QJOSEPH TAWADROSRICHARD TOGNETTI – AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

JAMES TAWADROS – CHRISTOPHER MOORE – MATT McMAHON

CONCERTOofTHE GREATER SEA

QJOSEPH TAWADROSRICHARD TOGNETTI – AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

JAMES TAWADROS – CHRISTOPHER MOORE – MATT McMAHON

Only another breath will I breathe in this still air,only another loving look cast backward,

Then I shall stand among you, a seafarer among seafarers.And you, vast sea, sleepless mother, Who alone are peace

and freedom to the river and the stream,Only another winding will this stream make,

only another murmur in this glade,And then shall I come to you,

a boundless drop to a boundless ocean.

CONCERTOofTHE GREATER SEA

QJOSEPH TAWADROSJoseph never ceases to amaze and at 28 has established himself as one the world’s leading Oud performers and composers. A virtuoso of amazing diversity and sensitivity, Joseph continues to appear in concert halls world wide, dazzling audiences with his brilliant technique, his passionate musicianship and his joyous style of performance. Always willing to push the boundaries and challenge traditional musical forms and rhythms, his efforts have led him to many unique collaborations, and he has recorded eight albums to date: Storyteller, Rouhani, Visions, Epiphany, Angel, The Prophet: Music Inspired by the Poetry of Kahlil Gibran, The Hour of Separation and his latest offering, Concerto of the Greater Sea. A resident of Australia since 1986, Joseph has been responsible for expanding the Oud’s notoriety in mainstream Western culture and has also been recognized in the Arab world, being invited to appear on the judging panel of the Damascus International Oud Competition in 2009 and taking part in Istanbul’s fi rst Oud festival in 2010. Joseph has toured extensively, headlining in Europe, America, Asia and the Middle East. He has performed with artists such as tabla master Zakir Hussain, sarangi master Sultan Khan, John Abercrombie, John Patitucci, Jack DeJohnette, Camerata Salzburg, Mali band Tinariwen, Slava and Leonard Grigoryan, Ivry Gitlis, Christian Lindberg, Lior, Neil Finn and Katie Noonan, amongst many others.

One of the most impressive musicians to emerge in Australia...with a dazzling technique dispensing hair raising tempos... His writing displays a real depth of emotion...revelling in a zest for life and celebration.Sydney Morning Herald

QRICHARD TOGNETTIAustralian violinist, conductor and composer Richard Tognetti has established an international reputation for his compelling performances and artistic individualism. He studied at the Sydney Conservatorium with Alice Waten, in his home town of Wollongong with William Primrose, and at the Berne Conservatory in Switzerland with Igor Ozim, where he was awarded the Tschumi Prize as the top graduate soloist in 1989. Later that year he was appointed Leader of the Australian Chamber Orchestra and subsequently became Artistic Director. Richard performs on period, modern and electric instruments. His numerous arrangements, compositions and transcriptions have expanded the chamber orchestra repertoire and been performed throughout the world. Richard has appeared as director or soloist with the Handel & Haydn Society (Boston), Hong Kong Philharmonic, Camerata Salzburg,Tapiola Sinfonietta, Irish Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Nordic Chamber Orchestra and the Australian symphony orchestras. He conducted Mozart’s Mitridate for the Sydney Festival and gave the Australian premiere of Ligeti’s Violin Concerto with the Sydney Symphony.

One of the most characterful, incisive and impassioned violinists to be heard today.The Daily Telegraph (UK)

QJAMES TAWADROSAt only 22 years of age, James has already made a name for himself as a world class percussionist and soloist. His main instrument is the Req, a small hand-held tambourine, traditionally with skin covering and fi ve pairs of cymbals. It is James’ unique innovative style and mastery of the req that has brought him great acclaim worldwide. His dexterity, rhythmic variety and virtuosity continue to amaze audiences. He has performed internationally with many celebrated artists and regularly accompanies his brother Joseph in concert. Some of his career highlights as soloist include orchestral tours with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and Camerata Salzburg, as well as a duet recording collaboration with legendary jazz drummer Jack DeJohnette (of Miles Davis fame) for the album The Hour of Separation, which also featured jazz luminaries John Abercrombie and John Patitucci.In 2004, at just 15 years of age, James featured as youngest ever guest soloist with the ACO and in 2006 took part in their national tour The Travellers featuring the Tawadros brothers. He was nominated for an ARIA Award for Best World Music Album in the same year, one of four ARIA award nominations he has received. He has also won two Limelight Awards for World Music alongside his brother.

