chopin’s Piano. Rineri will play Chopin’s 24 preludes, and Kildea will tell the story of how the piano on which Chopin composed them disappeared.

Tickets for the concerts are from $49 for adults and $44 concession, available from tendays.org.au