To view 2020 calendar or import events please go to calendar
For prices please see tickets. Tickets can be bought at the door or online via the concert-specific links provided below.
Girls Wearing the Trousers
Sunday 1st March at 3pm
Wesley Music Centre, 20 National Circuit, Forrest
Sarahlouise Owens (soprano) and Natalia Tkachenko (piano)
Much of the exciting oeuvre of Song Cycles is penned for the male voice. Changing roles, women fall in love too and can share the same sentiments. In line with the current vein of women singing “men’s” song repertoire, Sarahlouise and Natalia present sets of songs penned for the male voice by Schumann (Dichterliebe), Lili Boulanger and Alabiev.
To book tickets online please click here
The Time of Roses
Sunday 5th April at 3pm Cancelled
Wesley Music Centre, 20 National Circuit, Forrest
Jill Sullivan (mezzo soprano) and Alan Hicks (piano)
The rose has long been associated with romantic notions of passion, dedication and devotion, both amorous and spiritual. From the first blossoming of Beethoven and Schubert songs to the full flowering of Brahms, Wagner, Grieg and beyond to Mahler and Sibelius, the romantic Lied has revealed the intimate feelings of the often troubled individual. In a perfect marriage between poetry, melody and piano accompaniment, this collection of Lieder and Song journeys from the hope, purity and pain of the young lover pricked by stinging thorns of the budding rose, through the full bloom of mature passion to its later decay. Never far from the romantics minds, the fears and regrets of the dying soul are poignantly conveyed, never more so than in Grieg’s exquisite song, Zur Rosenzeit (Time of Roses). Beauty, pain, acceptance and gratitude combine as the Romantic era reaches and passes its zenith, most poignantly in the haunting Sibelius arrangement of Shakespeare’s Come Away Death (Komm nu hit, Död).
Erwartung (Expectation)
Sunday 24th May at 3pm POSTPONED TO 2022
Wesley Music Centre, 20 National Circuit, Forrest
Markus Matheis (baritone) and Rhodri Clarke (piano)
Markus Matheis and Rhodri Clarke present a concert which chronicles the evolution of the art of the German Lied from the late 19th century High Romantic to the early 20th century. Their cycle of songs by Brahms, Schreker, Pfitzner and Schoenberg travels from the well-known to the little-known and highlights the dismantling and rearranging of established sounds and structures.
Songs around the Piano
Sunday 28th June at 3pm Postponed to 2021
Wesley Music Centre, 20 National Circuit, Forrest
Susannah Lawergren (soprano) and Maciej Pawela (piano)
Composers partner the voice with so many different combinations of instruments (shakuhachi, harp, percussion, didgeridoo… ). The fascinating colours they can create together beg the question, why stick to piano and voice? In one of the first concerts after months of uncertainty and quiet music at home, join Susannah and Maciej for an emotional and much-needed concert filled with the most passionate, most light-hearted and most worldly pieces, delving down into the magic of voice and piano alone with songs by Turina, Tchaikovsky, Schubert, Bizet, Miriam Hyde and new songs by Elena Kats-Chernin.
Persons of Interest
Sunday 16th August at 3pm Postponed to 2021
Wesley Music Centre, 20 National Circuit, Forrest
Christina Wilson (mezzo soprano) and Alan Hicks (piano)
Passed down the generations are sung stories that celebrate human experience and achievement – continuing still as part of our society’s collective memory. Classical art song composers have added to this human musical history; inspired to write of men and women, real and imaginary, from myth and legend, from history and literature, to make known and keep alive their names and fate. Come and meet some memorable characters, hear their tales and judge for yourself whether they have something to say to us in 2020.
Masterclass for performers of Art Song
Saturday 5th September at 2pm Cancelled
Wesley Music Centre, 20 National Circuit, Forrest
Dan Walker will give a masterclass for singers and accompanists. Audience will be very welcome. More details will be announced nearer the date. The masterclass is kindly and generously sponsored by the Wesley Music Foundation. If you are considering participating, please read the call for applications.
The Loreley
Sunday 20th September at 3pm Cancelled
Wesley Music Centre, 20 National Circuit, Forrest
Laetitia Grimaldi (soprano) and Ammiel Bushakevitz (piano)
The role of the female composer has been neglected for many centuries. As a traditionally male career, being a composer in the 19th and early 20th century was not considered appropriate for females. The French composer Cécile Chaminade was not allowed to enter the conservatoire of Paris because she was a woman. Others, such as Fanny Mendelssohn, were forced to publish their works under male pseudonyms.
