Andrew Blanch and Emily Granger Release New Harp and Guitar Album; Embark on National Concert Tour From 1 Feb

Two of Australia's finest musicians have teamed up to record an enchanting, truly magical album. And they're set to celebrate their collaboration on Suite mágica for the ABC Classic label with a national concert tour from 1 February.

Andrew Blanch and Emily Granger are a pioneering guitar and harp duo. Both celebrated soloists in their own right, Andrew and Emily combine forces in this beguiling instrumental combination with a synchronicity and charm “enough to win any audience over” (The Advertiser). 

The pairing of guitar and harp is at once both fresh and familiar, each instrument like an enchanted reflection of the other. Between them, their 53 strings offer a unique richness of resonance and an expanded range of expressive possibilities.

Andrew and Emily are in high demand, performing together in such venues as the Sydney Opera House, UKARIA, Melbourne Recital Centre, and as touring artists for Musica Viva Australia and Music in the Regions.

This concert tour takes them to Melbourne, Sydney, Hobart, Franklin, Canberra, Adelaide and Cairns.

Suite mágica, their debut recording, showcases the energy, versatility and beauty of this enchanting combination of instruments with impressionist masterpieces by Ravel and Granados, substantial multi-movement works by South American composers Máximo Diego Pujol and Marco Pereira, and a suite of brand-new works written especially for the duo by celebrated Australian composers Elena Kats-Chernin, Sally Whitwell and Tristan Coelho, before finishing with a new arrangement of an exquisite Ross Edwards miniature.

Guitarist Andrew Blanch stands at the forefront of a new generation of classical musicians. Armed with formidable talent, passion, and conviction, he is a popular and critically acclaimed soloist of traditional and contemporary repertoire, a key collaborator in eclectic ensembles small and large and an active commissioner of new works. With multiple international prizes to his name, Andrew has a growing profile as a concerto soloist having performed and recorded with orchestras throughout Australia as well as in Spain, and – most recently - in Brazil, where he recorded a new guitar concerto by Chilean-Australian composer Daniel Rojas.

US-born, Australian-based harpist Emily Granger is Principal Harp with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. Emily effortlessly straddles the worlds of classical, popular and art music, including appearances with Yo-Yo Ma, Sarah Blasko and Renée Fleming, recitals from Carnegie Hall to the Kennedy Center, and performances with the Chicago, Sydney and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras. Her considerable talent finds her equally at home in intimate chamber recitals and thrilling performances of daring new works.

SUITE MÁGICA CONCERT TOUR DATES

Thursday Feb 1 | 7pm - Yarragon Studio, West Gippsland
Friday Feb 2 | 6:30pm – Primrose Potter Salon, Melbourne Recital Centre  (official launch)
Saturday Feb 3 | 7pm – St David's Cathedral, Hobart
Sunday Feb 4 | 2pm – Palais Theatre, Franklin
Monday Feb 5 | 7pm – North Adelaide Baroque Hall, Adelaide
Thursday Feb 8 | 7pm – Wesley Music Centre, Canberra
Friday Feb 9 | 7pm – Utzon Room, Sydney Opera House
Monday Feb 12 | 7pm – St Monica's Cathedral Cairns

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