Please read: We are proud to have a full program of seven concerts lined up once again for the 2022 Season of Song. Please continue to keep an eye on announcements on this page or via email regarding changes in program or ticket availability. Subscribe to our email list on the contact page or make sure to check this page a few days before each concert to be aware of changes in performers, times, et cetera. If you have booked tickets for a performance, you will of course be notified of changes if you have provided a valid email address that you regularly check.
Admission to each concert will be by prior booking, achieved very easily through www.trybooking.com. Life members (entitled to free admission) must still book at no charge; there is provision for this on trybooking. Online booking links will be provided below as each concert approaches; special booking arrangements will be offered to Members of Art Song Canberra not having access to online facilities.
Piazzolla – a Century of Tango
Sunday 20th February at 3pm & 4.15pm
Wesley Music Centre, 20 National Circuit, Forrest
Ayșe Göknur Shanal (soprano), Monica Cichon (violin), Aleksandar Zivkovic (cello) and Eugenie Tamplon (piano)
The Storytellers Ensemble will present an unforgettable program by Astor Piazzolla and his contemporaries to celebrate his contribution to classical music and the Argentinian dance of Tango. Canberra critic Len Power wrote, “When a concert leaves you feeling excited and energised for hours afterwards, you know it was an exceptionally good one.”
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Concert details may be subject to change. Please read the information at the top of this page.
Persons of Interest
Sunday 3rd April at 3pm
Wesley Music Centre, 20 National Circuit, Forrest
Christina Wilson (mezzo-soprano) and Alan Hicks (piano)
Exploring the fate of men and women from myth, literature and real life, this varied program is full of the stories that inspired composers to immortalise these people in song. Come and identify them and decide whether they warrant further investigation…
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Concert details may be subject to change. Please read the information at the top of this page.
Schubert and Schiller
Sunday 22nd May at 3pm
Wesley Music Centre, 20 National Circuit, Forrest
Koen van Stade (tenor) and Neal Peres da Costa (fortepiano)
Before he turned 18, Franz Schubert (1797–1828) had already set three grand-scale ballads by Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) to music. Despite his young age, these works of epic proportion demonstrate an incredibly rich compositional style. This recital includes two of these ballads: Die Bürgschaft D. 246 and Der Taucher D. 77 and a selection of Schubert’s Wanderer Songs. It will be a rare opportunity to hear Schubert’s music performed as it may have sounded in the decades immediately following its conception. using an historic fortepiano. Both musicians integrate their latest research findings into this performance. The outcome is a reimagined performance of Schubert’s repertoire, displaying elements of a 19th-century sound-world markedly different from current practices.
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Concert details may be subject to change. Please read the information at the top of this page.
Romantic Classics
Sunday 24th July at 3pm
Wesley Music Centre, 20 National Circuit, Forrest
Andrew Goodwin (tenor) and John Martin (piano)
As if indulging in your favourite chocolates, be transported by musical romance. This will be a feast of best-loved European art song by Fauré, Hahn, Poulenc, Schumann, Strauss, Mahler and Rachmaninov.
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Concert details may be subject to change. Please read the information at the top of this page.
The Unusual Suspects
Sunday 4th September at 3pm Concert cancelled owing to illness of singer.
Wesley Music Centre, 20 National Circuit, Forrest
Sarahlouise Owens (soprano) and Katherine Day (piano)
We all know of our favourite Lieder composers but there are other composers, contemporary with our 19th- and 20th-century favourites, whose works compete in quality yet remain unknown or still lurk in obscurity. This concert will reveal some of the lesser-known composers, or lesser-known works of favourite composers.
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Concert details may be subject to change. Please read the information at the top of this page.
