Lyrebird Brass

Lyrebird Brass have released an album of brass trios — all previously unrecorded — by mid-20th century Belgian and French composers. Tonnerre de Brass includes works by Lucie Vellere, Georges Barboteu, Marius Flothuis, Frits Celis, Mathieu Debaar, and Arthur Meulemans.

The quintet will be performing works by Cathy Likhuta, Luke Styles, Kate Neal, Alan Holley, and Andrew Batterham.

In celebration of 2022 International Women’s Day, Carla, Don, and Joel recoeded a performance of Lucie Vellère's beautifully lyrical “Deux Essais” (1965). The piece exploits the versatility of the three instruments, moving from warm, velvety textures in the first movement to frenetic, bouncy passages in the second.

Lyrebird Brass has teamed up with the American Brass Quintet to co-comission a new work by GRAMMY and Pulitzer Prize award winning composer, Jennifer Higdon. The new work will receive its premiere performances in New York and Melbourne in late 2022.

In their first post-lockdown concert, the Lyrebird Quintet will give the world premiere of Robert Cohen's Neptune's Treasures on a program that also includes the Divertimento by Harry Sdraulig, and Solder, a new work by London-based Luke Styles.

We're please to announce a number of commissions, including new works for 2022 from Melbourne's own Linda Kouvaras and Alice Humphries. Details about the works and their premieres are forthcoming.

We are delighted to be the dedicees to a new piece by New York-based composer Robert Cohen. Neptune's Treasures is a four movement work musical exploration of the Great Barrier Reef. The first movement depicts the descent into the depths of the ocean in a bathyscaphe upon which a myriad of aquatic life living in and around the reef is encountered in the second movement. The third movement is a lament to the what is thought by many to be one of the world's ugliest creatures, the Blobfish. The final movement is the composer's take on the process by which many believe life began, culminating with the rise from the deep of Neptune, the Roman god of the sea, who implores us to respect his kingdom.

Although the COVID19 pandemic has put a global halt on the performing arts industry, Lyrebird Brass will be teaming up with the Melbourne Digital Concert hall for a live performance streamed from the Athenaeum Theatre on 19 June. Works will include the Andrew Batterham's Melbourne Mosaic (a Lyrebird Brass commission), Colchester Fantasy by Eric Ewazen, and tangos by Piazzolla. More information can be found on the MDCH website.