To celebrate its new Facebook page, Willoughby Symphony presents a mini virtual concert (hopefully the first of many) – A Spoonful Of Sugar, especially fun for the kids, conducted by George Ellis with soloists from the Pacific Opera alumni. Watch on Facebook and please like and share.
You can sing along as well!
“The reviewers will face some thorny issues ……..which are “artistic vibrancy”, “ engagement with audiences” and “highest quality … in a financially sustainable way”. Writing in The Guardian, Donald McDonald former chief executive of Opera Australia articulates some of the difficult issues facing the national review of opera companies announced last week.
The name of Dame Joan Sutherland has been immortalised with the Opera Theatre of Sydney’s Opera House re-named in her honour. Concert halls have been named after benefactors (Carnegie), Royalty (The Royal Albert Hall and the Queen Elizabeth Hall) and musicians (the Bruckner Hall in Linz and the Bartok Hall in Budapest. It is a rare honour, and…
Wagner-mania continues this month with this feature from Paul Mason in The Guardian.
Check out these sumptuous images from virtuoso mandolin player Avi Avital’s opening night in Sydney with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra at the City Recital Hall. Our reviewer Larry Turner was there and said the auditorium “was colourfully lit, strewn with candles and with Middle-Eastern lamps suspended above the stage to evoke what Paul Dyer described…
Terrific reading for classical music fans in the Sydney Morning Herald: The Sydney Symphony’s tour of China: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/diplomacy-conducted-on-a-grand-scale-20121120-29nz4.html Natalie Bochenski interviews classical guitarist Milos Karadaglic: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/milo-lets-his-fingers-do-the-talking-20121121-29pz7.html Peter McCallum reviews the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s Russian Visions programme: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/from-russia-visions-of-its-disturbing-tumultuous-past-20121119-29m42.html And Philip Glass’ epic opera Einstein on the Beach returns ….to Melbourne in 2013: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/opera/time-is-relative-as-fourhour-einstein-opera-epic-returns-20121120-29nxn.html
There are changes afoot in the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House, aimed at improving the acoustic. More at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/opinion/acoustic-alterations-at-the-opera-house-must-retain-the-architectural-harmony-of-the-hall/story-fn9n9z9n-1226420429346 What’s the obsession with expecting musicians to have the stamina of an athlete, the technique of the possessed and the looks of a deity? http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/making-beautiful-music/story-fn9n8gph-1226416992126 Review the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s current touring…