This program aims to present female and male composers in pairs, based on their musical and personal connections. This program will show that female composers in the 19th century wrote music that is passionate, emotional and extremely beautiful.
Season of Song Concert 6 (alternative)
The Unexpected Journey Back
Saturday 17th October at 3pm / 4.15pm
Wesley Music Centre, 20 National Circuit, Forrest
Sonia Anfiloff (soprano), Kylie Loveland (piano) and Rowan Harvey-Martin (violin, viola)
Hear songs by Vaughan Williams, Sibelius, Copland, Brahms, Duparc, Rachmaninoff and others, illustrating Sonia’s journey thus far, through her voice to her life. How life imitates art and art imitates life. The songs express Sonia’s path and the heartache endured to get here. They have both broken her and made her. She has found her way through these challenges to open her heart and her mind to embrace what her voice yearns to give.
To book tickets online please click here
Virus-related restrictions (including, in particular, physical distancing) will be in place. The audience capacity of the Music Room, Wesley Music Centre, will be 31, including 4 people seated on stage. Two performances of a 45-50 minute programme are planned for 3pm and 4.15pm. Please be prepared to leave the venue as soon as your concert is finished. There will be no post-concert gathering. With a view to limited ticket availability, advance booking is essential and online booking strongly encouraged.
Serendipity
Sunday 22nd November at 3pm Cancelled (alternative concert below)
Wesley Music Centre, 20 National Circuit, Forrest
Claire Munting (mezzo soprano) and Simon Kenway (piano)
Serendipity – unplanned, fortunate discovery.
This recital will take you on a journey of discoveries of familiar and lesser known jewels by composers such as Brahms, Fauré and Strauss. You will hear the story behind the composition and the poem and get an insight of the composer’s life at the time the song was written.
Season of Song Concert 7 (alternative)
By Royal Favour
Sunday 22nd November at 3pm / 4.15pm
Wesley Music Centre, 20 National Circuit, Forrest
Sarahlouise Owens (soprano) and Natalia Tkachenko (piano)
Throughout history royalty has consistently and generously patronised music and enjoyed and commissioned great amounts of repertoire. Not only were royals appreciative audience members but they also sometimes composed music and prose themselves. Concentrating on the Victorian and Romanov courts, Sarahlouise and Natalia present various favourites of Royals of the 19th century.
To book tickets online please click here
Virus-related restrictions (including, in particular, physical distancing) will be in place. The audience capacity of the Music Room, Wesley Music Centre, will be 31, including 4 people seated on stage. Two performances of a 45-50 minute programme are planned for 3pm and 4.15pm. Please be prepared to leave the venue as soon as your concert is finished. There will be no post-concert gathering. With a view to limited ticket availability, advance booking is essential and online booking strongly encouraged.
To Music (An die Musik)
Saturday 12th December at 3pm / 4.15pm
Wesley Music Centre, 20 National Circuit, Forrest
Bethany Hill (soprano) and Penelope Cashman (piano)
Throughout the history of the world, in times of peace, uncertainty and fear, music has carried its listeners to realms of comfort, rhapsody, and meditation. In a recital of pieces exploring our intrinsic connection to music, interwoven with songs of solace, Bethany Hill and Penelope Cashman highlight how music helps us navigate challenging times. This is their homage, their love letter To Music (An die Musik).
To book tickets online please click here
Virus-related restrictions (including, in particular, physical distancing) will be in place. The audience capacity of the Music Room, Wesley Music Centre, will be 34. Two performances of a 45-50 minute programme are planned for 3pm and 4.15pm. Please be prepared to leave the venue as soon as your concert is finished. There will be no post-concert gathering. With a view to limited ticket availability, advance booking is essential and online booking strongly encouraged.
The Artists
Sarahlouise Owens has worked extensively in Europe including for the Radio Choir in Cologne, Theatre Hagen, Brussels’ La Monnaie, Paris Châtelet, and the theatres of Frankfurt and Hannover. Most significantly she has been a consistent member of the ensemble of the Wagner Summer Festival in Bayreuth where she has sung the role of an Edeldame from Lohengrin, and covered a Blumenmädchen from Parsifal.
