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12 May 2017
In 2012 we launched an initiative that would change the way people experience classical music in this city.
The vision for SSO Vanguard was to create a membership program of young philanthropists and take classical music out of the concert hall and in to diverse spaces around Sydney. Now Vanguard is turning five, and to celebrate this milestone we put on an epic party…in a car park!
To join Vanguard and attend events like this head to our Vanguard page.
Images: Christie Brewster
One of Vanguard’s most talked about events is the percussion jam session we held in a Kings Cross carpark in 2012. So when it came to celebrating our fifth birthday we decided to return to this concrete playground!
Image Christie Brewster
John Cage’s II. Trio from Amores opens this epic percussion jam session with Becky Lagos, Mark Robinson and Timothy Constable performing for Vanguard members and friends.
Image Christie Brewster
Next up Timothy Constable performs Bach’s Preludio from Violin Partita No.3 – transcribed for marimba!
Image Christie Brewster
How long can you clap for? The crowd is mesmerized by Becky Lagos and Timothy Constable’s incredible skills in performing Steve Reich’s Clapping Music. Becky said she was feeling the burn in her arms afterwards!
Image Christie Brewster
Vanguarders enjoyed tacos and nachos by the guys from Eat More Tacos Sydney, washed down with brews by Young Henrys and grapes by Kilikanoon Wines.
Image Christie Brewster
Our percussion education continues with Ravel’s Prelude from Tombeau de Couperin adapted for marimba and vibraphone.
Image Christie Brewster
Then bassoonist Todd Gibson-Cornish performs Ohinemutu from Gillian Whitehead’s Nga ha o nehera (A Breath from the Past).
Image Christie Brewster
Blowing the roof off the carpark in a rousing finale, our percussionists leave us all speechless with Le Chant du Serpent by Eckhard Kopetzki.
Image Christie Brewster
“When you think of going to hear Sydney’s best classical musicians in a sophisticated cocktail environment, a Kings Cross car park isn’t exactly the first venue that comes to mind,” Vanguard Chair Justin Di Lollo told us before the event.
Image Christie Brewster
“But this really captures what Vanguard has been about. It’s experimental and sometimes risky, and it allows people to experience classical music in an entirely new way,” Di Lollo continued.
Image Christie Brewster