Concert pianist and composer Ambre Hammond will celebrate the release of her seventh album in an upcoming tour, which includes a concert in Kiama on Sunday, October 28.
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The album, titled Night Flowers, is made up of 24 short cinematic pieces for solo piano and was written while Hammond was living in the South Coast in late 2016.
“The writing style stems from my background in classical music and my passion for jazz,” she said.
“I was inspired by photographs of flowers at night taken by James O'Toole from all around the Sutherland Shire in parks and gardens.
“I will also play favourite classic pieces of music by the great composers Chopin and Liszt.”
Hammond is a proud Ambassador of the Peace program for the United Nations and runs a humanitarian project called Girl Piano Truck, in which she loads a piano onto a truck and visits disadvantaged communities around the world giving free concerts in schools and orphanages.
“Having given concerts in places as varied as retirement villages, hospital wards and preschools from a young age – I've come to realise music is not to be kept in the confines of the concert hall,” she said.
“I wanted to take music to places where perhaps hope was needed the most – disadvantaged communities around the world with a focus on schools and orphanages.”
So far Hammond has taken the project to Thailand, East Timor, Belarus, India, the Philippines and in 2017, she made a short documentary in Africa.
“I figured it was time to get on the road – turning up to the northern tip of Tacloban in the Philippines was a prime example of this,” she said.
“I got out of the truck and 2000 children greeted me from all over the island. They had never seen or heard a piano before and the smiles on their faces could light up a city.”
Hammond said she couldn’t comprehend a life without music.
“The energy it provides, the power it has to heal and inspire and evoke feelings – it’s a real blessing to have my hobby as my career,” she said.
“I feel very lucky to do what I love every minute of every day. The desire to create is a flame that burns constantly within me, but I think perhaps just a little stronger every time I share music with my fellow humans.”
Ambre Hammond presents Night Flowers on Sunday, October 28 at 3pm, The Pavilion, Kiama.
Tickets available at TryBooking.com
