The Adventurous Project: Distant Echoes

Recitals Australia in collaboration with Esmond Choi presents:

2:30pm October 25th 2026

Coriole Top House – 79 Chaffeys Rd, McLaren Vale SA 5171

About the event

Describing landscapes through music is a beloved tradition in the classical canon—one that continued through the late 20th century and thrives today. The Adventurous Project brings together violinist Nicholas Miceli and pianist Esmond Choi to showcase how composers with a modern ear reimagine nature, space, scenery, and even isolation.

Lunch will be available at the Coriole Restaurant, booking required. If you plan to dine, please dine at 12 or 12:30 p.m. Doors open at 2:00 p.m.

Program

Part I
Charles Ives (1874 – 1954)
Violin Sonata No. 4
I. Allegro
II. Largo
III. Allegro

George Enescu (1881 – 1955)
Childhood Impressions
I. “Ménétrier” (The Country Fiddler)
II. “Vieux mendiant” (The Old beggar)
III. “Ruisselet au fond du jardin” (The Brook at the bottom of the garden)
IV. “L’Oiseau en cage et le coucou au mur” (The Bird in the Cage and the Cuckoo on the Wall)
V. “Chanson pour bercer” (Lullaby)
VI. “Grillon” (The Cricket)
VII. “Lune à travers les vitres” (The Moon Shining through the Windows)
VIII. “Vent dans la cheminée” (Wind in the Chimney)
IX. “Tempête au dehors, dans la nuit” (Storm Outside in the night)
X. “Lever de soleil” (Sunrise)

Part II
Peter Sculthorpe (1929 – 2014)
Mountains

Kaija Saariaho (1952 – 2023)
Nocturne

Toshio Hosokawa (1955 – )
Vertical Time Study III

Runtime: Approx. 85 minutes (including 25-minute interval)

About Esmond

Esmond Choi is an Australian pianist/composer who has completed his undergraduate studies and continue his studies with Lucinda Collins. He is currently studying Master of Philosophy on researching Ives’s approach on being a musician. For this project, he travelled to New England Conservatory and had a short intensive study with Stephen Drury. In early 2024, Esmond performed Julia Wolfe’s East Boardway for solo Toy Piano at She Speaks Festival. And with the help of the Recitals Australia fellowship program. Esmond received a 5-star rating from Barefoot Review on two solo fringe recitals focusing on George Crumb’s complete Metamorphoses cycle.

About Nicholas

Nicholas Miceli is a violinist and postgraduate research student at the Elder Conservatorium of Music, studying violin with Elizabeth Layton. His work, supervised by Dr Oliver Fartach-Naini and Dr Stephen King, investigates and contrasts the musical idiom of early 20th-century violinist-composers. He is a graduate of the University of Melbourne, where he studied with Dr Curt Thompson and Sophie Rowell. Nicholas was concertmaster of the University of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and currently performs frequently in a casual role with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. In 2025, Nicholas was a finalist within Recitals Australia’s Lunch Hour concert series. A passionate chamber musician, he has performed at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, the Mimir Music Festival (Fort Worth, Texas), and the Akaroa International Music Festival.

Outside of music, he enjoys reading, hiking and playing (also occasionally making!) board games. Nicholas performs on an Iginius Sderci violin generously on loan from the Pettman Foundation.