Pianist Brian Chapman will be joined by violinist Susan Pierotti and cellist Zoe Knighton in the Humffray Room of the Ballaarat Mechanics Institute at 2:30 pm on Sunday April 21st next in a varied program of chamber music by Franz Schubert (1797-1828) comprising:

1. Sonatina in G minor for Violin and Piano, D.408
2. ‘Arpeggione’ Sonata in A minor for Cello and Piano, D.821
3. Trio No.2 in E flat major for Piano, Violin and Cello, D.929

The Musicians

Pianist Brian Chapman is well known to audiences in Ballarat through his eight appearances at the Organs of the Ballarat Goldfields Festival over the years 2003-2024 as soloist and as chamber musician. He has made over 100 studio recordings and broadcasts for the ABC and has performed nationally and internationally, including in the United States, Mexico, Germany and China. He has also organised major musical events at Monash University, including the 1983 Brahms Sesquicentennial Chamber Music Festival and the 1997 Schubert-Brahms Festival.

Violinist Susan Pierotti has enjoyed career experience spanning symphony orchestras, opera, ballet, chamber music, teaching, theatre, film, recordings, live broadcasts, radio, televisi on, reviewing and adjudicating. She has been closely involved in commissioning, performing and recording contemporary music for over two decades, and has worked with the Elision Ensemble since its inception in 1986, touring with them worldwide. Susan has worked extensively with several Australian orchestras and was 1st Violin Section Leader with Orchestra Victoria for 17 years. She was appointed concertmaster of Zelman Memorial Symphony Orchestra in December 2016.

Zoe Knighton is the founding cellist of the Flinders Quartet, one of Australia’s finest chamber ensembles, touring internationally, nationally and appearing regularly at Australian festivals and their own celebrated subscription series. She has played numerous concertos with Melbourne orchestras and, with pianist Amir
Farid, made an impressive debut at the Melbourne Recital Centre to great critical acclaim in 2009. Their partnership continues with recordings for the ABC, concerts throughout Australia and the release of seven CDs on the MOVE label. She has been praised for her “thrilling tenor sound” (Limelight magazine) “sublime phrasing” and “many great technical demands carried off with ease.” Her three other titles on the MOVE label include the complete suites for solo cello by J.S Bach.

The Program

The program spans the last twelve years of Schubert’s short life, opening with the G minor Sonatina for Violin and Piano in which we find the 19-year-old composer following in the footsteps of Mozart in a work that combines melodic freshness with spirited dramatic contrasts. This will be followed by the famous Sonata in A minor written especially by Schubert in 1824 for the arpeggione, an instrument invented barely twelve months earlier and which became extinct soon thereafter! Nonetheless, this beautiful sonata has survived to earn a treasured place in the repertoire of today’s cellists and violists, and even of the occasional saxophonist.

After Interval, the recital concludes with the great E flat Piano Trio composed in the last year of Schubert’s life. The work is in four glorious movements ranging from exquisite delicacy to impassioned climaxes, a generous feast of boundless melodic riches shared equally between the three instruments either in featured contrast or in symphonically blended ensemble.

Bookings & Refreshment

Complimentary light refreshments will be served at Interval. Although advance booking is recommended, cash and EFTPOS ticket sales will be available at the door.