Opera Australia continues its partnership with Inverell’s Opera in the Paddock, this year providing one of its conductors Phoebe Briggs for the concert on Saturday March 24 and the Twilight Recital at the Inverell Town hall on March 23.
Ms Briggs has been a repetiteur with OA since 2002 and first ventured into conducting as assistant for the Melbourne production of Guys and Dolls in 2008.
“I was a bit hesitant at first about accepting, but ended up conducting 25 shows and I loved it,” she recalls. “The music is fabulous and it has become one of my favourites. As a repetiteur it’s important to be able to conduct from the piano when necessary, but it’s another thing altogether to stand up in front of an orchestra and singers as a conductor.”
Briggs took a few months leave from Opera Australia for the run of the musical and when she returned became a cover conductor for understudy rehearsals of one of the operas she was working on.
“Both opera and music theatre present challenges to a conductor, whether it be setting the right speed for a tricky dance sequence or negotiating an awkward phrase for a singer and giving them space to breath,” she says.
She says her closest experience of performing in the country was a tour of The Barber of Seville to Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia where the troupe played to outback audiences in barns and basketball courts amongst other venues. “I know the Opera in the Paddock audience comes from far and wide ,” she says. “I’ve done quite a number of outdoor gigs as a player and am looking forward to working with such a lovely group of singers and musicians.”
Another new feature this year will be the Mimosa Chorus sponsored by accountancy firm Roberts and Morrow based in Armidale and Glen Innes. The Chorus includes female singers from Inverell, Armidale and the region and they will perform several numbers during the concert including the popular Nun’s Chorus.
Sopranos Peta Blyth and Jacqueline Mabardi, tenor James Egglestone, baritone Barry Ryan, mezzo sopranos Elizabeth Campbell and Elizabeth Lewis will be this year’s solo performers and the singers will be accompanied by the Mimosa Orchestra. The program includes excerpts from Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and Tosca, Verdi’s Il Trovatore and Aida and selections from well known operetta and musicals.
Opera North West Ltd acknowledges the support of Arts NSW, Destination NSW, Opera Australia, Inverell Shire Council, NAB, Regional ABC, Essential Energy, Malachite Resources, German Consul and Robert Morrow. Bookings online www.operainthepaddock.com.au /ph 1800 240 301. Opera Tickets and coach from Armidale Visitors Centre. Phone 6770 3888
