Tag: Queensland

Chloe Keneally on dancing role of Odette in My First Ballet: Swan Lake – English National Ballet

Following the opening of My First Ballet: Swan Lake in London last week, hear from one of its stars, English National Ballet School student Chloe Keneally. She performs the iconic role of Odette in this version of the classic ballet for young children.

What or who inspired you to take up ballet? Can you remember the first lesson or performance you attended?
My older sister danced which made me want to. I started aged 4 and loved it, I enjoyed the freedom. I saw Sleeping Beauty first and loved it, it became my favourite ballet.

What did it mean to you to get a place at English National Ballet School?
It is a sacrifice being away from my family back home in Australia, but being here is a dream come true. Everything I’d been working for paid off. I loved the school, it was the only one I auditioned for.

Chloe Keneally as Odette in My First Ballet: Swan Lake © Laurent Liotardo

What does it mean to you to have the opportunity to dance in My First Ballet: Swan Lake?
Amazing. It feels like the first steps into the rest of our lives, it shows us what we can do in the future. The artistic team are very supportive which is great.

Tell us about the role you have been rehearsing – what are the best bits and the challenges?
I’m rehearsing Odette – it’s my dream role. It’s hard to remember it all but I’m embracing the challenge. I’m loving doing an entire ballet and building the character. I feel like I can relate to this character – falling in love, learning about trust and vulnerability.

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Source: Chloe Keneally on dancing role of Odette in My First Ballet: Swan Lake – English National Ballet

Tabatha McFadyen, Winner Tait Award, 2015 Bel Canto Awards

The 2015 Joan Sutherland & Richard Bonynge Foundation, Bel Canto Awards Finals Concert was a triumphant success.

http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/news/two-sopranos-carry-elizabeth-connell-and-bel-canto-awards

We are delighted to report that young Australian soprano, Tabatha McFadyen was awarded the Tait Prize which gives her a coveted London performance platform. Tabatha will make her London debut singing for us at our 2015 Tait Winter Prom at the Royal College of Music on Monday 23rd November at 7pm.

Smaller Size Headshot 1

Tabatha McFadyen, soprano, 2nd from right in white – attached photo. She came second in the competition – it was very close.

Finalist 2015 Bel Canto Awards
Finalist 2015 Bel Canto Awards

Biography
Tabatha was initially trained at the Queensland Conservatorium, graduating in 2013 with First Class Honours and the University Medal. She recently undertook intensive post-graduate studies at the Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. Tabatha won the 2015 Opera & Arts Support Group Scholarship, the 2014 49th International Dvořák Singing Competition (Czech Republic), Mietta Song Competition, Sydney Eisteddfod Opera Awards, 32nd National Liederfest, was a finalist in the 2012 Bel Canto Award, runner-up in the Sydney Eisteddfod McDonald’s Operatic Aria and a finalist in the 2012 Australian Singing Competition winning the Mozart Opera Institute Award and the Nelly Apt Scholarship. Her stage roles have included: Musetta, Zerlina, Titania in The Fairy Queen, Suor Genovieffa, Countess Almaviva for QCGU, Susanna for Opera New England, Nina for Neglected Musicals’ presentation of Dear World (Jerry Herman) and Prilepa in Queen of Spades with SSO under Ashkenazy. An accomplished recitalist, she has been a regular guest artist with Brisbane contemporary music ensemble Kupka’s Piano, a featured artist as part of the EBCC Contemporary Music Festival in 2015 and has collaborated on world premieres with several composers. As part of the 2015 Port Fairy Music Festival she will perform with long-standing musical partner Alex Raineri, the Arcadia Quintet and Press, Play which will then transfer to the Melbourne Festival. Highlights on the concert platform include performances with Camerata of St. John’s led by Brendan Joyce & the Queensland Symphony Orchestra with Johannes Fritzsch.

Samuel Johnson, Baritone – Winner of German Operatic Award 2014

Breaking NEWS 25-year-old Australian baritone Samuel Johnson, has won the prestigious German Opera Award in Sydney today and will be off to Cologne Opera! Samuel is also the 2013 recipient of the RJ Hamer Opera Scholarship presented by the Dame Nellie Melba Opera Trust. Samuel is currently completing his Masters in Operatic Performance, at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music. He recently performed the role of Nick Shadow in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, a Queensland Conservatorium production for The Brisbane Festival, conducted by Alex Ingram. Johnson was also a national finalist in the McDonald’s Operatic Aria and Italian Awards.He has appeared in oratorio on numerous occasions in Brisbane and throughout regional Queensland. In 2011, he performed as soloist with tenor Simon O’Neill in the Puccini Gala Concert, with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. While studying, Samuel has performed numerous operatic roles including Styx in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld, Taddeo and Silvio in excerpts from Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, Peter Quince in Benjamin Brittin’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Father in excerpts from Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, the title role in Handel’s Saul, Pandolfe in Massenet’s Cendrillon and the title role in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi.

Samuel Johnson, Baritone
Samuel Johnson, Baritone