Music Fit for A King

Saturday 26th August 2023 at 7.30pm

St Paul's Anglican Church
124 Brisbane St, Ipswich 
For bookings, please call: 3812 0377

Neill Flottmann (Conductor)

After studies in flute and piano at the University of Sydney, Neil Flottmann went on to a varied career as a flautist, music educator and conductor. A former member of several major Australian orchestras, including the QLD Symphony Orchestra, he has also worked as Chorus Master for the Lyric Opera of Queensland, The Australian Opera and The Canadian Opera Company. He has been at various times a member of the professional staff at the NSW State Conservatorium of Music, the QLD Conservatorium of Music and QUT lecturing in flute, musicianship, opera studies and conducting. 

In 1984 Neil was awarded the prestigious Willem van Otterloo Memorial Conducting Scholarship, leading to studies in Sydney and London with Myer Fredman and Sir Charles Mackerras. Since then he has appeared as guest conductor with the Sydney, Queensland, Melbourne and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, the ABC Sinfonia, the Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra and the Australian Ballet. Neil has conducted thirteen seasons for the Queensland Ballet including the widely acclaimed Australian premiere of Peter Maxwell- Davies; Salome in 1986 and Francois Klaus’s 1998 production of Peer Gynt. In 2010 he was a member of the creative team for the Brisbane performance of Havergal Brian’s “Gothic Symphony”. He is currently Director of Curriculum at West Moreton Anglican College.  

Daniel Smerdon

Daniel Smerdon studied music at the Queensland Conservatorium, Brisbane, graduating with a Bachelors Degree (Cello) and a Graduate Diploma and Master of Music Studies (Opera).

Since 2012, he has worked extensively with companies such as Queensland Conservatorium, Berlin Opera Academy, Balance Arts Opera, Opera Queensland, Opera Gold Coast, Brisbane City Opera, Co-Opera, Eurasia Opera Festival, Varna Opera Theatre, Figaro Opera Society, Lyric Opera Studio Weimar.

On the opera stage Daniel has sung the roles of title roles of Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Varna Opera Theatre Bulgaria, and Co-Opera, Adelaide Australia); The Mikado (Co-Opera, Adelaide Australia) Gianni Schicchi (Opera Gold Coast), Eugene Onegin (Eurasia Opera Festival, New York USA) and Don Giovanni (Lyric Opera Studio, Weimar, Germany).

Other operatic roles include: Doctor Bartolo (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Count Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro) Papageno (Die Zauberflote), Marcello (La Boheme), Le Sacristan and Le Gaoler (Understudy – Tosca), Dark Invader (Opera Galactica), and Le Dancaire (Carmen), Prince Gremin (Eugene Onegin), Harasta (The Cunning Little Vixen) and The First Messenger (Kiss Me Kate) and understudying the roles of TruLove (The Rakes Progress), Le Sacristan and Le Gaoler (Tosca).

Concert repertoire includes the title role of Mendelssohn’s “Elijah” (Brisbane Symphony Orchestra), Carl Orff’s  “Carmina Burana” (UQ Symphony Orchestra), Handel’s “Israel in Egypt” (Queensland Camerata), Hector Berlioz’s “L’enfance du Christ” (St Andrews Sinfonia), Bach’s “Christmas Oratorio (Canticum Chamber Choir)  and Requiems by Gabriel Faure, Maurice Durufle, and Michael Haydn.

Katie Stenzel

Katie Stenzel is a dynamic, coloratura soprano. Described by Limelight Magazine as possessing “a powerful and perfectly controlled upper range”, she has established herself as an engaging and multi-faceted performer. She graduated with a Bachelor of Music from Queensland University of Technology and subsequently completed her Master of Music Studies at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music.

Katie has since performed across Australia and internationally with companies including State Opera South Australia, Opera Queensland, Opera Australia, The Brisbane Festival, The Adelaide Fringe Festival, and the Taipei Drama Festival in Taiwan.

Her operatic roles have included Queen of the Night in The Sopranos, Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Valencienne in The Merry Widow, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Niece 1 in Peter Grimes, Zorah in Ruddigore and the creation of the role of Loretta in The Crushing: A Gothic Opera. She has also understudied roles including Euridice and Amore in Orfeo ed Euridice, Kumudha in A Flowering Tree, Rose Maybud in Ruddigore, Berta in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Cunegonde in Candide, and Yum Yum in The Mikado. She has appeared in concert works including Messiah(Handel), Carmina Burana (Orff) and Oratorio de Noêl (Saint-Saëns).

Katie has been a featured artist of the Brisbane Music Festival since 2020. She was honoured to be  invited to reprise her performance alongside BMF Artistic Director and pianist, Alex Raineri to re- open the Queensland Performing Arts Centre after their 6-month hiatus. 2021 also saw Katie make  her State Opera South Australia debut in the role of Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia to great acclaim.

Most recently, Katie has been gracing the stages of regional Queensland, for Opera Queensland’s Festival of Outback Opera, 2023. 

Website: katiestenzel.com
Instagram: @katiestenzel
Facebook: KatieStenzelSoprano