Birthday honour

Monash University's Ensemble in Residence, Ensemble Liaison has performed at Dame Elisabeth Murdoch's 102nd birthday celebration.

For an occasion that also marked the second anniversary of the opening of the Melbourne Recital Centre, Ensemble Liaison and Friends, consisting of Monash School of Music staff members Elizabeth Sellars, Svetlana Bogosavljevic, Roger Jonsson and David Griffiths were one of only three musical acts honoured with an invitation to perform for Dame Elisabeth.

They gave a spellbinding rendition of the slow movement of Mozart's Clarinet Quintet K.581, chosen because it is one of Dame Elisabeth's most beloved pieces of music.

Dame Elisabeth has a long association with Monash University - she was close friends with the founding vice-chancellor, Professor Louis Matheson, who started his 17-year term half a century ago.

The connection was strengthened in 2008 when she was presented with an honorary Doctor of Laws.

Ensemble Liaison, which was appointed Ensemble-in-Residence at Monash in 2010, was founded by David Griffiths (clarinet), Svetlana Bogosavljevic (cello) and Timothy Young (piano) in 2006.

Over the course of the last four years they have collaborated with artists such as Peter Coleman-Wright, Wilma Smith, Tony Gould, Caroline Henbest, Simon Oswell, Ellizabeth Sellars, Roy Theaker, Fiona Sargeant, Monica Curro, Alex Henery, Mardi McSullea and Roger Jonsson and have become an establishd, and much-loved, part of Melbourne's musical scene.

In 2011 they continue to offer a subscription season of concerts in the Melbourne Recital Hall, with special discount rates for Monash students, staff and alumni.

Their first CD featuring trios by Beethoven, Brahms and Bruch, was released in 2010.