Masterclass for singers and duos
Sunday 18th September at 12pm
Wesley Music Centre, 20 National Circuit, Forrest
Miriam Allan and Erin Helyard
This Art Song Masterclass for advanced students of classical voice/voice-piano duos is a joint venture by Art Song Canberra and the Wesley Music Foundation in celebration of the 70th Anniversary of the Wesley Music Centre. The Masterclass will be given by international stars Miriam Allan and Erin Helyard. Audience is welcome; to book tickets online please click here
The Time of Roses
Sunday 16th October at 3pm
Wesley Music Centre, 20 National Circuit, Forrest
Jill Sullivan (mezzo-soprano) and Donna Balson (piano)
The Time of Roses explores the flowering of the Romantic Lied, through the imagery of the rose in song. From a first budding in Beethoven’s “Adelaide” to the full bloom of Brahms to its autumn flowering in works by Richard Strauss and Jean Sibelius, the rose weaves through this program in romantic notions of loss, passion, dedication and devotion.
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Concert details may be subject to change. Please read the information at the top of this page.
Primavera!
Sunday 20th November at 3pm
Wesley Music Centre, 20 National Circuit, Forrest
Sarah Mann (soprano) and Ella Luhtasaari (piano)
Songs of passion and soil. Sarah and Ella will perform a sumptuous range of life-celebrating songs at this spring concert. Please note the program has been adjusted due to absence of the clarinettist.
To book tickets online please click here
Concert details may be subject to change. Please read the information at the top of this page.
The Artists
Brisbane born Muslim soprano of Turkish-Cypriot heritage, Ayşe Göknur Shanal has performed in USA, Germany, France, Ireland, India, Japan, Turkey, England, Scotland, Wales, Cyprus and Morocco. She has performed with Opera Australia, Turkish State Opera and Opera Queensland, roles including Mimì, Tosca, Blanche de la Force, Pamina and Susanna. She was a guest artist in many festivals, including the Aldeburgh Festival (UK), Mersin International Music Festival (Turkey) and Sydney Festival. She performs regularly at the Sydney Opera House and is a soloist with the Symphony Orchestras of Sydney, Queensland, Melbourne, Adelaide, West Australia, and with the Australian Haydn Ensemble. She has also recently performed with the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra. She studied at Royal College of Music and was an adjunct member of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
Ayşe has won many competitions and awards around the world. Some of these include, the Australian Singing Competition, Metropolitan Opera Award (New York), Queens Trust for Young Australians, Symphony Australia’s Young Performers Award (Vocal Category), Countess of Munster (UK) and the Sonderpreis der Loreley-Festspiele at the Neue Stimmen International Singing Competition (Germany). She has a graduate law degree from Western Sydney University and is an advocate for the environment, Human Rights, Australia’s First Nations People, and Peace. She is also part of Sydney’s 24/7 Kitchen, distributing food and other necessities to the city’s homeless community. Upcoming engagements for 2021 include performances for Canowindra Baroque festival, Concertante Ensemble, Master Piano Institute, Barbara May Foundation, as well as series of concerts at the Sydney Opera House. She will also be on the judging panel for Cyprus International Voice Competition. Ayşe’s discography includes Love and Life, released with Taslig Records and Çanakkale-Gallipoli Songs, with Wirripang. She can be regularly heard on ABC Classic FM and FinemusicFM.
Ayşe is passionate about using her art form consciously, to make a genuine and direct impact in the world.
Monica Cichon graduated Master of Music in violin from the Academy of Music of Ignacy J. Paderewski in Poznan, Poland. While there, she studied with Prof. M. Grabarczyk. Her earlier studies include tuition with Dr Robin Wilson and Prof. Wanda Wilkomirska. In Australia and Europe she has taken part in masterclasses and lessons with Simon Fischer, Daniel Draganov and Christina Astrand. In recent years she has worked casually with Filharmonia Gorzowska, Gorzow Wielkopolski in Poland, and the Kreaspiracji charity performances collaborating with members from the Poznan Philharmonic. Before that, she had worked with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra. Monica has also been teaching young violin students since 2003.