She is a graduate of the ANU School of Music and Royal Northern College of Music Manchester; and has studied with various prestigious singing teachers in both Australia and Europe; including masterclasses with such noted artists as Brigitte Fassbaender, Renata Scotto, Nelly Miricioiu, Geoffrey Parsons amongst others. Since her return to Canberra she has been actively performing, having sung concerts with Art Song Canberra and Wesley Foundation, as a soloist in the Canberra International Music Festival, Handel in the Theatre and with some of Canberra’s choral groups such as SCUNA, UC Chorale and Canberra Choral Society. She also has a successful teaching portfolio and conducts a number of local choirs. Most recently with Canta Viva, she has sung Violetta in a 1-hour version of La Traviata, with a view to touring the regions with Colleen Rae-Gerrard. Sarahlouise conducts the award-winning Seasoned Voices choir.
Natalia Tkachenko graduated with honours from the Moscow State Institute of Music. Performances include the piano part in the Samuel Beckett play Waiting for Godot at a South Korean theatre festival and works by Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky and Verdi with the Youth Opera Theatre in Moscow, France and Germany. Since arriving in Canberra in 2003, she has performed as an accompanist for ANU School of Music, winning the prize for Best Accompanist in the 2006 Australian National Eisteddfod and performing with cellist David Pereira, vocalists Sarahlouise Owens, Damian Whiteley, Tobias Cole and Canberra Chorale Society, pianist Elena Nikulina and others in various venues, including Government House. Natalia’s outstanding work as a piano teacher was recognised when AMEB NSW placed her within the top ten teachers for 2013 and 2015 in the category Private Teacher Pianoforte (Preliminary to Sixth Grade). Those attending the Canberra International Music Festival in 2015 will have heard Natalia’s student, Daniel Pan, perform the Beethoven Sonata Op 49 Number 1 in G minor.
Jill Sullivan has performed throughout Australia in opera and concert. In 2016 Jill joined the Opera Australia Chorus as a casual performer and for that company has performed in La Boheme, Tosca, La Traviata, King Roger, Turandot, Verdi’s Requiem and Wagner’s Parsifal. Jill began her professional career as a resident mezzo-soprano for West Australian Opera, singing roles in childrens operas, concert performances, small roles on main stage and in chorus for that company. She has performed also in the chorus of Opera Queensland, recorded for the former Victoria State Opera and was the soloist on the soundtrack for the highly awarded feature film Fade to White.
She has an extensive concert, chamber and recital repertoire. In 2017 Jill performed in recital for Art Song Canberra where reviewers praised the beauty of her voice and deeply moving interpretations. In Hobart’s Epsom House, Jill has performed her own shows of classical and cabaret Salon Rouge and Lady in the Dark to sell out audiences. Reviewers here described her voice ‘as rich toned and full bodied yet with clarity of tone throughout an extensive range.’ Other highlights include alto solos for The Queensland Choir in Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody and Handel’s Messiah.
In 1990 Jill co-founded the Lieder Society of Western Australia (now Art Song Perth) for whom she has sung many recitals including several of the major song cycles. In South Australia, Western Australia and the Queensland Jill has performed with East West Trio, a chamber and voice ensemble. Jill has directed vocal ensembles and choirs, conducted performances of operatic choruses, amateur performances of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and the musical Fiddler on the Roof, and also lead choral workshops in Tasmania and Western Australia in opera chorus singing for amateurs. Jill holds a Licentiate Diploma of Music (Singing) A.M.E.B. and an Honours degree in Arts (Opera Studies) from the University of Manchester. She also holds a Bachelor degree in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Tasmania and continues to practise part time as a locum general medical practitioner.
Alan Hicks is one of Australia’s foremost vocal coaches and accompanists. Formerly a staff member at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester and Head of Voice (2008-12) at the ANU Canberra School of Music, he currently works in Vocal and Opera Studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music as coach, accompanist and tutor in diction. After postgraduate study at the RNCM in Manchester Alan remained in the UK for 15 years, performing in song and chamber recitals at the Wigmore Hall, St Johns Smith Square, the Purcell Room, Three Choirs Festival, for Yehudi Menuhin’s Live Music Now! and in recordings and broadcasts for the BBC.
