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Tait Winter Prom Memories of Summer

30th November 2016

Principal Partner Commonwealth Bank of Australia

In the presence of The High Commissioner of Australia HE The Hon. Alexander Downer AC & Mrs Nicola Downer AM Golden Summer, Eaglemont by Arthur Streeton. 1889. National Gallery of Victoria

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CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE

LIANE KEEGAN & ISLA BARING

While preparing for tonight, our 5th Winter Prom, and reflecting upon our rapidly approaching quarter century, I feel overwhelmed by the wonderful support and goodwill we have had for this event, as for all of them since our very first concert with Liane Keegan at Australia House in 1992. A major Australian scholarship holder, Liane‘s arrival in the UK in that year prompted me to think about how we might set about trying to help talented young Australians arriving to study and work in Europe, and thus the Tait Memorial Trust was born. 2016 has been another big and busy year for us, with three successful events, in addition to tonight‘s Winter Prom. This year 19 young artists will receive assistance from us, of awards totalling £40,000, which is more than triple the sum of only three years ago. Especially pleasing is the support of young dancers through the Leanne Benjamin Awards, and we look forward to extending our relationships with individuals and corporations who recognise the challenges facing very young Australian dancers leaving home and family to follow their dreams. We also acknowledge a generous bequest from the Estate of Lady Mackerras, which will guarantee a ten year sponsorship of an orchestral chair for an Australian musician, in the Southbank Sinfonia, in the name of Sir Charles Mackerras. Heartfelt thanks to their daughter, Cathy, for appreciating and continuing the encouragement her father and mother always warmly extended to us. And so, to tonight. The Trust has been honoured with such generous and continuing support and friendship from HE The Hon. Alexander Downer, High Commissioner for Australia, and his wife Nicola, who are in attendance at tonight‘s concert. With the help of a new enthusiastic and hard-working Tait Artistic Planning Committee, we have again formed a near all-Australian chamber orchestra, a number of whom have been supported by the Trust in their studies. Our conductor Jessica Cottis, who is chairing this committee, is fast gaining recognition internationally for her work, and we are so very lucky to have her inspirational guidance as we continue to support the next generation of talented young Australians who come here to complete their studies.

We dedicate our first work tonight, Mozart‘s Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra K364 to our much loved Patron, The Dowager Countess of Harewood, on the occasion of her 90th Birthday. Once a professional violinist herself, this has special meaning for her. We are so grateful for Lady Harewood's patronage over much of our 25 years - that she has wanted to share our cause has been very gratifying, and immensely helpful to us. A very happy 90th Birthday! We are also deeply indebted to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, who have been our Principal Partner for the past three years. We hope, as they see the important work we do for the young Australians in this highly competitive arts marketplace here, that their very welcome support will continue. Chevalier Richard Gunter has once again generously sponsored our venue, this time the marvellous St John‘s Smith Square, and to our many individual sponsors and loyal supporters, all of whom we gratefully acknowledge elsewhere in this programme: we are so pleased to see your sponsorship growing year-on-year - we can‘t do without you! Please continue to help us in any way you can. Next year is our 25th anniversary and our work goes on! Happy Christmas, we look forward to seeing you in the New Year.

Isla Baring OAM Chairman, The Tait Memorial Trust

The Australian Charity Art Auction Australia House, London Tuesday 28 February 2017

An opportunity to support Australian charities in the UK A number of charities in the UK make an enormous contribution to the support of young Australians studying in the UK, to the promotion of educational & cultural exchanges between the UK and Australia, and to furthering the work of iconic Australian charities. The Australian Charity Art Auction will offer artworks (donated from private collections) by Australian artists or which feature Australian subjects and themes. The artworks will be available by on-line silent auction for the two week period leading up to the event, and at a live auction at the event itself. They will be on display for two days before the event.

www.australiancharityartauction.co.uk

The ACAA acknowledges and thanks the following for their valuable support:

The Australian High Commission . Christieâ€™s . The Offices of the Agents-General for Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia . Australian Business . The Cook Society . The Britain-Australia Society . The Australia Day Foundation . Australian Womenâ€™s Club London . All those who have generously donated artworks for sale

PRINCIPAL PARTNER MESSAGE

SIMON JOHNSON WITH ISLA BARING ANNOUNCING COMMONWEALTH BANK SUPPORT 2014

On behalf of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, I am delighted to confirm our continued partnership with the Tait Memorial Trust. As Principal Partner, we will work together to continue supporting young Australian musicians and performing artists in the furtherance of their careers while resident in the UK. The Commonwealth Bank is a long-standing, passionate supporter and corporate partner of some of Australia‘s leading arts organisations. Our partnerships with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Bangarra Dance Theatre and Opera Australia aim to make the arts more accessible to all Australians. This partnership with the Tait Memorial Trust is a further demonstration of the Bank‘s commitment to enabling the progress of talented Australian artists as they pursue their careers in the United Kingdom. Our Commonwealth Bank team in London is keen to support people who are relocating to Australia or New Zealand. If you, or any of your network, are planning a move in the foreseeable future, please contact me on 0207 710-3990 or via email johnsosi@cba.com.au I wish you all a safe, and a very happy festive season, and I hope you enjoy the world-class entertainment at the ―Tait Winter Prom‖.

