Asian culture has captivated the artistic mind for centuries; the elegance and concise restraint of Oriental visual art, music and writing have been an ongoing inspiration for composers around the globe. Winter Moon Secrets brings together chamber music inspired by a world behind closed doors, where courtly life, love and secrets form the centrepiece of existence, a place where inner thoughts remain concealed, whispered only to the night air or written on a page in a private room. In Andrew Schultz's I am writing in this book (2011), fragments of 10th century writer Sei Shonagon's The Pillow Book have been threaded together to trace the life of a young woman from naive youth to old age.Sohmon III (1988), by eminent Japanese composer Minoru Miki, sets poetry from the oldest anthology of Japanese poetry, the Man'Yoshi (Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves) dated from the seventh and eight centuries. Miki believes that music and culture are deeply intertwined and that peace between nations can be achieved through the blending of diverse cultures. Larry Sitsky's newly penned work A Feast of Lanterns II (2015) draws texts from a collection of ancient Chinese poets and writers, employing voice and instruments to render delicate brushstrokes of colour. Joining Halcyon for this program is koto virtuoso Satsuki Odamura, performing solo works composed for her by Australians Ross Edwards and Rosalind Page. 

Music Workshop, Sydney Conservatorium of Music

Tickets $35/$25 through Classikon

Artists

conductor – Luke Spicersoprano – Alison Morganmezzo soprano – Jenny Duck-Chongviolin – Ewan Fostercello – Anna Martin-Scrasedouble bass – Jenny Drueryharp – Rowan Phemisterpiano – Sally Whitwellpercussion – William Jacksonkoto – Satsuki Odamura

Supported by the New Music Network

Image: Moon with a View by Kay Stratman 11″ x 10”, watercolor on silver shikishi board