The shimmering, savage and ecstatic music of Oliver Messiaen’s Visions de l’Amenplayed on two pianos alongside a passionate visual response by Sandy Pottinger.

Hosted by the USQ Academic Division

Image: Portion of Abyss of birds by Sandy Pottinger.

Outstanding pianists Sonya Lifschitz and Therese Milanovic will perform on two pianos playing Oliver Messiaen’s dynamic and arresting music alongside a passionate visual response by Sandy Pottinger.

“This shimmering, savage, ecstatic music was written for two pianos which dual and court and consummate with passionate exuberance. The music is sound-colour that is about feeling, reverence, and soaring spiritual enlightenment. For me it is a challenge to be wrestled with, it is demanding and physical. I throw paint at the canvas and from the violence try to retrieve a morsel of tenderness and emotional reprieve. Shapes become symbols and colours drench sounds that spike feelings,” Sandy Pottinger says.

From very early on it was clear that Olivier Messiaen (b. Dec. 10, 1908, France. d. April 27, 1992, France) would be a composer who would stand alone in the history of music. He did not come from any particular ‘school’ or style but formed and created his own totally individual musical voice. He achieved this by creating his own ‘modes of limited transposition’, taking rhythmic ideas from India (deci tala), ancient Greece and the Orient. The single most important driving force in his musical creations was his devout Catholic faith.

Sonya Lifschitz has been praised for her “dynamic performances” (New York Times) and “miraculous keyboard technique and musicianship” (Saugerties Times, NY). Sonya is recognised as one of Australia’s most innovative musicians. At age 18, Sonya made her debut with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto, broadcast on ABC Classic FM and SBS television.

Recent performances include the Melbourne Recital Centre in the Local Heroes and the Spotlight Series, BargeMusic (New York), Kawai Series (Brisbane), and Banff Centre (Canada). A Fulbright Scholar, Sonya studied under the legendary Leon Fleisher at the Peabody Conservatory and holds a PhD from Melbourne University.

Therese Milanovic is in demand as both performer and pedagogue. In 2009, Therese completed her first-level Taubman teacher training with the Golandsky Institute (USA), the subject of her PhD. In 2014 she was promoted to Associate Faculty, and is the only certified Taubman Instructor in Australia.

Therese has presented numerous workshops on the Taubman Approach for Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University (QCGU), MTAQ, ASPAH, and was an invited speaker at the Australasian Piano Pedagogy Conference (2011). Therese teaches at QCGU, where she received her Masters in Piano Performance, and privately, including students regularly travelling from interstate, and regional and international students via Skype. She has performed with Brisbane-based Topology ensemble since 2009, including collaborations with the Brodsky String Quartet, Grant Collins, Kransky Sisters, appearances at Queensland Music Festival, Brisbane Musical Festival, national tours, performances in Indonesia, Singapore, Netherlands and Belgium. Therese also adores performing chamber music with kindred spirits, and made her NYC debut in February.

Sandy Pottinger retired as a lecturer in the Visual Arts Department in the Faculty of Arts at The University of Southern Queensland a few years ago and has been writing the weekly Saturday column, “Around the Galleries” for the Toowoomba Chronicle since 1998.

After leaving school Sandy went to art school in Brisbane and then Sydney, majoring in painting and photography. One of her painting mentors is the late Brett Whiteley and she had paintings included in a couple of exhibitions at the Yellow House in Sydney where she also participated in a paint-in of rooms transformed as homages to artists such as van Gogh and Magritte. Later Sandy worked in advertising photography and at weekends was freelance photographer. Back in Toowoomba Sandy was a photographer at the Darling Downs Institute of Advanced Education and then transferred to the Faculty of Arts at the University of Southern Queensland to teach a range of history, theory, and philosophy courses across the studio disciplines as well as some drawing and painting classes. Sandy has studied at the Brooks Institute of Photography in California and at the Universita per Stranieri in Perugia, Italy. Sandy’s paintings are usually an emotional response to place, circumstance, or music.

A reception in the USQ Arts Gallery will follow the recital – refreshments will be served.