Trout at The Church

A wonderful way to end the year, what started off as our idea of 'Trout at The Church' became the concert 'Ambient Delights', its first performance on December 14 2025 as part of the Phoenix Central Park series at The Church.

A fabulous group of musicians and people to work with, I was lucky to bring together for this project Dan Lopez (violin), Eleanor Streatfeild (cello), Luke Spicer (viola), Andrew Meisel (double bass) and composer/live electronics performer Mark Oliveiro. 

Concert day was a hot day, heralding the beginning of summer break. This program was planned to suit this mood as we premiered Mark's new work - with sonic visions of unfurling ferns, string chorales, and rhythmic imntensity - and got stuck into some Trouting for a packed audience.

We hope that we can get together for this fantastic program a few more times in 2026.

Concert Program:

Mark Oliveiro - Electronic Suite for piano quartet with live electronics (Australia, 2025)

I. Garden of Ambient Delight(s)

II. The Seven Deadly Glitches…

III. …and the Four Beat Things

Franz Schubert - Piano Quintet in A major D.667 “The Trout” (Austria, 1819)

I. Allegro Vivace

II. Andante

III. Scherzo

IV. Andantino - Allegretto (Theme & Variations)

V. Allegro guisto

Franz Schubert’s Piano Quintet in A major takes it’s nickname from the integration of the vibe and material from one of Schubert’s own art songs, Die Forelle (The Trout). It was conceived in 1819 when Schubert was 22 years old and on holiday in the countryside of Austria at a place he described as "inconceivably beautiful”. Reflecting a lightness and carefreeness, the sound world of this Quintet conjures up sounds of running water and the wriggling of a trout, with beautiful transparency of texture and infectious melodies.

Mark Oliveiro’s Electronic Suite for piano quartet with live generative electronics will receive its world premiere at this concert. A three-movement journey, this work blurs the line between acoustic intimacy and digital intervention, exploring how acoustic and electronic voices can collide, diverge and ultimately converge - transforming contrast into coherence.