Aleksandar Zivkovic is one of the most versatile musicians of our time. The cellist and registered music therapist works with an unusually broad repertoire from early baroque to contemporary and popular music. He was born into the sixth generation of renowned musical family. The native Serbian Aleksandar Zivkovic started his violoncello studies at the age of seven. During his primary and secondary school days Aleksandar competed in and won many youth state competitions in 1983, 1986 and 1989 in various age categories. He studied with a number of famous professors and cellists including Prof. Aleksandr Kirilovich Fedorcenko (Russia), Marc Bonetti (Australia), Lazlo Varga (USA), Eleonore Schoenfield (USA), Kazimir Michalik (Poland), Michael Flaksman (Switzerland) and Ljubomir Polojac(Yugoslavia). At the Sydney Conservatorium of Music Aleksandar Zivkovic studied cello with Prof. Georg Pedersen. After completed his Undergraduate course Aleksandar continued to compete in numerous local cello and chamber music Eisteddfod competitions. As a member of St Laurence Piano Trio, Aleksandar won the 2MBS-FM Radio Competition in 1996. In 2010 Aleksandar completed his Master Degree in Advanced Music Performance at the Royal College of Music where he studied with Professor Alexander Chaushian, where he continued his post-graduate studies in baroque cello with Professor Richard Tunnicliffe. Aleksandar Zivkovic played all over the world with the greatest musicians of our time.
Eugenie Tamplon has loved, played and taught music on three continents. Born in Russia Eugenie began her music education at the age of six. She continued her piano studies in Germany under the guidance of Prof. Peter von Wienhardt at the Conservatory of Münster and completed her education with a Bachelor of Music (performance) and a Master of Music (education). She received further musical impulses from renowned pedagogues and musicians like Prof. Gregor Weichert, Prof. Ilya Scheps, Dr. Fritz Butzbach and composer Ulrich Schultheiss. She was awarded first and second prizes at the “Jugend musiziert” competition in Germany. Eugenie moved to Sydney in 2010 where she has been working as a pianist, accompanist and teacher. She has performed with a number of ensembles and particularly enjoys working with singers such as Barbara Jin, Kaine Hayward and Lilja Sile. She coaches vocalists in German, Russian and French. She was the repetiteur and orchestral pianist for Nicole Giezekamp’s one woman show “Sempre Libera”, which premiered at the Joan Sutherland Art Centre in 2020. In 2021 Eugenie appeared at the Sydney Opera House together with soprano Ayse Goknur Shanal as part of a fundraising event for the Barbara May Foundation. Over the past two years she has been involved with the Penrith Symphony Orchestra receiving guidance from conductor Paul Terracini. In 2019 Eugenie received the Louise Crossley scholarship for women conductors.
Award winning mezzo-soprano Christina Wilson has appeared in performance throughout the UK, Europe, the USA and Australia. Award winning mezzo-soprano Christina Wilson has appeared in performance throughout the UK, Europe, the USA and Australia. During her many years living in London she sang as a soloist at the Royal Albert Hall, the Wigmore Hall, Westminster Abbey and the Paris Conservatoire. Now a core member of Songmakers Australia, Australia’s only professional art song ensemble, she performs regularly at the Melbourne Recital Centre in concert and broadcast for ABC Classic FM. Well known to Canberra audiences as a soloist with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, the Canberra International Music Festival, Voices in the Forest and the Flowers of the Great War, Christina has recorded for the Australian War Memorial and ABC Classics – in 2017 A Race against Time, songs of Frederick Septimus Kelly with Alan Hicks, and in 2019 with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. For Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Wexford Festival Opera, Belfast Opera and the State Opera of South Australia she has sung roles including Carmen, Cenerentola, Rosina, Cherubino, Dido, Dorabella and in recent years for Handel in Theatre’s productions at the Canberra Playhouse the roles of David (Saul), Aspasia (Alexander Balus), Irene (Theodora), Dejanira (Hercules) and Storgé (Jephtha). A highly experienced voice teacher Christina teaches at the Sydney University Conservatorium Open Academy and UNSW. Formerly at the School of Music ANU (2009-12) and the University of Canberra (2013-18) she has given masterclasses at AIM, NIDA, and die Universität fur darstellende Kunst, Vienna, and adjudicated at the Sydney, National, Wollongong and Taree Eisteddfods and the Melbourne Liederfest. In 2022 she will adjudicate the Australian Concerto and Vocal Competition. She is currently undertaking a DMA at the Sydney Conservatorium and is the National Treasurer for the Australian National Association for Teachers of Singing.