Recent recital, theatre and festival work include the world premieres of The Diggers Requiem in Amiens, France and The Weight of Light at The Street Theatre, Canberra, where he also performed as Alain/Claude in the award-winning Bijou, subsequently touring NSW and in seasons at La Mama Courthouse, Melbourne, the Depot Theatre, Sydney, and The Butterfly Club, Melbourne. He is a member of the Trio Campanaccio, an official accompanist for the Australian Flute Festival, and the Australian Opera Foundation. A regular performer in The Flowers of War project concerts, in 2016 Alan recorded songs of Frederick Septimus Kelly for the ABC Classics CD A Race Against Time, and in 2018, completed a major project for the Australian War Memorial, recording 100 songs and pieces of music from the AWM’s collection of sheet music which can now be heard via the following website: https://www.awm.gov.au/visit/exhibitions-online/Music-WW1
Markus Matheis was born in Frankfurt and, as a boy-treble, began performing for the Opera Frankfurt and the Alte Oper Frankfurt.
He has since been regularly engaged by Kammeroper Frankfurt, singing Guglielmo in Cosi Fan Tutte, Dancairo and Morales in Carmen, Danilo in The Merry Widow and The Street Singer in Wiell’s The Threepenny Opera.
Other roles include Falke in Die Fledermaus for Theater Lubeck, Leporello in Don Giovanni at the Belgrade International Theatre Festival and Zurga in The Pearlfishers for Neukölner Oper in Berlin and, since arriving in Melbourne in 2018, he has appeared as Guglielmo in Cosi Fan Tutte for Gertrude Opera at the Yarra Valley Festival and made a major tour of China as Bartolo in The Marriage Of Figaro.
He has been engaged as a soloist for oratorio and concerts with the Deutsche Radiophilharmonie, the Beethoven Orchester Bonn, Neue Philharmonie Frankfurt, the Duisburger Philharmoniker, the Klassikphilharmonie Hamburg and the Karlsruher Barockorchester.
Markus is also a committed lieder singer, having studied with such leading exponents as Graham Johnson, Irwin Gage and Dalton Baldwin, and regularly collaborating with pianists in recitals in Germany, Switzerland and Spain.
Rhodri Clarke graduated with first class honours from the Royal College of Music, London in 2004.
He has lived in the Netherlands where he performed with members of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and has toured extensively with tenor, Rolando Villazon’s Bolivar Soloists appearing with the group at the Berlin Philharmonie, London’s Royal Festival Hall and the Theatre des Champs-Elysees in Paris and also in Mexico, programs recorded for the Deutsche Grammaphon label.
He has also toured to Venezuela, with double bass player, Edicson Ruiz of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and accompanied Bryn Terfel at Carnegie Hall in New York. Other engagements as an accompanist have seen him perform at many prestigious European concert venues including London’s Wigmore Hall and also at the Lucerne International Music Festival.
As duo-pianist, with internationally renowned, David Helfgott, Rhodri has given performances of the two-piano version of the Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No3 at the Sydney Opera House and the Melbourne Recital Centre and, during 2017, at the Vienna Konzerthaus, at the KKL Hall in Lucerne, Bridgewater Hall in Manchester and The Barbican Hall, London and, in 2018, at the Perth Concert Hall, La Seine Musicale in Paris, the Vienna Musikverein and in Geneva.
Susannah Lawergren performs both as a specialist ensemble member and soloist, bridging art song, opera, oratorio, early music and contemporary music. She has performed with some of the foremost musicians and ensembles in Australia, including Bach Akademie Australia, Ensemble Offspring, Cantillation, OA, ACO, SSO, MSO and the Australia Ensemble as well as international artists like the Wallfisch Ensemble, Forma Antiqva, Simone Vallerotonda and Nigel North.
From 2011-2019 she was a member of the 6-voiced vocal ensemble the Song Company, performing a remarkably diverse range of vocal ensemble and solo music in performances around the country, working closely with composers, appearing on many albums, (the most recent being In Illo Tempore with Hyperion Records) and regularly broadcast on ABC Classic FM. She has performed at many of the major festivals in Australia, in 2019 joining Sydney Chamber Opera at the Sydney Festival and singing in her ninth CIMF and in the previous year appearing in Brett Dean’s operatic smash hit Hamlet at the Adelaide Festival. From 2017-2019 she has sung many Bach cantatas with the Bach Akademie Australia. As a solo recitalist, recent performances have included two separate concerts of newly-composed song cycles for soprano and chamber ensemble in the Sydney Opera House’s Utzon Room with both the Kasba Trio and Hourglass Ensemble and Schubert’s Winterreise with Bradley Gilchrist for SongCo SOLO Series. in 2019 she was the soprano soloist in the SSO’s Blue Planet by Hans Zimmer and sang with the acclaimed UK group Voces8 in a chamber version of Bach’s B Minor Mass at ANAM.
