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Season of Song Concert 1

A Journey from East to West

Sunday 25th February at 3pm
Wesley Music Centre, 20 National Circuit, Forrest

Ayse Göknur Shanal (soprano) and Alan Hicks (piano)

This exciting, exquisite and emotionally charged program will feature rhythmic, passionate and cheeky Turkish and Armenian folk songs, Dvořák’s famously fiery Gypsy Songs and masterpieces of the Russian repertoire. A feast of the Oriental flavours of the Silk Road. Ayse Göknur Shanal and Alan Hicks at their ultimate story-telling brilliance.

 


Season of Song Concert 2

Songs of Solitude

Sunday 8th April at 3pm
Wesley Music Centre, 20 National Circuit, Forrest

Susannah Lawergren (soprano) and Benjamin Burton (piano)

Exploring three facets of being alone – the beauty of solitude, the harshness of rejection and the wild freedom of being the outsider, beholden to no-one. Built around certain classic songs like Barber’s The Desire for Hermitage and The Monk and his Cat, Grieg’s Solveig’s Song and Schubert’s Der Leiermann, the concert will also focus on lesser known jewels of song, including some Swedish songs from Susannah’s heritage and a carefree jazz standard or two at the end!

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Season of Song Concert 3

Songs from the Belle Époque

Sunday 13th May at 3pm
Wesley Music Centre, 20 National Circuit, Forrest

Laetitia Grimaldi (soprano) and Ammiel Bushakevitz (piano)

From the heights of Marcel Proust to the decadence of the Moulin Rouge, the Belle Époque was an era in which culture flourished more than ever in Paris. The French soprano Laetitia Grimaldi and South African-Israeli pianist Ammiel Bushakevitz will offer a program of songs by Fauré, Massenet, Hahn and Duparc, presented in the style of a Parisian salon concert.

 


Members’ Soirée

Soirée at St Alban’s

Sunday 17th June at 3pm
St Alban’s Church, 34 Chappell Street, Lyons

The Members’ Soirée will be a social gathering of members of Art Song Canberra in which we make music together, taking us back to the origin of Lieder societies. A small group of members will sing informally in the company of other, like-minded people. Members and their friends are cordially invited to attend. If you are interested, please send a message via the contact form . No costs are entailed. Non-members can participate by becoming a member at $25 per person.


Season of Song Concert 4

Love’s Joy, Love’s Sadness

Sunday 1st July at 3pm
Wesley Music Centre, 20 National Circuit, Forrest

David Greco (baritone) and John Martin (piano)

The program centres on the artist’s journey through life’s sadness and joys, struggles and triumphs. From one poet’s description of the Gothic Cathedral of Cologne, another takes us wandering through the rolling hills of Shropshire. This program features the great romantic German composer Robert Schumann and a selection of supremely gifted English composers including Vaughan Williams, Gerald Finzi, Benjamin Britten and Herbert Howells.

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Season of Song Concert 5

What the Folk Sing

Sunday 9th September at 3pm
Wesley Music Centre, 20 National Circuit, Forrest

Christina Wilson (mezzo-soprano) and Alan Hicks (piano)

Folk songs record the rich stories and histories of peoples everywhere – the social, emotional, and political. Classical composers such as de Falla, Brahms, Copland and Bartok have tapped this rich resource, writing inspired arrangements for the concert platform – a synergy continued by composers today.

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Art Song Canberra and Wesley Music Centre present

Masterclass for Performers of Art Song by Marilyn Richardson

Saturday 15th September at 2pm
Wesley Uniting Church, 22 National Circuit, Forrest

Marilyn Richardson will give a masterclass for singers and accompanists. Audience will be very welcome. The masterclass is kindly and generously sponsored by the Wesley Music Foundation. For information about applying as well as ticket prices, please see the call for applications .

 


Season of Song Concert 6

The Degenerate and the Fop

Sunday 21st October at 3pm
Wesley Music Centre, 20 National Circuit, Forrest

Sarahlouise Owens (soprano) and Colleen Rae-Gerrard (piano)

Looking at the music of the revolutionaries; those considered decadent and depraved in their time. Cafe and cabaret music to entertain. Admonished by ‘the State’ some of these artists fled their homeland to speak their truth. Presenting music by Poulenc, Hahn, Satie, Argento, Eisler, Weill and Casey.

