News

Vale Sir David Willcocks

It is with great sadness that Australia awoke this morning to the news that Sir David Willcocks, the legendary conductor, organist and pedagogue, has died aged 95. It is impossible for any chorister not to have been touched by his work, whether through his recordings, arrangements, patronage or through firsthand experience of his conducting. “Sir…

Anne-Sophie Mutter Live From The Yellow Lounge

Earlier this year, violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter gave a sensational performance at Berlin’s Neue Heimat club, recreating the impact of her legendary 2013 Yellow Lounge appearance, when she attracted one of the biggest crowds in the history of Deutsche Grammophon’s “classical-goes-clubbing” series. Now she’s taking the electric atmosphere further by making the first-ever live Yellow Lounge…

Short+Sweet Announces January 2016 Cabaret Festival

Short+Sweet – Australia’s own short-form performing arts event has announced its new cabaret festival for January 2016.  Planning over 40 inspiring 10-minute productions showcasing myriad performance styles, the festival will run at New Theatre, Newtown from 6-30 January 2016. Short+Sweet Cabaret will offer themed programs of Dance/Movement, Musical Theatre, and Burlesque – Wednesday to Saturday across…

Sydney Harmony Chorus Opens Its Doors

Sydney Harmony Chorus is opening its doors – and its membership – ahead of the climax to its musical year: the Holiday Voices concerts at the Independent Theatre on 5 December.  The all-male a cappella (unaccompanied) choir will hold an open rehearsal on Monday night 26 October where prospective new singers can ‘take a peek’….

Enter The Ballot To See Opera For A Song

  Opera Australia is offering first time opera goers the opportunity to enter a ballot to obtain premium reserve opera tickets at $20, making the best seats in the house more affordable than a night at the cinema! This has become possible through the generosity of Susan and Isaac Wakil, who have donated $1.5 million to…

Lost Stravinsky Score Discovered

Oh the joy of a serendipity….of discovering a lost score long after its composer is no more. This is the story of  Igor Stravinsky’s 1908 piece, Pogrebal’naya Pesnya (Funeral Song) written in memory of his teacher, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, shortly after Rimsky’s death in June  that year. The 12-minute work was performed only once, in a Russian symphony…

Hvorostovsky To Return To The Stage

Fantastic news from Dmitri Hvorostovsky’s website that following treatment for a brain tumour, the gifted and popular baritone is looking forward to returning to the stage this month for three performances of Verdi’s Il Trovatore at the Metropolitan Opera, opening the production on September 25 with further performances on September 29 and October 3, 2015. In December 2015/January 2016 Hvorostovsky…

Nicole Car Makes Her Covent Garden Debut

It’s a busy year and Christmas in London for Australian soprano Nicole Car who has just finished a season singing the role of Countess Almaviva in Opera Australia’s production of The Marriage of Figaro. Earlier this year she sang Marguerite in Faust, for the company and next year she will sing for them again, making her…