Maciej Pawela is a piano teacher and performer who was born in Poland, and after immigrating to Australia in 1983 now lives and works in Sydney.Maciej attended the State School of Music in Bytom and went on to study piano performance at the Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice. He completed his Master of Arts degree with Distinction in 1981.
During his student days he was awarded the Frederic Chopin Society scholarship in Warsaw twice, was awarded first place at the Prokofiev competition in Katowice, was a prize-winner at the Polish Pianistry Festival in Slupsk, and was the winner of the Piano Trio category in the All-Poland Chamber Music Competition in Lodz. He then held a piano teaching position at the Silesian University in Katowice.
After immigrating to Australia, he has taken an active role in the musical life of his new homeland, including recordings for ABC radio and television, SBS radio, 2MBSFM radio, and Channel 7 TV. His chamber music collaborations include Richard Tognetti, Georg Pedersen, Wanda Wilkomirska, Natalie Chee, Alex Todicescu, Christina Leonard, amongst many others. Maciej has also organised several concerts as the president of the Chopin Society of Sydney for young Australian musicians and contemporary Australian composers.
Maciej currently runs a busy studio on Sydney’s North Shore, in addition to teaching at Sydney Grammar School and in association with the University of New South Wales. In his teaching Maciej aims to broaden the musical horizons of students by studying music of a variety of genres and music by lesser-known composers of a number of cultures, to encourage students to participate in ensemble groups, and to gain experience teaching for themselves. Maciej has assisted numerous students to forge successful musical careers in a broad range of contexts, including academic, compositional, educational and performative, and wishes to assist future students to reach their musical goals.
Winner of the Australian Singing Competition’s Marianne Mathy Award and prize winning graduate of The Canberra School of Music, the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester and the National Opera Studio, London, mezzo-soprano Christina Wilson has appeared in performances throughout the UK, Europe, the USA and Australia. She has sung as a soloist at the Royal Albert Hall, Westminster Abbey, Canterbury Cathedral and in recital at the Wigmore Hall, the Temple Square and the Paris Conservatoire. With Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Wexford Festival Opera, Belfast Opera and the State Opera of South Australia she has sung the roles of Clitemnestre, Carmen, Cenerentola, Rosina, Cherubino, Dido, Dorabella and in recent years for Handel in Theatre, the roles of David (Saul), Irene (Theodora), Dejanira (Hercules) and Storgé (Jephtha) staged at the Canberra Playhouse and conducted by Brett Weymark.
Christina is currently a core member of Songmakers Australia, Australia’s only professional art song ensemble, performing regularly at the Melbourne Recital Centre in concert and broadcast for ABC Classic FM. As an artist with the Flowers of War project, she has sung in concert around Australia, in Paris and Amiens, France and Oxford and London, as well in recordings for the Australian War Memorial and ABC Classics – in 2017 A race against Time, songs of Frederick Septimus Kelly with Alan Hicks, piano and in 2019 with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra in a selection of Kelly songs orchestrated by the project director, Christopher Latham. A Lecturer in Voice at the ANU (2009-12) and in Voice and Performance at the University of Canberra (2013-18), she is now Sydney-based and teaches Classical Song and Voice Works at the Sydney University Conservatorium Open Academy and is a Performance Tutor at UNSW. She has given masterclasses at AIM, NIDA, die Universität fur darstellende Kunst, Vienna, and adjudicated at the Sydney, National, Wollongong and Taree Eidsteddfods and the Melbourne Liederfest.
Since her Carnegie Hall debut in 2013, Laetitia Grimaldi has sung in many renowned halls, opera stages and international festivals worldwide: Kennedy Center (USA), Shanghai & Forbidden City Concert Halls (China), Festival Croisements (China) Festival Pitic (Mexico), Festival Musica Classica (Canada), Verbier Festival (Switzerland), Ravinia Festival (USA) and the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence (France).
In 2017 she was awarded the first prize in three international competitions: 1st prize at the Concours International de Mélodies Françaises in Montreal, Canada, the 1st prize at the Concours International Robert Massard in Bordeaux, France as well as the 1st Prize at the Concours International Pro Musicis in Paris. Born in France, Laetitia Grimaldi spent her childhood in Lisbon and London. After beginning her vocal studies with Teresa Berganza, she continued her education with Lorraine Nubar in New York City, first at the Manhattan School of Music, followed by a Masters degree from the Juilliard School.
