There was plenty of hype about the Omega Ensemble’s American Masters, not simply because its centrepiece was a new work by rock star US composer Nico Muhly, but also because it kicks off something of an unofficial Muhly festival in Australia, with the composer’s commission for the Gondwana World Choral Festival coming up in a week or so and a violin concerto for Pekka Kuusisto and the Australian Chamber Orchestra set to be unveiled later in the year.

Nico MuhlyBrett Brown, Gordon Hamilton and the Omega Ensemble in American Masters. Photo: supplied

The Omega Ensemble delivered the goods and more, however, presenting a beautifully crafted program – featuring repertoire from the group’s upcoming album for ABC Classic – that put Muhly’s new piece into context, weaving a tapestry of music by composers who influenced him, including Philip Glass (for whom he worked for eight years), John Adams (whose music he grew up listening to), and – at a remove – Steve Reich, Anton Webern and Renaissance composers Thomas Weelkes and William Byrd.

The concert opened with a spell-binding performance of two of Philip Glass’s Études for Piano by Sally Whitwell. Whitwell is Australia’s Glass interpreter par excellence –...