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Members’ Soirée

Soirée at St Alban’s

Sunday 4th November at 3pm
St Alban’s Church, 34 Chappell Street, Lyons

The Members’ Soirée will be a social gathering of members of Art Song Canberra in which we make music together, taking us back to the origin of Lieder societies. A small group of members will sing informally in the company of other, like-minded people. Members and their friends are cordially invited to attend. If you are interested, please send a message via the contact form . No costs are entailed. Non-members can participate by becoming a member at $25 per person.


Season of Song Concert 7

A Celebration!

Sunday 25th November at 3pm
Wesley Uniting Church, 22 National Circuit, Forrest

Louise Page (soprano) and Phillipa Candy (piano)

Art Song Canberra and Wesley Music Foundation present a concert by Louise Page and Phillipa Candy in which the artists will mark their 25-year musical partnership with songs they have most loved and enjoyed during that time. Years of hard work, friendship, frustration and laughter are reflected in their choice of favourites from Viennese classics to modern hits.  Featuring songs by Strauss, Obradors, Purcell and others together with American spirituals.

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The Artists


Ayșe Göknur Shanal is one of Australia’s most versatile classical singers. As the Dame Joan Sutherland Scholar, she studied at the Royal College of Music and was an adjunct member of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera (New York). Ayșe has won many prestigious awards and scholarships including the Australian Singing Competition, Dame Joan Sutherland Scholarship and Award, Opera Foundation Australia’s Metropolitan Opera Award (New York), McDonald’s Operatic Aria, Queens Trust for Young Australians, Symphony Australia’s Young Performers Award (Vocal Category), and the Sonderpreis der Loreley-Festspiele at the Neue Stimmen International Singing Competition (Germany). She has collaborated with Australian and international composers, including Ross Fiddes, Erberk Eryilmaz, Yiğit Kolat, Reza Vali, Diana Blom, John Wayne Dixon and Phillip Wilcher. She played a significant role in developing and performing major vocal works for the commemoration of the ANZAC Centenary in both Australia and the United States. Ayșe has appeared as a principal artist with Opera Australia and Turkish State Opera. She has performed at the Aldeburgh Festival (UK) and the Sydney Festival, and has been featured as a soloist with the Symphony Orchestras of Sydney, Queensland, Melbourne, Adelaide, West Australia, and with the Australian Haydn Ensemble.

Ayșe has released two CDs. First, Love and Life, with Ukrainian-Australian pianist Evgeny Ukhanov, featuring Schumann’s Frauenliebe und Leben and Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder, with Taslig Records and second, Çanakkale-Gallipoli Songs, with pianist Patrick Keith et al. of commissioned works for voice and piano by Australian, New Zealand and Turkish composers, with Wirripang. Ayșe gave solo recitals at the Sydney Opera House, Lavender Bay and Newcastle. She performed the soprano solo in Vivaldi’s Gloria with the National Boys Choir at Hamer Hall, Melbourne, and presented recital series with mezzo-soprano Jill Sullivan and pianist Andrea Katz.

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Alan Hicks is one of Australia’s foremost vocal coaches and accompanists. He currently works in the Vocal and Opera Studies Unit at Sydney Conservatorium of Music. He is Musical Director of the University of Canberra Chorale. Alan performs regularly around Australia in recitals and Festivals with leading national and international artists.

As well as being an accomplished recital and concert accompanist, Alan’s theatrical credits include: the musical preparation for Albert Herring, Dido and Aeneas, Grimm and the Blue Crown Owl, Die Zauberflöte, Suor Angelica/Gianni Schicchi and Die Fledermaus and chorus master for Tosca, The Barber of Seville, La Traviata and From a Black Sky. In 2013 he made his stage debut at the Street Theatre as Alain/Claude in the award-winning Bijou, starring and written by Chrissie Shaw. Chrissie and Alan have since toured Bijou throughout NSW and presented seasons at La Mama Courthouse, Melbourne, the Depot Theatre, Sydney, and The Butterfly Club, Melbourne.

