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In 2008

July 2008

Rehearsals for Turandot are well under way. Brian plays the Emporer singing from some 30 meters upstage on a 10 meter high dress. He can only use his head for animation as his arms and the rest of his body are inside the enormous gold dress. Turandot appears from the centre of this dress in a stunning gown and mounted on a stand which brings her head about 4 meters from the stage floor. Very impressive. Turandot is sung by Lada Birlucov from the Czech Republic. She is a slight woman with an enormous sound and wonderful use of the body to gain maximum effect. She has performed the role many times before. Julian Gavin sings the Calaph. Julian is Australian based in London. His career will be a stellar career. He brings a young and fresh sound to this his debut as the Calaph. It is a very exciting voice. This production is conducted by Italian Maestro Aldo Salvagno whose tempi take a very romantic approach. The orchestra is the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra whose has developed an international reputation for excellence, particularly since its Ring Cycle under Maestro Jeffrey tate in 1999. Turandot opens on Saturday 12th July.

Congratulations to Sophie and brother Ben Riggs who are in the Opera choir as child performers and their dad Michael is working as a super. Keeping it all in the family.

In the same opera chorus are some of Brian's adult students, including one principal Adam Goodburn. It is pleasing for Brian to see how they have developed and continue to grow.

Congrats to Harrison Gilbertson who is in the middle of filming "Accidents Happen" on set in Sydney.


June 2008

Congratulations to Dan Krannitch and Leader Cheater on their new CD which is now produced and ready for companies to view. it is hot! ten great tracks and produced by Kramer.

Conrats to Simon Cicere and Jade Remedy. Saw them at electric light on Friday. Simon in great form and Jade have a new sound and concept which I liked and the audience was right into it.

Harrison Gilbertson has started rehearsals in sydney having scored the lead role as Billy in "Accidents Happen" with Geena Davis, directed by Andrew Lancaster. Great production team and they are really looking after Harrison. Film will probably come out mid to late 2009.

January 2008

Congratulations to Dan Krannitch and Leader Cheater on their inclusion in the Big Day Out!!.

Cricket is a favourite pass time of Australians during the summer months from December to February each year. This year the Indian Cricket Team visited Australian for a series of Test matches against Australia. Brian has performed anthems at many international sporting events over the years and set the precedent for the singing of visiting nation anthems in Australia in about 1996 when he performed the Sri Lankan anthem at the Australian Sri Lankan test match in Adelaide South Austrakli. This year Brian was asked to prepare the Indian national Anthem by the Australian Cricket Board and prepared the anthem with the help of Rajni who taught him the Hindi pronunciation. Whilst observing the anthem ceremonies in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth Brian could not help but notice that all Indian anthem singers were indians. Sure enough, two days before the Adelaide Test match QPM received an email requesting that Brian sing the Australian anthem and not the Indian anthem. Someone must have told them that Brian was not Indian. The weather was beautiful, the scene at Adelaide oval was wonderful as always and the anthem went beautifully. Peter Walsh from ABC radio said "A big voice for a big occasion" and they were still talking about it during the balance of the day.

In 2007

December

Brian has commenced recording his new CD this time duetts with Kaylene Graham.

 

Carols by The Creek at Mitcham was a great success on Sunday 2nd December. We try to make this Brian's last performance of the year because by this time he is ready for a break. Having produced the new look Carols by the Creek for the first time 11 years ago, this is one of a couple of events Brian loves to return to each year. This year he included Etypejazz as the main act and Rock Chick and Science Geek as the children's entertainers. They were just great! Jazz singer Liz Tobias (formerly Chehade also joined Brian to lead the Carols in her first appearnace at the Creek. The Australian Girls choir were in great voice as were the audience. Of course the man with the white beard made an appearance on the roof and the light show drew gasps from the 4000 in the crowd. This means that Christmas is just around the corner and Brian will have some time off.

 

November

This has been an enormous year and little has been done on the site other than to keep up with singing tips and respond to emails with requests for specific singing ideas. Last night was a great night in Tanunda for Brian. The Kaffee Abend in the showgrounds is a favourite of Brian's. A full house is 1000 but on a very hot evening (Friday the 16th November) well over 1000 were crammed into the hall and it was a great time. Despite Brian's work load over recent weeks, he managed to find the energy to sing and MC the night and the audience loved every minute with standing ovations interspersed throughout the evening. Jennifer Kneale who recently returned from Europe where she gave many concerts over the last two years was in fantastic form. She truly has the voice of an Angel. Everyone had a ball and it was great to see Brian working with Anne ApThomas again. Having worked together in so many places around the world over the years, they compliment each other and the nuances of their music making did not go unnoticed by the audience. Anne plays with a deft touch and clearly she had a wonderful repore with Jenny whom she accopmpanied for the very first time.

 

November 10th came around very quickly this year. It was a big success with no mishaps and much to celebrate. With over 360,000 attending on the day and 140,000 watching live on local TV, we were all pleased with the outcomes. It was an honour once again to direct the Credit Union Christmas Pageant. Being the 75th year of the pageant, the extra celebrations certainly took it out of all of us who were heavily involved. We have all been somewhat zombieyfied by the experience and I think I am only now (18th) just starting to feel more like myself again. It has been hailed by the Minister for Tourism in South Australia as the best Pageant ever and at the very least I do believe it is the best one I have been involved with. The opening with 75 tap dancers and choristers looked stunning. Hats off to the work put in by choreographer Lynn Ferrauto and the tappers not only in the lead up to the event but also to maintain their focus throughout the 3.3 km route. We have already started plans for 2008.

 

November 3rd was the Francesca Belperio wedding with a 12 piece orchestra conducted by David Sharp with Brian and Maria Sifrova Kvopka singing. It was a beautiful wedding. Brian does not find himself singing at weddings very often unless the families are well known to him. It was a wonderful reminder of the love that can be shared and althoug this was not your average wedding it was a very emotional day for all involved. Brian and Maria with the orchestra was wonderful in the beautiful setting of StLaurences Church.

 

Management: Julie Sloan at Quality Performers Management
Email: jsloan@qpm.com.au