Ensemble Q with Ed le Brocq

Sunday 9 August 2026

Presented by HOTA

Ensemble Q with Ed le Brocq

Presented by HOTA

From Mozart to Leunig - a journey through words, whimsy and the power of music

Hailed by Limelight magazine as "Australia's top echelon of musicians," Ensemble Q Australia tours its Regional Touring Program with a vibrant mix of beloved classics and compelling new Australian works.

Featuring ABC Classic presenter and writer Ed le Brocq, the program unveils a newly commissioned work by Anne Cawrse, inspired by le Brocq's deeply moving story Sonam & the Silence, a meditation on the transformative power of music. In a similar spirit, le Brocq gives voice to Michael Leunig's whimsical imagination in Calvin Bowman's Curly Pyjama Letters.

Bookending these new works are great pillars of the chamber repertoire - Puccini’s hauntingly lyrical Crisantemi, Webern’s deeply romantic Langsammer Satz and Mozart's much-loved Clarinet Quintet, featuring internationally renowned clarinettist Paul Dean.

Program

Puccini - Crisantemi

Anne Cawrse/Ed le Brocq - Sonam and the Silence

Webern - Langsamer Satz

Calvin Bowman/Michael Leunig - Curly Pyjama Letters

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Clarinet Quintet in A, K 581

Session Times

2:00 PM

5:00 PM

Bio

Paul Dean – Clarinetist, composer, Co-Artistic Director

Clarinetist Paul Dean is widely regarded as one of Australia's foremost musicians in his multiple capacities as soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, composer and Artistic Director. Formerly Artistic Director of Australian National Academy of Music and Professor at Queensland Conservatorium he is currently the Kinnane Professor of Music at the University of Queensland. He has performed as soloist with most major Australian orchestras, the Auckland Symphony and the Trondheim Symfoniorkester. He was principal clarinet for the QSO, founder of Southern Cross Soloists and Bangalow Music Festival and is a member of the Australian World Orchestra. As a composer he has won major awards including the coveted Paul Lowin Prize and is published by Wise Music. His major works have been commissioned and performed by the Australian World Orchestra, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and ANAM Symphony as well as the Australian Festival of Chamber Music and major solo artists and ensembles.

Trish Dean – Cellist, CEO & Co-Artistic Director

Trish has performed as concerto soloist with several Australian orchestras, as guest artist with the Australian String Quartet and the Navarra Quartet (UK) and as soloist and chamber musician at national and international festivals in the UK, Switzerland, Portugal, Germany, Malaysia and across Australia. She has toured extensively as a recitalist and recorded for ABC Classics, 2MBS Records and more. Previously a Principal with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Artistic Director of the Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium, Trish has performed as Guest Principal with the Adelaide, Queensland and Sydney Symphony Orchestras, and is a member of the Australian World Orchestra.

Adam Chalabi – Violinist

Adam Chalabi is one of Australia’s foremost violinists and is currently Head of Violin at the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM). He was formerly Concertmaster of Orchestra Victoria and has appeared as guest concertmaster with the Queensland, Melbourne and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras. As first violinist of the internationally acclaimed Tinalley String Quartet, he has toured widely and recorded for major labels. A highly respected educator, he previously served as Head of Strings at the University of Queensland. Adam performs on a 1742 Guarneri filius Andreæ violin

Anne Horton – Violinist

Anne Horton is an acclaimed violinist who rose to prominence with the Tankstream Quartet (later the Australian String Quartet), winning major international competitions in Cremona and Osaka. She has performed across Europe, the UK, and the US, and appeared on leading international broadcasters. Anne holds performance degrees from the Australian Institute of Music and studied chamber music in Cologne. A passionate educator and chamber musician, she is an Artistic Associate with Camerata, core member of Ensemble Q, and performs regularly with QSO and Ensemble Trivium.

Benjamin Roskams – Violist

Guest Principal Viola – BBC Symphony Orchestra; London Philharmonic Orchestra; Guest Concertmaster – Sinfonieorchester Aachen, Germany; Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal, Germany, member of the Australian World Orchestra. Benjamin enjoys a varied career as an orchestral and chamber musician on both violin and viola. Recently he performed at the first night of the proms as guest principal viola of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, a position that has also taken him to the London Philharmonic, Philharmonia and BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Also as guest concertmaster he has appeared with both the Sinfoniorchester Aachen and Sinfoniorchester Wuppertal in Germany. He is also a regular guest to several international chamber music festivals, including the Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville, Stift international Chamber music festival in Holland, Oxford May Music Festival and the Highgate International Chamber Music Festival in London. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music and the Guildhall in London with Lydia Mordkovitch, Emanuel Hurwitz and David Takeno before continuing with Ilya Grubert in Amsterdam and later Ivry Gitlis in Paris. Benjamin plays a Joseph ‘filius Andrea’ Guarneri c.1720

Ed le Brocq – Narrator

Ed le Brocq is an Australian musician, broadcaster, writer and educator. Born in Dover, England, he trained at the Royal Northern College of Music and furthered his studies in Berlin, London and Melbourne.After a professional career playing viola in the UK and Hong Kong, Ed relocated to Australia in 2003. He is well known as a presenter on ABC Classic - notably hosting Weekend Breakfast - where his deep musical insight and engaging personality have introduced countless listeners to classical music. Ed is also an accomplished author, with books including Sonam and the Silence, Cadence: Travels with Music and Danger Music. His broad experience as performer, broadcaster, educator and writer, combined with his warm, narrative-driven communication style, make him particularly well suited for school and community engagement as narrator and workshop facilitator on this tour