Art Song Canberra Inc. www.artsongcanberra.org SEASON OF SONG 2011 In 2011 Art Song Canberra will present seven recitals of fine art song by an outstanding array of award-winning, highly-accomplished artists, many of them widely experienced on the world stage. Background Art Song Canberra is a dedicated group of volunteers and lovers of art song. It was founded as the A.C.T. Lieder Society in 1976 by a small group of devotees of art song led by Eleanor Houston OAM of Covent Garden fame. The society changed its name to Art Song Canberra in 2006. Its purpose is to foster and extend the love of art song. This is done mainly by: presenting high quality concerts to its members and the general public. The annual series is called the Season of Song; providing opportunities for concert performance for dedicated and talented amateur singers. Concerts of this kind have met with considerable audience approval and Art Song Canberra has scheduled another such event in its Season of Song 2011; conducting Members’ Soirées, gatherings of members to sing and play together in a social setting, in the manner of the earliest Lieder societies; and presenting each year the Art Song Canberra Prize in the Singing Division of the Australian National Eisteddfod. This substantial prize is awarded to the singer receiving the greatest aggregate mark in any three of five art song sections in the competition. Over many years society has presented an annual series of recitals – the Season of Song. Most of the society’s artists over the years have been have been highly accomplished both in Australia and internationally. Among the many artists who have performed for the society are such noted Australian singers as Eleanor Houston, Michael Martin, Sally-Anne Russell, Tobias Cole, Warwick Fyfe, Christopher Allan, Angela Giblin, Louise Page and Christina Wilson as well as Susan Burghardt from the USA, Australian Sally Wilson, Tanya Aspelmeier and Knut Schoch from Germany and Thomas Weinhappel from Vienna. Pianists have included Andrew Greene, David Miller AM, Phillipa Candy, Alan Hicks, Mark Kruger, Anthony Smith, Margaret Legge-Wilkinson, Nigel Butterley, Darryl Coote, Stephen Delaney and the renowned British pianist Roy Howat. Recital programs have ranged widely from such classics of the Lieder repertoire as song cycles of Schubert and Schumann to fine art song by contemporary composers such as the noted Australian Nigel Butterley. Season of Song 2011 Season of Song 2011 will begin in February with a recital by distinguished Melbourne artists Greta Bradman and Leigh Harrold. Sally-Anne Russell will return to Canberra in March to give a recital with Phillipa Candy; their first concert together for Art Song Canberra took place in 2008. In May, a group of highly talented singers who have developed their art under the guidance of Canberra’s teachers of singing will give the next in a popular series of such concerts. There will be recitals by popular Canberra artists Christina Wilson and Alan Hicks in June and Louise Page and Phillipa Candy in October. Tenor Christopher Saunders, already known to Canberra Choral Society audiences, will give a recital with Berta Brozgul in August. New Zealand soprano Rebecca Ryan, who appeared for Art Song Canberra in 2004, will return in September to give a recital with Canberra pianist Anthony Smith. High-resolution pictures are available from the press kit page of www.artsongcanberra.org Admission to the concerts includes a complimentary program and light refreshments: Full price $30; Seniors, Friends of ArtSound FM, Friends of Wesley Music (for concerts at the Wesley Music Centre) and Musica Viva subscribers $25; Members and pensioners $20; Full-time students $10. Page 2 of 13 pages Sunday 27th February JOIE DE VIVRE 3pm, Wesley Music Centre, National Circuit, Forrest Greta Bradman (soprano) and Leigh Harrold (piano) Explore the art song of late 19th-21st century France and America in a program unified by the composers’ exquisite reflections on love and the passage of time, youth and the generations. Hear the ancient writings of monks in Samuel Barber’s Hermit Songs, the poignant beauty of Robert Beaser’s masterful The Old Men Admiring Themselves in the Water, exquisite songs of Charles Ives and Andre Previn and the impressionistic works of Ravel (Cinq Mélodies Populaires Grecques) and Debussy (Chansons de Bilitis). Greta Bradman, born in Adelaide, is a recitalist, concert and stage performer and recording artist with Sony Music. Described as one of “Australia’s finest young singers” and as an “exceedingly intelligent and perceptive musician” (The Advertiser, 2009), Greta studied piano from an early age and continued her love for piano, along with studies in composition, through until university, receiving a perfect score for the latter in her final year of schooling. Greta went on to complete a Bachelor of Music degree, majoring in performance classical voice, at the Elder Conservatorium of Music. During her time at the Conservatorium, Greta was