She has received mentorship with some of the world’s leading artists, including Sir Thomas Allen, Dame Emma Kirkby, Dame Felicity Lott, Alfred Brendel, Ileana Cotrubas, François le Roux and Dalton Baldwin. In 2016, Ms Grimaldi changed to soprano under the mentorship of the German baritone, Matthias Goerne. Laetitia Grimaldi has had the privilege to work with conductors and artists such as William Christie, Leonardo Garcia Alarcon, Vlad Iftinka, Antoine Glatard, Jorge Parodi, Ryan Brown, Anne Manson and Carlos Miguel Prieto, Pablo Sainz Villegas and Malcolm Martineau. In October 2018 Naxos released a DVD of the opera Les Fêtes de l’Hymen et de L’amour in which Laetitia Grimaldi performs the title role. Recent performances include extensive recital tours in China, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, South Africa, Canada, the USA and throughout Europe as well as performances with orchestras in Montreal, Brasilia, Cape Town and the Château de Versailles.
Ammiel Bushakevitz is internationally acclaimed as one of the notable young pianists of his generation. Born in Jerusalem, Israel and raised in South Africa, Ammiel performs regularly at notable venues across the world. He has appeared at the festivals of Salzburg, Bayreuth, Lucerne and Montreal, the Festival Pontino di Latina in Rome, the Pablo Casals Festival in Barcelona, the Jerusalem Schubertiade and the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, France. Upcoming performances include recitals in London’s Wigmore Hall, Berlin’s Konzerthaus, the Shanghai Concert Hall and the Salle Pleyel in Paris. His awards include the European Union Commission Award, the DAAD International Scholarship for Artists, the Oppenheimer Trust Award, the Prix de la Ville de Lausanne, Switzerland. He is the only Israeli citizen to have received the city of Leipzig’s Richard Wagner Award.
One of the last private students of the late Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Ammiel was invited in 2011 by Fischer-Dieskau to accompany his masterclasses at the Universität der Künste in Berlin and at the Schwarzenberg Schubertiade in Austria. Ammiel has also worked with other notable singers including Thomas Hampson, Elly Ameling, Matthias Goerne, Thomas Quasthoff, Barbara Bonney, Dame Felicity Lott, Brigitte Fassbaender and Teresa Berganza. In 2013 Ammiel released his debut solo CD, recorded in the Salle Fleuret in Paris. He has since released seven commercial recordings on labels including BIS (Sweden), Hänssler Classics (Germany), SOLFA (Spain) and Gramola (Austria) to critical acclaim and five-star reviews. His recording of Schubert’s Moments musicaux was used as the soundtrack of the 2017 Austrian film, Gwendolyn.
He is an alumnus of the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD), a member of the Société des Arts Sciences et Lettres de Paris, a member of the International Hugo Wolf Academy and an honorary member of the International Richard Wagner Society. In 2014 Ammiel was named Edison Fellow of the British Library, London.
Dutch mezzo soprano Claire Munting has been performing throughout Europe, USA and Australia since her graduation from the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. Claire was a member of opera company “Della Casa” which performed throughout Europe at venues such as the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Jahrhunderthalle in Frankfurt and St James’ Palace in London where she performed for the Royal family.
Her operatic roles include Carmen (Carmen/Bizet), Eboli (Don Carlo/Verdi), Fenena (Nabucco/Verdi), Santuzza (Cavalleria Rusticana/Mascagni), La Principessa (Suor Angelica/Puccini) and Adalgisa (Norma/ Bellini). She has appeared with several renowned orchestras such as the Britten Pears Orchestra, Con Brio Orchestra, Colla Voce Ensemble and the North Holland Symphony Orchestra.
Claire performed at the Aldeburgh Festival in the UK, the Grachten Festival in the Netherlands, the Glebe Festival in Sydney and the prestigious TNC in New York. She was invited to perform at the House of Parliament in Brisbane, was both soloist and vocal coach for the Queensland Music Festival 2013 and is the Artistic Director of Musica! with a festival in 2015 and 2018. For Opera Projects Sydney she sang the role of La Principessa in Puccini’s Suor Angelica. Recently Claire created “A Tribute to Maria Callas” which premiered at the Mosman Gallery in Sydney. Claire has a great love for Lieder and has given numerous recitals in the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Australia.
Simon Kenway is an established and highly respected orchestral and operatic conductor, music educator and accompanist. He has held posts as Principal Chorus Master and Guest Conductor of Opera Australia, Conductor and Chief Vocal Coach for the Sydney Conservatorium, Musical Director for Opera in the Vineyards, and Opera by George and Opera Under The Stars in Broome. He now works as a freelance conductor, both internationally and in Australia, and has been Artistic Director of Pacific Opera since 2015.
