Hair and makeup: Desiree Vogelsang
International Women’s Day (IWD) marks the tenth anniversary of Muses Trio’s debut appearance. The ensemble was unaware of the wealth of music written by women composers when they began 10 years ago. Since their inauguration, Muses Trio has been committed to assisting women composers become more visible by programming performances, commissioning new works, and recording albums for broadcast with music written entirely by women.
Their latest IWD concert, Visible, showcases world premieres from two composers/pianists across Australia who move effortlessly between genres: Sketches by jazz pianist and composer Louise Denson (Tasmania), and Sally Greenaway (ACT), whose writing spans a wide assortment of styles from classical, chamber, jazz, big band, and movie soundtracks. Her new work, Petit Bateaux Dansants, is the sequel to Le Parc Monceau, performed at The University of Queensland's School of Music for IWD, March 2021. These works flow alongside fresh piano trio arrangements by ARIA-nominated composer and pianist Nat Bartsch (VIC) from her album Hope, which resides in a space between neo-classical, chamber music, and jazz. Finally, Muses Trio are honoured to have the premiere season of Songs Without Words by Anne Cawrse (SA), a favourite amongst ABC Classic FM listeners. Join us for the trio’s tenth birthday as we celebrate a decade of music composed and performed by women.
Biography
Muses Trio are some of Australia’s leading and most exciting musicians in contemporary classical music, known for their edgy, spine tingling and virtuosic performance style: Christa Powell (violin), Louise King (cello) and Therese Milanovic (piano).
Muses Trio celebrate music composed by women, performed by women, and focus on bringing this relatively unknown, yet vastly deserving collection of works to the stage and enthralled audiences.
Signatures of their carefully curated public performance events are guest speakers/ performers with an inspiring cause, and a focus on creating memorable experiences. Discovering, inspiring, collaborating, commissioning, connecting and supporting creative women to pursue and share artistic excellence drives the passion and impetus of their artistic focus. They have released three albums: The Spirit and the Maiden, Celebrating Clara, and Music for Calm and Catharsis. Together they have celebrated nine seasons, with performances across Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Northern NSW, Canberra, Sydney Fringe Festival, and Bundaberg’s Milbi Festival. In 2019 they began recording the first installment of their album with ABC Classic. Although interrupted due to Covid-19, the first tracks have been released on ABC Classic’s Women of Note Vol 3, featuring world premiere works by living Australian women composers. In 2020, they received the ABC Fresh Start Fund to commission and record Fire Dances for ABC Classic, comprising of a short dance from a women composer in each Australian state and territory, reflecting on their experiences of the 2019-2020 devastating bushfire season.
About Live at UQ Concert Series
The University of Queensland School of Music is proud to present our Concert Series for 2023. In reflecting the School's role in the broader South-East Queensland community, we have designed a diverse and exciting program. With established international and national artists performing, as well as our own emerging student artists, this year is set to be a vibrant, creative, and energetic time at the UQ School of Music. We look forward to connecting with you, as you explore this concert series, listen to our streamed and recorded concerts, and visit us at the St Lucia campus or browse through our website.