Simon Johnson Executive Manager International Premier Banking – Europe Commonwealth Bank of Australia

CONDUCTOR’S MESSAGE

JESSICA COTTIS image KAUPO LIKKAS

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to tonight‘s Tait Winter Prom. I‘m delighted to be sharing the stage with a truly extraordinary line-up of wonderful Australian singers and soloists. Our programme combines classics from the Austro-Germanic tradition with music from the ‗new world‘. Mozart‘s Concertante for Violin and Viola and Wagner‘s Vorspiel and Liebestod make up the first half, and after the interval we leap into the warmth America and Australia, with works by Bernstein, Barber, Luke Styles, and Malcolm Williamson. The talented young artists you will hear tonight completely confirm my belief in the power of music to communicate in a way that transcends any language or any synthetic knowledge. With disillusionment in our world becoming more widespread, it seems to me this matters even more than ever. We—us performers, and you, our audience—are custodians of a wonderfully rich collection of artistic achievement. In this world, where the live arts are increasingly more and more undermined, I really believe we have a duty to society around us to help people of all ages and all backgrounds engage with classical music. It‘s imperative: it helps us understand the gamut of what it is to be human and that there are infinite ways of being. Proust was right when he wrote that through art alone are we able to get outside ourselves and begin to know how other people see the world. Music allows these possibilities: it can soothe us, help us see with fresh eyes, make us question and understand ourselves better, surprise and delight us with new combinations of sounds, and bring us together. Take a little moment to think about it. When we listen to music, our attention is initially directed inwards: the clamour of the outside world just has to wait. And, as we withdraw our focus from everything else around us, music has a potency that can reach deep within us, with an energy entirely of its own. It‘s as though, as Francis Bacon once said about art, it circumnavigates the brain and appeals directly to our senses. Even if it is music for music‘s sake, even if we don‘t particularly like it, it has the potential to alight in us those truths that often lie dampened under the demands of real quotidian life. The very act of listening becomes re-charging, not in the sense of taking a holiday, but in terms of an energy that can be truly transformative. We return to the ordinary world, far richer, and hopefully as better people. I would like to thank Isla Baring for her vision and incredible energy to make the Tait Trust the incredibly valuable asset within the arts as it is today, also my colleagues on the Tait Artistic Planning Committee: Jayson Gillham, Katrina Sheppeard and Chad Vindin. To all our supporters: from the depths of our hearts, thank you. Without you, the wonderful legacy of music making in Australia would be much poorer. Your support helps our future cultural leaders. Together, we all become vital agents of change in our communities, in Australia, in the UK, and ultimately across the world. Jessica Cottis

The Tait Winter Prom at St Johnâ€™s Smith Square Sponsored by Chev. Richard Gunter

Memories of Summer In the presence of The High Commissioner of Australia His Excellency, The Hon. Alexander Downer AC & Mrs Nicola Downer AM

Principal Partner, Commonwealth Bank of Australia Art projections from the Sidney Nolan Collection courtesy of the Sidney Nolan Trust

Tait Chamber Orchestra of young Australian musicians in the UK

Conducted by Jessica Cottis Tait Awardee 2000, Royal Academy of Music Sponsored by Jan Gowrie-Smith

Alexandra Isted, violin Tait Scholar 2015, Royal College of Music Lisa Bucknell, viola Tait Awardee 2013/14/15, Royal College of Music Katrina Sheppeard, soprano Tait Awardee 2009, English National Opera Ashlyn Tymms, mezzo-soprano Tait Awardee 2016, Royal College of Music Alexandra Hutton, soprano Tait Awardee 2012, Guildhall School of Music & Drama James Guan, piano Tait Awardee 2015, Royal Academy of Music Jayson Gillham, piano Tait Awardee 2009, Royal Academy of Music

CONCERT PROGRAMME Mozart (1756 - 1791) Concertante for Violin and Viola in E flat major, K. 364 Alex Isted, violin Lisa Bucknell, viola

