As two of country music’s hottest properties, Travis Collins and Amber Lawrence are both award winning solo artists. Now they join forces to create the “Our Backyard” EP; a 7 track release that was produced by the acclaimed producer Matt Fell.

As well as drawing inspiration from the folk tunes of the past, Percy Grainger was a true original, an innovator of extreme proportions – and Australia’s first international pop star.This album is part of 1000 Years of Classical Music – a series of 100 volumes charting the history of music to be released on ABC Classics. More information can be found at the project’s website; www.1000YearsofClassicalMusic.com.

Prokofiev’s life was defined by exile and persecution, but through it all the fire of musical creativity burned bright. Begun in Russia, completed in France and premiered in Chicago, his Third Piano Concerto pioneers a new virtuosity while presenting memorable and strikingly individual tunes.This album is part of 1000 Years of Classical Music – a series of 100 volumes charting the history of music to be released on ABC Classics. More information can be found at the project’s website; www.1000YearsofClassicalMusic.com.

Unfinished, but uplifting: Schubert’s Eighth Symphony is a visionary achievement that moves harmony into new realms of beauty.This album is part of 1000 Years of Classical Music – a series of 100 volumes charting the history of music to be released on ABC Classics. More information can be found at the project’s website; www.1000YearsofClassicalMusic.com.TRACKLISTING1-2 Symphony No. 8, D759 ‘Unfinished’ 3 Die Zauberharfe (The Magic Harp), D644: Overture 4-6 Rosamunde, D797: Incidental music – selections Tasmanian Symphony OrchestraSebastian Lang-Lessing conductor

Mozart’s operas represent a roll-call of favourite characters and timeless music, blending the comic with the serious, and the historical with the contemporary.This album is part of 1000 Years of Classical Music – a series of 100 volumes charting the history of music to be released on ABC Classics. More information can be found at the project’s website; www.1000YearsofClassicalMusic.com.TRACKLISTINGDon Giovanni1 Catalogue Aria: Madamina, il catalogo è questo2 Batti, batti, o bel Masetto3 Duet: Là ci darem la mano4 Serenade: Deh, vieni alla finestra The Abduction from the Seraglio5 O, wie will ich triumphieren The Marriage of Figaro6 Voi, che sapete7 Non più andrai8 Porgi amor9 Dove sono i bei momenti10 Se vuol ballare, signor Contino11 Letter Duet: Sull’aria Idomeneo12 Fuor del mar La clemenza di Tito13 Trio: Se al volto mai ti senti Zaide14 Ruhe sanft, mein holdes Leben Così fan tutte15 Come scoglio16 Trio: Soave sia il vento The Magic Flute17 Birdcatcher’s Song: Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja18 Queen of the Night Aria: Der Hölle Rache19 Ach, ich fühl’s20 Duet: Pa-Pa-Pa-Papagena!

The power of poetry inspires a musical revolution: from the opera stage to the music rooms of the aristocracy, composers from Monteverdi to Vivaldi find new ways to bring emotion alive with music.This album is part of 1000 Years of Classical Music – a series of 100 volumes charting the history of music to be released on ABC Classics. More information can be found at the project’s website; www.1000YearsofClassicalMusic.com.TRACKLISTING1-2 MONTEVERDI L’Orfeo: Toccata & Prologue3 MONTEVERDI Vespers: Nigra sum4 FRESCOBALDI Toccata per spinettina e violino5 CACCINI Amarilli, mia bella6 KAPSPERGER Toccata7 A. MARCELLO Oboe Concerto in D minor: Adagio8 CORELLI Christmas Concerto: Pastorale9 DALL’ABACO Violin Concerto in E major, Op. 6 No. 11: Aria10 ALBINONI Oboe Concerto in D minor: Adagio11 A. SCARLATTI Toccata da Cimbalo12 D. SCARLATTI Sonata K18513 VIVALDI Gloria: Gloria in excelsis Deo14 LOCATELLI Christmas Concerto: Pastorale15 TARTINI Violin Sonata ‘The Devil’s Trill’: Andante – Allegro16 GEMINIANI Concerto grosso in D major: Allegro17 VIVALDI Concerto for Two Mandolins:  Andante18 BRESCIANELLO Chaconne in A major

