Recitals Australia in collaboration with Esmond Choi presents:
The Adventurous Project Presents: Ligeti Projects
Saturday 5th December 2026
Madley Studio, Adelaide University
Project 1 – Musical Seeking, 12 p.m.
György Ligeti (1923 – 2006)
Musica Ricercata
I. Sostenuto · Misurato · Prestissimo
II. Mesto, rigido e ceremoniale
III. Allegro con spirito
IV. Tempo di valse (poco vivace · “à l’orgue de Barbarie”)
V. Rubato. Lamentoso
VI. Allegro molto capriccioso
VII. Cantabile, molto legato
VIII. Vivace. Energico
IX. (Béla Bartók in memoriam) Adagio. Mesto · Allegro maestoso
X. Vivace. Capriccioso
XI. (Omaggio a Girolamo Frescobaldi) Andante misurato e tranquillo
Michael Ierace – Piano
Project 2 – Clocks and Clouds, 3 p.m.
György Ligeti (1923 – 2006)
Poème symphonique for 100 Metronomes
Project 3 – Pause and Play, 6 p.m.
György Ligeti (1923 – 2006)
Trio for Violin, Horn and Piano
I. Andantino con tenerezza
II. Vivacissimo molto ritmico
III. Alla marcia
IV. Lamento. Adagio
Alison Heike – Violin
Emma Gregan – French Horn
Michael Ierace – Piano
György Ligeti (1923 – 2006)
Sonata for Solo Cello
I. Dialogo – Adagio, rubato, cantabile
II. Capriccio – Presto con slancio
Thomas Marlin – Cello
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 Alison
Alison Heike is a versatile violinist, teacher and chamber musician who in 2021 was appointed as Principal 2nd Violin of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Alison studied in Sydney with Alice Waten at the Australian Institute of Music, graduating with a Bachelor of Music (First Class Honours). She was the recipient of a Big Brother Scholarship, enabling her to undertake further studies at the Royal College of Music with Dr. Felix Andrievsky. In 2005 she was an honorary fellow with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and worked extensively with the SSO, before moving to Adelaide in 2007 to take up a permanent position with the ASO. In 2019, Alison completed a Masters in Music Performance at the University of Adelaide, researching and performing the complete works of Brahms for violin and piano.
Alison is an avid chamber musician and is a regular performer at Elder Hall, UKARIA, Urrbrae House and the North Adelaide Baroque Hall. She has appeared as a guest with the Adelaide Hills Chamber Players, Ensemble Lumen, Soundstream Collective, Kegelstatt Ensemble, Artaria, and as a founding member of Ensemble le Monde. Recent engagements include performing at the Four Winds Festival in NSW, at the 2026 Coriole Chamber Music Festival, Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins with ASO leader Kate Suthers, as well as performing as Guest Principal 2nd Violin with the Queensland and Canberra Symphony Orchestras.
She also enjoys teaching and coaching chamber ensembles and in 2026 joined the AYO National Music Camp staff as a violin tutor, as well as tutoring for the Adelaide Youth Orchestra.
About Emma
Emma plays Tutti Horn with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and is the Head of Brass at Adelaide University’s Elder Conservatorium of Music and School of Performing Arts. She is also an Alliance Brass artist. She holds a PhD in Musicology from the Elder Conservatorium, and a Bachelor of Music with Class I Honours from the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University. Emma has performed with many major orchestras across Australia and New Zealand and in theatre productions including Opera Australia’s South Pacific, Disney’s The Lion King, and at the Tongyeong International Music Festival in South Korea. She also performs with Adelaide Baroque and the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra on historical instruments.
As a composer, Emma’s works have been performed across Australia, the USA, Europe, and Japan. Several of her pieces are now also published in the Australian Music Examinations Board (AMEB) Series 2 Horn Syllabus grade books.
Emma is enthusiastic about supporting music education and communities: she maintains a private teaching studio and is the Artistic Director of the Adelaide Horn Jam. She has tutored at the Queensland Conservatorium Brass Weekend, the Australian Youth Orchestra’s National Music Camp, and the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra’s Young Mannheim Symphonists.
About Michael
Adelaide born Michael Ierace has been cited as having an ‘exceptional gift’ and his playing described as ‘revelatory’. He completed his university education at the Elder Conservatorium with teachers Stefan Ammer and Lucinda Collins.
Michael received the coveted Elder Overseas Scholarship which enabled him to move to London and study at the Royal College of Music with Professor Andrew Ball. He was selected as an RCM Rising Star and was later on staff as a Junior Fellow in piano accompaniment.
In the UK, he won several competitions including the Keyboard and the Accompanist Prize in the Royal Over-Seas League Competition – the first pianist in the competition’s distinguished history to have received both awards. Michael performed extensively throughout London and the UK, and twice at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Much sought after as an associate artist for national and international guests, he is also the regular repetiteur for the State Opera of South Australia and the Adelaide Festival.
Alongside his ‘classical’ duties, Michael is also the keyboard player for the Tributes in Concert Band, consistently praised as one of the best in the business after making their US debut in 2019.
Michael is currently teaching at the Elder Conservatorium.
About Thomas
Thomas Marlin is an Australian cellist whose work spans chamber music, solo performance, and historically informed practice. He is principal cellist of Adelaide Baroque and performs regularly with Tarrawatta Trio and Collectif: Arc en Ciel, collaborating with leading Australian musicians across a diverse range of repertoire and projects.
From 2021 to 2024 he was the founding cellist of the Alma Moodie Quartet, touring nationally and appearing at major venues and festivals including City Recital Hall, the Canberra International Music Festival and the Tasmanian Chamber Music Festival.
He has performed extensively throughout Europe, Asia and Australia, with appearances at Wigmore Hall, the Barbican and the Rudolfinum, and has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and ABC Classic. Recent highlights include performances at the Adelaide Festival, appearances with the Adelaide Chamber Singers, and regular performances at the Utzon Room, Sydney Opera House.
His recording work includes Boccherini: Chamber Works for Flute (Avie Records), Planetarium with Adelaide Baroque for ABC Classic, and Chromaesthesia (Artaria) with Collectif: Arc en Ciel, reflecting an artistic practice that moves between historical performance, contemporary repertoire, and collaborative creation.
Alongside his performing career, Thomas maintains a private studio and is Senior Strings Director at St Peter’s Girls’ School, where he works with many of South Australia’s leading young musicians.
Originally from Adelaide, he studied with Janis Laurs before undertaking further studies with Li Wei Qin in Singapore, and completed a Master of Music with Distinction at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London under Louise Hopkins.
