4MBS is Brisbane’s classical music radio station but also one of the most innovative radio networks in Australia, operating three stations including a groundbreaking service for aged care residents, providing great musical therapy through Nostalgia radio broadcast via satellite Australia-wide.

 

The station is also extraordinarily proactive with local events and after 21 years, the 4MBS Festival of Classics is now the largest classical music festival in Australia. Mason & Hamlin has a great association with this festival and our 2015 contribution was a major partnership, joining together to present three live-to-air recitals from the station’s performance studio in Brisbane.

 

Over the past three Friday nights, major concert artists have performed for an exclusive audience in the studio and to the world via the FM broadcast and online streaming. The series began with a recital from veteran Brisbane pianist Kevin Power on May 8, performing Haydn, Beethoven and Mozart.

 

May 15 saw talented mother and daughter duo Helen Lam-Winther and Siné Wither take to the stage with solo performances of Mozart and Schumann. Mason & Hamlin director Stewart Kelly then joined with Helen for a performance of Schubert’s amazing ‘Lebensturme’ for four hands piano.

 

The series concluded in epic fashion with globally renowned Russian-Australian artist Natasha Vlassenko thrilling the audience with her virtuosic accounts of Schubert and Liszt.

 

The Mason & Hamlin BB semi-concert grand received universal acclaim from artists, sound engineers and the audience alike.

As a community funded not-for-profit organisation, 4MBS relies on support from generous donors and sponsors to survive and to mark our special relationship, any piano sold in Brisbane during the 4MBS festival will see 5% of the sale donated to the station. So if you are in Brisbane and are thinking about the purchase of a fine instrument, why not take this unique opportunity to support a superb local organisation while indulging in a magnificent Mason & Hamlin piano.