So in the spirit of not spamming everyone to death about my various roles in the Festival of Voices, I thought I’d agglomerate all the info into a single, fun-filled page.
Queer Narratives: Story to Song special redux showing
Saturday July 4, 5pm, Peacock Theatre, Salamanca Arts Centre
So proud to be able to present this incredible programme again – all original material, inspired and often written by members of Tasmanian LGBTIQ community, brought to life by an all-Tasmanian songwriting team, and documents our lives, loves, challenges and triumphs. I’m directing, also playing, singing, and had a hand in arranging or composing a fair bit of the material. Get your ticket here.
Gregorian Chant for Novices
Wednesday July 8, 3:30-5pm, long gallery, salamanca Arts centre
Come along and get a crash course in reading Chant notation – and in a really fabulous and unexpected twist, get to actually lay hands on an actual page of Chant manuscript, painstakingly hand-transcribed onto actual vellum. This has been made possible by the generosity of early music enthusiast Chrissie Berryman – the manuscript’s provenance in unknown, but its history brought it as far as a local tip shop, where it was espied and snapped up as a gift for Chrissie by a canny friend! How cool a Tassie tale is that??
Sign up here.
Tarkine in Motion – Vocal Commotion
Wednesday July 8, 7:30pm, peacock theatre, salamanca arts centre
This incredibly special concert is one of a number of events which are part of the Tarkine in Motion project, a long-range push to raise awareness of the unique beauty and terrible threat to the Tarkine Wilderness, with the ultimate goal of having the area protected as a National Park. The music you will hear is fresh, wild, and full of variety, a snapshot of many voices with the common thread of having been inspired by a recent Tarkine retreat which was attended by over 50 artists. Don’t miss catching this beautiful work in the raw; I’ll be singing, randomly harmonising, and if you listen carefully, those crunchy harmonies in the final number are courtesy of meself.
Tickets can be got here.
The Bonfire
friday july 12, 6pm, Salamanca Place, Salamanca
This is the iconic Festival of Voices event, showcasing some of the headline acts and featuring a procession which will begin with a piece composed by me and sung by a gorgeous boy soprano and mirrored by Co-cheòl, a gorgeous quartet of women specialising in Celtic song. Free event – just show up!
And if you’re around that afternoon before the bonfire, I can really recommend going to MONA: between 3 and 5pm, Sarah Penicka-Smith, who among other things directs the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Choir, will be curating choral installation soundscapes to accompany some of the MONA artworks. She’ll have a crew of her own SGLC choristers, augmented with some QTastrians past, present and future. In 2013 at the Out and Loud festival, QTas was involved in a similar event, and it was magic. Get along if you can!!
And last but not least:
Haydn: The Creation
Saturday July 11, 2:30pm, Farrell Centre, Friends’ school
Haydn’s Creation. It’s HUGE. The choir that comes together each year for the major choral workshop is excellent, and will be particularly so under David Lawrence‘s expert direction. The Hobart Chamber Orchestra is also an exceedingly creditable outfit And I’ll be there, pulling out all the diva stops, frock and all, and singing a staggering number of solos, duos and trios. Should be a hoot!
Tickets available here.
… and in case anyone wonders what I’ll be doing the week after this extravaganza, here’s a sneak preview:
(Except I’ll likely be a bit more asleep than that. And we have two dogs… but you get the gist.)