MOODS OF ROMANTICISM

The second concert in Trio Anima Mundi's Prix de Rome subscription series scheduled in August promises to be a musical feast of Piano Trios celebrating the sensuality and enchantment of Romanticism. The Dumky Trio of Antonin Dvorak is a masterpiece of the Piano Trio repertoire and is unusual in its six movement form. Dvorak takes his inspiration from the Slavic “Dumka” creating a work full of sweeping emotion and passion. Robert Schumann’s Piano Trio No. 3 is another giant of the genre and was written late in the composer’s life only a few years before his tragic descent into madness. Theodore Dubois is our featured Prix de Rome winner for this concert and differs from the other works in the programme with a more refined elegance and great melodic beauty. Audience members who attended Trio Anima Mundi’s first concert will remember the fascinating address given by Prix de Rome specialist Julia Lu wherein we heard of the grueling conditions endured by Prix de Rome candidates—locked in 3 by 3 metre windowless rooms for up to 30 days during the competition to ensure there was no cheating in the production of their compositions.

Robert  SCHUMANN (1810-1856)
Piano Trio No.3 in G minor, Op. 110

Antonin  DVORAK (1841-1904)
Piano Trio No. 4, Op. 90 “Dumky”

Theodore  DUBOIS (1837-1924)
Piano Trio No.1 in C minor

GEELONG -  2^nd August at 3.00 pm,
St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Latrobe Terrace, Geelong
BALLARAT -  7^th August at 7.30 pm,
Wendouree Performing Arts Centre, 1220 Howitt St.,
Wendouree
MELBOURNE -  9^th August at 2.00 pm,
St. Michael’s Uniting Church, 120 Collins St., Melbourne

Tickets:  $30/$15 and family $70

KIDS UNDER COVER

The first concert in Trio Anima Mundi’s 2009 subscription series for 2009 has raised over $1,600 for Kids Under Cover. In real terms such a donation will mean being able to contribute to the provision of one of Kids Under Cover’s demountable bungalows. For instance the donation would cover all the electrical work on a bungalow or would pay for both the fitting out of the bathroom as well as painting the bungalow.  Thank you to all our concert goers and to all our venues who make such results possible.

RECORDING PROJECT

Trio Anima Mundi frequently receives inquiries about whether we have recorded the music we play in our subscription series. Although the Melbourne concerts are all recorded by ABCfm or 3MBSfm, these recordings are only broadcast once or twice and TAM does not own the rights to the recordings. The Trio now has a CD project in the pipeline and we hope to begin recording sessions mid-year. We have received a generous private donation and proceeds from the 2009 Melbourne Chamber Music Calendar sales will go towards this project. Many thanks to all of our audience members who purchased the beautiful calendars which proved to be very popular. We hope you are enjoying them as much as we are.

Trio Anima Mundi performing in the beautiful Anglican church of Holy Trinity , Bacchus Marsh

TAM OUT AND ABOUT

Trio Anima Mundi has performed at a number of concerts outside the subscription series. One of the most thrilling nights was a concert at Geelong Grammar School where we played to a packed auditorium full of young school students, many of them budding musicians. There is a long tradition at Geelong Grammar School of presenting Chamber Music concerts to school students and it was a rewarding way to spend an evening with so many young people sharing in the music of Mendelssohn, Haydn and d’Ollone and with the opportunity to chat to young players.

A further concert in Geelong was at St. Mary’s Basilica as part of the “Music at the Basilica” Series. This was an opportunity to find expression for a different type of programming. Celebrating Pentecost Sunday, Trio Anima Mundi presented “Breath of Life: Reflections for Pentecost” which included two movements from Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time. These movements take as their inspiration the dual nature of Jesus – Jesus as man and Jesus asGod – and seek through their glorious and timeless lines to evoke the ecstasy and peace of eternity and immortality. The Basilica with its magnificent architecture provided a fitting setting for such emotional music.

Montsalvat was the venue for a concert in May which featured Trio Anima Mundi as part of their Chamber Music Series. This area of suburban Melbourne already has a rich tradition of artistry and beautiful surroundings and the new concert series aims to compliment this heritage by offering a range of fine chamber music concerts across the year in the unique surroundings offered by the buildings and art of Montsalvat.

Messiaen at St. Mary’s Basilica, Geelong

CALL FOR SUPPORT

As mentioned above we have just received our first generous private donation towards Trio Anima Mundi. The Trio’s subscription series has many expenses which are not obvious such as maintaining a web-site, printing, postage, advertising, cartage of pianos, catering and graphic design fees. Currently these are all kept to a bare minimum in order to maximize the money that is given to Kids Under Cover, our 2009 charity. We would love to be able to expand our efforts particularly in regard to the advertising of concerts and printing. Please consider making a donation to us. You can make a tax-free donation by following the instructions below. We will be delighted to acknowledge your gift in the next Newsletter and Programme notes.

Alternatively you might be able to become involved with Trio Anima Mundi by offering some help to “spread the word” in your local area through pinning up fliers or forwarding TAM emails/fliers to friends and contacts you think might be interested in our music-making. We are developing a list of supporters whom we can acknowledge in Newsletters and Programmes and would love to hear from people who can offer a hand with this type of work.