Yarragon Studio Chamber Music Concert Series presents Reeds Bending

A reed which bends in the wind is stronger than the mighty oak which breaks in a storm (free after Aesop's fable).

Reeds, Bending. A quintet of five reed instruments, well-known wind instruments played together in harmony. An Ensemble born in 2020, in the midst of the Covid pandemic, and all the seemingly endless lockdowns in Victoria. Instigated by Niels Bijl, then a newcomer to the Melbourne scene, heartbroken that so many performing artists were trying to survive in a society that forgot to support musicians in times of need. Concerts were organised, just to show that artists always find a way to survive, they will bend with every storm.

Now unprecedented hard times have come around again, with the threat of a global war and insecurity of an ongoing climate crisis, paired with a global cost-of-living crisis triggered by power-hungry madmen. Time to regroup and build a program that embraces the calm and inspiration of live music. With a brand new work by Andrew Schultz, as well as musical gems by JS Bach, Mendelssohn, John Dowland, and an Australian premiere of Natalie Draper's Music for Foghorns and Seabirds (for five reed instruments and six wine bottles) .

Reeds Bending: Emmanuel Cassimatis - Oboe, Freya Parr- Clarinet, Matthew Kneale - Bassoon, Niels Bijl - Saxophones, Jorja Withall - Bass Clarinet