Dedicated to our Patron, The Dowager Countess of Harewood to celebrate her 90th birthday Wagner (1813 - 1883) Vorspiel und Liebestod from â€˜Tristan und Isoldeâ€™ Arr. James Ledger for soprano and eleven instruments Katrina Sheppeard, soprano Interval Bernstein (1918 - 1990) Glitter and be Gay Candide Alexandra Hutton, soprano Barber (1910 - 1981) Must the winter come so soon? Vanessa Ashlyn Tymms, mezzo-soprano Styles (1982 - ) How they creep Ashlyn Tymms, mezzo-soprano Alexandra Hutton, soprano Williamson (1931 - 2003) Piano Concerto, No 2 in F sharp minor James Guan, piano Grainger (1882 - 1961) Colonial Song Jayson Gillham, piano

PROGRAMME NOTES Mozart (1756 - 1791) Concertante for Violin and Viola in E flat major, K. 364 Allegro Maestoso - Andante - Presto During 1778-79 the twenty-three year old Mozart embarked on a grand tour of Europe, including Mannheim and Paris. The former was known for its excellent string orchestra, while the latter was widely regarded as the city of masterful woodwind virtuosos. This heady combination inspired him to begin composing a series of concertante works, five in all. But it was a difficult time for the young composer; his mother died while they were in Paris, and—as was to become typical throughout his life—he had once again run low on funds. It is not surprising therefore that Mozart never finished two of the sketches. However, upon returning to Salzburg in the summer of 1779, Mozart completed his final work in the genre, his Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola K364, the opening piece in tonight‘s programme. This brilliant, buoyant and eloquent masterpiece marks the beginning of the composer‘s mature style: Alfred Einstein even called it the "crowning achievement in the field of the violin concerto". But what exactly is a ‗sinfonia concertante‘? In essence, the genre is a cross-over between symphony and concerto. Popular during the late 18th-century, the craze was most evident in Paris where audiences seemingly couldn't get enough of these multi-soloist ‗symphony concertos‘. The form allowed the audience to focus on the relationship between the soloists themselves, rather than the standard concerto interactions between solo group and orchestra. Generally lighthearted, and almost always in a major key, they highlighted virtuosic display rather than expressive profundity. Mozart, of course, was a musical revolutionary, and in this work we find subtle interactions throughout between the soloists and the orchestra, whilst—if you listen carefully—the concertante principle is extended to the orchestra itself: there are solos for the oboes and the horns as well. At other times the whole ensemble is treated as a soloist, with Mozart giving the orchestra stunning effects such as the Mannheim band‘s slickest trick, the ‗Mannheim Rocket,‘ a musical gesture whereby a rising scale or arpeggio and simultaneous crescendo was employed to thrilling effect. No information survives about the work‘s early performance history, although we do know that Mozart most likely intended to play the viola part himself. Today, it is well within the common conscience. The first movement can be heard in Peter Schaffer‘s 1984 film adaptation of his play Amadeus whilst the work in full was mentioned in William Styron's 1979 novel Sophie's Choice: when the eponymous protagonist hears it played on the radio, memories of her childhood in Kraków emerge and—as the key in the second movement changes from minor to major, expanding into a love duet of unmistakable instrumental seduction—she is beautifully lifted from her deep depression.

PROGRAMME NOTES Wagner (1813 - 1883) Vorspiel und Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde Arr. James Ledger for soprano and eleven instruments Composed between 1857 and 1859, Wagner‘s opera has its origins in Arthurian legend, a topic of ongoing fascination for the composer. In this tale—much retold through the ages—Tristan is given the task of accompanying Isolde from Cornwall for her enforced wedding to King Marke, in Cornwall. Previously, Tristan had killed Isolde‘s former lover in battle but had later ended up in her care when he himself was wounded. Seeking revenge for her lost love, Isolde orders the preparation of a death-potion, but her maid— well meaning—substitutes a love-potion instead. Both Tristan and Isolde drink it and during the course of the journey fall deeply in love. What is apparent from the Vorspiel’s very first few bars is an extraordinary sense of heightened longing, both physical and spiritual. Three unaccompanied notes—making up he so-called ‗Tristan chord‘, a dissonant triad which harmonically could lead just about anywhere—begin, in Wagner‘s words, ―one long series of linked phrases,‖ each of which is left unresolved and hanging by a potent silence. Wagner was one of the first composers to employ harmonic suspension—a seemingly never-ending series of unfinished cadences—over the course of an entire work. Tantalisingly, the cadences first introduced in the opening measures of the opera are not fully resolved until some three or so hours later, in the finale of Act 3. In Wagner‘s concert version, the Liebestod follows on from the Vorspiel without pause. Tristan has been discovered by King Mark and is fatally wounded, dying in Isolde‘s arms. Ecstatic in the expectation of full reunion through death, she sings the famous ‗Love-Death‘. If the Vorspiel represents earthbound passion, the Liebestod symbolises spiritual transfiguration. Isolde begins to ‗drown and sink unconscious‘, singing of her ‗supreme bliss‘, and as the music moves restlessly from one key to another, the long-awaited resolution of the opening cadences finally arrives. The musical release coincides precisely with the moment of her death at In des Welt-Atems wehendem All and at last the music rests, serene and glowing. This arrangement is by Australian composer James Ledger.

