This unique venue opens its doors to music lovers in 2023 for a spectacular five concert season. LIVE AT THE GREAT lines up some of the most talented and exciting musicians in Australia, in programs that won’t be heard anywhere else. Audiences enjoy sublime immersive performances under the star-studded ceiling of Sydney’s Great Synagogue in Elizabeth Street.
Behind LIVE AT THE GREAT is renowned conductor and pianist Vladimir Fanshil. He and his wife, opera singer Eleanor Lyons, are a dynamic musical couple who fought to keep music ‘live’ through the Covid pandemic, eschewing the move to virtual and online performances. They founded Live at Yours which offered small salon concerts in keeping with the Covid restrictions of the time and have since expanded to work with other new and unusual venues. Their one-off concerts at the Great Synagogue in 2021 were so popular that they presented a full season in 2022, and will continue with Australia’s premier artists in 2023.
The season kicks off with four virtuosic guitarists appearing together for the first time as they perform music spanning 300 years from Baroque and beyond, then continues with the soulful gypsy sounds of Brahms by Australia’s highest profile piano quartet. Hear a new take on the seasons, featuring First Nations performer Gumaroy Newman, Jazz from James Morrison and finish the year with an incredible chance to see pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk at close quarters.
The Great Synagogue is not normally open to the public so LIVE AT THE GREAT also offers the rare opportunity to visit this gorgeous space – with beautiful acoustics and lighting – while enjoying concerts by world-class musicians.
Rabbi Ben Elton, Chief Rabbi of the Great Synagogue, said, “I’m thrilled to welcome Sydneysiders into the heart of our Synagogue so we can enjoy together the universal experience of listening to wonderful music, presented by the incredible Live at Yours team.”
CONCERT 1 FEBRUARY 28: BAROQUE TO BAROSSA AND BEYOND : Grigoryan Brothers, Andrew Blanch, Vladimir Gorbach
Four of Australia’s most virtuosic guitar heroes: the enigmatic Grigoryan Brothers Slava and Leonard, young-gun Andrew Blanch and internationally acclaimed Vladimir Gorbach, appear together for the very first time. Expect mind-bending virtuosity, electrifying rhythms, sultry melodies as they present a kaleidoscopic program spanning 300 years from Bach to Bossa and beyond.
CONCERT 2 : MAY 16: MY GYPSY SOUL Konstantin Shamray, Stefanie Farrands, Umberto Clerici, Andrew Haveron
Passions explode as Australia’s highest profile piano quartet perform together, uniting SSO’s Concertmaster Andrew Haveron, ACO Principal Violist Stefanie Farrands, QSO Chief Conductor Umberto Clerici and international concert pianist Konstantin Shamray. They will breathe new life into timeless masterpieces including the sultry Hungarian dances of Brahms as well as his vigorous first piano quartet and Enescu’s Romanian rhapsody No.1 – especially arranged for the evening.
CONCERT 3 : JUNE 27: 8 SEASONS: VIVALDI VS PIAZZOLLA Kristian Winther, Anthony Hamad, Gumaroy Newman + Octet
Hear Vivaldi’s Four Seasons like never before. Then First Nations performer Gumaroy Newman will present Australia’s Aboriginal seasons with didgeridoo accompaniment and dreamtime storytelling by an elder. Finally revel in the exotic Latin seasons from Argentina’s rebel composer Piazzolla. Star violinist Kristian Winther leads the battle with his hotshot octet and harpsichordist Anthony Hamad in a collision of wildly contrasting seasons. Who will take the prize?
CONCERT 4 : SEPTEMBER 12: THE LEGEND OF JAZZ James Morrison & the James Morrison Quartet
Experience Australia’s beloved ‘Genius of Jazz’ James Morrison up close and personal. Morrison is an international musical icon who has played before royalty and Presidents, awarded many accolades including ARIA awards. He has performed at all the major jazz festivals and regularly plays at the world’s most famous jazz clubs such as Birdland, the Blue Note, and Village Vanguard. Lucky concert-goers will be treated to his unique multi-instrumental virtuosity over a range of smooth as silk classics in a night to savour.
CONCERT 5 : NOVEMBER 8: PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION Alexander Gavrylyuk
Australia’s highest profile international pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk will spark pianistic fireworks with a dizzying program that includes Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, the intimate Brahms Intermezzi op.117 and the fiendishly virtuosic Liszt-Horowitz Danse Macabre. A compelling pianist, Gavrylyuk has performed with many of the world’s leading orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra and Royal Concertgebouw. This is a special opportunity to experience Alexander’s artistry at close quarters under the starry vaults of the Great Synagogue.