a founder of award-winning vocal trio Eve and a core member of Adelaide Chamber Singers. She sang as a soloist with many other choirs and vocal ensembles and had lead roles in operas including Malcolm Williamson's The Happy Prince, Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, and Mozart's Die Zauberflöte. Since completing her music studies in 2003, Greta has performed as a soloist with a large number of world-class ensembles and musicians around Australia. Recent highlights have included touring Victoria and WA with the Australian String Quartet (and recording with them for ABC Classics, on special release from Sony Music), touring nationally with UK baritone Aled Jones, performing Ross Edwards' Symphony No.2 with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, appearing as guest soloist for the 30th Anniversary gala concert for the Adelaide Philharmonia Chorus, performing with the Royal Melbourne Phiharmonia Chorus, the Kegelstatt Ensemble, the Langbein String Quartet, Zephyr String Quartet, Adelaide Baroque, Adelaide Chamber Players, Syzygy New Music Ensemble, Soundstream Contemporary Music Ensemble, Kathryn Selby, Leigh Harrold, Jürg Dahler, Aleksandr Tsiboulski and Emma Jane Murphy. She presented her eighth Sunday Live performance for ABC Classic FM. Another highlight was working in late 2009 with ABC Classics on a project as associate producer. 2010 marked the first year in which Greta’s singing took centre stage, having spent previous years working her music around her postgraduate studies in psychology. Greta holds Bachelor degrees both in Music and Psychology and a First Class Honours degree in Psychology (for which she was the APS Prize Winner). She is now finishing her Master of Psychology (clinical) and her PhD (Psychology & Medicine), at the University of Adelaide. When studying for her Bachelor of Music Greta received vocal tuition with Keith Hempton. Following her music degree, Greta studied with soprano Rosalind Martin; she now studies with Merlyn Quaife (Melbourne). She has received coaching and mentorship from mezzo-soprano Fiona Campbell, Simon Kenway, Malcolm Martineau (UK), Phillip Moll (Germany), Jane Manning (UK) and Jonathan Potter (UK). In August 2010 Greta released her first solo album with Sony Music, Forest of Dreams. An album of lullabies dedicated to her parents and her two sons, Forest of Dreams debuted in the top 10 on the Australian classical album chart, debuted in the top 10 on the overall album chart in New Zealand and was nominated for an ARIA award. Greta also recorded a duet with Mark Vincent which features on his second album Compass, which so far has reached Gold status in Australia. In addition to presenting a range of recitals around Australia, Greta sang at a number of charitable events close to her heart and at sporting events she is passionate about. In 2010, her inaugural year as a full-time singer, Greta entered her first ever vocal competitions; the Mietta Art Song Competition (where she won the Murray River International Festival Prize and was placed runner-up overall) and the RMP Aria Award (where she won the Peoples’ Choice Award and was placed Page 3 of 13 pages runner-up overall). Greta has also been shortlisted as "Best Newcomer" in the 2010 ABC Limelight Magazine Awards. In 2011 Greta will present a range of concerts around the country with ensembles including the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, the Royal Melbourne Philharmonia Chorus, the Adelaide Philharmonia Chorus, Syzygy, Selby and Friends and Latitude 37, as well as presenting programs in a range of concert series and undertaking further recording. In May 2010 Greta and her family relocated from her hometown of Adelaide to Melbourne. Greta balances her music with being ‘mama’ to her two young sons. Greta Bradman and Leigh Harrold’s partnership has been rewarded with consecutive Adelaide OsCart Awards and a runner-up placing in the 2010 Mietta Art Song Competition. “Bradman and Harrold bring out the sadness, longing and loneliness in these works with remarkable insight.” (Barry Lenny, Glam Magazine, June 2010) “Bradman and Harrold are exceedingly intelligent and perceptive musicians who use the widest range within their technical command to musical ends. Each is unassuming and totally dedicated to the task, subsuming their individualities within the musical canvas.” (Rodney Smith, The Advertiser, January 2008) “Add to the already recognised and admired talents of soprano Greta Bradman and pianist Leigh Harrold courage well above and beyond the call of duty.” (Elizabeth Silsbury, The Advertiser, September 2007) Leigh Harrold enjoys a reputation as a “musician of rare talent and intelligence” (Raymond Chapman Smith, The Advertiser) and is one of Australia’s busiest and most sought-after pianists. He was named The Advertiser 2008 Musician of the Year. Born in Whyalla, South Australia, Leigh completed undergraduate and post-graduate studies at The University of Adelaide with concert pianist Gil Sullivan.