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Supplication to Transcendence Breakfast

  • Sunday, 3 May 2026

    9:00 am

  • Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture

    15 Blackall St, Barton, ACT 2600

  • In Association with

Presented in association with the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture, Charles Sturt University

 

Sunday breakfast with a side of the divine

Begin your Sunday with breakfast and a journey into sound, meditation and the divine. Internationally acclaimed classical accordionist James Crabb, one of the world’s foremost classical accordionists, leads an intimate morning recital in the austere and serene Chapel of the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture. The performance extends into a reflective conversation with CIMF Artistic Director Eugene Ughetti, exploring how music and artistic practice intersect with spirituality.

Crabb, born in Scotland, has shaped the global profile of the accordion through a distinguished international career and decades of teaching. He served as professor of classical accordion at the Royal Danish Academy of Music from 1995 to 2010, held a long-standing guest professorship at the University of Music and Dramatic Arts in Graz, and continues to influence the instrument’s evolution through his artistic leadership in Australia.

The program traces spiritual expression across centuries. Ross Edwards’ Water-Spirit Song invokes the purity and renewal of natural ritual. J. S. Bach’s chorale prelude Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesus Christ offers a direct, heartfelt plea of devotion shaped through profoundly simple counterpoint. Sofia Gubaidulina’s De Profundis, inspired by Psalm 130, draws the listener ‘out of the depths’ toward transcendence through sound, struggle and ascent. Astor Piazzolla’s Ave Maria brings a modern, lyrical gesture of Marian reverence before the journey returns to home with Edwards with Water-Spirit Song II.

A quiet, contemplative celebration of the divine, humanity and the search for meaning.

A light breakfast will be served from 8:30am.

 

Artist
James Crabb classical accordion

Program
Ross Edwards Water-Spirit Song
J.S.Bach Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesus Christ BWV 639
Sofia Gubaidulina De Profundis (based on David’s psalm 130 ‘Out of the depths…’)
Astor Piazzolla Ave Maria
Ross Edwards Water-Spirit Song II

 

Duration: 60 mins, including artist conversation

Photo credit: Christoffer Askman

ARTIST Learn more about the artist

Artist James Crabb

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Scottish born James Crabb is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading classical accordionists. He studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, Copenhagen with accordion pioneer Mogens Ellegaard, became professor there from 1995 until 2010, and was awarded the prestigious Carl Nielsen Music Prize, Denmark in 1991. He also held a long-standing guest professorship at the University in Graz, Austria.

James has collaborated with many of the most important 20th and 21st century composers including Sofia Gubaidulina, Thomas Adès, Harrison Birtwistle, Sally Beamish, Luciano Berio and has premiered countless concertos, chamber music and solo works dedicated to him. Recognised internationally as an authority on the music of Astor Piazzolla he was invited to curate the inaugural Piazzolla Festival in Buenos Aires in 2016. James has given the world premiere of Brett Dean’s accordion concerto The Players in Sweden, (recorded on the BIS label) and featured in the on-stage role in Dean’s opera Hamlet with Glyndebourne Opera, Cologne Opera, the Bavarian State Opera, Munich, at Adelaide Festival and for Opera Australia. Recent and upcoming projects include returns to the ACO, the AFCM, the UK for performances, including at Wigmore Hall, with Anthony Marwood and recitals at numerous music festivals around Australia.

James is a passionate and sought-after music educator and mentor, and whilst Artistic Director of the Four Winds Festival in Bermagui, curated both the Easter and inaugural Youth Festivals and developed the local school’s music education program.

Photo credit: Christoffer Askman