Piano Quintet performed At the World's Edge Festival in Bannockburn (2nd performance)
6 | Whorl
Sat 11 Oct, 2 & 5pm, Coronation Hall, Bannockburn
Whorl, a pattern of concentric circles or spirals, opens with Augusta Read Thomas’ Double Helix, an intricate duet for two violins. The layers expand to string quartet for the AWE 2025 Emerging Composer commission, then to quintet for John Psathas’ thrilling Piano Quintet, inspired by Bach’s Chaconne and the elegant simplicity of Greek folk music. The evening culminates in Ravel’s luminous String Quartet, a masterwork of shifting textures and interwoven motifs, assembled with the precision of a composer or, as he saw himself, a musical architect at the height of his powers.
ANNOUNCING
2025 Composer in Residence
John Psathas
We are thrilled to announce world-renowned New Zealand-Greek composer, John Psathas as AWE 2025 Composer in Residence.
John’s CV is, quite frankly, astonishing. His music has been played on all seven continents - yes, including Antarctica - and he has worked alongside Evelyn Glennie, Sir Mark Elder and the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra to name just three of his collaborations while he was responsible for scoring much of the opening ceremony of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.
John’s creativity and grasp of musical genres seemingly knows no bounds and we are absolutely delighted that he has agreed to join us this year, writing a two cello string quintet that we can't wait to premiere within AWE 2025.