Triple J’s much-loved Like A Version series returns with its 12th instalment – featuring a host of local and international artists covering their favourite tunes live in the Triple J Studio!Track Listing:CD 1:1. Broods – One Dance2. The Rubens – King Kunta/Hello3. Tame Impala – Confide In Me4. Childish Gambino – So Into You5. E^ST – Bitter Sweet Symphony6. Cub Sport – Ultralight Beam7. Luca Brasi – How To Make Gravy8. Urthboy – Roll Up Your Sleeves9. Sarah Blasko – Life On Mars10. In Hearts Wake – Vice Grip11. The Temper Trap – Multi-Love12. Vera Blue – Breathe Life13. Tuka – Big Jet Plane14. Modern Baseball – Dope Calypso15. Ayla – Throw Your Arms Around Me16. The Cat Empire – Get some17. Yeo – Forces18. Ngaiire – The Less I Know The Better19. Jake Bugg – If I Could Change Your Mind20. Grouplove – BullshitCD 2:1. Paces – Keeping Score {Ft. Guy Sebastian}2. Drapht – Frankie Sinatra3. MS MR – Genghis Khan4. Boy & Bear – Back To Black5. The Murlocs – Every 1’s A Winner6. Airling – U Got It Bad7. Art Vs Science – Enter Sandman8. Claptone – How Deep Is Your Love9. Dylan Joel – You Got A Friend In Me10. Bad//Dreems – Can’t Feel My Face11. Anne-Marie – Listen To Soul, Listen To Blues12. Methyl Ethel – Cry Me A River13. City Calm Down – Spanish Sahara14. Alpine – Cigarettes Will Kill You15. Robbie Miller – Say My Name16. The Jungle Giants – Lights & Music17. Raury – L$D18. Olympia – Dreams19. Art Of Sleeping – Hotline Bling

Described as ‘unforgettable’ by The Australian and ‘barnstorming’ by The New York Times, the Viney-Grinberg Piano Duo enjoy a stellar international profile. In their new album on ABC Classics, they survey recent music by Australian composers for piano four-hands, much of it receiving its world-premiere recording.Music for piano four-hands began in the latter half of the 18th century, as the piano itself gained popularity. In the words of the pianists themselves, ‘the five Australian compositions on this disc grow and build on that tradition, with ambitious largescale works of complexity and virtuosity, as well as miniatures that deal with the interior world of the human heart and mind. Despite the diversity of music on this disc – a fascinating variety of responses to the musical opportunities afforded by piano four-hand performance – there is also a unifying thread of dynamism and spirited energy.’Ross Edwards’ A Flight of Sunbirds showcases a seemingly effortless affection; Carl Vine and Stuart Greenbaum’s Sonatas explores the potential for four-handed counterpoint. Peter Sculthorpe’s ‘delicate and wistful quartet of beautiful tableaux’ follow the tradition of arranging existing works for piano four-hands. And Elena Kats-Chernin’s Victor’s Heart uses the warm resonance of the form to create a touching musical tribute.

“I am a musician because I believe in the power of music – to heal, to connect us to our emotions, indeed to foster kindness and compassion. Music is my greatest teacher and its greatest lesson is empathy. It reaches us on a level deeper than language and conscious thought and perhaps that is why it touches us so profoundly.” – Jayson GillhamGrowing up in outback Australia, Jayson Gillham travelled 500 kilometres every week to attend piano lessons. Now, after a stratospheric rise that has seen him acclaimed as one of the finest talents of the new generation, he presents his much-anticipated debut album: Bach | Schubert | Chopin.Praised for his “absorbing and relentless elegance” (The Montreal Gazette), and possessing “a beautiful bell-like tone, a great sense of expressive lyricism, and virtuosity” (The Australian), Gillham moved to London in 2007, since when he has performed at venues including the Royal Festival Hall and Wigmore Hall in London and Louvre Auditorium in Paris, and with groups including the London Philharmonic, Nashville Symphony and English Chamber Orchestras.Bach | Schubert | Chopin presents music of unparalleled beauty, vitality and joy by three masters of keyboard writing. The works highlight different aspects of Jayson’s superb musicianship. The album opens with the youthful exuberance of Bach’s Toccata in C minor (Bach was around the same age when he wrote it as Jayson when he recorded it). Schubert’s lyrical A major sonata showcases the sheer beauty of Jayson’s playing; and the Chopin Sonata in B minor, composed just five years before Chopin died, displays a depth in Jayson’s interpretative approach usually reserved for pianists of much more mature years.To record the album, Jayson travelled to the Reitstadel in Neumarkt, Germany to work with renowned Tonmeister Andreas Neubronner (Murray Perahia, Arcadi Volodos, Khatia Buniatishvili). The Australian launch tour for the album will include recital performances in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, and concerto performances with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra / Vladimir Ashkenazy, and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra / Jeffrey Tate.

