Where did you first hear Mozart's magic music?

Many people first heard the wonderful music of Mozart at school. Maybe your teacher played his delightful string quartet Eine kleine Nachtmusik (A Little Serenade) or did you first encounter him through attempting to play his pieces yourself?
They say Mozart is too easy for the amateurs, but too hard for the professionals. It seems so light and charming, yet Mozarteans spend a whole lifetime in perfecting his phrasing and little nuances.

Like many people, I learnt a lot of his music through the wonderful film Amadeus. And the most striking of all of this music is surely his Requiem. Have you heard it yet? On Saturday, 30th June there will be a very special performance of this superb choral music at 3 PM at All Saints Cathedral.

Mitchell Conservatorium's Jonathan Lewis (tenor) will join with Helen Barnett (soprano), Bill Moxey (bass) and Narelle Hissey (mezzo soprano), The Allegri Singers, Macquarie University Singers  and Bathurst Chamber Ochestra to perform under Timothy Chung's baton.

This brief excerpt was one of the favourite parts of the mass when NSW secondary school students performed excerpts in a choral concert in Sydney Opera House, conducted by Graham Abbott in the late 1990s.



You can have a preview of other parts of the Requiem in Mitchell Conservatorium's Armchair Concert on Monday, 25th June at 1.30 PM on 2MCE fm, 92.3 or 94.7 fm or at 2MCE.org

The voices of angels?

Another great Mitchell Conservatorium concert to enjoy after work, on Friday, 22nd June. The concert starts at 5.30 PM and will be held in the All Saints Cathedral hall and features our own wonderful Mitchell Young Voices, singing with the distinguished Sydney Children's Choir. 

A $ note donation is requested, which you can pay at the door. Please ring our friendly office staff for more details, Monday to Friday, 10 AM to 5 PM on 6331 6622

You can't beat a piano!

Amazing pianist, Hiromi Uehara

OK. I'm biased. But can you think of anything more wonderful than a piano? I think it is the ideal musical instrument, because it is so versatile. Pianos are perfectly suited to solo performance, and the music sounds complete without the addition of any other instruments. But they also sound amazing when they accompany others or take the lead in front of a band or orchestra.

In the 1800s, hundreds of thousands of them were shipped to Australia, and some of those are still being played today. My very first piano was one of them. My parents bought it in 1959, with a lot of help from my Nanna.  The price was 90 guineas, which means £90 and 90/- (Ninety pounds and ninety shillings.) That is roughly $200, but in 1959 money, when the average wage was £15 ($30) per week! Nanna told Mum and Dad she'd pay the pounds, if they paid the shillings!


I think some people would still like to buy a piano for $200, which may be why many children begin on a small keyboard and not a piano.


But substituting a keyboard for a piano could be compared with buying a bicycle and expecting it to do the job of a car. A digital piano makes a better alternative, though it's still like asking a motorbike to substitute for a station wagon.


If you want a reliable piano, you are less likely to be disappointed and more likely to get something that will last by buying from a reputable music shop, whether you buy a new or second-hand piano. Each piano I've purchased was bought from a music store and I've been generally happy with what we were sold, although when I've tried to do it cheaply, I have not got the quality instrument that the store had first recommended.


A new piano should easily last twenty years. The digital keyboard might also, but they tend to go out of fashion as new ones keep being made with the latest do-dads.

At Mitchell Conservatorium, we always advise that you get your teacher's advice when buying a musical instrument. Good ones are expensive and it is worth getting help in making sure that the one you buy is worth what you are paying for it.


Here is a sensational performance on a quality piano by Hiromi Uehara of George Gershwin's I Got Rhythm. If you want to see some dazzling playing, keep watching. The video is 9 minutes long, but it's worth it.