about.
Fragments Ensemble explores what art song can mean now.
Retaining the honoured traditions of classical piano and voice performance, Brieley Cutting (piano) and Judit Molnár (soprano) work together and with their collaborators to understand, engage, and communicate with an expressive, performative blend of classical and the avant-garde.
Brieley and Judit have worked together since 2012 and Fragments Ensemble was initiated in 2017 as a 'work lab' for Judit's doctoral project, The Voice of Kurtág. Performances continued with a focus on showcasing voice and piano music of the most influential Hungarian composers of the 20th and 21st centuries - Bartók, Ligeti, Kodály, and Kurtág. Fragments' repertoire has since been widened to also include art song and chamber works from composers across Europe, Russia and Australia, as well as the creation of new artistic work and new music. The spotlight in concerts also extends to Fragments' collaborators, instrumental repertoire with piano sometimes adding variety to their programs.
Fragments' performances have been held in Brisbane venues such as the Ian Hanger Recital Hall at the Queensland Conservatorium, Nickson Room at the University of Queensland, and at the Comissariat Store Museum in central Brisbane city. Other performance venues have included the Jackman Gallery of contemporary art in Melbourne's St Kilda, the Australian Institute of Music in Sydney, and the Newcastle Fringe Festival in New South Wales. They have also been featured in the 4MBS Festival of Classics and as part of Brisbane Open House.
Collaborators have included Graeme Jennings (violin), Kristian Winther (violin), Rianne Wilschut (clarinet), Monika Koerner (flute), István Horkay (visual artist), Stephen Danzig (digital media artist), Kimberley Bianca (media artist & designer), David Spearritt (recording engineer), Vincent Giles (composer) and Mark Oliveiro (composer).
2023 will see Fragments complete a recording project with Graeme Jennings featuring performances of four György Kurtág song cycles and selected folk-songs by Béla Bartók. 2023 will also see the premiere of their show Electro Lieder, a collaboration with Sydney and Melbourne-based experimental composers Mark Oliviero, Vincent Giles and emerging composers. Their work together explores the tradition of art song and the craft of composing art songs, whilst pushing boundaries with electro-acoustic approaches to composition and performance.
projects.