Featuring: Lior, The Idea of North, and Elena Kats-CherninA Piece of Quiet is an album of unrivalled musical delight: a collection of songs featuring the words of Australian children, set to music and performed by Lior, The Idea of North and Elena Kats-Chernin.A Piece of Quiet is the 16th volume in Hush’s acclaimed album series. Originally developed by Dr. Catherine Crock AM to reduce stress and anxiety felt by both patients and their families in hospitals, the Hush music collection is now played in hospitals, homes and shared spaces across the globe.The album is inspired by stories of young children – both sick and well. Singer-songwriter Lior and vocal quartet The Idea of North, along with renowned composer and pianist Elena Kats-Chernin, consulted Australian children for lyrical guidance; questions posed about their lives spawned responses filled with humour, wonder, excitement and surprising wisdom. From these conversations grew a collection of music that conveys the children’s feelings, hopes and dreams in a way that resonates equally with adult listeners.These ARIA-award winning musicians are joined by the Goldner String Quartet, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s principle oboist Diana Doberty and cor anglais Alexandre Oguey, and a range of other distinguished performers.Launch ConcertsSydney, City Recital HallTuesday 15 November, 7pmMelbourne Recital CentreThursday 24 November, 7pmMore details at www.hush.org.au

With their typically stunning eighth studio album and ABC Music debut Here We Go, the Sunny Cowgirls set about spinning 12 fresh new yarns rooted in the sun-kissed soil of rural and regional Australia.

The Australian World Orchestra (AWO) moves from strength to strength with its latest release on ABC Classics: Bruckner’s mighty Eighth Symphony, conducted by the internationally renowned Sir Simon Rattle and recorded live at the Sydney Opera House.The AWO is an orchestra like no other: the finest Australian classical musicians from the leading orchestras around the world, come home to join with the top Australian-based players in one thrillingly talented super-ensemble. With 95 electrifying musicians, representing more than 40 orchestras, together under one roof, the Australian World Orchestra is, in the words of Sir Simon Rattle, ‘one of the great orchestras of the world’.Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8 is the perfect choice of repertoire for such a brilliant ensemble: grand in scope, intimate yet profound in its emotional journey, and radiantly beautiful. The AWO’s performances in July 2015 under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle left audiences cheering, and critics hailing the event as ‘pure musical Viagra’ and ‘a sublime rendition of the infinite in sound’. The performance was crowned Best Orchestral Concert of the Year at the 2016 Helpmann Awards.ABC Classics is proud to present this award-winning performance on CD, captured live in the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House.TRACKLISTINGANTON BRUCKNER 1824–1896Symphony No. 8 in C minor (1890 version)   [80’56]CD11. I. Allegro moderato    15’002. II. Scherzo: Allegro moderato – Trio: Langsam (Slow)  14’423. III. Adagio: Feierlich langsam, doch nicht schleppend (Solemnly slow, but without dragging)    27’10CD21. IV. Finale: Feierlich, nicht schnell (Solemnly, not fast) 24’04 Australian World OrchestraSir Simon Rattle conductor

