Musica Viva Australia will present Tasmanian Baroque ensemble, Van Diemen’s Band, in  seven cities across Australia from 26th April to 14th May. 

Van Diemen’s Band, referred to as “Australia’s Baroque supergroup”, is made up of the  country’s most highly respected early music specialists. Founded in 2016 by violinist Julia  Fredersdorff, Van Diemen’s Band explores the creativity and freedom of expression in music  of the baroque while deferring to historical sources on style and instrumentation. 

Presenting a program that explores the historic borderlands of Europe, Van Diemen’s Band  will highlight some of the remarkable music that was composed in times of significant, sweeping change – whether that be as the result of cultural exchange or violent conquest. 

This time of great geopolitical turmoil is reflective of the circumstances of the composers featured in the program, many of whom experienced the tensions of seventeenth-century  Europe first-hand. Works by Becker, Scheidt, Albinoni and Biber share the bill with living composers María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir (Iceland) and Donald Nicolson (Australia), who will  be performing as part of the ensemble.  

Tickets are available via the Musica Viva website: https://www.musicaviva.com.au/concert season/2022/van-diemen-s-band/  

DATES 

Perth Concert Hall – 26 April, 7:30pm 

Adelaide Town Hall – 28 April, 7:30pm 

City Recital Hall, Sydney – 30 April, 2pm 

Melbourne Recital Centre – 3 May, 7pm 

Conservatorium Theatre at Queensland Conservatorium, Brisbane – 5 May, 7pm City Recital Hall, Sydney – 9 May, 7pm 

Newcastle City Hall – 10 May, 7:30pm 

Llewellyn Hall at ANU, Canberra – 12 May, 7pm 

Melbourne Recital Centre – 14 May, 7pm 

PROGRAM 

‘Borderlands’ 

BECKER Sonata No. 5 in F Major (1674) 

SCHEIDT Galliard Battaglia (1621) 

BECKER Paduan 

SAINTE-COLOMBE Les Pleurs 

SCHEIDT Courant 

ERLEBACH Courant 

ANON Sonata Jucunda 

BIBER Ciacona from Mensa Sonora (1680) 

ROSENMÜLLER Sonata No. 9 in D Major (1682)

NICOLSON New work (2022) 

ALBINONI Sonata No. 5 in C Major (1700) 

SIGFÚSDÓTTIR Clockworking (2013) 

MUFFAT Sonata in D Major (1677)