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Born in New York City, Susannah Lawergren moved to Sydney as a child and has studied singing and languages in Sydney, Rome, Uppsala (Sweden), London and New York. She holds an Advanced Diploma of Opera from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and a BA (Politics and International Relations) with Distinction from the University of NSW. After performing one season with Opera Australia’s NSW Schools Company, coming second in the National Aria Award in Canberra and competing as a finalist for the Opera Foundation’s German Award, she joined the Song Company in 2011.

As a full time member of the Song Company, she has a busy schedule of subscription concerts, tours, residencies, regular broadcasts on ABC Classic FM and performance as a soloist and ensemble member at many of the major festivals in Australia, including annual appearances at the Canberra International Music Festival. She has performed with some of the foremost musicians in Australia, including Joseph Tawadros, Claire Edwardes, Tobias Cole, the Australia Ensemble and international artists like the Wallfisch Ensemble, Forma Antiqva and Nigel North. The ensemble works closely with established composers on new vocal works and regularly commissions emerging Australian composers. As a soloist, she regularly performs in art song recitals, oratorio with a focus on Bach and Mozart and dramatic works. She has worked with Bach Akademie Australia, Cantillation, AWO, Opera Australia, SSO and MSO, Sydney Philarmonia Choirs, Renaissance Players and ACO. In 2012 she was a semi-finalist in the Mietta Song Recital Award.

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Benjamin Burton is a talented young pianist with a passion for accompanying vocal and instrumental performances. In 2014, Ben did an internship with Opera Australia and travelled on full scholarship to Munich, Germany as repetiteur for the Bel Canto Summer Program. In his role as accompanist, Ben has performed all over the country and in 2017 will be continuing to perform with Voci Stupende, be an official accompanist for the Sydney and Shoalhaven Eisteddfods and for the fourth time be pianist-in-residence for the 2017 Moorambilla Voices Festival. He is a frequent recitalist and in 2016 won Second Prize at the Mietta Song Competition.

Ben studied Piano Performance with an accompaniment focus at the Sydney Conservatorium with David Miller and Bernadette Harvey and has also studied with David Howie and Stephen Mould. In 2012 and 2013 he won the Mollie Neale award for highest marks in accompaniment. He has also participated in masterclasses with Yvonne Kenny, Carlo Barricello, Sue Newsome, Dr Michael Halliwell, Maree Ryan and Ole Bohn. Ben works with various choirs and schools in Sydney including The Arts Unit, Leichhardt Espresso Chorus, International Grammar School, Fort Street High School, Sydney University Graduate Choir and St Vincent’s College.

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Since her debut in the Carnegie Hall of New York in 2013, Laetitia Grimaldi Spitzer has sung in many renowned halls and opera stages worldwide. She has been invited to festivals such as the Verbier Festival (Switzerland), the Aix-en-Provence Festival (France), the Ravinia Festival Chicago (USA), the Norwich Concert Series (United Kingdom), the Menuhin Festival in Gstaad (Switzerland) and the Leipzig Music Festival (Germany). Born in France, Laetitia Grimaldi Spitzer spent her childhood in Lisbon and London. After beginning her vocal studies with Teresa Berganza, she continued her studies in New York City, first at the Manhattan School of Music, followed by a Masters degree from the Juilliard School.

During her studies at the Juilliard School, Ms Grimaldi Spitzer was awarded first prize in the Kate Neal Kinley Memorial Fellowship International Competition. She is also a top prize-winner in the Concours Léopold Bellan in Paris 2013. She has received mentorship with some of the world’s leading artists, including Dame Emma Kirkby, Illeana Cotrubas, Alfred Brendel, Teresa Berganza, Sir Thomas Allen and Masaaki Suzuki, amongst others. Since 2015, Ms Grimaldi Spitzer has been under the mentorship of the renowned German baritone, Matthias Goerne. Ms Grimaldi Spitzer has appeared in many opera productions internationally. She recently performed the role of Lucilla in Rossini’s La scala di seta under the direction of Vlad Iftinka in New York City. In 2012 she made her debut at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland in the role of Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro under the baton of Jayce Ogren. In 2014 she sang the role of Hymen in Rameau’s Les Fêtes de l’Hymen et de l’Amour at the Kennedy Center of Washington DC. In 2015 she was once again invited to the Verbier Festival to perform the role of Musetta in Puccini’s La Bohème. Upcoming performances include extensive recital tours in South Africa, Mexico, the USA, France and Germany.

