Trio Empyrean in Recital

• Wendy Lorenz, visit piano
• Andrew Lorenz, violin
• David Pereira, cello

When: Sunday 4 March 2012 at 2.30pm

Where: St Paul’s Anglican Parish Hall, Commissioner Street Cooma

Tickets: At The Fabric Salon & at the door

Formed in 2008, Trio Empyrean brings together three of Australia’s most experienced and respected ensemble musicians. Friends since their student years at the Sydney Conservatorium, each has gained national recognition in both solo and ensemble capacities, having belonged to such groups as the New England Ensemble and Australian Piano Trio – in the case of the Lorenzes – and the Australia Ensemble and the Australian Chamber Orchestra – in that of David Pereira.

All three have featured as soloists with Australia’s major orchestras and have released a range of recordings over a number of years. (See individual biographies below) Sharing a passion for the chamber idiom and now all resident in the Canberra region, the three have taken the opportunity to pool their collective experience in forming Trio Empyrean and look forward to sharing the many masterpieces of the trio repertoire with Australian music lovers.

Contact details:

Phone: 0439 309375 Email: wendylorenz@hotmail.com

Trio Empyrean - Andrew Lorenz, David Pereira & Wendy Lorenz

Wendy Lorenz Active as both pianist and teacher, Wendy Lorenz has performed extensively throughout Australia and overseas and appeared for many of the major radio and television networks in Europe and Asia. A ‘Student of the Year’ graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium and Beethoven Bicentenary Medallion winner, she has also belonged to a number of successful chamber ensembles including the highly acclaimed New England Ensemble, the Australian Piano Trio, the Young Sydney Piano Trio, the Phoenix Ensemble and currently the Empyrean Piano Trio, together with violinist Andrew Lorenz and cellist David Pereira. In the solo realm she has appeared as concerto soloist with many of Australia’s leading orchestras and has featured as soloist on commercial releases with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra. Also active as a music educator, she has taught at the NSW Conservatorium, the South Australian College of Advanced Education, and the Universities of New England and Southern Queensland, where she was also Head of Music from 2000 to 2004 inclusive. An experienced presenter of workshops, masterclasses and piano teaching seminars throughout Australia and overseas, (including guest residencies in China, Singapore, Malaysia and the USA), she has served as National Chair of the Australasian Piano Pedagogy Conference Committee and is an accredited Federal Examiner for the Australian Music Examinations Board.

Andrew Lorenz has enjoyed a varied and successful career as solo violinist, chamber musician, orchestral leader, teacher and conductor. A graduate of the NSW State Conservatorium of Music and holder of a Master of Philosophy in the area of the Australian violin concerto, he has been soloist with many of Australia’s major orchestras including the Adelaide, Melbourne, Queensland and Sydney Symphony Orchestras, the Adelaide Chamber Orchestra and the Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra, and a former Associate Concertmaster of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. He has also lead a number of Australia’s leading chamber groups, notably the New England Ensemble, Australian Piano Trio and Phoenix Ensemble with which he toured extensively throughout Australia, Europe, North America and Asia, also broadcasting for many of the world’s major radio and television networks including BBC London, NHK Tokyo, Sender Freies Berlin, Suisse Romande Geneva and others. Andrew has given national premieres of violin concertos by Arthur Benjamin, John McCabe and Joseph Myslivecek. In 2005 he gave the world premiere performance of Alexander Negerevich’s violin concerto, recently released on CD. For thirty years he has taught at tertiary level at the Universities of New England, Adelaide and more recently, he was the Senior Lecturer in Violin and Viola at the University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba from 1986 to 2006 where he also conducted the USQ Orchestra and directed the McGregor Winter Chamber Music School. Andrew has also led for the Australian Opera, D’Oyle Carte Opera, London and the New Symphony Orchestra of London for the Nederlands Dance Company.

Trio Empyrean - Andrew Lorenz, Wendy Lorenz & David Pereira

David Pereira During the last twenty years David has established himself as an outstandingly versatile cellist while holding the most coveted positions in the country. He was for eleven years cellist of the Australia Ensemble, for seven years Principal Cellist of the Australian Chamber Orchestra and for three years Principal Cello with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Other associates in performance have included Flederman, the Seymour Group, The String Soloists of the Berlin Philharmonic, Felix Ayo, The Chilingirian Quartet, Roger Woodward, and the Sydney String Quartet. David Pereira graduated with the Performer’s and Teacher’s Diplomas from the Sydney Conservatorium as “Student of the Year” and has a Masters Degree in Cello Performance from the Indiana University. As concerto soloist David has appeared with the major orchestras in Australia and New Zealand and high praise has been awarded to his recordings. The Wild Russians, with Lisa Moore, piano, on Tall Poppies (TP018), received the inaugural ABC Award for the Best Australian Recording in 1993). His first CD of solo Australian cello music was released in July 1996 (Cello Dreaming, TP075). In October 1996 his recording of Carl Vine’s Inner World for cello and sampled cello was released as the first Australian art music CD single (TP101). In late 1997 Pereira was awarded the Sounds Australian Award for the Best Performance of an Australian Composition in the ACT (Carl Vine’s Inner World). In 1998 he was awarded the Sounds Australian National Award for the Best Performance of an Australian Composition for his recording of the Lumsdaine Garden of Earthly Delights. This recording also won him his second ABC Award for the Best Australian Recording (1998).

Proudly presented by Snowy Monaro Arts Council Inc