Join us as we celebrate the season with a great selection of Christmas music. Not the usual tired carols, but an eclectic mix of music researched and selected by our own Irene Stone. We may even squeeze in some Christmas supper…

We’re delighted to announce a Saturday workshop with the wonderful Kamala Bain. Kamala is a recorder performance graduate of the University of Auckland, where she studied with David Coomber, and the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, where she studied with Walter van Hauwe and Paul Leenhouts. Now based in Wellington, her work as a performer takes her back to Europe and Australia, with highlights including performances with Pinchgut Opera in Sydney, the Irish Chamber Orchestra, and the Akademie für Alte Musik Bruneck in Italy. New Zealand performance highlights include Stroma’s Mirror of Time series, a Chamber Music NZ tour with Barocca, and performances with NZ Barok, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, NZ Opera, Middle Eastern fusion group Navaa, and the Night Watch ensemble. Kamala teaches privately, makes regular appearances as a tutor at workshops in Australia and NZ, has taught in Ireland and Canada, and is an artist teacher at the NZ School of Music.

The workshop, to be held at St Scholastica’s College, Glebe, will be followed by dinner at Pizza e Vino, on Glebe Point Road a few doors up from the Toxteth Hotel. Contact Mary-Jane Clark to register.

Hot on the heels of our most successful Player’s Night ever (at our July meeting), we are proud to announce our second event of this kind for 2024. Get your recorder-playing companions together, choose your repertoire and start practising! Watch this space for how to register in coming months…

Robert Small will conduct the October meeting, presenting a Vaughan Williams ‘Spectacular’, with an entire programme devoted to the music of Vaughan Williams. Favourites will include Greensleeves arranged by Clive Lane, The Lover’s Ghost arranged by Brian Kogler, and Linden Lea arranged by Susan Foulcher. We’ll play the Minuet from his Suite for Pipes (the closest VW came to writing for recorders) and 3 movements from his Concerto Grosso.

Robert tends to specialise in playing the bigger recorders in consorts. He has played with Consort 8 since 2006, and before that with the Reluctant Consort.  Robert frequently conducts the Sydney Society of Recorder Players, and presents recorder music on Sydney Fine Music 102.5. He was taught by Agnes Petocz and Owen Watkins. His favourite recorder is his Beha and Gibbons treble in stripy maple, and his favourite work for recorder is Peggy Glanville Hicks’ Sonatina.

The Beginners’ Consort meets on the 4th Wednesday of each month, in the new music room at Saint Scholastica’s College. See the Meeting tab for directions.

This group provides a 'safe' place, where new members and beginner recorder players can get the music ahead of the rehearsal, practise and feel prepared, in a supportive and unthreatening environment. We play for about an hour then have supper together. A small fee covers venue hire and supper.

If this group interests you, please send a message to the organisers, Susan and Robert, via the Contact form on this website.

Alexandra is a Sydney and Melbourne based recorder player, music educator and conductor.  She first discovered the recorder with Zana Clarke (AUS) and then went on to complete her Bachelor of Music in recorder performance at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music at the University of Melbourne. During that time, Alexandra specialised in ensemble and soloist historical performance practice with Ruth Wilkinson (AUS). In 2016 she completed her Masters of Music Performance-Teaching (majoring in conducting, performance and teaching). 

A member of various musical ensembles, such as The Recorder Co-op andTrillo, Alexandra also teaches recorder to students of all ages and is currently teaching private lessons in Sydney. One of the four founding members and organisers of The Melbourne Recorder Academy, Alex also tutors recorder ensembles at the Sydney Conservatorium High School.

Alex’s meetings are always popular and entertaining, and this time she’s planned a Native American-inspired folk session for us! Music is available before the night, so contact Mary-Jane Clark if you’d like it sent out to you. Don’t miss this one!

We’re delighted to announce that Neil McEwan has agreed to speak at our next EMA-style meeting. Neil has studied and worked all over the world and has a rich history in church music and choral conducting. Awarded a PhD in Gregorian chant semiological research, Neil transcribed a number of chants from the historic Rimini Antiphonale of 1328 housed in the State Library of New South Wales and prepared and performed these chants in a series of concerts, and for a documentary program on the Foxtel History Channel. Neil has recently retired from The Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney, where, along with lecturing in paleography and conducting, he directed the Conservatorium choirs for nearly thirty years.

Neil will talk to us about plainsong and its significance to the development of Western music. The talk will be followed by afternoon tea, performances (please prepare some!) and group playing at 415Hz with our conductor, Hans Sangtoki. We have a brand new arrangement of Johann Kaspar Ferdinand Fischer’s Suite No. 8 to play! We’ll begin this rather massive work, by playing the Overture, Passepied and Echo at this meeting. Please contact Robert Small for the link to the music.

