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| | Arts Calendar / December 10 / Concerts |
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20:00 | Benjamin Righetti (Switzerland) |
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The titular organist at the Church of Saint-Francois, Lausanne and organist-in-residence at the historic concert hall in the city of Bern (the "Kultur-Casino"), Professor of Organ at the Lausanne Conservatoire and at the University of Music Lausanne (HEMU Vaud Valais Fribourg) Benjamin Righetti will perform Bach, Dupre, Frank, Messiaen as the guest of the concert cycle "Music of World Cathedrals". The concert will be accompanied by video performance. Born in Switzerland in 1982, Benjamin Righetti discovered a passion for keyboard instruments at a young age - first for piano, organ and harpsichord and later including clavichord and fortepiano. A musician of wide interests, it is on the "king of instruments" that Benjamin Righetti first achieved international recognition. Between 2002 and 2007 he won awards at some of the most prestigious competitions for organists throughout the world - first the Swiss National Organ Competition, then Musica Antiqua Bruges, Musashino Competition Tokyo, 1st Prize at the Silbermann in Freiberg, the Audience Award at the Chartres contest and the Grand Prix d'Orgue from the City of Paris. His career has since developed as he divides his time between appearances as concert soloist throughout Europe and beyond and a busy schedule as teacher and recording artist. Among Benjamin's several hundred concerts to date, notable highlights have included performances in Notre Dame Cathedral Paris on the day of its 25th birthday, the Toulouse Organ Festival over several years, the millennium celebrations of Chartres Cathedral, as soloist with the celebrated Swiss Romande Orchestra at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and Victoria Hall Geneva, at the closing concert of the Bach Festival in Freiburg Cathedral, for the 800th concert in the Martinkerk Groningen, and in cathedral and church recitals in Spain (Seville and Barcelona) and Italy (Parma and Messina). "Thirty-something gifted and imaginative" (Le Temps, Geneva), "one of the most brilliant organists of his generation" (Musical Review, Suisse Romande), "an immensely talented performer" (Diapason Music Magazine).
Roman Catholic Cathedral of Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary  |
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19:00 | The Amity Affliction (Australia) |
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 Formed in 2003 and comprised of Birch, clean vocalist/bassist Ahren Stringer, drummer Ryan Burt and guitarists Troy Brady and recent addition Dan Brown, the band have steadfastly refused to alter their sound to accommodate current fads. However, with each successive release they have built upon this, and Let The Ocean Take Meis the biggest, richest, and most sonically varied record the band have delivered. "We've always strived to write songs that stick in your head and punch you in the face at the same time," says Stringer. "That's what we do, and I know it's such a cliché to say going into a new record you want your heavier parts to be heavier and your catchier parts to be catchier, but that iswhat we always want to do. However, that means nothing unless the songwriting is the best it can be, and I think on this record we’ve achieved everything that we set out to." Both Birch and Stringer credit this in part to Brown, formerly of Melbourne bruisers Confession. While the four core members have remained consistent since prior to tracking 2008's Severed Ties, and Brady and Stringer have been the principal songwriters, each time they have entered the studio it has been with a different second guitarist, and all agree that Brown has brought something special to the band. Likewise, the combination of producer Will Putney (Winds Of Plague, Upon A Burning Body) and tracking the record at Brady's Evergreen Studios in Brisbane contributed to a positive atmosphere conducive to performing at their very best. On Pittsburgh the band adds an extra dimension to their sound with the inclusion of a children's choir, drafted from a local high school. For Birch, Let The Ocean Take Meis by far the most personal album to date. Already well known for his frankness in eloquently communicating his struggles with anxiety, depression, and suicide through his lyrics, a near death experience during the 2013 Warped Tour brought things into sharper focus for him. While in Pittsburgh, the vocalist suffered a seizure that could very easily have killed him had he gone undiscovered. Taking responsibility, Birch knows it is not just his loved ones that he was mistreating with this behavior, but also the legions of fans that follow the band. Returning in June 2014 with their fourth album, Let The Ocean Take Me, The Amity Affliction have never sounded more vital. Urgent, aggressive, catchy, and diverse, it pushes their signature sound to the next level, providing a riveting soundtrack to the earnest admissions of vocalist Joel Birch, giving their diehard fans the album they both demand and deserve. "We've always been in this for the long haul, and we always want to keep getting better," states Birch. “We toured for five years around Australia almost non-stop before anyone even really noticed us, and then with each of our records our following seemed to double. That's really humbling, because we never set out to be "successful" in this way, and our fans are really important to us, and we're just going to keep writing the best songs we can." Regardless of such struggles, right now the band are collectively in the best headspace they have ever been in, and looking ahead the future is one filled with positivity. More info
Volta Club |
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