If genius is partly exceeding all likelihood of a given potential, then James Tawadros was fl irting with genius as he played the req, a small tambourine. He extracted an array of sounds, textures and rhythms to shame most kit-drummers.Sydney Morning Herald

QMATT McMAHONMatt McMahon is one of Australia’s fi nest jazz pianists/composers. Beginning classical piano lessons at the age of seven, it wasn’t until his teens that his interest in jazz began. Matt completed a BA from the University of Sydney in 1992 with an honours degree in English Literature and later completed an Associate Diploma in Jazz Studies from the NSW Conservatorium of Music.Matt has led his own groups including the Matt McMahon Trio, and is involved in the collaborative group The Band of Five Names. He has won many awards including the National Jazz Award in 1999 and the Freedman Fellowship in 2005. He has performed with many of Australia’s jazz icons including Dale Barlow, Greg Osby, James Morrison, Don Burrows, Phil Slater, Katie Noonan, Vince Jones, Bobby Previte, Dave Panichi, Steve Hunter, Jazzfolk and Guy Strazz. He is actively involved in the jazz community as a broadcaster and founder of the Jazzgroove Association. He currently teaches at the Sydney Conservatorium and tours both nationally and internationally.

Elegance stripped of ornamentation and lyricism braced with rigour...McMahon’s playing is ravishing...and has a formal beauty about it.Sydney Morning Herald

QCHRISTOPHER MOOREBorn into a family of music enthusiasts, Christopher Moore started his musical training at a very early age on violin. He studied with two prominent Sydney Suzuki teachers, Marjorie Hystek and the late Harold Brissenden, and completed his Bachelor of Music degree in Newcastle with violinist and pedagogue Elizabeth Holowell.After working as a violinist with Adelaide and New Zealand Symphony Orchestras, Christopher moved his musical focus and energy to the viola. He accepted a violist position with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, then successfully auditioned for the position of Associate Principal Viola with the same orchestra. During his association with the MSO, Christopher performed regularly as a chamber musician and soloist. Christopher is currently Principal Viola with the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

One of ACO’s greatest assets, Moore’s full-bodied account of the Telemann

Viola Concerto was expressive and assured.The Australian

QAUSTRALIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRAInternationally renowned for inspired programming and the rapturous response of audiences and critics, the Australian Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1975. The ACO’s unique artistic style encompasses not only the masterworks of the classical repertoire, but innovative cross-artform projects and a vigorous commissioning program. Fifty-one international tours to Asia, Europe and the USA have drawn outstanding reviews for the ACO’s performances at many of the world’s prestigious concert halls.

The ACO took the breath away. Such supple phrasing and dynamics! Such freshness, passion, and commitment! This group must be the best chamber orchestra on earth.The Times

ViolinRichard Tognetti (Artistic Director & Leader)Satu VänskäHelena Rathbone* Mark IngwersenIlya IsakovichAiko GotoLorna CummingZoe Black

*Appear only on tracks 8 and 14

ViolaStephen KingCaroline HenbestCelloTimo-Veikko ValveJulian ThompsonHoward Penny*Melissa Barnard*Double BassMaxime Bibeau

It was but yesterday we met in a dream. You have sung to me in my aloneness,

and I of your longings have built a tower in the sky. But now our sleep has fled and our dream is over,

and it is no longer dawn. The noontide is upon us and our half waking has turned to fuller day, and we must part.

If in the twilight of memory we should meet once more, we shall speak again together and you shall sing to me a deeper song.

And if our hands should meet in another dream, we shall build another tower in the sky.

QThe music on this album is my most signifi cant undertaking to date. My last album ‘The Hour of Separation’ was about a departure, and how ‘Love knows not its depth until the hour of separation.’ It was how I felt at that time. Confused, impatient, obsessed with a fairytale which could never be; but ironically, an inspiring prison of nostalgia that is very hard to escape as a composer. For as much as I felt it took from me personally, it seemed to give back to me artistically, and there quietly lay a type of compositional addiction.Breaking through this self-made artistic, yet dark, cell is not easy, but hope and strength fi nally got me through this barrier and in the end I appreciated the lessons I lived, and look back fondly on what I’ve created. What I once took for granted slowly morphed into the key of my cell door, which was always in my hand. After burning in confusion and longing, surrounded by the gift of music, I fi nally felt like a phoenix rising above its ashes into a beautiful new chapter which I never thought possible. I’m not saying the music on this album is happy, but it comes from a different place and I feel it is pushing my Oud into a new realm. I will always be very proud of my past albums; they mark how I’ve felt at certain times in my life. In fact there are some pieces on this album that were recorded in 2006. It now feels like a lifetime ago, but the time is fi nally right for these compositions to see light and complete the delicate journey amongst the newer works.I have always been fond of the sea, its movement, its silence, its energy, its freedom, and the new compositions are about being immersed in this. To stand free, hypnotized by the ‘sleepless mother’, to be caressed by its gentleness, to resonate with its roar and be lost in the wind, to travel while still, to dream while awake. But also for me, the ocean represents a return to oneself, a rediscovery, an emotional reinvention, musically, spiritually and beyond…

