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| Joe Chindamo and Zoe Black at Tuggeranong Arts Centre. |
Tuggeranong Arts Centre. June 13th, 2026.
Reviewed by BILL STEPHENS
The leap from Carnegie Hall and Melbourne Recital Centre to
the intimate theatre at Tuggeranong Arts Centre might seem considerable, yet
TAC proved the ideal setting to savour the virtuosity of two of Australia’s
most accomplished musicians on a cold Canberra evening.
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| Joe Chindamo and Zoe Black |
Pianist Joe Chindamo, currently the Melbourne Symphony
Orchestra’s composer in residence, and violinist Zoe Black, who led the
Australian Chamber Orchestra at 23, have graced all three venues and many more.
Even so, the strong impression was that the duo relished the
occasion as much as the audience, moving through a program spanning Bach,
Handel, Piazzolla, Gershwin and Chindamo himself.
Chindamo and Black do more than perform these works
faithfully; they reinvent them with virtuosity and imagination. Their
interpretations honour each composer’s original impulse while exploring its
possibilities with dazzling technical command.
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| Joe Chindamo introduces an item |
Each piece was introduced informally, Chindamo at greater
length, Black with more brevity, before both players seemed to disappear into
the music, teasing fresh ideas from familiar melodies.
They set the tone with a tantalising arrangement of an aria
from Bach’s Goldberg Variations, then
raised the stakes with a dazzling account of Astor Piazzolla’s La Muerte del Angel. Chindamo’s own Three Spaces preceded a blissful
rendition of Ennio Morricone’s theme from “Cinema Paradiso”.
Every piece was a highlight, but especially memorable were
their inventive arrangements of Earle Hagen’s Harlem Nocturne, George Gershwin’s It Ain’t Necessarily So from “Porgy and Bess”, and Giacomo Puccini’s aria Nessun Dorma
from “Turandot”.
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| Joe Chindamo in action |
Other standouts included the glorious Lascia ch’io piango from Handel’s “Rinaldo”, a stunning take on the Habanera from Bizet’s “Carmen”, a dazzling piece inspired by
tarantism whose title escaped me, and Carter Burwell’s theme from “Raising Arizona”. Chindamo’s own
works, especially Toccata, Into the Light
and Reverie, likewise
showcased the duo’s formidable technical brilliance.
Chris Deacon recorded the concert for Artsound FM, offering
another chance to hear these highlights, and others not mentioned here, when
the broadcast airs.
Images by Kathleen Laidlaw
This review first published in the digital edition of CITY NEWS on 14.09.26