Young Australian pianist Jayson Gillham presents his third album on ABC Classics, featuring the music of two Russian friends and piano virtuosi: Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No.2 – one of the most eternally popular pieces of classical music – and the rarely performed Piano Concerto No.1 by Nikolai Medtner, written just 15 years later. For these recordings, Gillham is joined in the studio by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and their Associate Conductor Benjamin Northey. Nikolai Medtner (1880–1951) was a close friend of Rachmaninoff (they even dedicated various pieces to one another) but history has treated their music very differently. The great Australian pianist Geoffrey Tozer, who died in 2009, was a rare champion of Medtner’s music, and it was when Gillham was invited to feature in a documentary on Tozer’s life that he discovered Medtner’s work. Dedicated to his mother, Medtner’s Piano Concerto No.1 was written during the First World War. The intense drama of the music – brought out in vivid technicolour in these recordings – is irresistible, but so too is the consolatory power of music. We discover the healing balm of music again in Angel, Medtner’s work for solo piano: a meditation, as Gillham puts it, on “the rediscovery of a divine song, half-remembered, half-forgotten, of a beauty that cannot be matched on earth”. Gillham first performed Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No.2 with the MSO in Melbourne’s outdoor Sidney Myer Music Bowl: that concert was greeted with rapture by both the critics and a cheering audience of thousands. Renewing their association in the studio just weeks later, Gillham and the Orchestra unveil fresh richness in this beloved music. The concerto is paired with the contemporaneous Prelude Op.23 No.4, which shares the same “blissful contentment”. NIKOLAI MEDTNER 1880–1951Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor, Op. 331. Allegro –2. Tranquillo, meditamente –3. Coda (Allegro molto)4. Eight Stimmungsbilder (Mood Pictures), Op. 1: No. 1 Prologue ‘The Angel’SERGEI RACHMANINOFF 1873–1943Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 185. I. Moderato6. II. Adagio sostenuto7. III. Allegro scherzando8. Prelude in D major, Op. 23 No. 4 Jayson Gillham pianoMelbourne Symphony OrchestraBenjamin Northey conductorRecorded in the Iwaki Auditorium of the ABC’s Southbank Centre, 10-13 April 2017

A celebration of music, culture, and identity, from the hearts and mouths of a new generation of Indigenous Australia.The call; “What song has spoken strongest to you about growing up an Indigenous Australian?” The response; A collection of 12 songs from this country’s deadliest and most inspiring young musicians, taking us on a sonic journey through the foundations of their musical inspiration, and the songs that have helped shape their Indigenous identity and culture.   From Adelaide to East Arnhem Land, from Brisbane to Regional NSW, DEADLY HEARTS showcases Australian music at its absolute finest. Each artist brings their own flavour whilst paying homage to, and retaining the soul of these 12 songs that hold a special place in their hearts.Jimblah paints a synth-laden, new-age picture of his ‘Island Home’ taking on the Warumpi Band classic; Robbie Miller provides some magical, goosebump-inducing moments with ‘Solid Rock’, Emily Wurramara delivers a breathy, jazz-inspired rendition of Coloured Stone’s ‘Black Boy’, Benny Walker shares his musical inspirations by paying tribute to a timeless masterpiece, and Birdz throws his hip-hop touch at Yothu Yindi’s ‘Sunset Dreaming (Djapana)’.The modern sound of Indigenous Australia. The next generation of Indigenous storytellers, genre-hopping across these songs of importance. 

Hit Country 2017 is here!  This premier country compilation series is released in 2CD format this year, and features some of the biggest hits from Australia and around the world. Including international chart toppers Chris Stapleton, Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton; PLUS all the biggest names and rising stars in Australian country: Travis Collins, Caitlyn Shadbolt, Adam Harvey & Beccy Cole, Adam Brand, The Wolfe Brothers, Sunny Cowgirls and many more!Track Listing:CD 1:1. The Wolfe Brothers – Thow Em Back2. Tim Hicks – Stompin’ Ground3. Miranda Lambert – We Should Be Friends4. David Nail – Night’s On Fire5. Kelsea Ballerini – Yeah Boy6. Caitlyn Shadbolt – My Breakup Anthem7. Drake White – It Feels Good8. The Band Perry – The Comeback Kid9. Carrie Underwood – Church Bells10. Travis Collins – Hometown Calling11. Gord Bamford – Don’t Let Her Be Gone12. Tyler Farr – Our Town13. Missy Lancaster – Back Row14. Jana Kramer – I Got The Boy15. Cole Swindell – Middle of a Memory16. The Viper Creek Band – Rockstars17. Bobby Wills – Get While The Gettin’s Good18. Dylan Scott – My Girl19. Jon Pardi – Dirt on My Boots20. The Shires – All Over AgainCD 2:1. Adam Brand – Drunk2. Christie Lamb – Bad Habit3. Jasmine Rae – Everybody Wants To Take My Money4. Blake Shelton – A Guy With A Girl5. Jody Direen – Dirt Rich6. Jess Moskaluke – Drive Me Away7. Brett Eldredge – Wanna Be That Song8. Chris Stapleton – Fire Away9. Ward Thomas – Cartwheels10. Michael Ray – Think A Little Less11. Dan + Shay – How Not To12. Baylou – Rattlin’ Chains13. Kaylen’s Rain – Lost In The Moonshine14. William Michael Morgan – I Met a Girl15. Ryan Kinder – Tonight16. Wyonna feat. Jason Isbell – Things That I Lean On17. Adam Harvey & Beccy Cole – Anyone Who Isn’t Me Tonight18. Seth Ennis – Woke Up In Nashville19. The Brothers Osborne – It Ain’t My Fault20. Sunny Cowgirls – Dam Fun 

