In Friday’s (8/8) Hobart Mercury (Tasmania), Kane Young writes, “It’s not every day you find a world-renowned musician playing an impromptu free show in the food court at your local shopping centre. But shoppers at Northgate in Glenorchy got more than they bargained for yesterday when German cellist Alban Gerhardt treated them to a taste of what can be expected when he performs with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra in Hobart tonight. Gerhardt is passionate about giving people from all walks of life a taste of music that might otherwise seem inaccessible to them. The acclaimed soloist—who gave his first performance at the Berliner Philharmonie at 18 and has gone on to perform with more than 250 orchestras around the world—has performed his free ‘pop-up concerts’ in supermarkets, maternity wards, gyms, office foyers, and even people’s lounge rooms. Refusing to ‘dumb down’ the music for his non-traditional audiences, he has performed Bach’s six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello at Berlin’s central railway station. Tonight he’ll be the main attraction at Hobart’s Federation Concert Hall, where he’ll perform Dvorák’s Cello Concerto and more with the TSO.” A video of Gerhardt giving a pop-up concert at a Hobart food court accompanies the article.
Posted August 8, 2014
