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Celebrating music together since 1973

An Afternoon in Vienna

Saturday 4th November 2023 at 2pm

Church of Christ Kenmore Community Centre
41 Brookfield Rd, Kenmore
Tickets:  Adults $30;  Concessions $26;  Students $12 and Under Fives free
Bookings: Online - TBA, Phone – Call Maree on 3378 2384 or at the door if not previously sold out. 
There is also a café on site, free parking and complimentary programs. 

The Brisbane City Pops Orchestra is excited to be presenting our final concert for 2023, concluding our 50th anniversary celebrations. What better way to do it, than take our audience to An Afternoon in Vienna, the musical capital of the world! The orchestra will be presenting a wide variety of music from many famous composers- there will be something for everyone!

A visit to Vienna is not complete without some of the brilliant music by the prolific Johann Strauss II. We will perform the beautiful Wine, Women and Song, the well-known Gypsy Baron March, the delightful Champagne Polka and, of course, the much-loved Emperor Waltz.

Mozart was also inspired by Vienna and spent a lot of his creative years there. The orchestra will perform one of his most famous pieces, the Marriage of Figaro Overture.

You will also be treated to a wonderful selection of music from the very popular Merry Widow, by Austrian composer, Franz Lehar, as well as the lively March Militaire by Franz Schubert and the joyful Schon Rosmarin by Fritz Kreisler, both famous Viennese composers.

Musicians from all over the world have always been drawn to Vienna, not just to compose, but to perform as well. One famous American singer who performed there several times was Frank Sinatra and we are sure you will enjoy our Salute to Ol’ Blue Eyes!

The BCPO is truly honoured to present an amazing guest artist for this concert- Gyorgy Deri, who will showcase his exceptional talent on the Cello. Gyorgy was born in Hungary and began playing the cello at the age of 5. He studied at the Bela Bartok Conservatory and then the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music. Gyorgy has won many competitions and has performed extensively throughout Europe as a chamber, ensemble and orchestral musician, as well as a soloist, before becoming a teacher himself at the Liszt Academy. Gyorgy joined the faculty of QC Griffith University in 2020 as Senior Lecturer in Cello.

The orchestra is excited to have Gyorgy performing some amazing cello repertoire – the very lyrical Silent Woods by Dvorak, the well-known Allegro Appassionata by Saint Saens, the very showy Scherzo by Van Goens and the simply beautiful The Swan by Saint Saens.

As part of our 50th year celebrations, we will also feature some music from Ron Hanmer, a British composer/arranger who conducted us for 17 years. We will perform Ron’s wonderful arrangement of the beautiful Someone to Watch Over Me, by Gershwin, as well as his own well-known composition, Pastorale. Those of us who remember Ron are truly grateful for his dedication to the orchestra for so many years as our conductor, music arranger, programmer and compere!

So please come along and help us to celebrate the end of a wonderful year and join us for an unforgettable musical experience as we spend An Afternoon in Vienna!

 

Andrew Robinson (Conductor)

 

Former resident conductor of the St Lucia Orchestra (now BCPO), Andrew Robinson has conducted many of the leading orchestras in Australia and the US. Winner of the ABC- Westfield Young Conductor of the Year award in 1997, he was Assistant Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra from 1998-2001, performing with the orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl and Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. He has also conducted performances at the New York City Ballet and with numerous other American orchestras, as well as working with the Los Angeles Master Chorale. In Australia, he has appeared with the Queensland Symphony, the Tasmanian Symphony, the Melbourne Symphony, the Canberra Symphony, the State Orchestra of Victoria, and the Pacific Chamber Orchestra, among numerous others. From 2007-2012 he led the Queensland Philanthropic Orchestra, a charitable music project that raised nearly $40,000 for Queensland medical research.  

An experienced music educator, Andrew served from 2000-2002 on the conducting faculty at the University of Southern California, one of the premier music schools in the US. He was Music Director of the inaugural Auckland Philharmonia Summer School in 2000, and from 2003-2008 held the same position with the Young Conservatorium Symphony at Griffith University. 

