AT CLOSE RANGE words LETA KEENS

KATHRYN SELBY, a member of a piano trio, has
been asked more than once how difficult it is to
travel with three pianos. For the record, a piano
trio consists of piano, cello and violin and, like
much of chamber music, can be a bit of a
mystery to those unfamiliar with the field.
“I do hear of people too frightened to go to a chamber music
concert, not wanting to appear completely ignorant. It’s like
going to a wine tasting and knowing nothing except that you
like the taste of wine,” says the Sydney-based pianist, founder
of the chamber music series Selby & Friends. She is also
one-third (with cellist Emma-Jane Murphy and violinist Niki
Vasilakis) of Trioz, recently appointed the first resident
ensemble at Sydney’s City Recital Hall.
Prospective new audience members shouldn’t be so
concerned, says Selby: “We desperately need people to feel
relaxed about coming to hear us play.”

Chamber music, as its name suggests, started out being
played in rooms rather than halls. In the days before recorded
music, small groups of amateur musicians would get together
at home to play versions of works they’d heard in the concert
hall. “The only way to relive those pieces was to play them
with friends.” The great composers, from Beethoven and
Brahms to Dvorák and Stravinsky, wrote many pieces for
various small ensembles. And new works are being written
today. “There’s no shortage of repertoire,” says Selby, who
started learning piano at the age of seven and moved to the
US as a teenager to work and study.
“Newer Australian pieces we’ve enjoyed playing and that
audiences have responded to include those by Ross Edwards
and Elena Kats-Chernin. I keep reprogramming them. It’s
good to hear, and play, them again.”
While audiences today are more likely to hear those pieces
in small recital halls than living rooms, the idea should be
to create the same level of intimacy, says Selby, whose only
break from full-time music came when she enrolled in a law
degree. “It lasted less than a year. I loved music too much.”
In chamber music “the audience is close enough to see the
musicians’ facial expressions and the musicians can talk to
the audience if they have a mind to. I’ve also had experiences
where the audience talks back, which has been exciting.
Chamber music is meant to be like a good meal. You sit down
with friends, listen to the music, talk to people, share some
jokes, learn something – and you either like it or you don’t.”
For the musicians it can be a sublime experience. “When
you’re ‘on’, not only are you breathing together, but also feeding
off each other. You’re playing with someone who does
something spontaneously and you respond, which takes the
performance to another level.”
Selby was part of the highly regarded Macquarie Trio,
resident ensemble at Macquarie University for 13 years until
it disbanded in 2006 after new management withdrew
sponsorship. In an unusual occurrence, the collapse of the
ensemble made headlines.
“It was really terrible losing something that was so precious
to me.” At the time, she says, it was hard to find anything
positive in the break-up, “but now I see only the good that’s
come out of it – working with Niki and Emma-Jane and other
people, re-creating Selby & Friends.”
Playing with different musicians keeps the performances
fresh, she says. But with chamber music, “even if you’ve played
a piece a million times, it’s always different, as the people
you’re playing with are human and can’t help playing
differently every time.” Selby trained as a soloist and practises
alone. Her chamber music performances are also a social
event: “If not for chamber music, I’d never get to play with
anyone else and relate to them in a one-on-one way.”
Selby believes it’s that close encounter that ensures a
healthy future for chamber music. Since the Beaux Arts Trio
proved 50 years ago that you could make a living out of it,
“there’s been a revival of chamber music all over the world.
Every second a new ensemble is being formed and audiences
are prepared to give it a go. As much as people love going to
huge extravaganzas, they also like touching other people in
a much smaller way. You come away feeling like you’ve been
there, that you weren’t just one of a crowd.” _
Trioz will play works by Beethoven, Rachmaninov and Elena
Kats-Chernin in Sydney, Adelaide, Canberra, Melbourne and
Bowral, April 5-9. www.selbyandfriends.com.au
APRIL 2008 QANTAS 153

a fondness of festivals
Kathryn Selby nominates her favourite music events –
for musicians and amateurs – from around the world.

01 ALDEBURGH FESTIVAL
ALDEBURGH, SUFFOLK, UK
“It’s very eclectic. You could have a Finnish
group playing alongside an ensemble
from Boston. Their musical styles are
completely different and it’s exciting to
hear the way people play. You’ll also
come across a lot of contemporary music
from composers you’ve never heard of.”
Founded by Benjamin Britten in 1948, it
is devoted mainly to classical music.
June 13-21. www.aldeburgh.co.uk
02MOSTLY MOZART FESTIVAL
NEW YORK, USA
“It features the crème de la crème of
musicians; the standard of playing is
incredibly high. Often the same people
go year after year. To be invited to
play Mostly Mozart is a very big deal.”
A regular fixture of New York Augusts for
more than 40 years. Held at the Lincoln
Center and spotlighting far more than
Mozart. Vocal, instrumental and dance
works. www.lincolncenter.org
03MARLBORO MUSIC FESTIVAL
MARLBORO, VERMONT, USA
“It’s an extraordinary place where young musicians study
with the great artists, listen to them play and live with them.
You’re so humbled by the fact that at the next table [is pianist]
Rudolf Serkin.” Seven weeks in July-August. Marlboro Music
also holds public concerts. www.marlboromusic.org
03

04ASPEN MUSIC FESTIVAL
ASPEN, COLORADO, USA
“It’s more for tourists than serious students
because it’s so much bigger. My first memory
of chamber music was when I was about 15,
at Aspen. There was a concert in a tent that
held thousands. Lilian Kallir played the
Mendelssohn Piano Trio, which is so difficult.
I sat there thinking, ‘How the hell do you play
like that with other people?’ It was the first
time I’d experienced something so cohesive
and so sublime.” Held every year for several
weeks between June and August.
www.aspenmusicfestival.com
05LEEDS INTERNATIONAL PIANOFORTE
COMPETITION, LEEDS, UK
“You’ll hear incredible music and the support
from the audience is huge. [Competitions]
bring together people from all over the world.
Some people call them a horserace, they’re
much more than that.” Triennial, the next is in
August 2009. Past winners include Radu Lupu
and Murray Perahia. www.leedspiano.com