Danceworks

I’m so excited to be presenting this concert centred around composers from my homeland The Netherlands - and specifically The Hague - to the musicians and the audiences in Perth. You could say musical life in The Netherlands, and perhaps around the world, changed with the works and completely unique personality of composer Louis Andriessen. Andriessen was co-founder and the most successful of the contemporary musical movement known as The Hague School, which was characterised by a collaborative, collective and experimental approach to music.

Andriessen taught at the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague until 2012 and, through his nurturing and promotion of generations of composers, he helped shape the future of contemporary music. He was the most intelligent, anti-establishment, musical, sensitive and witty composer I have ever worked with; a kind a force of nature, musically and personally, one gets to meet only seldom in life.

The music of The Hague School could overall be described as minimalism – but always with a twist, often adding a very persistent and sometimes aggressive, mechanical edge to the music we know so well from Steven Reich, John Adams or Terry Riley. There is a lot of rhythmic, motoric patterns going on, but Andriessen somehow always managed to pair that with an enormous emotional power, in the same way you can experience in works by Stravinsky. It’s never quite what you expect, but the incredible rhythmic impact that really hits you is right at the heart of the music.

Both Martijn Padding and Steve Martland were Andriessen’s students in The Hague and his influence is obvious in Martland’s muscular rhythmic power and Padding’s somewhat quirky sense of humour. Michael Torke certainly connects to this musical world with his love for straightforward musical language in combination with a funky and groovy flexibility. His Adjustable Wrench is a brilliant fusion of rock, jazz and classical elements, all held together in a framework of incredible rhythmic precision.

The Hague School brought music away from serialism and abstraction and back to a more physical and socially engaged kind of music. Powerful rhythmic repetition, often confrontational and meaningful, dissonant chords, but always emotionally charged and accessible to the listener. Infused with irony and humour, it’s probably witty Dutch pragmatism at its best!

— Otto Tausk, conductor

Otto Tausk
Conductor

Dutch conductor Otto Tausk is Music Director of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and Artistic Advisor to the VSO School of Music. Internationally recognised for his dynamic musicianship and insightful interpretations, he has worked with leading orchestras and opera houses worldwide, conducting a diverse repertoire ranging from core symphonic works to contemporary compositions.

Highlights of the 2024/25 season include a Canadian tour with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, debuts with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra and Buffalo Philharmonic and returns to the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, and Staatskapelle Weimar. This summer, Tausk will conduct the NDR Philharmonie Hannover at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival. Tausk has appeared as a guest conductor with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Residentie Orkest, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, Stuttgart Philharmoniker, the National Orchestra of Belgium, and orchestras across the UK, including BBC Scottish Symphony and BBC National Orchestra of Wales, with whom he performed Richard Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben at the 2018 BBC Proms.

From 2012–2018, Tausk was Music Director of the Theater und Orchester Sankt Gallen, where he led numerous operas, including the world premiere of Annas Maske by Swiss composer David Hefti, and the Swiss premiere of George Benjamin’s Written on Skin. For his contributions to the arts in The Netherlands, particularly his leadership at Holland Symfonia (2007–2012), Tausk was awarded the prestigious De Olifant prize by the City of Haarlem.

Sara Macliver
Soprano

Sara Macliver is one of Australia’s most popular and versatile artists, and is regarded as one of the leading exponents of Baroque repertoire. Sara is a regular performer with all the Australian symphony orchestras as well as the Perth, Melbourne and Sydney Festivals, Pinchgut Opera, the Australian Chamber Orchestra and Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Musica Viva Australia, and a number of international companies. Sara records for ABC Classics, with more than 35 CDs and many awards to her credit.

In recent years, Sara has sung with the West Australian, Sydney, Melbourne, Queensland, Adelaide and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, Pinchgut Opera, West Australian Opera, Australian String Quartet, St George’s Cathedral, Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra, Bangalow Festival, Collegium Musicum, Sydney Philharmonia, Freeze Frame Opera, Ten Days on the Island, Peninsula Summer Festival, Brisbane Camerata, ANAM, Melbourne Philharmonic and Genesis Baroque amongst other projects.

In 2025, she performs with the West Australian, Sydney and Canberra Symphony Orchestras, the Australian String Quartet, ANAM, Brisbane Chamber Choir, Genesis Baroque and Sydney Chamber Choir.

Sara has been awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Western Australia (UWA) in recognition of her services to singing. She is on staff at the Conservatorium of Music at the University of Western Australia and sits on the Boards of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and Freeze Frame Opera.