Andrew first studied flute at the Canberra School of Music before turning to conducting. In 1998 he was selected as one of three young conductors from around the world to perform in Carnegie Hall at the inaugural Carnegie Hall Conductor’s Workshop, and subsequently was a Conducting Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Festival in Massachusetts. An accomplished flautist, Andrew won the 7 th Australian Flute Competition in 1995, and continues to perform occasionally around Brisbane. He qualified as an optometrist in 2006 and is now a partner in private practice in Bardon.

 

 

Gyorgy Deri (Cello)

Gyorgy's music education began when he was five and a half years old. He started learning the cello a year later and, after three years of study, was admitted into the exclusive preparatory class for the most gifted students at the Béla Bartók Secondary School of Music, with special age consideration.

From 1983 to 1989, he studied at the Academy of Music, earning recognition during this time by winning the grand competition named after Dávid Popper. In 1987, Gyorgy started teaching as a demonstrator in the Faculty of Cello and Chamber Music. Among his peers, he was the only one given the opportunity to study as a future artist.

Gyorgy was greatly influenced by several notable teachers, including Ede Banda, György Konrád, Melinda Kistétényi, Albert Simon, and Ferenc Rados. In 1991, two years after receiving his diploma summa cum laude, Gyorgy was invited to teach at the Teachers’ Training Institute of the Academy of Music in Budapest.

 

At the Institute, he taught cello, chamber music, led a chamber orchestra, and taught a special subject related to the history of films. From 1993 to 1998, he also taught cello at the Béla Bartók Secondary School of Music. In 2008, when the Teachers’ Training Institute and the Academy of Music merged, he became an associate professor at both the Ferenc Liszt University of Music and the István Széchenyi University in Győr.

During his time at the Academy of Music, Gyorgy was also a visiting student in the composition classes of István Győr Fekete for three years. Since then, he has been deeply connected with contemporary music, having premiered at least a hundred contemporary pieces. A significant number of these pieces were composed at his request. He is a member of all the major ensembles dealing with contemporary music, such as UMZE, Intermoduláció, and Componensemble. He has been an active soloist, orchestra, and chamber musician for 40 years, boasting about 1000 performances, 22 CDs, radio programs, and recordings. Between 1991 and 2012, Gyorgy received the Artisjus Award five times for his involvement with contemporary music. In 2004, he received the Ferenc Liszt Prize for his musical career.

In 2009, Gyorgy habilitated and, in 2012, he completed his Doctor of Liberal Arts (DLA) studies summa cum laude at the Doctoral School of the Ferenc Liszt University of Music.

He regularly leads masterclasses and workshops in Hungary and abroad, and often participates as a jury head and member in cello and chamber music competitions.

His students have been successful in various competitions and many have secured jobs in orchestras across Hungary, as well as soloists at the British String Orchestra and BBC Concert Orchestra. Several have taken up teaching positions in music schools in Budapest and throughout the country.

As a soloist, Gyorgy has performed with the Symphonic Orchestra of the Hungarian Radio conducted by Zoltán Kocsis, among others. He has been a member of several renowned chamber groups, including the Keller Quartet, Trio Art Nouveau, Flas Chamber Ensemble, Duo Ongarese, and Pestalozzi Trio. He also served as a standby for the Ferenc Liszt Chamber Orchestra for nearly a decade.

In his capacity as deputy head of the String Department and head of the cello, double bass, and viola departments at the Academy of Music, Gyorgy organized numerous successful masterclasses for students and has been responsible for coordinating exams, diploma concerts, entrance exams, and programs for a long time at the Academy of Music.

In 2020, he became a senior lecturer at the prestigious Griffith University Queensland Conservatorium in Australia. Alongside his esteemed friend and colleague, Roger Cui, Gyorgy founded a piano-cello duo in 2021. He has participated in several esteemed music festivals in Queensland, NSW, and Tasmania.

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