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Ammiel Bushakevitz is internationally acclaimed as one of the notable art song pianists of his generation. He is especially noted for his interpretations of the works of Franz Schubert, for which he received the 2011 International Schubert Institute Award in Vienna. Born in Jerusalem, Israel and raised in South Africa, Mr Bushakevitz has collaborated with and received mentorship from notable singers including the late Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Elly Ameling, Thomas Quasthoff, Thomas Hampson, Barbara Bonney, Robert Holl, Matthias Goerne and Teresa Berganza. He has received mentorship from pianists and accompanists including Alfred Brendel, Boris Berman, Helmut Deutsch and Graham Johnson. Mr Bushakevitz has performed as a soloist and vocal accompanist at notable venues across Europe, North America, Africa and Asia. Festival appearances include the Bayreuth Festival, the Salzburg Festival, the Festival d’automne à Paris, The Vancouver Chamber Music Series, the Festival Pontino di Latina in Rome, the Lucerne Festival, the Jerusalem Schubertiade and the Heidelberger Frühling Festival, where he was selected by Thomas Hampson as pianist for the Heidelberg Lied Academy.

Mr Bushakevitz has received top prizes at competitions including the International Schubert Lied Competition, the International Johannes Brahms Competition, the International Art Song Competition in Stuttgart, the Concours Léopold Bellan in Paris and the Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation International Song Competition in London, where he was awarded both the Schubert Prize and the Best Pianist Prize. Mr Bushakevitz’s other notable awards include the DAAD International Scholarship for Artists and the prestigious European Union Commission Award. After receiving a Masters degree in solo piano performance, Mr Bushakevitz completed a Masters degree in Lied Interpretation at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” in Leipzig, Germany under Phillip Moll. Thereafter he studied at the Conservatoire Nationale Supérieur de Musique in Paris, France. Mr Bushakevitz is involved in charity work and has offered workshops for young musicians in Ethiopia, Morocco, Mozambique, Egypt, Mexico and Zimbabwe. He is a member of the International Hugo Wolf Academy, an honorary member of the Richard Wagner Society of South Africa and an Edison Fellow of the British Library, London.

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Australian born international baritone David Greco has been engaged by some of the world’s most exceptional ensembles and festivals including Festival Aix-en Provence and Glyndebourne Festival Opera. He has worked on the cutting edge of the early music movement in Europe, performing with The Academy of Ancient Music/Richard Egarr and Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra/Ton Koopman. He has sung throughout Europe’s finest concert halls from the Théâtre des Champs Elysées to Vienna Konzerthaus, in 2016 making his debut at the Royal Concertgebouw, Amsterdam. Whilst in the UK David was bass Lay Clerk at Westminster Abbey Choir and was privileged to sing with the Sistine Chapel Choir in Rome throughout 2014. 2016 saw David’s debut as a principal artist with Opera Australia in The Love of Three Oranges and The Eighth Wonder, and also the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in performances of Mozart’s Missa Brevis. He performed the role of Wagner in Gounod’s Faust in a co-production with Lyric Opera Chicago and the Macau International Music Festival.

2017 saw David appearing as the soloist for the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra’s tour of Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s Matthäus-Passion with Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, Monteverdi’s Il Coronazione di Poppea for Pinchgut Opera and a debut song recital of Schubert – Love in the Age of Syphilis with Erin Helyard at the Melbourne Recital Centre. David’s Naxos recording debut was the recently released Poems of Love & War, featuring arias by New Zealand composer, Jack Body.

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John Martin is frequently broadcast by ABC Classic FM. His many recordings include The Ring of New Bells, a collection of Miriam Hyde’s piano works. He has appeared in concert with Peter Cousens, David Hobson, Marina Prior, Stuart Maunder, Greta Bradman, Yvonne Kenny, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Robert MacFarlane and flautist Jane Rutter. John toured with Miriam Margoles in Dickens’ Women and The Importance of Being Miriam! He performed in a series of recitals with violinist Victoria Jacono-Gilmovich. His many cabaret appearances have included those with Simon Ward, Katie McKee and Stuart Maunder in several seasons of Opera Bite’s Noel, Cole and Gertie, with Simon Ward in Simon Says and with Amanda Muggleton in The Men That Got Away (Thank God!). He and Melody Beck performed Unseen: The Voice of Hollywood (The Marni Nixon Story) in the Ballarat Cabaret Festival, the Noosa Festival and Teatro Vivaldi, Canberra.