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 this website: https://www.awm.gov.au/visit/exhibitions-online/Music-WW1
A graduate of both the Amsterdam Conservatorium and The Royal Conservatory of The Hague, Koen van Stade is a performing scholar with an international career who majored in Voice (Peter Kooij and Max van Egmond), Organ (Jos van der Kooy) and Conducting (Harold Lenselink). He specialised in Gregorian Chant at the Schola Cantorum Amsterdam (Prof. Eugeen Liven d’Abelardo). Already while majoring in Voice (Peter Kooij and Max van Egmond), Organ (Jos van der Kooy) and Conducting (Harold Lenselink), he started performing with prestigious Early Music ensembles as Collegium Vocale Gent – Philippe Herreweghe and The Amsterdam Baroque Choir- Ton Koopman. His recordings were awarded international prizes.
With the Gesualdo Consort Amsterdam he participated in the premiere recording of the complete works of Jan Pieterzoon Sweelinck resulting in a 20 CD collection. After relocating to Australia in 2009, he worked as an Academic Tutor at St John’s College, University of Sydney and as Principal Lay Clerk and the Director of the Cathedral Scholars at St Mary’s Cathedral Sydney. Next to his work as vocal tutor at Sydney Grammar School, he is currently working as a Casual Lecturer at the Historical Performance Faculty of Sydney Conservatorium of Music and holds a position as Principal Artist at The Song Company (Antony Pitts). Koen is a Doctoral Candidate at the University of Sydney under the supervision of Prof. Neal Peres da Costa, focussing on the vocal performance practice of the 19th -century. He received the Peter Davidson Scholarship for outstanding research.
Dr. Neal Peres Da Costa is Professor of Historical Performance and Associate Dean of Research at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music – University of Sydney. An internationally-recognised performing scholar, Neal has received many accolades for his ground-breaking monograph Off the Record: Performing Practices in Romantic Piano Playing (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012), and for the complete Brahms’ Sonatas for solo instrument and piano (Bärenreiter, 2015/16) co-edited with Clive Brown and Kate Bennet-Wadsworth. With Clive Brown he has produced the online Performing Practice Commentary to the 2020 Bärenreiter edition of the Beethoven Sonatas for Piano and Violin.
Neal is Chief Investigator for two concurrent Australian Research Council Discovery Project grants, Deciphering nineteenth-century pianism: invigorating global practices (2017) and Hearing the Music of Early New South Wales 1788-1860 (2021). Neal gives keynotes and invited lectures around the world. He regularly performs with Ironwood, Bach Akademie Australia and Australian Romantic and Classical Orchestra of which he is Artistic Advisor. He is an Australian Recording Industry Award winner with an extensive discography which includes for ABC Classics: 3 with Genevieve Lacey and Daniel Yeadon (2012); Brahms: Tones of Romantic Extravagance with Ironwood (2016) – awarded “Recommended CD” by The Strad (UK); Pastoral Fables (music by Beethoven, Schumann and Brahms) with Alexandre Oguey – cor anglais (2018), Romantic Dreams (Quintets for Piano and Strings by Farrenc and Saint-Saëns) (2020); and, Beethoven Piano Concertos 1 and 2 with the Australian Haydn Ensemble (2017, licensed by ABC Classics).
Andrew Goodwin was born into a musical family in Sydney’s Inner West where his passion for singing was kindled around the living room piano. He studied as a chorister at St Andrew’s Cathedral School in Sydney, before becoming the first Australian to study classical singing at the St Petersburg State Conservatory in Russia. After several successes in singing competitions, he was invited to perform the role of Lensky in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow (and remains the only westerner to perform this role at the Bolshoi). He also became a regular soloist with the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. Moving to London to further his education at the Royal Academy of Music, he studied with Dennis O’Neil and Robert Dean. During this time he appeared in theatres around Europe and returned regularly to Australia to perform with Opera Australia and Pinchgut Opera.