NOTES FROM THE COMPOSERJoseph Tawadros (b. 1983)

QThe great poet Kahlil Gibran also saw the sea as a return. Reading his thoughts on ‘The Greater Sea’, I connected strongly with them. They had a deeper meaning and I wanted to be boundless like ‘a boundless drop to a boundless ocean’. This is my third instalment of Gibran-inspired music, my fi rst being ‘The Prophet: Music Inspired by the Poetry of Kahlil Gibran’ (2009), my second ‘The Hour of Separation’ (2010) and, rounding off the ‘Gibran’ Trilogy, ‘The Concerto of the Greater Sea’. The more I read of his words, the more I want to compose.I am in love with the Oud and I am so blessed to have it as my voice. Immersed in its magic, it can be delicate and whisper the softest of notes, or can be fi ery and intense. It is these extremes that I’ve always been interested in exploring; not purposely leaning toward any culture or genre but fi nding a new spirit within my voice to sing with. My intention has remained the same, to be true to my vision, to re-invent myself with each release, to challenge what I know and to fi nd great musicians to share this dream. It’s not about being adventurous, experimental or creating incongruity in the hope of being pioneering, but rather a type of restraint which stays true to an emotion and a moment in time. My music is me and each piece on this album is a prayer, a dream, a word, a discovery, a fl ower, a person, a breath, a wish, the sea. It’s about refl ecting the dreams and emotions of the listeners through mine, and I am humbled to be able to share something so profound without knowing all of them. Connecting on another level, a type of unity which sees all humans combine without judgment. Bound to the same emotions, and perhaps sharing a tear or a smile over a melody or even a single note, all without ever meeting. How beautiful it is, but with great responsibility it comes.

I would like to thank my ‘mariners’ for kindly sharing their talents. My dear friend Richard Tognetti – an adventurous virtuoso, he brings a free-spirited approach to the music. Matt McMahon, an inspiring and sensitive musician whose soul shines through the piano. Chris Moore, amazing musicianship combined with passion and affection. Michael Lynch, an unsung hero, who knows how to capture the sound of each fleeting moment so beautifully. And finally, my right hand man, my brother James Tawadros, with his supernatural ability of telepathically knowing exactly what is needed, adding a dimension I never thought existed. A real blessing that we can live and breathe this music together.Special thanks to my family, Martin and Susie Dickson, Guido and Michelle Belgiorno-Nettis, Jan Minchin, Barbara Blackman, David Carolan and Mary Anne Veliscek, Anna Josephson and Rickard Gardell, Alf Moufarrige, Dr Fatma Lowden, Philip Latham, Paul Cheika, Petrina Slaytor, Dominika Maria Bonk, John Taberner and Grant Lang, and Tim Calnin for their love and kind support of this project.

Tracks 8 & 14 recorded live in concert by Simon Lear at City Recital Hall Angel Place, Sydney on 22 February 2006.

Tracks 2, 4, 6, 12, 15, 16 recorded by Daniel Denholm at Studios 301, Sydney, 18 & 19 November 2006.

Tracks 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13 recorded by Michael Lynch at Trackdown, Fox Studios, Sydney, 21 July 2011.

Mixed and Mastered by Michael Lynch. Cover Photos by Martyn Green. Australian Chamber Orchestra Photos by Jon Frank. Additional Photography by Bridget Elliot. Cover and Booklet Design by Catherine Benton. www.catherinebenton.com

Joseph performs on a Joseph Tawadros Signature Series Oud made by Veysel Sarikus of Istanbul. www.veyselmuzik.com

Richard Tognetti performs on a 1743 Guarneri del Gesù violin. Christopher Moore performs on a 1937 Arthur E. Smith viola. Poetry quotes from The Prophet (pp 3, 6 and 7) and Sand and Foam (back cover), by Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931).

For ABC Classics Executive Producers Martin Buzacott, Robert Patterson Publications Editor Natalie Shea Marketing and Catalogue Coordinator Laura Bell ABC Classics thanks Jonathan Villanueva, Virginia Read and Imagecorp Pty Ltd.

All tracks licensed to ABC Classics courtesy of Joseph Tawadros.

& © 2012 Joseph Tawadros

Distributed in Australia and New Zealand by Universal Music Group, under exclusive licence. Made in Australia. All rights of the owner of copyright reserved. Any copying, renting, lending, diffusion, public performance or broadcast of this record without the authority of the copyright owner is prohibited.

www.abcclassics.com

I am forever walking upon these shores, betwixt the sand and the foam,

the high tide will erase my foot-prints, and the wind will blow away the foam. But the sea and the shore will remain

Forever.

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