Elder stars set to shine for ASO in 2006

Music

A host of prominent Elder Conservatorium staff and graduates will feature as part of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra's 2006 season.

Two of Australia's finest young cellists and recent Conservatorium graduates, identical twins Pei-Sian and Pei-Jee Ng, will return from their studies in England for a special ASO performance.

Among their repertoire will be the world premiere of a piece by Graeme Koehne, the Head of Composition at the Conservatorium, entitled The Sleep of Reason. Regarded as one of Australia's leading modern composers, a second Koehne premiere, On the Beach (inspired by Nevil Shute's iconic novel), promises to be one of the many highlights on offer in 2006.

Composer Jamie Messenger, another Conservatorium graduate, will present The Edge; a concert series that seeks out the sounds of contemporary culture fusing the music of the X and Y generations to the classical. Jamie's project will feature Adelaide's rising young percussionist and star of the University of Adelaide's award-winning Life Impact brand advertising campaign, Nick Parnell.

etypejazz, Australia's magnificent and most acclaimed jazz band, will lead a concert suffused with traditional Christmas tunes, as part of the ASO's Christmas Lounge. The members of the quintet are all University of Adelaide graduates who met while studying, and who have since been twice voted Australia's best live jazz act.

Keith Crellin, Head of the String Department and Conductor-in-Residence at the Elder Conservatorium, will lead the ASO's Studio Sessions - a project which introduces young music students to the professional world of a symphony orchestra.

For more information, visit the ASO website.