Art + Music Talks

What are some of the great movements in art and music? And why are they significant?

Find out about exceptional masterpieces and explore the stories behind artists, composers and musicians who created famous works in our Art + Music Talks series in the Allan Mullins Studio at our sister site, Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre. Enjoy eight enlightening mornings of insight and discovery. Sessions begin at 11am and finish at 12.30pm with a short break in the middle. Each talk will incorporate a short Q&A at the end. Scroll down to book your favourite talk or all 8 talks and save!

Wednesday 9 June 11am – Margaret Preston: An Australian Vision (Nick Yelverton, Assistant Curator of Australian Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales)

“One of Australia’s most significant artists, Margaret Preston, was a key figure in the development of modern art in Sydney from the 1920s to the 1950s. Renowned for her paintings and woodcuts of local landscapes and native flora, she was an outspoken public voice on Australian culture and championed a distinctly Australian style, based on the principles and motifs of modernist, Aboriginal and Asian art.” – Art Gallery of New South Wales

Please join us for this talk by Art Gallery of New South Wales curator, Nick Yelverton.  Nick’s recent projects include the travelling exhibition, Fieldwork (2020-21), In any way, shape or form: the new abstraction (2016), Janet Laurence: the matter of the masters (2017-18) and Australian art and the legacy of the Russian avant-grade (2017). He has also contributed to the following AGNSW exhibitions; Pop to popism (2014), John Russell: Australia’s French impressionist (2017) and Streeton (2020).

Image: Margaret Preston, 1909. State Library SA

Wednesday 14 July 11am – Featuring Simon Tedeschi, Pianist

Australia’s favourite pianist, Simon Tedeschi, has performed worldwide for global leaders, royalty and audiences young and old, from the Sydney Opera House to Carnegie Hall. Whether performing solo, with an orchestra, a narrator or chamber music partner (or group), and sometimes performing in all four formats in the same fortnight, careful and thorough preparation of the music to be played is always key. Join Simon as he shares some of his secrets to learning piano music and the different ways he practises for the different kinds of performances, and in particular, how he prepares and performs George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue – a work he has, arguably, performed more than any other musician on earth.

Wednesday 11 August 11am – Grace Cossington Smith, Australia’s first Post-Impressionist painter

“Grace Cossington Smith (1892–1984) is one of Australia’s most important artists; a brilliant colourist, she was one of this country’s first Post-Impressionsts. She is renowned for her iconic urban images and radiant interiors. Although Cossington Smith was keenly attentive to the modern urban environment, she also brought a deeply personal, intimate response to the subjects of her art. Among the recurring themes are the metropolis and Sydney Harbour Bridge, portraits, still lifes, landscapes, religious and war subjects, theatre and ballet performances, and domestic interiors infused with light.” – National Gallery of Australia

Wednesday 15 September 11am – The Piano, the Composer and the Performer (Andy Bromberger, Musician and Lecturer of Classical Music)

The piano was invented about 300 years ago. There were keyboard instruments before this time but none gave the composer both the ability to play dynamics and a sound loud enough for a concert performance. Then the piano was invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori in 1700. Its impact on the musical has been likened to the invention of the steam engine in the industrial world.

Wednesday 13 October 11am – Inspiring Women Artists of the Renaissance (Lorraine Kypiotis, Lecturer and Outreach Coordinator, National Art School)

Lorraine is a senior lecturer in Art History and Theory at the National Art School in Sydney where she also manages metropolitan, regional and interstate art programs. Lorraine is a popular guest lecturer at the Art Gallery of New South Wales and leads tours to Italy. She is a regular guest on ABC Nightlife speaking on art historical topics including Michelangelo’s David; Leonardo da Vinci and the Last Supper; the Stolen Mona Lisa; Botticelli’s Venus; Women in Art; and Art, Feminism and the Rokeby Venus.

There were great women artists in the Renaissance though we have rarely heard of them. During this time art played a critical role in society, especially in disseminating the fame of the artist. In this respect, portraiture, a new and burgeoning genre was of great importance in defining the role of the Renaissance virtuosa. It is testament to the artistic passion of these Renaissance women that they managed to work as artists at all and now their stories are more and more being revealed and revered.