Flautist Sally Walker To Perform From New Album in Australia This September

Internationally acclaimed Australian flautist and educator Sally Walker, will premiere her new album with selected works to be performed at the Sydney Opera House, North Adelaide Baroque Concert Hall and Wesley Uniting Church Canberra this September, 2024. 

Music Fit for a King presents stunning music by Mozart and Boccherini, two of the most celebrated composers from the ‘Golden Age’ of Classical music; friends who both counted King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia as their patron.

While Mozart’s enduring fame overshadows that of his Italian colleague, Boccherini reveals himself a master of descriptive and vividly evocative music through his Flute chamber works. Moments of explosive drama and surprising harmonies await, yet all contained within Boccherini’s infinitely elegant, virtuosic and beautifully refined style. The surprisingly diverse moods and melodies of these utterly inspired works fit perfectly around the heart of the program, Mozart’s Flute Quartet in D K.285, one of the best-loved chamber treasures for winds and strings. Adelaide audiences will also be treated to a special performance of Mozart’s Oboe Quartet in F Major K.370, Boccherini’s Sextet Op.38 and Boccherini’s (attrib.) Quintet in C, G. 443.

Celebrating the release of Sally Walker and Friends’ new album, Boccherini: Chamber works for flute , we welcome you to experience the pleasures of this stunning music in the masterful hands of extraordinary flautist, Sally Walker – most recently seen in the ACO’s Mahler tour - and an all-star ensemble drawn from Adelaide’s finest classical musicians.

Described by Sounds like Sydney, Shamistha De Soysa, as “Australia’s best flautist”, Sally has toured nationally and internationally with the Berlin Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestras and the Australian Chamber Orchestra, and with artists such as Simon Tedeschi and Emily Granger.

Walker remarks “I fell in love with the music of Luigi Boccherini during the pandemic lockdown. His charm and certainty made me feel uplifted and reassured in a time when there were so many unknowns. I ordered everything that I could find that he had written for the flute and discovered so many gems I did not know existed.”

This concert presents a rare opportunity to hear one of Australia’s finest international flautists and ensembles.

Late 18th century Italian composer Luigi Boccherini produced a vast catalogue of compositions, including chamber works featuring the flute. Australian flautist Sally Walker - whose most recent album was the critically acclaimed ‘Something Like This’ with harpist Emily Granger - has taken a deep dive into the provenance of Boccherini's works for her instrument to produce a 90-minute, double CD of music featuring the rarely performed Op. 19 Quintets, for two violins, flute, viola and cello, the Op. 38 Sextet for violin, viola, bassoon, flute, horn and double bass; and, as a "bonus", the Quintet G.443 for flute, oboe, violin, viola and cello, a mysterious work attributed to Boccherini but whose authorship is contested. As Sally says, "it begs the question: who, if not Boccherini, could write so inventively?"

Recorded in the opulent North Adelaide Baroque Hall, the new album features the brilliant playing of Elizabeth Layton and Alison Rayner - violins, Stephen King - viola, Thomas Marlin - cello, Robert Nairn - bass, Celia Craig - oboe, Mark Gaydon - bassoon and Sarah Barrett - horn, together with Sally, and will be released by AVIE Records  on August 16th.

Concert Dates:

Wesley Uniting Church, Canberra

Saturday 7 September 2024 at 7 pm

Sydney Opera House, Utzon Room

Sunday 8 September 2024 at 3 pm

North Adelaide Baroque Hall

Thursday 26 September 2024 at 7 pm

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