The Beginners’ Consort moves to it’s new venue and to the 4th Wednesday of each month from our August meeting. We will now meet in the new music room at Saint Scholastica’s College. See the Meeting tab for directions.

This group provides a 'safe' place, where new members and beginner recorder players can get the music ahead of the rehearsal, practise and feel prepared, in a supportive and unthreatening environment. We play for about an hour then have supper together. A small fee covers venue hire and supper.

If this group interests you, please send a message to the organisers, Susan and Robert, via the Contact form on this website.

Eleanor McIver has been playing recorder for 13 years. She studied mainly with Noelene Poole in Sydney and then Hans-Dieter Michatz, and during a six-month stay in Switzerland took lessons from Anita Orme. She has had the privilege to perform at the Sydney Opera House with the NSW Public Schools’ Recorder Ensemble and at the Conservatorium of Music with the Sydney University Musical Society (SUMS). She also participated in the Australian Recorder Festival Competition in 2023 where she won first place in the open section. She also received an Encore nomination for her HSC music performance in 2022. She is currently in her first year of a degree in Classics at the University of Oxford. Outside of her degree, she takes lessons from Anna Stegmann and plays informally with other early music enthusiasts, most recently participating with the Bate Collective in Oxford.

We’re happy to announce that Jo Arnott has agreed to conduct another Saturday workshop north of Sydney, following on from the very successful December workshop last year. She has selected some terrific repertoire for this one - ranging from early music (Gabrieli, Gesualdo and Bach) to modern (Rachmaninoff, Staeps, Delius and some you’ve probably never heard of). Music will be available for download before the day!

The venue is the Barnes Room, Adamstown Uniting Church, 228 Brunker Road, Adamstown NSW 2289 - a comfortable hall with great facilities and parking in nearby streets.

For further details and to register, contact Caroline Webb or Susan Foulcher, or send an email via our website contact form. Join us for a great day of playing and recorder camaraderie!

Our ever-popular Players’ Night returns at the July meeting. Dust off your favourite music, gather your forces, and prepare a performance piece for your SSRP friends! If you’re having trouble finding music, why don’t you search our Catalogue? Stay tuned for further details closer to the day.

Jenny Eriksson, founder of The Marais Project, stalwart of the Musica Viva in Schools program and widely recognised as one of Australia’s best known and most versatile viola da gambists, will talk to us about her experiences at the next meeting! Jenny has a lifelong commitment to promoting her instrument and early music. She has recorded 11 albums and performed extensively, world-wide, and we feel very lucky to welcome her as our speaker in June.

After Jenny’s talk we’ll break for afternoon tea, then there will be an opportunity for small group performances. Please contact Rob Small if you would like your group to play - all are very welcome. We’ll finish with a massed play at 415Hz - J.S. Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 1, as a follow-on from our last meeting. Music will be available for download.

Venue: St. Paul’s Anglican Church hall, 205-207 Burwood Rd, Burwood. An entrance fee of $15 covers the meeting and afternoon tea.

Clive Lane is a Sydney based composer, specialising in music for guitar, recorder, viols, small ensembles, band music and choral music. He graduated from the Sydney Conservatorium (BMus) and the University of NSW (MMus) and spent many years as a high school music educator, composing and arranging for a variety of musical ensembles and conducting bands. When he retired he was able to concentrate full time on composition and performance on guitar (classical and other styles), viola da gamba, recorder and singing.

Orpheus Music recently published his piece for recorder orchestra Black Summer/Rising Waters, with the following comment: “Black Summer/Rising Waters” stands as a poignant response to the NSW bushfires (July 2019-March 2020) and the NSW floods (January-July 2022), capturing the emotional essence of these natural events. This remarkable piece, crafted for recorder orchestra, clinched the 2nd place in the prestigious Orpheus Music Competition 2022, awarded by the Sydney Society of Recorder Players.

(See Clive’s website here: https://clivelane.com.au/)

When Jude is not playing the recorder, she is a flute player and teacher. Jude has over 40 years experience as a flute teacher, maintaining a busy schedule at schools in Sydney and a home studio, where she teaches beginners through to Diploma level students. She leads several ensembles as part of her work and has played flute with Sydney Wind Symphony and Kuringai Orchestra, although her current focus is on Early Music performance with Consort 8.

