The Firm Archive
Between 1996 and 2023, the Firm has presented a total of 139 concerts with more than 850 works, including 350 first performances, by 128 different composers and featuring 121 performers.
The Firm was formed in 1996 through the collaboration of composers Raymond Chapman Smith, Quentin Grant, David Kotlowy and John Polglase. The long, corporate-sounding list of surnames soon earned the organisation the affectionate nickname of 'The Firm'.
The annual concert seasons are conceived, programmed, curated and directed by Quentin Grant and Raymond Chapman Smith. Their innovative approach to music presentation invites audiences to engage with newly written - 21st Century - art music that embraces a poetic, romantic aesthetic, alongside great works from the repertoire of the 18th, 19th and 20th Centuries.
Concert Programs
The annual Posthumous Composer in Residence provides a focus and impetus for the creation of new works and programming of existing works for performance. Repertoire works are presented both as part of each concert and as special Masterwork events.
The concert programs are an integral part of music presentation by the Firm. For each concert, the complimentary program booklet provides quotations and images that invite the audience to share the artistic preoccupations of the composers, in their quest for the poetic shape of the ideal program.
Concert programs from previous Seasons, complete with program booklets, as well as concert reviews and articles about the Firm, can be accessed through the Concert Archive links for each year in the sidebar.
Masterwork Events
In the Masterwork events, the Firm has presented
Bach's 'Goldberg Variations'
Beethoven's 'Diabelli Variations'
the Chopin Etudes, Op. 10 and Op. 25
all the Schubert song cycles: 'Die schöne Müllerin', 'Winterreise', 'Schwanengesang', as well as a 'Liederabend' recital, a 'Schubertiade' evening and a premiere performance of 'The Wanderer' cycle, recently discovered by the Firm.
the major Schumann song cycles, 'Dichterliebe' and 'Eichendorff Liederkreis'
Janacek's 'Diary of One Who Disappeared' together with scenes from 'Der Kaiser von Atlantis' by the Entartete composer Victor Ullmann
and Hugo Wolfe's 'Italienisches Liederbuch', in conjunction with the Accompanists' Guild of South Australia.
