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Matthew Davine, Tenor (Opera Australia, Victorian Opera, Melbourne Opera)
Skye Alexander-Begbie, Horn (of Dancing with the Stars fame!)
Wendy Morrison, Piano (International award-winning composer)

An exciting concert of works for Tenor, Horn and Piano

Sunday, June 3, 2.00pm-3.30pm
The Chapel, Royal Freemasons
Corner Moubray St and Punt Rd, South Yarra
Admission: $20/10

Program:

Autumn Evening Roger Quilter
Poet: Arthur Macquarie

It was a lover and his lass Roger Quilter
from Five Shakespeare Songs Set II

Fear no more the heat of the sun Roger Quilter
from Five Shakespeare Songs Set II

The Choirmaster’s Burial Benjamin Britten
Poet: Thomas Hardy from Winter Words

Elegie for Horn and Piano Francis Poulenc
Written in memory of Dennis Brain, the English horn player killed in a car accident at the peak of his career.

Then you’ll remember me Michael Balfe
from The Bohemian Girl

Is she not passing fair? Edward Elgar
Poet: Louisa Costello from a French text by Duc d’Orléans

Sellem’s Aria Igor Stravinsky
from The Rake’s Progress

INTERVAL
An die ferne Geliebte Op.98 Ludwig van Beethoven
Poet: Alois Jeitteles

Nocturno for Horn and Piano Op.7 Franz Strauss

Neue Liebe Felix Mendelssohn
Poet: Heinrich Heine

Hexenlied (Andres Maienlied) Felix Mendelssohn
Poet: Ludwig Hölty

Auf Dem Strom Op.119 Franz Schubert
Poet: Ludwig Rellstab

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Light refreshments will be served at the conclusion of the program, and it is hoped that you will stay and meet with the artists.

THE ARTISTS

Matthew Davine studied voice at the Melba Conservatorium, opera and classical singing at the Victorian College of the Arts, and dance at the Dance Factory in Melbourne. Teachers and coaches include Merlyn Quaife, Brian Hansford, Peter Mander, Dean Sky-Lucas and Richard Gill.

Matthew is in demand as a concert and oratorio singer, as well as a recitalist. He has performed with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Chorale, Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Choir, Australian Classical Players, the Canberra Bach Ensemble and many other choirs and orchestras. He has performed to critical acclaim as tenor soloist in works such as The Messiah by Handel, The Creation by Haydn, Mozart’s Requiem, and many other sacred works. In 2006, Matthew performed the role of the Evangelist in the St John Passion by J.S. Bach for the newly formed Victorian Opera Company. A reviewer from The Age said:

“The Evangelist (Matthew Davine) performed his demanding role with confidence and beautifully ringing tone….” The Age 12/9/06.

In May 2007, Matthew performed as tenor soloist in Carmina Burana at Hamer Hall with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

In opera, Matthew has performed for Opera Australia, OzOpera, the Melbourne Opera Company, Eastern Metropolitan Opera, and Victorian Opera. For Opera Australia, he has appeared in La Boheme, Tristan & Isolde, The Flying Dutchman, Wozzeck, Love for 3 Oranges, The Rake’s Progress, The Gondoliers, The Mikado, and HMS Pinafore. For Melbourne Opera, Matthew has played the roles of Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Goro in Madame Butterfly, Ramendado in Carmen, Dr Blind in Die Fledermaus, Monostatos in The Magic Flute, and Beppe in Pagliacci, and as Ferrando (cover) in Cosi fan tutte for Victorian Opera.

Matthew has a particular love for the music of Vienna and has performed many Vienna Pops concerts. In 2007 Matthew will be part of a national tour of the most famous Viennese Operetta, The Merry Widow, playing the role of Camille.

With regard to English art song and German lieder, Matthew has gained more than 100 awards. In 2003 Matthew won the Lieder Prize at Royal South Street Eisteddfod, Ballarat, as well as the Roger Lemke Award for Oratorio and Art Song.

Skye Alexander-Begbie studied her Bachelor of Performance degree at the Victorian College of the Arts between 2000 and 2004 with Russell Davis (MSO) and Geoff Collinson (AOBO, Head of Brass, Melbourne University). Prior to this she completed an Advanced Diploma of Commercial Music with Jules Evans at the Box Hill College of Music between 1998 and 2000, gaining a full scholarship in 1999.

Dividing her time between freelancing and teaching horn part-time at Caulfield Grammar School, Brighton Grammar and Wesley College, Skye is a keen commercial horn player. Most recently she featured on Channel 7’s Dancing with the Stars and works as a sessional musician for television commercials, recording projects and is a regular on GTV Channel 9’s Carols By Candlelight.

In 2003, Skye performed Schumann’s Koncertstück for four horns with the Melbourne Youth Orchestra to a substantial audience in the Melbourne Town Hall. She has also performed solo for the international horn virtuoso, Barry Tuckwell (London Symphony Orchestra), Geoffrey Winter (American Horn Quartet) and Robert Johnston (Australian Chamber Orchestra) during the annual International Festival of Brass between 2004-06.

With a passion for opera, orchestral playing and musical theatre, Skye has been an active member of the Melbourne Opera Company since 2001 and performs regularly with the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Orchestra, Australian Classical Players and Melbourne theatre companies. Internationally, Skye has performed in Hong Kong, China and Japan.

Skye enjoys working with Matthew in the Melbourne Opera Company and looks forward to combining their talents with the impressive and beautiful works written for horn and voice.

Wendy Morrison, pianist and composer, graduated from the University of Melbourne where she studied with Ronald Farren-Price. The winner of several national competitions including the City of Sydney Piano Competition, Wendy studied in London from 1984–1987 on scholarships from the University of Melbourne and the Royal College of Music, where she completed a Masters in Performance Studies with Professor Peter Wallfisch. Wendy studied advanced technique and teaching methodology with Lidia Baldecchi-Arcuri in Italy on a scholarship from the Italian government and lived and performed in Italy for several years before returning to live in Australia at the beginning of 2000. She has performed extensively as a soloist in Australia, Italy, France, Cuba and England. Also an accomplished composer, she has collaborated with artists, poets, dancers and video-makers. She was awarded a major prize in the Onassis Foundation’s International Composition Competition for her work Stabat Mater. Her choral work Remembering Eden was recently premiered in St. Paul’s Cathedral, Melbourne.