We are honoured to support the Tait & Sir Charles Mackerras Chair at the Southbank Sinfonia jointly with the Estate of Lady Mackerras for the next 10 years “To enable players to devote themselves fully to the fellowship, every place is free, and every player receives a bursary. Southbank Sinfonia receive no public funding and is indebted to its many individual donors, trusts & foundations, and corporate supporters who believe in the potential of its young musicians.“

www.southbanksinfonia.co.uk

PROGRAMME NOTES Mild und leise, wie er lächelt, wie das Auge hold er öffnet --Seht ihr's, Freunde? Seht ihr's nicht? Immer lichter wie er leuchtet, stern-umstrahlet hoch sich hebt? Seht ihr's nicht? Wie das Herz ihm mutig schwillt, voll und hehr im Busen ihm quillt? Wie den Lippen, wonnig mild, süßer Atem sanft entweht --- Freunde! Seht! Fühlt und seht ihr's nicht? Hör ich nur diese Weise, die so wundervoll und leise, Wonne klagend, alles sagend, mild versöhnend aus ihm tönend, in mich dringet, auf sich schwinget, hold erhallend um mich klinget? Heller schallend, mich umwallend --- Sind es Wellen sanfter Lüfte? Sind es Wogen wonniger Düfte? Wie sie schwellen, mich umrauschen, soll ich atmen, soll ich lauschen? Soll ich schlürfen, untertauchen? Süß in Düften mich verhauchen? In dem wogenden Schwall, in dem tönenden Schall, in des Welt-Atems wehendem All --ertrinken, versinken --unbewußt --- höchste Lust! Translation by Barbara Pothen

Mildly and gently, how he smiles, how the eye he opens sweetly --Do you see it, friends? Don‘t you see it? Brighter and brighter how he shines illuminated by stars rises high? Don‘t you see it? How his heart boldly swells, fully and nobly wells in his breast? How from his lips delightfully, mildly, sweet breath softly wafts --- Friends! Look! Don‘t you feel and see it? Do I alone hear this which wonderfully and softly, lamenting delight telling it all, mildly reconciling sounds out of him, invades me swings upwards, sweetly resonating rings around me? Sounding more clearly wafting around me --- Are these waves of soft airs? Are these billows of delightful fragrances? How they swell, how they sough around me, shall I breathe Shall I listen? Shall I drink, immerse? Sweetly in fragrances melt away? In the billowing torrent, in the resonating sound, in the wafting Universe of the World Breath --drown, be engulfed --unconscious --- supreme delight!

PROGRAMME NOTES Bernstein (1918 – 1990) Glitter and Be Gay Candide Based on Voltaire‘s novella of the same name, Bernstein‘s Candide is a satirical comedy that follows the young and naïve Candide as he journeys around the world in search of his lost love, Cunegonde. Candide‘s biggest challenge is to overcome the disillusionment of his youth, and face the reality that his world is not, in fact, ―the best of all possible worlds.‖ Through various adventures, trials, and separations, Candide and Cunegonde finally learn to grieve and love, and must build their own life for themselves, learning to ―make their garden grow.‖ The operetta‘s first run was a complete flop - it barely lasted two months on Broadway after its opening performance on December 1, 1956. While Bernstein‘s music was an instant success, critics saw Lillian Hellman‘s libretto as too heavy for the light satire of Voltaire‘s story. After its original performance, the libretto underwent serious rewritings - Richard Wilbur became the project‘s primary lyricist, but the libretto holds the work of various other playwrights & poets, including John Latouche, Dorothy Parker, Stephen Sondheim, and Bernstein himself. Since 1974, the operetta has generally been performed with a Tony Award-winning book by Hugh Wheeler, author of the books for Sondheim‘s A Little Night Music and Sweeney Todd. Cunegonde sings ―Glitter and Be Gay‖ to lament (and delight in) the unsavoury occupation she must take up after finding herself lost in Paris. Fallen from her noble birth, she regrets every circumstance of her unfortunate state—excluding, perhaps, her fancy jewellry! Distracted by what glitters in life, she flits across the stage, piling on her jewels and forgetting her former cares. Lost in this fit of excitement, she suddenly becomes overwhelmed and stops, and must remind herself how miserable she is. A classic comedic showpiece, ―Glitter and Be Gay‖ is now, rightly, a favourite of sopranos the world over.