His career as an operatic tenor has seen him embrace a wide range of roles at some of the world’s greatest opera houses, including La Scala Milan, Gran Theatre Liceu Barcelona, Teatro Real Madrid and the Sydney Opera House. Andrew maintains a strong connection to Russia, where he has premiered works by Leonid Desyatnikov and Rodion Shchedrin and worked with conductors such as Yury Temirkanov and Teodor Currentzis. His repertoire runs the gamut from Baroque opera through Romantic oratorio to contemporary music. He is a passionate champion of art song, and has given recitals at the Wigmore Hall, Mariinsky Concert Hall, Oxford Lieder Festival, and countless international festivals. With pianist Daniel de Borah he has recorded Schubert’s ‘Die Schöne Müllerin’ and ‘Winterreise’ for ABC Classic FM. He has received critical acclaim for his performances in recordings for Pinchgut Opera, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the world premiere of Shchedrin’s ‘Boyarina Morozova’. He has recently made recordings of Russian Romances and the vocal quartets of Brahms and Schumann for ABC Classic.
In a colourful career of great variety, John Martin has become very well known and celebrated as a sensitive and entertaining performer. He has recently gained a lot of notice for a cameo as the department store pianist in Bruce Beresford’s movie “Ladies In Black”! As pianist and Music Director John has worked with many stars of the Australian and international concert and theatre scenes, including duo recitals and broadcasts with clarinettist Deborah de Graaff, and in trio combination with Deborah de Graaff and flautist Leah Lock as “Power Of Three”, cellist Susan Blake, legendary flautist Jane Rutter, celebrated singers David Hobson, Marina Prior, Mark Vincent, The Australian Tenors, The Ten Sopranos, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Amelia Farrugia, Julie Lea Goodwin, Yvonne Kenny, Jacqueline Porter, Greta Bradman, Jose Carbo, Mark Vincent, Peter Cousens and Geoffrey Chard, to name a few. He has also worked regularly with theatrical luminaries such as Miriam Margolyes (tours of “Dickens’ Women” in 2008 and 2012, tour of “The Importance of Being Miriam” 2015), Penny Hackforth-Jones (“the Spoken Garden” in 2000 and “The Spoken Interior” in 2001), Amanda Muggleton (many performances, including storytelling with music of “Wild Swans” on ABC Classic FM and at Sydney Opera House, 2016) , Meredith O’Reilly (including “Curtains” and “The Way We Were” in 2019) and Stuart Maunder (including two seasons of “Noel, Cole and Gertie” in 2008), as well as many up-and-coming young performers in both the classical and cabaret genres. He was MD for “Bells Are Ringing” and “Working” for Federation Uni TAFE Music Theatre Course, 2017 and 2018.
John is frequently to be heard on radio, especially ABC Classic FM (where he has been the subject of several week-long feature spots), both as soloist and associate artist and has championed the works of many Australian composers. He has had a long and happy association with his great friend Ann Carr-Boyd and has for many years enjoyed the pleasure of performing and recording her music. Many of these recordings being now available through Wirripang Publications, including his latest collection of Australian piano music “Another Look At Autumn”. John has recorded an Australian selection with renowned violinist Vov Dylan for Elkwood/Sony, an affiliation with Sony Japan. In March 2021 he recorded another Australian collection of solo piano works for Move Records, Melbourne. Both these projects include John’s own compositions, published by Wirripang.
Brad Cooper returned to the stage in 2021 as Raoul de St. Brioche in Merry Widow with Opera Australia, performed Handel’s Messiah at St Andrew’s Cathedral Sydney, presented groundbreaking new Weimar Republic Kabarett, BERLIN ELECTRIC with pianist Bev Kennedy, and made his debut as Florestan in Beethoven’s Fidelio for Kammeroper Schloss Rheinseberg, Germany.