Jude co-authored a book on teaching flute with Jocelyn Fazzone and has several times been a guest presenter on pedagogy at the Australian Flute Festival. She is a specialist Flute and Recorder examiner for the AMEB. An active participation in the Committee of the Flute Society of NSW has given her a platform, through adjudication at Eisteddfods, masterclasses and ensemble leadership, to further her passion for leading young players to explore their potential as music makers.

Jude’s love of recorder playing began in primary school. She has an abiding love of consort playing, and has been a very popular guest tutor on a number of previous occasions for the SSRP weekly meetings and at their Bundanoon workshops. Jude continues to enjoy studying traverso and recorder solo repertoire and to explore the intricacies of historically informed performance with her teacher Hans-Dieter Michatz. A commitment to lifelong learning and music making is central to her life.

The Beginners’ Consort is the Society’s small group for novice players, and the next meeting will be held on Wednesday 17th April. Music has been sent out! Contact us if you would like to come and need music sent to you.

Where: The Don Bank Museum, 6 Napier Street, North Sydney. 10-minute walk from North Sydney station; parking in surrounding streets.

Contact: email the organisers, Susan and Rob, on sydneyrecorders@gmail.com

Fee: $10 per rehearsal, to cover venue hire, supper and music.

We will play for an hour, then break for tea, coffee and a chat about all things ‘recorder’. We hope you can join us!

Alexei Caulfield has been studying recorder for 12 years under guidance from Hannah Coleman and then Hans-Dieter Michatz as his tutors. He is currently in his third year studying a bachelor’s degree in historical performance on the recorder at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

 He has performed on many occasions with some highlights including playing at the Sydney Opera House as a part of the NSW Recorder Consort, NSW Parliament House in 2016, the online Sydney Sacred Music Festival in 2020, Encore for HSC in 2022, as well as the Australian Recorder Festival Competition in 2023 where he won second place. 

As well as performance, Alexei is currently tutoring private lessons at Lane Cove Public School and Santa Sabina College in Strathfield, and offering lessons to people of all ages and levels.

Following last year’s very popular Celtic Celebration workshop, Irene Stone is running a second workshop in April with new music. This one is not to be missed! It will be held in the hall at St Scholastica’s College in Glebe. See our Meetings tab for a map and detailed instructions on how to get there.

Cost: $40 members; $45 non-members.

Register via our Contact tab.

Consort 8 presents ‘Reflections’: Music for Lent and Passiontide. Sublime music by a myriad of composers from the 16th to 21st centuries: J S Bach, Binchois, Byrd, Caldini, Eccles, Ferrabosco, Kedrov, Kogler, Lane, Navarro, Palestrina, Tallis and Tunder. Consort 8 invites you to join them for a glass of bubbly and supper after the concert.

Where: Santa Sabina Chapel, 90 The Boulevarde, Strathfield.

Tickets can be purchased at the door ($45/$40 card/cash) or online at: https://consort8.org/concerts/

The Beginners’ Consort meets again on Wednesday 20th March. Music has been sent out! Contact Susan, as below, if you would like to come and need music sent to you.

Where: The Don Bank Museum, 6 Napier Street, North Sydney. 10-minute walk from North Sydney station; parking in surrounding streets.

Contact: email the organisers, Susan and Robert, on sydneyrecorders@gmail.com

Fee: $10 per rehearsal, to cover venue hire, supper and music.

We will play for an hour, then break for tea, coffee and a chat about all things ‘recorder’. We hope you can join us!

Joanne Arnott is one of Australia’s leading recorder players and has a deep love for all things early music – Baroque, Renaissance and Medieval. She also loves to explore and perform modern music with different electronic mediums including fixed media and live electronics. Jo is currently learning to work with Ableton Live software to create new music for recorders of all sizes, some inspired by the recorder’s early music tradition and some with the goal of exploring modern recorders (Paetzolds) and their capabilities within a duo setting.

Jo is passionate about spreading a deeper understanding and knowledge about the beauty of the recorder’s sound as well as its versatile capabilities in the context of modern music. With Bachelor, Honours and Master’s degrees from Sydney Conservatorium of Music and over 25 years teaching and performing experience, Jo has performed with groups such as Bel A Capella, Innominata, Consort 8, and Thoroughbass, and has tutored at early music, recorder, band and orchestral workshops throughout Australia. She is currently based on the NSW Central Coast and teaches at the Central Coast Conservatorium of Music.

The EMA/SSRP meetings start with a bang in 2024, with recorder virtuoso/teacher/arranger Hans-Dieter Michatz opening the meeting with a talk on his musical experiences and observations. Hans-Dieter, the SSRP patron, has been a performer and educator for more years than he cares to remember. As a well-known player of modern and Baroque flute as well as recorder, he has performed and recorded with many orchestras and early music groups such as the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Salut! Baroque, and the Sydney Consort, with whom he toured widely in Europe. After the opening talk, we’ll break for afternoon tea, then there will be an opportunity for small group performance prior to the massed play at 415Hz. Music for the massed play will include J.S. Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 1.