John partnered with Amanda Muggleton and Victoria Jacono-Gilmovich to present the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale Wild Swans, first on ABC Classic FM, then at the Sydney Opera House. This format wherein Amanda narrated (with the narrative devised by Rodney Fisher), with music by Elena Kats-Chernin proved a resounding success. They followed this with Hansel and Gretel, again at the Opera House. In addition to his work as a performer, John is now gaining a reputation as a fine composer with some thirty works published. Two volumes of his works for piano were recently released by Wirripang.

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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 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, USA and the Paris Conservatoire. With companies such 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 with the Canberra Choral Society the Handel roles of David (Saul), Irene (Theodora) and Dejanira (Hercules).

Christina is broadcast regularly on ABC FM and appears as a soloist locally and nationally in concert and oratorio. She has been a featured soloist for “Voices in the Forest” at the National Arboretum, and in the Canberra Symphony Orchestra Prom Concert at Government House. President of the ACT Chapter of ANATS, Christina regularly adjudicates and gives masterclasses nationally and internationally. She has taught singing and voice at tertiary level for many years, currently at the University of Canberra where she also runs classes for UC Music and TQI accredited voice workshops for teachers.

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Marilyn Richardson was born in Sydney and studied singing and piano at the Conservatorium of Music there. After obtaining her Diploma in Singing, a Churchill Fellowship enabled her to study in Europe from 1971. In opera, Marilyn Richardson made her international debut in Basel in 1972 singing Lulu and Salome to rave reviews. Roles include: Aida, the four soprano roles in The Tales of Hoffmann, Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier, Eva in Die Meistersinger, Lisa in Pique Dame, Leonora in Fidelio, Sieglinde in Die Walküre, Elsa in Lohengrin, Katya Kabanova, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, the Countess in Figaro, Tosca, Desdemona, Isolde and Laura in Richard Meale’s Voss, Pamina, Fiordiligi, Poppea, Violetta, Marguerite, Mimi, Butterfly, Senta, Jenifer in Tippett’s Midsummer Marriage and the soprano leads in Janacek’s The Excursions of Mr Broucek.

Marilyn Richardson has performed all the Chopin songs in Polish, Bartok in Hungarian, Magabunda by the American composer Schwantner and the popular Gorecki Symphony No 3 for the Adelaide and Melbourne Festivals. The Australian composers Richard Mills, Larry Sitsky, Nigel Butterley, Richard Meale and Philip Bracanin have composed for her. She is a Co-ordinator and Voice Teacher for the Australian National Academy in Melbourne and coaches Opera Queensland’s Young Artists.

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Sarahlouise Owens is a versatile performer whose career has been largely focussed on stage repertoire and sacred music as well as the art song repertoire. She is a graduate of the ANU School of Music (Hons) and Royal Northern College of Music Manchester. She has studied with various prestigious singing teachers in both Australia and Europe including in masterclasses with noted major artists. She has also had success in significant singing competitions, most markedly becoming semi-finalist in the prestigious Belgian Reine Elisabeth, being the sole representative of both Australia and UK.

Sarahlouise has worked extensively in Europe including for the Radio Choir in Cologne, Theater Hagen, Brussels’ La Monnaie, Paris Châtelet and the theatres of Frankfurt and Hamburg. Most significantly she was a consistent member of the ensemble of the Wagner Summer Festival in Bayreuth where she sang the role of an Edeldame in Lohengrin and covered a Blumenmädchen in Parsifal. She has done a number of solo recitals with Wesley Music Centre, Tuggeranong Arts Centre and Art Song Canberra and performed as soloist with UC Chorale, Canberra Choral Society, Handel in the Theatre, the Canberra International Music Festival and Canberra Repertory.

