Chamber of the Heart: Syzygy Catalyst

A fearless pioneer in chamber music, Syzygy Ensemble is an award-winning ensemble celebrated for its virtuosic precision, innovative programming, and ability to connect viscerally with its audiences.

Syzygy Ensemble presents Catalyst , a concert that places the idea of artistic transformation at its centre, exploring the teachers who leave lasting imprints and the family support that makes a creative path possible. At the heart of the program is a new work by Australian composer Holly Harrison. Commissioned for Syzygy Ensemble by John Banks (father of cellist Campbell Banks), the piece reflects on the visible and invisible catalysts that influence a life in music.

Framing this premiere are works that trace Campbell’s own musical lineage. Kodály’s monumental Sonata for Solo Cello stands as one of the 20th century’s great transformative works for the instrument, a piece that expands the cello into a complete expressive world. Alongside the Kodály are two electronic works by Campbell, built entirely from samples of his teacher Roel Dieltiens’ recording of the sonata. Composed in Zurich in 2014, they capture a moment of transition.

Together, these works form a program about inheritance, memory, and transformation. Catalyst  is a meditation on how influence becomes identity — how a teacher’s sound, a parent’s belief, a composer’s imagination, and a life-changing work can combine to shape the artist who emerges.