Pianist Joseph Havlat in Recital

Step into another world at Hayes Street Studio, the best place to hear world class live music, just steps from the Neutral Bay Ferry Wharf. Hayes Street Studio is thrilled to present pianist and composer Joseph Havlat in a rare recital that features a newly composed works by Australian composer Lisa Illean: her piano Sonata in ten parts.

Commissioned by Wigmore Hall, the 19-minute work premiered in 2024 in London and is the composer’s first work for solo piano. Sonata in ten parts sits alongside and speaks to Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations. Each of its sections began as an improvisation on a pattern derived from a moment – often little more than a bar – in Beethoven’s set of 33 variations.

Following the spirit of this form, Illean transformed the patterns while also drawing disparate starting points into a common nocturnal atmosphere. This mood is explored in movements of preternatural stillness and delicacy, while others feature darting, quicksilver figuration with a more animated character. Alongside this work, Joseph will perform a section from Bent Sørensen's "12 Nocturnes".

Program

• Lisa Illean: Sonata in ten parts

• Bent Sørensen: 12 Nocturnes

This event is for audience members aged 12 years and older.