Barber (1910-1981) Must the winter come so soon Vanessa Samuel Barber is one of America's most celebrated composers. He is best known for his orchestral works especially his Adagio for Strings, adapted for string orchestra from the second movement of his Quartet, Op. 11, was made very popular through its use in the Oliver Stone film, Platoon. Also well-known is his overture to The School for Scandal. When he was twenty-five, he won the American Rome Prize (Prix de Rome), and for two years in a row, won the Pulitzer Prize. One of the prizes was for his opera, Vanessa, from which we hear an aria from the first act which was written at the request of the original singer of the role who noted that she didn‘t have an aria. Dutifully, Barber obliged. The libretto of Vanessa was written by Barber's long-time friend, Gian-Carlo Menotti who was well-known for his operas Amahl and the Night Visitors, The Telephone, The Saint of Bleeker Street, The Medium, and Amelia Goes to the Ball. Although Menotti and Barber had been friends since they were students together at Philadelphia's Curtis Institute, this was the first (and only) time they collaborated in the writing of an opera.

PROGRAMME NOTES Vanessa takes place in an unnamed northern country. It is winter. Vanessa, her mother the Baroness, and her niece, Erika, are awaiting the arrival of Anatol, who many years before, was Vanessa's lover. While Erika gives the servants instructions for the sumptuous dinner. Vanessa worries about the safety of Anatol, who is making his way through the blizzard. Although we are not told why, the Baroness has not spoken to her daughter during the twenty years since Anatol had left. Vanessa can hardly contain herself when her old lover finally appears at the door. She pours out her love and reminds him of how hard it was to retain her beauty all those years, but she had managed it for him. When he steps into the light, it is revealed that it is not the Anatol she was expecting, but the son, who has come to tell of the death of his father. Vanessa falls in love with the young Anatol. The following morning, Erika reveals to the Baroness that she had been seduced by Anatol. She is loyal to Vanessa, and even after a failed suicide attempt assures Vanessa that Anatol had nothing to do with that. Vanessa and Anatol marry, and go off to Paris, with Vanessa leaving the estate to Erika. Once the pair leave, Erika drapes all the pictures and mirrors, and settles down to await the arrival of her ideal lover. The Baroness has now become silent before Erika. The aria we hear this evening appears early in the opera, while Vanessa awaits the arrival of Anatol as she sings of the dreary winter with neither "dawn nor sunset" to mark the passing of the days.

Styles (1982 - ) How they Creep Luke Styles is an Australian and British composer. He recently completed three years as the Glyndebourne Young Composer in Residence, and from February-December 2015 was the composer in residence at the Foundling Museum. the first to occupy the position since Handel. His opera Macbeth was premiered at Glyndebourne and was then performed at the Royal Opera House in 2015. Luke was a Tait Awardee in 2014/15, that was generously supported by the VEC Acorn Trust. ―In 2012/2013 I worked with two groups of highly motivated and talented students from London and Lewes on writing for voices and instruments, along with professional singers from Glyndebourne and instrumentalists from the LPO. We used the Cunning Little Vixen as a springboard to explore the ideas of characterisation in opera, music/drama and how to combine the voice with instruments. The result was the composition of 12 new works by these students and one by myself, either using a text featuring animals (enter the influence of Janacek) or setting a section of the Cinderella story. My work, How They Creep, takes the second stanza from E. A. Poe‘s A Dream Within A Dream, which like the Cunning Little Vixen looks at nature for it‘s subject mater. As with the students I embarked on a piece that has at it‘s heart the combination of two voices and how they are supported and at times directed by the instruments around them. At the time I found myself largely influenced by Benjamin Britten‘s Canticles whilst writing this piece and see How They Creep acted as a testing ground for ideas for my second opera for Glyndebourne, Wakening Shadow, which premiered at the 2013 Glyndebourne Festival.‖ Luke Styles

