Seesaw Magazine, reviewed by Penny Shaw | 27 April 2022
Baroque ensemble Van Diemen’s Band offer a timely program that addresses issues around the shifting nature of borders.
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The Age, reviewed by Cameron Woodhead
Crossing borders can be a difficult and dangerous proposition these days, as the pandemic and the war in Ukraine have made only too clear. In a superbly imaginative and deeply engaging program devised by violinist Julia Fredersdorff, Tasmanian early music group Van Diemen’s Band traverses geographical and stylistic borders through seventeenth-century Europe adding complementary contemporary resonances that tellingly link art to life.
State of the Art Magazine reviewed by Aryan Mohseni | May 3, 2022
This concert was a yardstick by which others should be compared. It went beyond the likes of Bach, Handel and Vivaldi, great as is the homage we all owe to them, to show us the richness of the early Baroque, and all in a way that gave an opportunity for each member of the ensemble to shine. Van Diemen’s Band is an ensemble that ought to be more known, and the mainland deserves to be graced more by its presence.
Reviewed by Chris Reid | 29 April, 2022
When initially conceived, the theme of this concert, entitled Borderlands , addressed cultural borders of a bygone era and, by analogy, borders generally (including COVID-induced borders). But the recent advent of the Ukraine war has given greater emphasis to the theme of war and contested borders that emerges from these composers’ lives.
Sydney Morning Herald, by Harriet Cunningham | 2 May 2022
What is the relevance of a group of virtuosic musicians fastidiously recreating music of 17th century Europe for a twenty-first-century audience in Australia? Is it escapism? Consolation?
Sydney Arts Guide, reviewed by Paul Nolan
As a concert concept, Borderlands, with its connotations of cultural sharing, division, battle and even distance, isolation or loneliness is a meaty, still-relevant and emotional one indeed. It is always a special thrill when early music consorts collaborate with contemporary composers and juxtapose centuries of treatise-consulting, authentic instrument tone with exciting modern performance techniques and ingenuity.
Sounds Like Sydney reviewed Stephen McCarthy | May 12, 2022
The six musicians of the Tasmanian Baroque ensemble Van Diemen’s Band presented a concert themed on composers who wrote across stylistic and national borders. It’s a curious concept whose, main thread of interest was how well the idea could be realised through the music.
Classikon reviewed by Jane Downer | May 10, 2022
For Julia Fredersdorff (Van Diemen’s Band’s Artistic Director) living in Tasmania, the initial idea for Borderlands arose from the shutting down of Australian state borders, which led to thoughts of isolated lands and country extremities.
Canberra City News, reviewed by Rob Kennedy | 12 May 2022
DESCRIBED as Australia’s baroque supergroup, Van Diemen’s Band is made up of early music specialists who create a sound so rich and authentic, it is like being transported to the Elizabethan era.
O’Connell the Music, reviewed by Clive O'Connell | May 8, 2022
The name is Tasmanian but some of this ensemble’s personnel are off-islanders; not many of us, and only some of this group, have enjoyed the gift of moving away from the modern plague to a serene retreat in the uttermost south.
Seesaw Magazine, reviewed by Penny Shaw | 27 April 2022
Baroque ensemble Van Diemen’s Band offer a timely program that addresses issues around the shifting nature of borders.