Brad’s operatic career has seen him tour throughout China as Radamès in Aida, perform Tamino in Die Zauberflöte for Opera Australia, Oper Köln, and English Touring Opera, Belmonte in Die Entfürung aus dem Serail for Oper Köln, Albert in Albert Herring for Opera Australia, Almaviva in Il Bariere di Siviglia for Opera Holland Park, London, Don Alfonse in Grétry’s L’amant jaloux for Opera Comique, Paris, Davey in Dove’s Siren Song, and Aubry in Mraschner’s Der Vampyr for Grachtenfestival, Amsterdam, Emilio in Tutti in Maschera at Wexford Festival. Brad created the role of Clem in Hamel’s Snow White for Nederlandse Reisopera.
In concert, Brad has performed Jonathan in Handel’s Saul and Beethoven’s Symphony 9 for Philharmonia Choirs at Sydney Opera House, Britten’s St Nicolas at Newcastle Music Festival, Handel’s Messiah at Sydney Town Hall, Mozart’s Requiem at St Andrew’s Cathedral, and the title role in Haydn’s L’orfeo under the baton of Richard Bonynge.
Brad studied with Maree Ryan at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, the National Opera Studio in London, and with Marilyn Horne at Music Academy of the West, California. He is thankful for the support of Nance Atkinson Trust, Wagner Society in NSW, Tait Memorial Trust, Australian Singing Competition, and the Dame Joan Sutherland & Richard Bonynge Scholarship.
Sydney based pianist Katherine Day is a recording artist with MOVE records and formerly principal pianist for the Canberra Symphony Orchestra. Katherine has appeared as a concerto soloist with numerous community, pro-am and professional orchestras around the country. Her most recent collaborations were with Canberra soprano Sarahlouise Owens at the Wesley Music Centre ACT, and Opera Australia’s Bradley Cooper at the Hydro Majestic in the Blue Mountains. During COVID-19 Katherine created her own online music school, employing tutors in Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney and Vienna. Her company Music To You received a digital grant from Create NSW in 2020, and was a finalist in the WSABE awards 2020. A graduate of the Royal College of Music, the Victorian College of the Arts, and a participant in the first International Summer School of Music at the Tchaikovsky Conservatorium, Katherine maintains professional links to colleagues throughout the world. Katherine has been an editor for the AMEB, working on the last edition of the flute technical workbook, and has been an examiner for the VCA, the ANU, and an adjudicator of various concerto competitions and Eisteddfods. Katherine was the recipient of the 2007 Liederfest accompanist award and the Bill Burrell scholarship 1994.
Lucy Carrigy-Ryan enjoys an active freelance career comprising orchestral, solo and chamber music activities. She completed studies in music, Spanish and law at the Australian National University before joining the Canberra Symphony Orchestra in 2010. In 2013, Lucy moved to Argentina to take up a scholarship at the Emilio Balcarce Tango Orchestra school. She also performed regularly with the Buenos Aires Philharmonic Orchestra, Argentina’s preeminent symphony orchestra. Lucy moved to Europe in late 2014 and studied for four years with Maestro Bruno Giuranna at the Stauffer Academy in Italy and the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana in Switzerland. Lucy graduated with a Master of Viola Performance with high distinction under his guidance. Since completing her studies, Lucy has been contracted to work with various symphony orchestras in Australia, has performed as a soloist with the National Capital Orchestra and Musica da Camera, and performed as a soloist with Barbara Gilby and Canberra Sinfonia in Mozart’s Concertante. She also performs frequently with the Canberra Strings and other chamber music ensembles. When not performing on stage, Lucy enjoys sharing music through the volunteer organisation A Sound Life in Sydney hospitals and with Canberra Symphony’s Painting with Parkinson’s program.
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 children’s 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 (later 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 led 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’s degree in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Tasmania and continues to practise part time as a locum general medical practitioner.
