SONG for NAIDOC Thursday 7 July 7Pm, Salon Presented by Melbourne Recital Centre

Short Black Opera SONG FOR NAIDOC Thursday 7 July 7pm, Salon Presented by Melbourne Recital Centre ARTISTS ARTISTS Deborah Cheetham AO Edward Bryant Shauntai Batzke Baden Hitchcock Zoy Frangos Sermsah Bin Saad Michael Lapiña John Wayne Parsons Jessica Hitchcock with Toni Lalich, piano Minjaara Atkinson PROGRAM PROGRAM LÉO DELIBES KATE MILLER-HEIDKE, IAIN GRANDAGE & ‘Flower Duet’ from Lakmé LALLY KATZ Deborah Cheetham AO and Shauntai Batzke ‘Flinch’s Dream’ from The Rabbits Jessica Hitchcock BENNY ANDERSSON, BJÖRN ULVAEUS & TIM RICE SIR ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER ‘Anthem’ from Chess ‘Til I Hear You Sing’ from Love Never Dies Zoy Frangos Zoy Frangos GIACOMO PUCCINI DEBORAH CHEETHAM AO ‘Chi il bel sogno’ from La Rondine Excerpts from Pecan Summer: Deborah Cheetham AO ‘In 1964’ ‘Che gelida manina’ from La Boheme Shauntai Batzke & Zoy Frangos Michael Lapina ‘The Meeting Scene’ ‘Si, mi chiamano Mimi’ from La Boheme Short Black Opera Ensemble Shauntai Batzke ‘Biami Creation Story’ ‘O soave fanciulla’ from La Boheme John Wayne Parsons and Jessica Hitchcock Shauntai Batzke and Michael Lapina ‘The Exodus’ FRANCESCO CILEA Short Black Opera Ensemble ‘Io son lumille ancella’ from Adriana Lecouvreur Deborah Cheetham AO ABOUT THE MUSIC Pecan Summer Australia’s first Indigenous opera, written by Deborah Cheetham AO, the opera is based on the events of the 1939 Cummeragunja walk-off. On February 3rd, 1939, hundreds of Yorta Yorta chose to leave their homes on Cummeragunja mission, located on the banks of the Murray River in New South Wales, in protest at harsh conditions and treatment by the mission’s manager. Many opted to start new lives over the border in Victoria. It was a remarkable political action and the first of its kind initiated by Aboriginal people. ABOUT THE SOLOISTS Short Black Opera Short Black Opera Company (SBO) is an Indigenous not-for-profit company based in Melbourne devoted to providing training and performance opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander performing artists. Deborah Cheetham AO Deborah Cheetham, Yorta Yorta woman, soprano, composer and educator has been a leader and a pioneer in the Australian arts landscape for more than 25 years. In the 2014 Queen’s Birthday Honours List, Deborah was appointed as an Officer of the Order of AustraliaAO ( ), for distinguished service to the performing arts as an opera singer, composer and artistic director, to the development of Indigenous artists, and to innovation in performance. In March 2015 Deborah Cheetham AO was inducted onto the Victorian Honour Roll of Women. Shauntai Batzke In 2016, Wiradjuri Soprano Shauntai Batzke will make her Sydney Opera House debut with Short Black Opera’s 5th season of Pecan Summer and present a new work Native Dignity for the State Library of Victoria. Shauntai is a developing artist with Short Black Opera Company. She graduated with a Bachelor of Music Performance from the University of Melbourne and was the proud recipient of the 2014 and 2015 Harold Blair Scholarship with the Dame Nellie Melba Opera Trust. Zoy Frangos In 2011 Zoy graduated from the VCA with a BA (Music Theatre). Zoy’s professional credits include Jimmy in the world premiere of Deborah Cheetham’s opera Pecan Summer, Halloran in the world premier of An Officer and A Gentleman (GFO) understudying Zack and Guiterrez, Michael McKeeg and various other characters in Present Tense’s acclaimed new musical Margaret Fulton – Queen of the Dessert, Opera Australia’s South Pacific understudying Cable. In 2016, Zoy finished a run of over 500 performances of the 25th Anniversary production ofLes Misérables playing Leuilly while understudying and performing as Enjolras and Jean Valjean. Michael Lapiña Tenor Michael Lapiña began his professional career in 1988 performing in musicals and touring extensively in Australia and Asia. Since 2008, Michael has been engaged with many of Australia’s leading opera houses to perform some of the most coveted tenor roles in the operatic repertoire. His roles have included Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amour, Cavaradossi in Puccini’s Tosca, Pong, Emperor and Calaf in Turandot, Beppe and Canio in Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci, Don Alvaro in La forza del destino, the title role in Gounod’s Faust, Alfredo in La Traviata, and Manrico in Il trovatore. More recently, Michael received great acclaim for his performance of Normanno in Victorian Opera’s production of Lucia di Lammermoor. Jessica Hitchcock Jessica is a graduate of the Conservatorium of Music and has studied with renowned vocal coaches Joy Yates and Patricia Ortel, following training with Craig Carnella in New York - having won the coveted ASCAP Scholarship. Whilst in the States, Jessica was a featured artist at both “Don’t Tell Mamma” and “Birdland”. The last five years have seen Jessica transition from a Jazz background into the world of Opera working with professionals such as Gayle Edwards on the workshop phase of Cloud Street. During this time Jessica has performed with the Short Black Opera company, creating the lead role of Alice in Australia’s first Indigenous opera,Pecan Summer by Deborah Cheetham AO. Most recently Jessica received a Greenroom Award for her role in Opera Australia’s production of The Rabbits. John Wayne Parsons John Wayne Parsons is a Yugarra and Ugar high baritone who has always loved singing, growing up in a family with strong spiritual and cultural influences. He has provided backing vocals for various artists including his sister and mother in the acappella group Mirror Child, and for Archie Roach’s album Into the Blood Stream. In 2009, John was a member of Australia’s leading Gospel choir, The Café at the Gates of Salvation. In 2010, John Wayne made his operatic debut in Short Black Opera’s premiere season of Australia’s first Indigenous OperaPecan Summer, in Mooroopna. John has performed in successive seasons of Pecan Summer in Melbourne (2011), Perth (2012) and Adelaide (2014). In the Perth season in 2012, John performed the lead role of James. He will play the lead role of James again in Short Black Opera’s 2016 Gala performance of Pecan Summer at the Sydney Opera House on September 12. Toni Lalich Toni Lalich has worked as an accompanist in Melbourne for the past 20 years, performing with professional singers and instrumentalists. After completing undergraduate studies in Western Australia, Toni studied at the Liszt Academy in Budapest. On her return to Australia she completed her Post Graduate studies at the Victorian College of the Arts. In 2010, Toni was a founding director of Short Black Opera Company and has been Company Manager since 2011. She is also vocal coach for Short Black Opera’s developing artists. Melbourne Recital Centre acknowledges the people of the Kulin nation on whose land this concert is being presented. 31 Sturt Street, Southbank, Victoria 3006 PRINCIPAL GOVERNMENT PARTNER P: 03 9699 3333 F: 03 9207 2662 E: [email protected] W: melbournerecital.com.au.

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