Ironwood is Australia's newest historically informed performance group crossing the boundaries of old and new. Ironwood is a flexible ensemble of world class musicians who are based in Australia and perform at an elite level, exploring the sound of chamber music on gut strings.
Ironwood comprises some of Australia’s foremost chamber musicians, who perform on both period and modern string instruments. The musicians have performed with
Les Arts Florissants, Les Talens Lyriques,
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Pinchgut Opera,
Florilegium, Australian Chamber Orchestra,
English Baroque Soloists,
Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra,
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Alpha Centauri, Elision,
Australian Brandenburg Orchestra,
La Petite Bande and Ludovico’s Band.
Members of Ironwood also record and broadcast for many organizations including the ABC, Sony, Virgin Classics, Deutsche Grammaphon, Naïve, Channel Classics, Tall Poppies, and radio networks across Europe, including WDR radio (Germany), Naxos and Teldac. Recently Ironwood has recorded
J.S. Bach with oboist Diana Doherty and the music of Paul Stanhope and Elena Kats-Chernin for ABC Classics, as well as broadcasts for ABC Classic FM.
The ensemble was formed in late 2006, presenting a festival of W.A. Mozart’s chamber works for strings and piano at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and since then has presented concerts in conjunction with Historic Houses Trust, NSW at Vaucluse and Elizabeth Bay Houses, exploring the music of mid-19th century Sydney and Europe as well as performances at Sydney's Sydney Harbour Trust historic North Head Artillery School Ballroom and St.John's in Sorrento, Victoria.
In October 2007 Ironwood were one of the first music ensembles as Artist-In-Residence at the Arthur Boyd property, Bundanon, on NSW’s south coast. The success of the inaugural Peninsula Summer Music Festival in 2008 will be followed in January 2009, by concerts in the Recital Series of the festival and broadcasts for ABCFM. Season 2009 also includes an Australia wide tour with soprano Miriam Allan and concerts in the Sydney Coffee Concert series for Musica Viva; regional touring in South Eastern Australia; a series of early music education projects involving further collaboration with Bundanon and other venues; commissioning new works for gut strings by Australian composers including Rosalind Page, Paul Stanhope, Damian Barbeler and Kevin March. |