Donna Balson is one of Australia’s most experienced pianists and opera coaches. After more than 25 years working in Germany and the US, she returned to her native Sydney in 2018 to take up the position as Manager of Opera Australia’s Young Artist Program. She now teaches at her alma mater, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and has a thriving private studio, working with many of Australia’s most prominent singers. As a coach, she has prepared singers for performances at Opera Australia, Oper Frankfurt, La Scala, the Wiener Staatsoper and the Metropolitan Opera and for successful auditions for the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia and the Lindemann Young Artist Program at the Metropolitan Opera. She was senior adjunct professor of voice at Hofstra University in New York from 2005-2018. As a singer, Donna has performed with opera houses including Opera Australia, Opera Queensland and Canterbury Opera, and in Frankfurt, Düsseldorf and Stuttgart. In concert, she has performed with orchestras in Prague, Beijing, Amsterdam, Den Haag, and in New York at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Centre. Her repertoire ranges from Bach through Verdi to Nono.
Sarahlouise Owens graduated from ANU BMus (Hons) and postgraduate studies from Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester. She has worked in many of Europe’s illustrious theatres, such as, Brussels’ La Monnaie, Paris Chatelet, Theater Hagen, Frankfurt and Hannover, including several years with the Bayreuth Wagner Festival. She was also engaged with WDR (Cologne Radio). Since her return to Australia in 2007, Sarahlouise has established herself as a concert artist and recitalist of art song, as well as a conductor of community choirs. She has been soloist with the Canberra Choral Society, University of Canberra Chorale, National Capital Orchestra and the Canberra International Music Festival, as well as given regular recitals for Art Song Canberra and Wesley Music Centre. She co-established ‘Opera in a Nutshell’ which performed La Traviata, and an early music ensemble, ‘Les musettes’. Her next project is to source enough funding to commission a show based on the incredible adventures of the world’s first truly international Diva, Anna Bishop. To learn more, please see: www.cantaviva.com/the-bishop-victoriana
Sarah Mann is an accomplished performer, teacher, and administrator. A thirst for learning has seen her excel in voice performance, vocal pedagogy, classroom teaching, tertiary lecturing, choral conducting, and teacher mentoring. Sarah has gained principal solo performance engagements with state and national arts organizations, at venues including the Sydney Opera House and Melbourne Concert Hall. Her experience as a performer includes over twenty-six principal soprano roles in opera, operetta, and oratorio, from Cosette in Les Misérables to Handel’s Messiah. She has gained regional arts funding to deliver recital programs and founded a successful rural arts organization. Her commitment to excellence in teaching is evident in fine student feedback for lecturing and in acceptance into the National Music Teacher Mentoring Program and Australian Kodaly Certificate, both peer reviewed. Sarah is currently undertaking an interdisciplinary PhD at ANU, working with neuroscientists to explore singing perception, and is a sessional tutor in voice at the School of Music.
Ella Luhtasaari is a collaborative pianist and teacher based in Canberra. She completed bachelor degrees in music and psychology at the ANU and subsequently completed postgraduate studies in vocal accompaniment at the Kunstuniversität in Graz (Austria), and chamber music and répétiteur studies at the Guildhall School (UK). Since returning to Australia, Ella has worked as an opera répétiteur with the Lisa Gasteen Opera School, Handel in the Theatre, ANU School of Music and National Opera. As well as being a regular recitalist, Ella is also a passionate educator. She is a vocal and language coach at the ANU School of Music, a keen mentor of young piano teachers and has her own burgeoning piano studio.
A native Canberran, Milan Kolundzija has been performing and teaching as a clarinettist in Canberra for the past five years. Despite initial reluctance at the thought of playing an instrument, Milan is now in his fifth year of a Double Law and Music degree at the Australian National University (ANU), studying classical performance under the tutelage of Alan Vivian and Dr Eloise Fisher. Milan has performed in a range of ensembles, including Canberra Sinfonia, Canberra Youth Orchestra, ANU Orchestra, CSO-ANU Side-by-Side, and the Canberra Symphony Orchestra’s Kingsland Collective. More recently, Milan began dabbling in historical performance, studying classical clarinet and historically informed performance practices with Nicole van Brüggen, taking part in the Australian Romantic and Classical Orchestra’s youth and professional development programs, and even being invited to play second clarinet with Paul Dyer and the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra. Outside of performing, Milan is a keen clarinet teacher and enjoys sharing his knowledge of, and passion for, music with others.