Up close and personal with QSO chamber music series

Are you a classical music lover with nothing to do on a Sunday afternoon? Then head to the ABC studio, the home of Queensland Symphony Orchestra, as it lights up with surprising and rarely heard pieces performed by the orchestra musicians in an intimate and personal setting. The QSO Studio Sessions feature just two to five performers at a time, and they are full of charm and personality. The latest concert in the series, Chamber Players 1, presented a unique experience of a duet between a violin and a trombone, along with an iconic chamber string quintet by Schubert.

Who would have thought to pair strings with a brass instrument? The married pair of QSO musicians, Sonia Wilson (violin) and Ashley Carter (trombone), do exactly that. They open this intimate concert with These are the hands – a piece written especially for them by Jaan Pallandi. The two instruments stand as individuals, engaged in lively a conversation. Through a vivacious back and forth, through the interplay of conflict and harmony, the unlikely pairing find a unique combined voice – much like a married couple!

This animated contemporary composition is followed by a rearrangement of Johan Halvorsen’s Pissacaglia – a piece intended for violin and cello. The violin/trombone pairing offers a fresh perspective on its sonar texture and challenges the traditional expectations of classical music through a combination of timbres rarely heard in a duet.

Franz Schubert’s String Quintet in C major is, on the other hand, a known and well performed work. With the unusual inclusion of two cellos, it allows for harmonies in the lower register, emphasizing the dialogue between the bass voices. The performance is tight and impeccably executed, led by the first violin Dr Gregory Lee. His introduction to the Quintet offers a personal perspective on the music, inviting us to think of Schubert not as a canonized composer, but a man approaching his death at 31, and expressing a wild whirl of emotions through a rich and conflicted composition.

What makes this concert even more special is its accessibility in an informal setting of the QSO studio. The Sunday afternoon sessions offer intimacy and charm that come with zooming into the music performed. Its cozy setting brings us closer to the individuals that make up the symphony orchestra. Steep seating of the studio provides great vantage point from any seat to observe the musicians, who seem to relax and relish the opportunity to share a bit of themselves and their favourite pieces outside the symphonic repertoire. With only a few performers on stage at a time, we get a more individual feel for each instrumental voice and the person who brings it to us. Somehow this is more relatable, more human, more personal.

Even for a seasoned classical music goer, it is rejuvenating to feel a little closer to the music, to the composers, and to the QSO musicians. The relaxed atmosphere of a well-lit studio makes a change from the grandeur of an evening performance. And sometimes it is nice just to hear a story and how the pieces connect to us as human beings.

The QSO Studio Sessions continue through the year, and you can purchase tickets here.