Two of Australia’s finest storytellers, actor John Bell and pianist Simon Tedeschi, break new ground with this new recording of the great melodrama Enoch Arden – a deeply moving tale of love, loss, redemption and shipwreck, told through spoken word and solo piano.Enoch Arden depicts, in Tedeschi’s own words, "extremities of emotional pathos in which an everyman is thrust into a maelstrom of betrayal, longing, regret and often, madness.” It is the story of three childhood friends, Enoch Arden, Philip Ray and Annie Lee. Enoch and Annie marry and start a family, but after Enoch is shipwrecked on an island for ten years, Annie agrees to marry Philip – believing Enoch to be dead. When Enoch returns, he learns of Annie and Philip’s relationship, and of their child together, and chooses to live in seclusion, heartbroken for his own fate but blissful in their happiness.The poem Enoch Arden was published in 1864 while Alfred, Lord Tennyson was Queen Victoria’s Poet Laureate; Strauss wrote a piano score to accompany its recitation in 1897. Its most famous recording was a limited-edition release by Glenn Gould with Claude Rains in 1962. This new recording presents a rare insight into the pathos of Enoch Arden’s story, an exploration of humanity just as relevant in 2017 as when it was first written.This album and subsequent national tour marks Tedeschi and Bell's first collaboration. "I wanted to do Enoch,” says John Bell, “because I love working with musicians; I love being up close and watching their technique and feeling the visceral presence of the instruments. I've admired Simon for a long time; he's a bit of an entertainer and showman as well as being a great pianist."On this album, Enoch Arden is paired with the stunningly evocative Songs of Dawn (Gesänge der Frühe) for solo piano by Robert Schumann. Written in 1853, towards the end of the composer’s tragic life, the five songs are, Tedeschi notes, "devotional one minute, white-hot the next, and then heartbreakingly lyrical, ending with a hymn-like movement that, to me, is as palpable a winding-down of the human spirit as Beethoven’s last Piano Sonata."

Elise McCann – the delightful, award-winning Miss Honey from the smash-hit musical Matilda – brings alive her life-long love of the stories of Roald Dahl with an entrancing new album: Dahlesque.One of the world’s most popular authors, Roald Dahl has captured the imagination of millions of children and adults with his tales of fun and fear. Dahl’s characters speak immediately to generations, and the blockbuster films and musicals that they have inspired have become instant hits.In this irreverent and gloriumptious offering, Elise McCann draws on these beloved adaptations to present the fantastical imagination and wickedly unforgettable characters of this master of storytelling. There are songs by Tim Minchin from Matilda (Naughty, The Smell of Rebellion and My House); hits from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory from Leslie Bricusse’s Academy-Award-nominated score; and songs from Marc Shaiman’s 2013 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which ran for an astonishing 1293 days in the West End.All of these songs are brought to life by the Helpmann-winning actress and vocalist Elise McCann, accompanied by a nine-piece band. The physical edition contains two bonus tracks, Little Red Riding Hood & The Wolf and Three Little Pigs from Revolting Rhymes, set to music by acclaimed Musical Director and composer Stephen Amos.

Australia’s favourite classical music phenomenon returns, as the Classic 100 celebrates the music of love - the greatest of all human experiences, from the passion of first love to the heartbreak of love lost.From the drama of the opera and the grace of the ballet, to the longing of a love song and the orchestral soundtracks from our favourite romantic movies, love stories are among music’s most enduring inspirations. The Classic 100: Love is Australia’s reflection on memories, dreams and favourite love stories.This exclusive Deluxe Edition contains the complete top 100 tracks (over 10 hours of music on 8CDs), plus a book of 40 favourite, timeless love poems by Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Whitman, Byron, Emily Dickinson and many more.Listen live to the countdown on ABC Classic FM over the weekend of 10-11 June.