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Colleen Rae-Gerrard’s career as accompanist and concert pianist began with studies in Europe with Karl Ulrich Schnabel and Paul Badura-Skoda. In New Zealand she performed extensively with Dame Malvina Major, Anthea Moller, Ronald Woodcock and other eminent singers and instrumentalists. As a concert pianist Colleen has played in Australia, Malaysia, Brunei, Estonia and Europe and made many recordings on CD and Radio. From 1992 to 2005 she was a lecturer, accompanist and repetiteur at the Australian National University School of Music where she was associated with many young musicians in opera productions, graduation recitals and embassy concerts. She worked with the first Wesley Scholars and served on the Wesley Music Foundation as the School of Music representative. Colleen also established the first fortepiano courses at ANU.

Colleen returned to New Zealand in 2005, living in Hawke’s Bay, continuing her active concert and teaching career. She was Director of Music at St Matthew’s Anglican Church in Hastings and a Trustee for the NZ Singing School. Back in Canberra in 2011 Colleen taught fortepiano at the ANU and accompanied student recitals on fortepiano. She now teaches piano at the ANU School of Music and at Wesley Music Centre, gives concerts and lectures and plays the organ at Wesley Uniting Church and at St Paul’s Anglican Church, Manuka.

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Louise Page OAM is one of Australia’s most highly regarded and versatile singers, performing in opera, operetta, oratorio, cabaret, recital and radio broadcasts throughout Australia and Europe. Louise graduated with distinction from the Canberra School of Music and then joined the Young Artist Program of the Vienna State Opera. She worked with such luminaries as Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Sena Jurinac, Waldemar Kmennt and Geoffrey Parsons, and during this period performed in operas, oratorios and concerts in Austria, Germany and Belgium, as well as winning the ‘City of Ghent’ Prize in the Belgian Radio and Television Opera en Bel Canto competition.

Louise is a past vocal grand finalist in the ABC Young Performer of the Year competition where her performance of the Four Last Songs of Richard Strauss with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra earned a ‘MO’ Award nomination for classical performance of the year. Louise is also the inaugural winner of the Mietta’s Song Recital Competition and her particular love of Lieder and art song has seen her become a highly sought after and experienced recitalist. Now based in Canberra, Louise performs regularly in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and regional areas, and has appeared as a soloist with the Sydney, Queensland, Canberra and Central Coast Symphony Orchestras, the National Capital Orchestra and the Canberra Youth Orchestra. She has performed extensively for Musica Viva, as well as the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, the Canberra International Chamber Music Festival, the Port Fairy Spring Festival and the Mackay Region Festival of Arts, and has regularly been a featured artist for the ABC’s Sunday Live national broadcasts.

Louise has also been a regular soloist in the annual Voices in the Forest concerts at the National Arboretum, appearing with artists such as Anne Sofie von Otter and Sumi Jo. Louise received a Canberra Critics Circle Award for music in 2007. In the same year she was recognized with the Canberra Times Artist of the Year award. She has recorded ten CDs of music varying from Lieder to operetta, premières of Australian music and Christmas songs. She is also a respected teacher, adjudicator and arts facilitator and in the 2013 Australia Day Honours List was awarded an OAM for services to the performing arts.

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Phillipa Candy is a highly respected professional musician, as an accompanist, conductor, pianist, private teacher, college teacher, repetiteur, and vocal coach. In the United States she performed regularly in Philadelphia. In Australia she has performed in Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and regional areas. She has been awarded various prizes in Australia and the United States for performance and academic excellence. She studied vocal accompaniment with the late Geoffrey Parsons in London. She first toured with Musica Viva in 1988 as founding pianist with the group Austral Skies. Since 2011 she has been touring with Louise Page in the shows Nellie Melba: Queen of Song and The Magic of Operetta.

After returning to Australia in 1992, Phillipa formed an artistic partnership with soprano Louise Page to promote and foster art song. They have made several CDs. Recently they joined with members of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, recording works of the composer/conductor/pianist Horace Keats for Wirripang. Phillipa has performed for ABC “Sunday Live” with Louise Page, teaming up with flautist Teresa Rabe, and in 2014 with violinist Barbara Jane Gilby. She teamed up with mezzo-soprano Sally-Anne Russell in 2008 and 2011 for recitals for Art Song Canberra. Phillipa and Louise performed in the 2014 International Chamber Music Festival, giving Australian premieres of works by first-rate World War I composers such as Antoine, Eisler and Jürgens.

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