As conductor, Simon has collaborated with many orchestras and opera companies including the Sydney, Tasmanian, West Australian, Canberra and Queensland Symphony Orchestras, Opera Australia, West Australian Opera, State Opera of South Australia, Opera Queensland, as well as The Australian Ballet, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Sydney Philharmonic Choirs, Aldeburgh Productions in UK, the Australian Youth Orchestra, Beijing Symphony Orchestra, Willoughby Symphony Orchestra and many festivals.
Simon was Musical Director of the Opera High Tea concerts at the Bennelong restaurants from 2006 to 2011 and has been running the Taste of Opera program for 9 years. He has accompanied many of the world’s leading vocalists, performing within Australia, Asia and Europe.
Simon obtained a Bachelor of Music Degree (Piano) and a Post-Graduate Diploma (Opera) from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music. He then continued his post-graduate studies in Europe at the Royal College of Music in London and with Norman Del Mar, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Pierre Boulez, Sir Simon Rattle and James Lockhardt. He also trained as a vocal coach with the leading repetiteurs from Covent Garden, English National Opera and Paris Opera.
Canberra-based composer, conductor and performer Dan Walker is one of Australia’s most in-demand choral specialists. His compositional output includes commissions for Gondwana Voices, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Leichhardt Espresso Chorus, Voyces Youth Choir, the Birralee Blokes, the Nittany Valley Children’s Choir of Pennsylvania, and Halcyon. Recently, his large work, Mass of Deliverance was a finalist of the 2015 APRA/AMCOS Art Music Awards.
Dan is an also active arranger and regularly produces work for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, the Australian Chamber Orchestra and record label ABC Classics. His work for television includes the iconic 2009 I Still Call Australia Home advertising campaign for Qantas.
As a performer, Dan is a regular member of the Song Company, Clarion Quartet, Pinchgut Opera and was a founding member of early music ensemble ‘The Parson’s Affayre’. He is a keenly sought-after conductor, having appeared as chorus-master for Cantillation, the Sydney Symphony and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras. He is currently Music Director of The Canberra Choral Society, Luminescence Chamber Singers, The Oriana Chorale and Canberra Community Chorale.
Sonia Anfiloff completed a Master of Music degree at The Australian National University in 2010, majoring in voice performance, where she was the recipient of the Kornfeld Scholarship. That year she performed the role of Dido and was awarded third prize in The Australian National Eisteddfod Aria Competition. Whilst studying at the ANU School of Music she performed many roles, including Sly in the world premiere of Grimm and the Blue Crown Owl, written by Josh McHugh, and Minna in Rautavaara’s Gift of the Magi for the Canberra International Music Festival. During her studies and since her graduation she has performed often as a soloist in a number of Requiems, Masses and Passions. 2009 marked the beginning of Sonia’s touring career, when she revisited her role as a Dame in Co-Opera’s production of The Magic Flute. In 2012 Sonia had the opportunity to perform Strauss’s Four Last Songs and in 2013 was awarded first prizes in the Australian National Eisteddfod and the Orange Eisteddfod and was a quarter-finalist in the Sydney Eisteddfod. 2013-14 also had Sonia performing her first role in Vienna as Elisabetta in Verdi’s Don Carlo. As well as giving five concerts in Australia in 2015, including two Embassy concerts and an Art Song Canberra concert, she was a semi-finalist in the Elizabeth Connell Dramatic Soprano Singing Competition. In 2017 Sonia returned to the stage for Verdi’s Requiem and Mass in Blue by Todd, as well as two toured concert programs throughout the ACT, Regional NSW and Melbourne; the cabaret show A Waltzy, Stolzy Evening from Vienna and the classical program In an Elemental Mood for Art Song Canberra. 2018 Sonia was an Artist in Residence at The Street Theatre. Having returned to Canberra from Vienna in 2019, after 9 years, Sonia is now the Head of Choirs at Canberra Girl’s Grammar School and is teaching voice privately
Kylie Loveland graduated with a Master of Music degree in piano performance and accompaniment from the ANU School of Music in 2009, studying with Susanne Powell and Dr Geoffrey Lancaster. She has performed as a soloist with the National Capital Orchestra, participated in the Tel Hai International Piano Masterclasses in Israel and has accompanied choirs and soloists regularly around Canberra for over 15 years. Throughout 2014-15 Kylie studied Injury-Preventive Keyboard Technique with Dr Barbara Lister-Sink (USA). Kylie then undertook further lessons under the guidance of Prof Larry Sitsky. Kylie is currently piano teacher and accompanist at Canberra Girls Grammar School. She also teaches piano at St Clare’s College and at her private home studio and is Vice President of ACT Keyboard Association.