PROGRAMME NOTES Williamson (1931 –2003) Piano Concerto, No 2 in F sharp minor, piano and string orchestra 1960 Allegro con brio – Andante Lento – Allegro con spirito Malcolm Williamson has a son and two daughters. Peter was born on 28 September 1960. Anticipating the birth, Malcolm and Dolly had moved into a larger apartment where the weekly rent was £45. After Peter was born he was taken to their new flat in Hampstead where, just in time, Malcolm discovered a competition to compose a concerto for piano and strings offered by the Department of Music and the Choral Society of the University of Western Australia. He had just eight days to complete the score and post it to the University, winning first prize of £500. It was first performed to great acclaim by Michael Brimer with the University String Orchestra conducted by Frank Callaway. Malcolm subsequently played it on many occasions thoughout the world and it became a calling card whenever the opportunity arose. He always played it from memory and revisions which were formally incorporated in the revised score (1974) had been made for years in his own performances. They were all in the piano part and those revisions will be heard tonight. He described the work as ‗an overtly Australian work aiming at spontaneity and vigour rather than profundity‘ and in his preface to the revised score wrote: ―For me this concerto is a serious parody, a necessary reaction to my First Symphony, my Sinfonia Concertante and other works of a more serious interior nature. I mean no parody of any classic… It is a parody of myself.‖ The revised version is performed tonight. The three movements are -Fast - Slow - Fast. It can be performed as a Piano Quintet which Antony Gray, a keen advocate of Williamson‘s music, has exploited to advantage over the years. Programme note by Simon Campion with thanks to Carolyn Philpott

Grainger (1882 - 1961) Colonial Song Grainger initially wrote Colonial Song in 1911 as a piano piece as a gift to his mother, Rose. Early reception of Colonial Song was not positive. Upon hearing the piece in 1914, Sir Thomas Beecham wrote: "My dear Grainger, you have achieved the almost impossible! You have written the worst piece of modern times". Thankfully it was received more positively in the US where he was to re-set the piece for military band. Grainger latterly arranged it for many different ensembles. Below are his own words about Colonial Song. ―No traditional tunes of any kind are made use of in this piece, in which I have wished to express feelings aroused by thoughts of the scenery and people of my native land (Australia), and also to voice a certain kind of emotion that seems to me not untypical of native born Colonials in general. Perhaps it is not unnatural that people living more or less lonelily in vast virgin countries and struggling against natural and climatic hardships (rather than against the more actively and dramatically exciting counter wills of the fellow men, as in more thickly populated lands) should run largely to that patiently yearning, inactive sentimental wistfulness that we find so touchingly expressed in much American art; for instance in Mark Twain‘s ―Huckleberry Finn,‖ and in Stephen C. Foster‘s adorable songs ―My Old Kentucky Home,‖ ―Old Folks at Home,‖ etc. I have also noticed curious, almost Italian-like musical tendencies in brass band performances and ways of singing in Australia (such as a preference for richness and intensity of tone and soulful breadth of phrasing over more subtly and sensitively varied delicacies of expression), which are also reflected here.‖ Percy Grainger

BIOGRAPHIES Jessica Cottis, conductor Hailed in the UK music press as ―one to watch‖, Jessica Cottis is fast gaining an international reputation as one of the most promising and exciting conductors of her generation. Possessing intellectual rigour, innate musicality and an easy authority, she is a charismatic figure on the podium who brings dynamism, intensity and clarity of vision to all of her performances. Principal Conductor of the Glasgow New Music Expedition since 2014, she is also frequently in demand as guest conductor, with recent and future seasons including performances with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, l‘Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, Bit20 Ensemble Bergen, the Queensland and Adelaide Symphony Orchestras, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Opera, the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, and recording with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Highlights of the season 2016/2017 include her Royal Albert Hall debut for the 2016 BBC Proms with the BBC Concert Orchestra and a welcome return to many of the orchestras above. Born in Australia and a dual British-Australian citizen, Jessica Cottis was awarded a first -class honours degree in organ, piano and musicology from the Australian National University and continued her studies as an organist with Marie-Claire Alain in Paris, winning awards from the Royal Philharmonic Society and Royal College of Organists. A wrist injury subsequently halted her playing career and after reading Law, she began studying conducting with Colin Metters and Sir Colin Davis on the postgraduate conducting course at the Royal Academy of Music where she was awarded the top conducting prizes upon graduation in 2009. She spent the next five years working as assistant conductor to Donald Runnicles, Vladimir Ashkenazy, and Charles Dutoit, all profoundly influential figures on her artistic development. In recent years, she has become a frequent contributor to BBC radio programmes, including Women‘s Hour, the Today programme, World Service, and for BBC television: Proms Extra and ‗Maestro at the Opera‘, and has been a jury member for major music prizes from BASCA, European Composer and Songwriter Alliance, PRS, Scottish New Music Awards, Australian Music Centre, and the BBC Young Musician Competition. In 2015 Jessica Cottis was appointed Associate Member of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM), an honorary award for former students who have made a significant contribution to the music profession.

