Ideas@theHouse: April 2022

Date: Wednesday, 20 April 2022, 6.30 pm  AEST
Venue: Live Streaming from Government House Sydney
Entry: No charge
All are welcome

“Nothing” is a show concept the Australian Chamber Orchestra is developing with its partners at Melbourne University and expects to produce in the near future. Following the talk, Richard will engage in a conversation with his interlocutor, Toby Chadd.

Building on a concept originally developed as a part of the 2011 Maribor Festival in Slovenia, Richard has said of his talk:

“Nothing is but a Dream
I’ve been trying to convince people of its miraculous elements for years.
I put it on as a project once, in Slovenia. It had a soprano wearing Nothing.
Barry Humphries even performed the Nothing Nonsense verses of Facade. 
I’m remounting Nothing.
You listeners can hear all about Nothing.
Entry costs Nothing. But to leave you have to Pay!”

About Richard Tognetti 

“…it’s our job to bring the listener in through our portal. A numinous moment when, hopefully, we can make time stand still.”

Richard Tognetti is the Artistic Director of the Australian Chamber Orchestra. He has established an international reputation for his compelling performances and artistic individualism.

Richard began his studies in his home town of Wollongong with William Primrose, then with Alice Waten at the Sydney Conservatorium, and Igor Ozim at the Bern Conservatory, where he was awarded the Tschumi Prize as the top graduate soloist in 1989. Later that year he led several performances of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, and that November was appointed as the Orchestra’s lead violin and, subsequently, Artistic Director. He was Artistic Director of the Festival Maribor in Slovenia from 2008 to 2015.

Richard performs on period, modern, and electric instruments and his numerous arrangements, compositions, and transcriptions have expanded the chamber orchestra repertoire and been performed throughout the world. As a director or soloist, Richard has appeared with many of the world’s leading orchestras, and in 2016 was the first Artist-in-Residence at the Barbican Centre’s Milton Court Concert Hall. Richard has also composed for numerous film soundtracks, including the ACO’s documentary films Mountain, The Reef and Musica Surfica.

Richard was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2010. He holds honorary doctorates from three Australian universities and was made a National Living Treasure in 1999. He performs on a 1743 Guarneri del Gesù violin, lent to him by an anonymous Australian private benefactor.

About Toby Chadd

Toby recently joined ACO as Director of Artistic Planning following an impressive career at the ABC. He began as Label Manager at ABC Classic and Jazz in 2014, before becoming Content Manager in 2018. In this role, Toby revitalised the live music program, initiating the ABC's largest composer commissioning project, developing a new strand of studio live streams and leading cross-genre content collaborations with major arts organisations. Prior to joining the ABC, Toby was Head of Communications at the Academy of Ancient Music in the UK.

About Ideas@theHouse

In late 2019, Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC QC, Governor of New South Wales and Patron of the Royal Society of NSW invited representatives of the Society to discuss how the Governor might open Government House to a series of public events based on important and/or influential ideas. Her Excellency’s proposal was that the Royal Society of NSW might devise a series of presentations and lectures, to be held at Government House, and known as Ideas@theHouse, on topics of our choice for an invited audience of our Members and Fellows, together with others to be invited by Her Excellency. This is the fourth in the Ideas@theHouse series but only the first to be held at “The House” — with the other three having to be held online in May 2020, April 2021, and July 2021 due to restrictions associated with the pandemic at the time.