Tag: John Bowan

  • Concert report – Die Schöpfung 4th December

    For the final performance of its 2016 subscription series, the Sydney University Graduate Choir and orchestra, conducted by Music Director, Christopher Bowen, gave a Great Hall performance of Joseph Haydn’s Die Schöpfung (The Creation). Three outstanding soloists were engaged: Penelope Mills (soprano), Andrew Goodwin (tenor) and Adrian Tamburini (bass).  They sang brilliantly as individuals but…

  • Grads to perform The Creation by Joseph Haydn

    After the high of singing Messiah with a massed choir in the Sydney Town Hall on 13 November, the Choir will be returning to its usual performance space, the Great Hall of the University of Sydney, to perform The Creation (Die Schöpfung) of Joseph Haydn, on Sunday, 4 December at 5.00 pm.  A fine trio…

  • News from our Orchestra

    In addition to the engagement of Kirsten Williams as Concertmaster, another recent development serves to underline the exceptional quality of our orchestral players. In May, when a cellist had to drop out late and at short notice from the orchestra for the von Suppé Requiem, our Orchestra Manager, Pamela Traynor was able to engage  Hyung…

  • SSO Plays Mahler at the Sydney Town Hall

    As an organization, which in recent years has staged concerts in the Sydney Town Hall, and will do so again with Handel’s Messiah in November, the Grads  took particular interest in the news that the SSO and Philharmonia Choir, under David Robertson, were to perform Gustav Mahler’s Second  Symphony “Resurrection” in two performances in this…

  • Saxon Baroque

    The Choir’s August Great Hall concert for 2016 presented a program of two religious works from eighteenth century Germany: the Missa No.9 in D by the little-known Johann David Heinichen (1683-1729) and the Magnificat by the impressive but difficult to classify Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788), of whom Brett Dean has made the inspired comment…

  • Colin Fox on von Suppé’s Requiem

    A few weeks ago, we sent a copy of the recording of our May performance of von Suppé’s Requiem to the respected ABC Classic FM presenter, Colin Fox,. In 2012 Colin had warmly praised our performance of Mendelssohn’s Paulus, praise we greatly valued. Colin wrote to us on 21 August, commenting that he had listened…

  • Anna Dowsley in Mozart’s ‘Cosi fan Tutte’

    Earlier posts have reported on the rapidly developing career of mezzo Anna Dowsley, one of the Choir’s favourite soloists, since being highly commended by the judges in the 2012 Joan Carden Award and starring in our memorable Verdi Requiem in 2013 and, most recently in our outstanding von Suppé Requiem in May this year. Anna…

  • Tángalo!

    Members will be aware that our talented and charming rehearsal pianist, Amy Putt, is a member of the Sydney-based modern tango quintet, that goes by the name of Tángalo. The quintet has no Hispanic members but aims for and achieves an authentic Argentine sound. They visited Argentina in 2014, as recipients of an Australia Council…

  • Changing of the guard in the leadership of the orchestra

    One of the important factors, which makes attending concerts by the Sydney University Graduate Choir a rewarding experience is the consistently outstanding contribution made by our excellent orchestral musicians. Christopher Bowen has established such a good rapport with them that many of the musicians perform so regularly at our concerts and perform at such a…

  • Handel’s ‘Israel in Egypt’ – 6 December 2015

    The Choir successfully concluded a ground-breaking and musically satisfying year with its December Great Hall performance of Handel’s Israel in Egypt. Following our initial encounter with Dvořák’s choral music in May, and the logistical challenge of organizing the final of the Joan Carden Award before an audience and with orchestra for the first time in…