BIOGRAPHIES Lisa Bucknell, violist Lisa has performed around the UK with the Scottish Ensemble, Southbank Sinfonia, BBC Concert Orchestra, Florilegium, and the Birmingham Royal Ballet, and made her debut at the Wigmore Hall last year. She has enjoyed a trial with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, performed in the Alan Bennett play Untold Stories at the National Theatre and on the West End, and competed in the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition 2016, and has been awarded places on both the LSO String Experience Scheme and the BBC Symphony Orchestra Pathways Scheme. She performed as violist for the Sydney Conservatorium‘s production of Albert Herring, and for Sydney Theatre Company‘s production of Spring Awakening. She has studied with Vicci Wardman, Annette Isserlis, and Caroline Henbest, and has had master classes with Thomas Reibl, Maxim Rysanov, Nobuko Imai, and Jennifer Stumm. Lisa has extensive orchestral experience, performing in the Royal Albert Hall, the Royal Festival Hall, the Royal Opera House, Cadogan Hall, the Sydney Opera House, and the Sydney City Recital Hall. Lisa has completed a Master of Performance with Distinction at the Royal College of Music under the tutelege of Simon Rowland-Jones. Lisa is very grateful for the support of the Richard Carne Trust, Ian Potter Cultural Trust, Tait Memorial Trust, and the Clemence Charitable Trust. Lisa currently plays a 1930 Natale Carletti viola thanks to the generosity of the many donors worldwide who contributed to her fundraising campaign.

James Guan, piano Born in Sydney in 1990 James showed musical promise from a very early age. He has completed his BMus in performance at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music under Paul RickardFord and a recipient of the Vimpani & Bessie Cook Scholarships. James is currently completing an MA at the Royal Academy of Music under Ian Fountain and is supported by the Tait Memorial Trust, Ian Potter Cultural Trust, the Theme and Variations Foundation and the Australian Music Foundation. He has since gone on to win prizes in numerous competitions both within Australia as well as internationally. In 2012, he won the Best Australian Award at the Sydney International Piano Competition and first prize at the Great Romantics Competition, Melbourne. He has been awarded 4th place in the Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition and the Kerikeri International Piano Competition, the Most Outstanding Recitalist in the Emerging Artists Series. Most recently, he was awarded 3rd place in both the International Competition Piana del Cavaliere and the Clamo International Piano Competition. He is also the recipient of the John Allison/Henderson, Nugawela and Henderson Travel Scholarships. James frequently performs solo recitals and has performed in Australia, China and London in venues such as Wigmore Hall, St James‘s Piccadilly, Melbourne Recital Centre Sydney City Recital Hall and Regents Hall.

BIOGRAPHIES Jayson Gillham, piano Born and raised in Queensland, pianist Jayson Gillham is recognised as one of the finest pianists of his generation. Jayson is internationally praised for his compelling performances and relentless elegance. Following his recent performances of Beethoven Piano Concerto No.4 with the Sydney Symphony/ Vladimir Ashkenazy, The Australian writes: "His sound was a winning blend of bright-toned clarity and appealing warmth. Tempos were expansive and measured, he gracefully dispatched the virtuosic passagework with dexterity, and his supple phrasing and subtle dynamic control stylishly realised the many sustained pianissimo passages Gillham‘s poised, insightful account captured the concerto‘s lyrical essence." After receiving numerous prizes from some of the world‘s leading piano competitions, it was Jayson‘s win at the 2014 Montreal International Music Competition that brought him to international attention. Jayson now performs with some of the world‘s leading orchestras with recent/future highlights including engagements with the Sydney Symphony, Melbourne Symphony, Adelaide Symphony, West Australia Symphony, Queensland Symphony, London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Hallé Orchestra, English Chamber and Nashville Symphony amongst others. In recital, Jayson performs at prestigious venues across the globe including the Wigmore Hall, Louvre Auditorium, Saffron Hall, Royal Nottingham Concert Hall, City Recital Hall Sydney, Melbourne Recital Centre and the Queensland Performing Arts Centre. Jayson records exclusively for ABC Classics and the recent release of his debut recital album (Oct 2016) featuring works by Bach, Schubert and Chopin immediately reached the No.1 spot in both the Core Classical and Classical Crossover ARIA charts. A graduate of the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, where he studied with Leah Horwitz, Jayson relocated to London in 2007 to pursue a Master‘s degree at the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) with Christopher Elton.