Rowan Harvey-Martin graduated violin with honours from the ANU School of Music and also studied at the Eastman School of Music, New York. She was former Principal First Violin with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra and has had extensive orchestral experience with the Eastman Virtuosi in New York, the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra and as Associate Concertmaster with the Australian production of Phantom of the Opera and Miss Saigon. Rowan studied choral conducting with Micheal McCarthy at the Canberra School of Music and orchestral conducting with Donald Hunsberger at the Eastman School of Music. In 2007-09 Rowan took part in Symphony Australia’s Conducting Development Program with Christopher Seaman, Arvo Volmer and Sebastien Lang-Lessing conducting the State Orchestra of Victoria, Tasmanian, Queensland, Adelaide and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras. In 2010 Rowan conducted The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra in their Tea and Symphony Series and Brahms’ A German Requiem for the Llewellyn Choir’s 30th Anniversary. In 2009 Rowan was awarded the Stuart and Norma Leslie Churchill Fellowship for furthering her conducting in Graz, Austria with Johannes Fritsch and Rochester New York with Christopher Seaman. In 2012 Rowan conducted Bach’s St Matthew Passion with The Llewellyn Choir and became Chief Conductor of Canberra Youth Orchestra and Artistic Director of Canberra Youth Music. As Music Director of the Llewellyn Choir since 2013 Rowan conducted Antill’s Corroboree, Bach’s St Matthew Passion, Jenkin’s The Armed Man, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Tavener’s Ikon of Light, Rheinberger’s The Star of Bethlehem, Verdi’s Requiem, Ramirez Missa Criolla and Will Todd’s Mass in Blue with Sonia Connor as soloist and which was a massive success. Rowan is currently Head of Orchestras and Strings at Canberra Girls Grammar School, conductor of Canberra Youth Orchestra and Music Director of The Llewellyn Choir.
Bethany Hill is a renowned Adelaide soprano, known for her intelligent and commanding performances.
Equally at home on the operatic stage and in intimate chamber music settings, Bethany’s performances range from Dido in Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas, to Mozart’s opera heroines, and Schoenberg’s Erwartung. She regularly collaborates with Australian composers in the development of new works. Bethany is a passionate interpreter of early music and counts amongst her career highlights performing with Julliard 415 under the baton of Masaki Suzuki. Bethany appears as a recitalist around Australia, including in the Adelaide Festival of Arts, Peninsula Summer Music Festival and Melbourne Recital Centre. Treasured performance memories include Barrie Kosky’s Saul (Glyndebourne Festival Opera/Adelaide Festival) and co-creating Can You Hear Colour? – a children’s opera about synaesthesia (Patch Theatre).
Dr Penelope Cashman, Adelaide-based pianist and vocal coach, is active as a performer, pedagogue and researcher. As pianist and repetiteur she has worked for the State Opera of South Australia, Opera Queensland, the “Bel Canto in Tuscany” Opera School, Italy, the Lisa Gasteen National Opera School, the WAAPA International Art Song Academy, Co-Opera and the Elder Conservatorium of Music. She was Music Director for the Opera Queensland outreach programs “Moving Opera!” and “Vocal Threads”. In 2019 she was repetiteur for the State Opera of South Australia’s productions of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and Ross Edwards’ Christina’s World. Penelope is a Research Associate and regular visiting lecturer at the University of Waikato Conservatorium of Music, New Zealand, where she gives masterclasses in German Lieder and lyric diction. She teaches introductory classes in Italian and German lyric diction at the Elder Conservatorium of Music. In 2018 she was the pianist adjudicator at the 37th National Liederfest, Melbourne, and in 2020 she was a presenter at the Conference of the Australian National Association of Teachers of Singing. Penelope has Bachelor degrees in piano performance from the ANU School of Music (Hons, University Medal) and the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, and a Masters in Lied Accompaniment (with Distinction) from the Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität der Stadt Wien, Austria. In 2019 she was awarded her PhD and the Dean’s Commendation from the University of Adelaide. In 2020 Penelope received an Arts SA Creative Endeavour Grant and a Lisa Gasteen National Opera Program grant for professional development.