Venue: St Paul’s Anglican Church hall, 205-207 Burwood Rd, Burwood. An entrance fee of $15 covers the meeting and afternoon tea.

The SSRP is starting up the very successful Beginners’ Consort again in 2024.

When: 3rd Wednesdays of the month, beginning in February, 7-9pm

Where: The Don Bank Museum (the oldest wooden house in North Sydney), 6 Napier Street, North Sydney. 10-minute walk from North Sydney station; parking in surrounding streets.

Contact: email the organisers, Susan and Robert, on sydneyrecorders@gmail.com

Fee: $10 per rehearsal, to cover venue hire.

The recorder is the most social of instruments. Many players like to participate in small groups, playing one-to-a-part, but this can be daunting and small groups can be hard to find. The Beginners’ Consort is a ‘safe’ place, where new members and beginner recorder players can get the music ahead of the rehearsal, practise and feel prepared. It’s also a good group for players approaching a new instrument, or new fingering, and wanting to gain confidence in an unthreatening environment.

We will play for an hour, then break for tea, coffee and a chat about all things ‘recorder’. We hope you can join us!

Helen has had a long and distinguished career in music education. She currently teaches Music at Redlands School, runs a small private music studio, accompanies students for music exams at all levels from Grade 1 to Diploma, and works as a relief church organist at various churches across Sydney. Passionate about sharing her love of music and helping recorder players to improve the musicianship of their playing, her goal is to encourage amateur musicians to reach for the stars, growing their technical skills, developing their understanding of musical interpretation and gaining that amazing sense of achievement which comes from a polished performance.

About the February meeting Helen has planned: “We will play music with influences from around the world, including Native America, Scotland, Ireland, Norway, Germany and France. You will be able to play your instrument in a variety of ways, including: like a bear, a drum, bagpipes, a penny whistle and a trumpet. There will be parts for instruments ranging from sopranino to contrabass as well as drums (bring your own if you choose to play this part). Music will be emailed to SSRP members so that you can practise in advance. Please print it off and bring your music to the meeting.”

Rob Small will present ‘Baroque & Before’ on the first Friday in January and it’s a great programme, showcasing the recorder, and written by Andrew Dziedzic. Included are van Eyck, Paisible, J.S. Bach (a trio sonata, and Brandenburg 4) and the lovely Ruth Wilkinson (frequent SSRP tutor) playing Dieupart on voiceflute. Don’t miss this great show with so many Baroque classics of the recorder repertoire. If 10pm to midnight is too late for you, you can ‘Listen Anytime’ in the following week via the link on the website, or via the 2MBS App.

Join us for a night of Christmas music chosen and conducted by the inimitable Irene Stone. It won’t just be the usual tired carols - oh no! Irene prides herself on finding rare, challenging and surprising musical Christmas morsels for this meeting. And there will be a delightful Christmas supper to follow… Don your seasonal attire and bring your Christmas spirit for a night of musical celebration!

Join us for a workshop north of Sydney, led by the vivacious Jo Arnott! Jo’s repertoire choices are always lively, and sometimes surprising - but there will certainly be Telemann. Come and share some recorder camaraderie in our last workshop for the year, at the Adamstown Uniting Church.

Email Robert Small or use the website contact form to ask for additional information and to register.

Guest speaker: Matthew Manchester

We’re lucky to welcome Matthew Manchester as our guest speaker at our next EMA-style meeting! Matthew is recognised as one of Australia’s leading practitioners and teachers in the historically informed performance of Renaissance & Baroque early brass instruments, most notably cornetto and baroque trumpet. The meeting will begin with Matthew’s talk, then we’ll have afternoon tea, followed by performances and then group playing at A415Hz pitch. Music for this meeting will follow a French theme. Join us for an afternoon of early music, including Charpentier Christmas music, at St Paul’s, Burwood!

Like the Players’ Night, the Soiree is an opportunity to perform the pieces you or your group have been working on. Unlike the Players' Night it’s also an evening to invite friends and family to show them what you can do! This is a night of food, drink, entertainment and friendship, and we promise a kind and supportive audience. So practise up those favourite pieces and get your invitations out! Items are limited to 4 minutes per individual or group. Please email Irene Stone with the name of your group, the players involved, the names of the pieces and their duration. Please bring cash for entry fee and raffle tickets, and finger food to share.