Alexandra Hutton, soprano Alexandra grew up in Bingara, NSW and trained at the Sydney Conservatorium before relocating to London where she attended the Royal College of Music. She is now based in Berlin as a principal member of the ensemble at the Deutsche Oper. Her roles there have included Despina Cosi fan tutte, Musetta La Bohème, Frasquita Carmen, Tebaldo Don Carlo, Papagena Die Zauberflöte, Giannetta L’elisir d’amore, and Olympia, Giulietta and Antonia is an adaptation of Offenbach‘s Les contes d’Hoffmann. She will make her highly anticipated role debut as Susanna Le nozze di Figaro at Deutsche Oper next season. She appears as the First Niece on the DVD of the critically acclaimed Peter Grimes on Aldeburgh Beach as well as stars as Lisette on the DVD of Puccini‘s La Rondine DVD at the Deutsche Oper, directed by Rolando Villazon. She sang the Gorecki Symphony of Sorrowful Songs with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Cadogan Hall and this Christmas will appear as the Taumännchen in Hänsel und Gretel at the Berliner Philharmonie with Marek Janowski and the Rundfunk-Orchester Berlin.

BIOGRAPHIES Alexandra Isted, violin Alexandra recently graduated from the Royal College of Music, where she completed a Masters of Music studying violin performance with Itzhak Rashkovsky and Michal Cwizewicz. She previously studied with Winthrop Professor Paul Wright at the University of Western Australia where she graduated from a Bachelor of Arts with First Class Honours in Music Performance. In the same year she was awarded the UWA Graduates Convocation Award for the highest marks in the music faculty. Alexandra has been the winner of numerous prizes and awards, including the UWA Vose Prize Concerto Competition, the Fremantle Open Concerto and the Recital Competition She has appeared as a soloist with the UWA Symphony Orchestra, West Australian Youth Orchestra, Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and the Allegri Chamber Orchestra. As an orchestral musician, Alexandra has performed in concerts with the London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, West Australian Symphony Orchestra, and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, working under conductors such as Daniel Harding, Francoise-Xavier Roth, Thomas Ades and Sir Simon Rattle. Alexandra wishes to thank the Friends of UWA Music and the Tait Memorial Trust, who supported her studies at the Royal College of Music. Alexandra was a Tait Scholar supported by the Julian Baring family.

Katrina Sheppeard, soprano Katrina Sheppeard is one of the UK‘s most exciting up and coming dramatic sopranos – this year jumping in for ENO‘s Norma to great critical acclaim ―…magnificent…she effortlessly took control of the stage…‖ Dave Snowden, Cognitive Edge. In 2015 Katrina made her German stage, and role, debut with Theater Hagen performing the title role in Samuel Barber‘s Vanessa ―…the Australian Soprano Katrina Sheppeard sings Vanessa with glowing, penetrating power…‖ Monika Willer, Waz.de. Since moving from Australia to London in 2008 Katrina has worked extensively with UK companies and in particular with English National Opera. Roles covered by Katrina for ENO include Santuzza, Cavalleria Rusticana; Turandot; Leonore, Fidelio; Katerina in Shostakovich‘s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk; and most recently made her ENO and her role debut singing the title role in Bellini‘s, Norma. Other UK companies Katrina has performed with are Welsh National Opera, Opera Brava, Riverside Opera, Swansea Opera, Midland Opera and Bloomsbury Opera her roles including Tosca, Aida, Tatiana Eugene Onegin and Rosalinda in Johann Strauss‘s operetta Die Fledermaus. Katrina is currently covering the role of Tosca for English National Opera.

BIOGRAPHIES Ashlyn Tymms, mezzo-soprano Ashlyn Tymms graduated with a Bachelor of Music from The University of Melbourne 2009. She was a choral scholar and a featured soloist with The University of Melbourne Trinity College Choir, recording with ABC Classics, Southern Star & Mystical Songs 2006-2007. Ashlyn other successes include: Mietta Song Recital Award Winner of The National Liederfest, The Sydney Eisteddfod Dame Joan Sutherland Memorial Scholarship finalist, finalist in the Sydney Eisteddfod and the Opera and Arts Vocal Scholarship, the McDonald‘s Aria Award and was a finalist with Opera Foundation Australia, Lady Fairfax New York Scholarship. Praised for her ―beautiful, rich-toned, vibrant and increasingly flexible instrument‖, West Australian mezzo soprano, Ashlyn Tymms, is a HF Music Scholar at the Royal College of Music, London. Undertaking a Masters of Performance, Ashlyn is a proud recipient of a Tait Memorial Trust Award and has also been honoured to be a scholarship holder of the Basil Coleman Award, the Sylvia Harris Award, the Ian Potter Cultural Trust, the Joan Carden Award and the PPCA Performers Trust, Australia. Ashlyn has recently been cast as Rosimonda in Handel's opera Faramondo, in collaboration with the Royal College of Music and the London Handel Festival conducted by Laurence Cummings, March 2017.

TAIT CHAMBER ORCHESTRA flute/piccolo

Faye Saunders

Tait Winter Prom 2016 | Programme