Symphony on the Mountain
Sunday 15th June Mt Mee
A lazy Sunday afternoon with a superlative fifty odd piece orchestra in a dignified old country hall, a knowledgable and amiable compere, a light and frothy programme of easy listening music, a couple of seriously good guest artists and a generous country afternoon tea with the performers on the lawn.
It’s not too good to be true – it’s real. Our old friends, the St Lucia Orchestra, are returning to the Mt Mee Hall for their fifth Sunday afternoon concert.
This year the programme celebrates the centenary of the birth of the light orchestral composer Leroy Anderson and also looks nostalgically at some of the themes made familiar to followers of those addictive radio serials of the past.
Conductor Andrew Robinson is stepping effortlessly into the huge shoes of the late Derek Taylor. But Derek’s footprint lingers – he really has lifted an already fine orchestra to new levels of performance and enthusiasm. This is an excellent orchestra in any company!
We are fortunate to have two wonderful young guest artists working with the orchestra for our performance. Soprano Ireni Utely and tenor Sam Sakker will perform both solo and in duet with selections from Bitter Sweet and from the Richard Tauber songbook. Both are “top draw”artists.
Ireni is a Masters graduate of the Queensland “Con” and has won more awards than you could shake a bull fiddle at – including (but not only) the Linda Edith Scholarship, the Dr Francesco Castellano Operatic Italian prize, the Alton Budd Memorial Scholarship, the Margaret Nixon Award for Voice and Accompaniment and the Griffith Award for Academic Excellence – three times!
Sam is also a Qld Con product and has solid professional oratorio and operatic experience – performing in The Magic Flute, Les Mamelle de Tiresias, Orpheus in the Underworld, Apollo and Prima Pastore and Romeo and Juliet – are just some of the notches in his belt. He is currently working again as the First Armed Man in The Magic Flute with Opera Queensland.
The orchestra will complement the “Leroy Anderson Favourites” segment with a selection of other well loved and evocative material – a Merry Widow selection, Frasquita Serenade, Swedish Rhapsody and Pastorale are just a taste of what will be on offer.
The performance begins at 2pm sharp and we ask patrons to be well and truly settled by then. We suggest that patrons be parked and at the door no later than 1.30pm.
There will be an intermission of about 20 minutes during which (weather permitting) afternoon tea will be served on the lawn, and the concert will finish at around 4.30pm.
Admission costs $15.00, or a concessional $10.00 for pensioners. School age children are $7.50 but there is a $30.00 family cap. We want to see young people experiencing the orchestra!
It is important that people book prior to the event. This helps the Hall volunteers to regulate numbers comfortably to the available seating and to ensure that the afternoon tea meets the traditional high standard in quantity as well as quality!
Phone Kay on 5498 2104 or Joyce on 5498 2270.
Please note that all proceeds go towards supporting the orchestra and improving the Mt Mee Hall.
