DATE: Saturday 16 August, 2025
TIME: Concert 1:30 – 2:30pm / Afternoon tea 2:30 – 3:30pm
COST: $38/$32
Details
Showcasing her talents on the marimba and vibraphone, Australia’s sorceress of percussion Claire Edwardes OAM will inspire, touch and amaze you with her program of solo percussion music ranging from Bach to important Australian composers of our time.
The program features two works written for Claire’s daughters by the iconic Elena Kats-Chernin alongside the classic Marimba Dances by another Aussie icon, Ross Edwards, alongside works written in close collaboration with Claire by Ella Macens and Kate Moore.
Ella’s work reflects on the pre-pandemic east coast bushfires in a touching chorale-like work for vibraphone and the work by Dutch based Australian composer Kate Moore whirls and spins to create Joyful Melodies.
With a bit of waterphone thrown in for good measure (come and along to experience this unusual instrument up close) this unique concert by one of our countries most esteemed and in demand solo performers, promises to be an unforgettable musical experience.
“Edwardes colours everything she plays with exuberance, intelligence and sensitivity and offers us here a great percussion primer.” Limelight Magazine
Repertoire
- J.S. Bach – O Sacred Head, Sore Wounded 2’30 marimba solo
- J.S. Bach – Dances from Lute Suite in E minor (Prelude, Allemande, Courante) 7’ marimba solo
- Ella Macens – Falling Embers 7′ vibraphone solo
- Ross Edwards – Marimba Dances 9’30 marimba solo
- Kate Moore – Joyful Melodies 12’ vibraphone solo
- Claire Edwardes – Ether Lines 5’ waterphone solo
- Elena Kats-Chernin – Violet’s Etude 3’30 marimba solo
- Elena Kats-Chernin – Poppy’s Polka 3’ vibraphone solo
- Matthew Hindson – Flash 5’ marimba solo
About the Artist
Claire Edwardes OAM is Australia’s ‘sorceress of percussion’ (City News, Canberra) and the only Australian to win the ‘APRA Art Music Luminary Award’ four times. A charismatic percussion virtuosi, Claire leaps between her role as Ensemble Offspring’s Artistic Director (Australia’s leading new music ensemble), solo recitals and concerto performances with all of the Australian symphony orchestras including recent premieres of works by Anne Cawrse, Natalie Williams and Iain Grandage. In 2022 Claire was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for her indelible contribution to Australian music and in 2023 she was the recipient of the Australian Women in Music Award for Creative Leadership.
Recently described in Limelight as a ‘unique treasure of Australia’s musical community’ and in The Age as ‘an invigorating musical life force’, Claire has hosted Play School, been an ARIA Award finalist twice and has performed as a soloist all over the world – from Vancouver to Amsterdam, the Gold Coast to Malta, and Huddersfield to Alice Springs. Widely known for her genre-spanning solo concerts, plus commissioning and premiering hundreds of new works for marimba, vibraphone, drums and more unusual instruments such as the waterphone, she passionately advocates for gender equity and diversity in all that she undertakes. As a true trailblazer Claire breaks down barriers between art music and audiences with her famous on-stage infectious enthusiasm for bringing new music to new audiences.
Claire Edwards, image courtesy of the artist
Notes
*The Tuggeranong Arts Centre Theatre is raked steeply. People with mobility issues are advised that the top two and bottom two rows are the most easily accessible. Please advise us if you have mobility issues and we can direct you to your seats.