When Brahms’ First Symphony received its premiere, it was immediately described as ‘Beethoven’s Tenth’ – the highest praise possible, acclaiming Brahms as the successor to the greatest symphonist of all.But it hadn’t been an easy journey. Brahms was 43 years old when this symphony was first performed, and in those first four decades of his life he had been grappling with the question of how to deal with the great legacy of the Classical era that lay before him. It took him 20 years to compose that first symphony – but once it was completed, he suddenly produced three more in under ten years, in one of the most astonishing creative outpourings in music: ‘a quartet of masterworks,’ in the words of Asher Fisch, ‘that are both old and new.’Recorded live in concert in 2015, these performances from the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and its Principal Conductor bring to life the colour and complexity of Brahms’ vision. Fisch – a protégé of Daniel Barenboim – is acclaimed as one of the great conductors of the Romantic repertoire of our times; from the lyrical second symphony to the epic fourth, this album is a testimony to his interpretative prowess, Brahms’ music, and to a superlative orchestra recorded in its prime.Praise for the live performances‘One of the most profoundly thrilling and beautiful musical experiences of my life.’ – Limelight Magazine‘A reading which oscillated between tenderness and high drama. The emotional turbulence that lies at the heart of so much of the symphony was dramatically evoked.’ – The West Australian‘Fisch, conducting from memory, was utterly at home and in command. Fisch combines rare attention to phrase-level detail with a strong sense of long-term form, and as a result each symphony built irresistibly to its climactic final bars.’– The AustralianTRACKLISTINGJOHANNES BRAHMS 1833–1897CD1Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 681. I. Un poco sostenuto – Allegro2. II. Andante sostenuto3. III. Un poco allegretto e grazioso4. IV. Adagio – Più andante – Allegro non troppo, ma con brioSymphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 905. I. Allegro con brio6. II. Andante7. III. Poco allegretto8. IV. Allegro CD2Symphony No. 2 in D, Op. 731. I. Allegro non troppo2. II. Adagio non troppo3. III. Allegretto grazioso (Quasi andantino) – Presto ma non assai4. IV. Allegro con spiritoSymphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 985. I. Allegro non troppo6. II. Andante moderato7. III. Allegro giocoso8. IV. Allegro energico e passionato West Australian Symphony OrchestraAsher Fisch conductor

Music is a perfect opportunity to practise mindfulness: to become fully aware of the present moment, opening ourselves to the physical and emotional experience of listening, here and now.ABC Classics has collaborated with mindfulness experts Smiling Mind to develop this collection of calming classical music: perfect both for experienced practitioners of meditation and for those simply looking for a moment of tranquillity to escape from the pressures of the day.From the intricate clarity of Bach to the pure stillness of Arvo Pärt and Erik Satie, this album offers a musical journey into the spirit of sound itself.

The prolific Tami Neilson returns with “Don’t Be Afraid”. The beginnings of this album were birthed in 1972 by a young Ron Neilson, who recorded a demo of the first single, “Lonely”, outside a hotel room while on tour across Canada.Decades later, it was completed by his daughter Tami when she discovered that demo a week after he passed away in Feb 2015. Such are the stories and legacy behind the songs on this very special and powerful tribute by Tami Neilson.From the opening title track “Don’t Be Afraid”, the last song her father ever wrote, Tami takes us on her journey of being pulled downward by the weight of loss and mourning, then strikes out into the face of grief with some of the most defiant fierceness we have heard from her.Reaching out to grasp possibly her best song writing to date, she gives some of her most fully realised performances. As she goes from strength to strength we are left with the treasures she has collected along the way, supported by some of the strongest musical influences in her life.Songs from the masterful pen of her father, her continued work with her brother Jay Neilson, co-writer of “Walk”, as well as fellow conspirator Delaney Davidson, all fit seamlessly in this moving testament to the man who laid the foundations of her music career.

Brisbane roof raisers Kingfisha have been laying down weighty reggae and dub, and bringing their passionate music to eager audiences for 5 years, in the process cementing themselves as Australia’s premier reggae act.The 6-piece band deliver crafted and modern reggae music by coupling their love of Jamaican rhythms with personal depth and style.

The world’s most popular children’s group, THE WIGGLES are back with their brand new album, “Dance, Dance”, the fanciest and danciest album you’ll hear!Whether you’re doing an Irish jig or a highland fling, you’ll simply want to dance and sing! From “Hula, Hula, Baby” to “The Shimmie Shake!”, it’s a “Wiggly Party”, come along and partake! Dance, Dance with Anthony, Emma, Lachy, Simon and all your wiggly friends!The brand new live tour by the same name, “Dance, Dance! The Wiggles Big Show!” will be touring nationally as of November 2016.

Céleste Venard – born in Paris in 1824 – was a woman and an artist far ahead of her time.A courtesan, singer, actor, trail-blazing dancer, chariot-rider, best-selling novelist and playwright, she was also the muse of the composer Bizet, and the inspiration behind his most famous operatic character, Carmen. Her lovers included novelists, artists and composers- but when she married the Count de Chabrillan, a prominent member of the French aristocracy, Parisian society was scandalised. And when the pair turned up in far off Australia, where the count served as the first French consul, Melbourne society was scandalised in turn.This album accompanies a major new book by Roland Perry exploring Céleste’s life. The music celebrates her grace and courage, creativity and openness of spirit, and traces some of the key events and relationships of her unique and extraordinary life – from the opera that she inspired to the dances she loved.Album features an introduction to the life of Céleste Venard by Roland Perry.