Music / Winter Recital, Wesley Music Scholars. At Wesley Music Centre, Forrest, July 14. Reviewed by LEN POWER.

Aptly named due to the bitterly cold weather outside, the Winter Recital by the Wesley Music Scholars produced a welcome warmth with performances of selected works from the classics to jazz to modern.

Starting the concert with Franz Schubert’s Lied der Mignon, Phoebe Bourke, mezzo soprano, and Jojo Yuen, piano, gave a fine performance of this well-known song. Bourke’s sensitive singing gave depth to the pain and emotion in the character of Mignon.

Brad Tham, violin, and Pippa Newman, viola, followed with Reinhold Gliére’s 8 Pieces Op. 39. These varied works give performers a good opportunity to showcase their abilities and both players showed great skill in their playing, as well as showing how much they were enjoying it.

Next, soprano Evangeline Osborne, a jazz voice and composition student, and pianist Martin Magill performed two contrasting works, Wayne Shorter’s Black Orpheus, a haunting latin melody from the famous film and Louis Armstrong’s jaunty Sunny Side of the Street. Osborne showed fine technique and ability to entertain with these songs and Magill, with his nimble playing, showed that he was a sensitive and accomplished accompanist.

They were followed by Gabriel Fromyhr on cello who played 3 Courantes by JS Bach. His confident, relaxed playing brought out the differences between all three fast-paced works and showed his mastery of the instrument.

Tanya Boag on violin then performed the Allemande from JS Bach’s Partita No. 2 for Violin in D minor. She gave a thoughtfully sensitive performance of this melodic work.

Evangeline Osborne, soprano; Phoebe Bourke, mezzo soprano; Pippa Newman, alto; Martin Magill, tenor and Jesse Hill, baritone, performed the final item of four very different songs, starting with Purcell’s Thou Knowest Lord and following with Billy Joel’s And So It Goes, Peace Offering by Jesse Hill and Our Song by Kate Miller-Heidke. Their voices skilfully blended with great appeal across the different styles of music.

This charming concert showed that, with young performers of this calibre, Australia’s future in music performance is assured.