Celebrating 50 Years (Kenmore)

Saturday 3rd June 2023 at 2pm

Church of Christ Kenmore Community Centre
41, Brookfield Rd. Kenmore
Adults $30, Concessions $26, Students $12, Children < 5 yrs free.
Bookings:- Try Bookings: TBA or ring Maree 3378 2384 or Tickets at the door if not sold out previously

The members of the Brisbane City Pops Orchestra are immensely proud and excited to bring you a very special concert to help celebrate our 50th Anniversary – an amazing milestone for a community orchestra to reach! We are delighted to be performing at the Church of Christ Kenmore Community Centre for this special occasion and the audience will be thoroughly entertained by a diverse program of some favourite pieces.

The BCPO will present the very regal Crown Imperial March by William Walton. It is one of Britain’s best-known orchestral marches, commissioned for the Coronation of King George VI in Westminster Abbey. You will also enjoy the incredibly beautiful waltz from Sleeping Beauty by Tchaikovsky, as well as Leroy Anderson’s Belle of the Ball, a crowd favourite.

The BCPO is thrilled to welcome back Chen Yang as our conductor for this occasion. Not only is he a fantastic Maestro, but also an incredibly talented violinist! He will be performing the beautiful and haunting Vocalise by Rachmaninoff on solo violin, accompanied by the orchestra.

The orchestra is also excited to welcome back the very popular Emma Nightingale to perform as our guest artist! Emma is an emerging lyric soprano from Brisbane with extensive performance experience in Queensland and in Sydney. She has appeared in several Opera Qld productions and is a core member of the internationally acclaimed group, The Seven Sopranos. Emma will be performing four items, all of which were arranged specifically for the BCPO by Ron Hanmer, a very talented musician who conducted us for 17 years and was responsible for helping to make this orchestra one of Brisbane’s best-known community orchestras. Emma will perform the much-loved Ave Maria by Gounod, a selection from the wonderful musical, Mary Poppins, the very beautiful Pie Jesu by Lloyd-Webber, as well as the delightful Ci-ri-bi-ri-bin by Pestalozza.

The BCPO will also present some popular lighter music, including Lord of the Dance, a toe-tapping favourite, as well as Themes from 007, featuring some of the exciting music from the fantastic Bond movies!

This will definitely be a thrilling concert experience, so please come along on Saturday, June 3rd at 2pm and enjoy an unforgettable afternoon of fantastic music and amazing musicians and join us in Celebrating 50 Years!

Chen Yang (Conductor)

Chen Yang was appointed concertmaster of the Queensland Theatre Orchestra (QTO) after graduating from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music with distinction in violin performance. He later joined the Queensland Symphony Orchestra (QSO) for many years.

Chen is currently the leader and conductor of Corda Spiritus Orchestra of Brisbane and The Sinfonia of St Andrew’s Orchestra. He appears regularly as guest conductor for The Brisbane Philharmonic Orchestra in their annual Metro Concert Series.  In 2014 he was invited to conduct The Northern Rivers Symphony Orchestra in a Gala Concert celebrating their 20^thAnniversary.

Chen has worked in music education for many years with his long association with the Queensland Youth Orchestra (QYO) leading their Junior String Ensemble (JSE) consisting of up to 70 talented young string players. At present he is also conductor and string teacher at St Hilda’s School, Southport.

His other musical interests include playing baroque violin with The Badinerie Players of Brisbane.    

 

Emma Nightingale (Lyric Soprano)

Emma is an emerging lyric soprano from Brisbane, Australia. Graduating from The University of Queensland and Queensland Conservatorium, and currently under the tutelage of esteemed vocal teacher Shelli Hulcombe. In 2019 she was selected as a Young Artist for the Pacific Opera program, with concert credits including soloist in A Viennese Gala with the Willoughby Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Dr Nicholas Milton AM. In 2021, Emma created the role of Juniper in the brand-new jukebox opera A Frog Prince with Opera Queensland and Shake and Stir, as well as Mimi in La Boheme in Opera Queensland’s first show for secondary students. As well as appearances in the Opera Queensland chorus for Verdi, and guest artist for the popular Sing Sing Sing events.

Not a stranger to school stages, Emma also played Gretel in Opera Queensland’s schools touring production Hansel and Gretel (2019) in collaboration with shake and stir theatre company. She is a regular member of the Opera Queensland chorus, with appearances in as Ruddigore (2017), Peter Grimes (2018), Don Giovanni (2018), A Flowering Tree (2019), The Sopranos (2022).
In 2022, Emma featured as a soloist in The Festival of Outback Opera – Singing in the Night and Dark Sky Serenade. In her capacity as a Teaching Artist, also facilitated school workshops, as well as Sing Sing Sing events as part of the festival.  Emma also appeared in the chorus of Opera Queensland’s new production of La Traviata. 

In early 2020, Emma begun the year performing the Foreign Woman in Menotti’s The Consul, as part of the flagship production of the for-purpose opera start-up - The CoOperaTive - in Sydney. She is also a core member for internationally acclaimed classical crossover group, The Seven Sopranos, and has appeared with them for Bleach Festival on the Gold Coast, Brisbane Lord Mayors Christmas Carols, Opera in the Gardens, Opera by the Lake, and in concert with The Brisbane City Pops Orchestra. During her time in isolation in 2020, she performed online – as part of Opera Queensland’s An Aria a Day initiative.

Emma is passionate about developing accessible opera for local audiences, as well as engaging audiences of all ages, and across a wide cross section of the community. In 2022 she began a Teaching Artist course, sponsored by Opera Queensland to ensure we can continue to deliver meaningful, and relevant operatic works to local audiences and beyond.