Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Two flutes and a piano

What more could you want for an afternoon or evening of beautiful music?

Perhaps you'd like some top-quality players to play them ...

We have that organised for you.

Does this whet your appetite?



Mitchell Conservatorium's version is the reverse of the video, because our performers are two men and one woman: Prem Love, Phil Braithwaite and Cindy Fox, all teachers at our Bathurst campus.

The concert also includes some beautiful Bach, Doppler's Hungarian Fantasy and a piece that is becoming very popular around Bathurst: Eliza's Aria, from Elena Kats-Chernin's Wild Swans ballet.

You can enjoy this beautiful music at
Hoskins Memorial Church, 43 Bridge St, Lithgow on Friday, 29th April, 2011 at 7.30 PM
or at
Baptist Church Community Centre, 70 Bruce Rd Mudgee on Saturday, 30th April, 2011 at 7.30 PM
or on
Sunday, 1st May, 2011 at 3 PM at Mitchell Conservatorium in Russell St, Bathurst.

The concert is free for Conservatorium students and costs
$20 for Adults
$15 Concession
$10 for U3A and CPSA cardholders

Monday, April 25, 2011

Nelson Ferguson: One First World War Story

Some treasures from Nelson Ferguson's service in Villers-Bretonneux

On Sunday, 24th April, 2011 ABC Classic FM broadcasted The Glass Soldier, a concert from last year's Port Fairy Spring Music Festival.

The Glass Soldier is Nelson Ferguson, a young Ballarat artist who became a stretcher-bearer in the First World War. On 24th April, 1918 the church he was in was bombed with mustard gas, as part of the battle for Villers-Bretonneux.

This resulted in him being blinded and coming home from the war. Later, he regained partial use of his eyes and lectured at RMIT. He was called The Glass Soldier because of the factory he founded which made beautiful stained glass windows, some of which are now heritage-listed.

The music in the program is composed or arranged by Nigel Westlake, one of Australia's most popular film composers. The performance, by Melbourne Symphony orchestra brass players featured Geoffrey Payne playing the original cornet that Ferguson had played during his time in France, which you can hear in this extract of The Last Rose of Summer.

There was good news at the end of the story. After many years of sight-impairment, a British eye surgeon was able to restore Ferguson's sight, so that he could spend his last days enjoying the full use of his eyes again.

Monday, April 11, 2011

The Fifth Wiggle

Phillip Wilcher

In the 1990s your blogservant was a high school music teacher and heard a Year Twelve girl at Fairfield High School play Chiaroscuro, a beautiful 3 part piano piece by Phillip Wilcher.

Phillip was one of the original members of The Wiggles. In fact their first recording session was held in his home.

He was mentored by Miriam Hyde, one of Australia's most beloved composers. His website gives a fascinating account of his experience of learning from her. She wrote him at least 160 letters, from his early days of composing, until close to her death in 2005.



Sally Whitwell plays his Ballade sensitively. If you click through to her Youtube channel, you can read Phillip's comments about her playing.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Music You Can't Get Out Of Your Head



Have you heard this beautiful piece of music? It is one of the most popular pieces of contemporary Australian music. It is called Eliza's Aria and was composed by Elena Kats-Chernin for her ballet Wild Swans, which is based on a Hans Christian Andersen story about Eliza, a princess, whose eleven brothers have been transformed into wild swans by a wicked witch. Eliza must knit magic shirts from stinging nettles to break the spell.

The tune is the third most performed in UK television advertising.

We heard it recently in a staff concert performed by Prem Love and Elena Day-Hakker, in a student performance opportunity, played by Chloe Walker and Elena Day-Hakker and then by David Pereira (cello) and Alice Giles (harp) at All Saints Cathedral.

Not sick of it, yet. There are several interesting versions of it available on Youtube, including Sarah Cracknell's The Journey Continues.

Friday, April 1, 2011

My Baby Girl



What a nice song. And a cleverly crafted performance, with good intonation and excellent use of musical expression.

More, please!

Performed by Mitchell Conservatorium student Conagh McMahon-Hogan's band Minus One

We'll tell you more when we get some more details. I believe the composer is the middle bloke, Ryan.