In Conversation

Australian born composer and pianist Tom Donald is known worldwide for his mesmerizing piano improvisations and award-winning compositions for the stage and screen. The founder of the London Contemporary School of Piano, he’s presented and performed with the BBC, recorded at Abbey Road, and written for the media. He’s not afraid to bend and merge genres, with his latest album, Pax Aeterna, a music...

A much loved pianist who Australia has adopted as one of our own, Ukrainian-born Alexander Gavrylyuk began as a teenage prodigy and has been dazzling audiences around the world ever since. He’s performed at the BBC Proms, Wigmore Hall, the Lincoln Centre, and played with the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestras, and closer to his adopted home he’s recorded all the Prokofiev piano conce...

Mezzo-soprano Sian Sharp has been singing with Opera Australia for nearly 20 years. Her significant repertoire includes key roles in seminal operas including Il Trovatore , Otello , The Marriage of Figaro , Rigoletto , and Carmen – most recently late last year performing the title role in the much admired production on Cockatoo Island.  And she’s back singing in the open air once again, as the loy...

An acclaimed musician of great versatility, Roland Peelman has established a reputation as one of Australia’s most innovative musical directors. Originally from Belgium, he’s been active in Australia for over 30 years as a conductor, pianist, artistic director and mentor to composers, singers and musicians alike. He’s worked with Opera Australia, been artistic director of The Song Company, and is...

A man whose name is now synonymous with Australian theatre, David Williamson shot to prominence in the early 70s with  Don’s Party  and  The Removalists  and never looked back. He is so prolific that it’s hard to imagine anyone in this country who hasn’t seen one of his works, whether it’s plays like  The Club , Emerald City , or  Soulmates  or his screenplays which include  Gallipoli  and  The Ye...

An actor who has graced the stage both here and internationally, Philip Quast is the winner of three Olivier Awards for Best Actor in a Musical, unsurprising when you consider he is widely regarded as the definitive Javert from Les Miserables . He’s also well known for his roles in Sunday in the Park with George , South Pacific and Mary Poppins , and he’s performed innumerable Shakespeare plays pl...

An award winning actor, director, writer and producer, Jay James-Moody has collaborated with an impressive range of Australia’s arts organisations, from Opera Australia to the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, and the Sydney Theatre Company to the Darlinghurst Theatre Company, plus New Mardi Gras, to name only a few. He is the founder and artistic director of Squabbalogic, an independent theatre company...

As chief conductor and artistic director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Longueuil in Montreal, violinist Alexandre Da Costa’s multi-dimensional artistic vision has brought him increasing renown. He’s made 25 albums across a number of recording labels, and he’s performed as a soloist with the world’s leading orchestras, such as London’s Royal Philharmonic which included performing as part of Eliza...

Carmel Rodrigues has always loved performing and has been singing, acting and generally dancing up a storm since a very young age. She’s making her professional musical theatre debut as everyone’s favourite nicest kid in town, Tracy Turnblad, in Hairspray , currently playing at Sydney’s Lyric Theatre. In this bonus edition of In Conversation, Tracy talks with excitement about landing her first pro...

Not yet 25 years old, Marie-Ange Nguci has exploded onto the international scene in just the last few years, having performed with Orchestre de Paris, Konzerthausorcheter Berlin, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra to name just a few. She certainly fit the model of a child prodigy, being accepted into the Paris Conservatoire at 13, completing her Master of the Piano at 16, and releasing her first album...

A leading Canadian-American cellist, gambist and researcher, Elinor Frey has made numerous recordings, many of which are world premieres and the result of long collaborations with other artists. The artistic director of Accademia de Dissonanti, an organisation for performance and research, she’s performed throughout the world, and is now in Sydney making her Australian debut with the Australian Br...

One of Australia’s foremost guitarists, Slava Grigoryan is counted as among the finest musicians of his generation. He appears on a whopping 29 albums and, along with his brother and fellow guitarist Leonard, has won 4 ARIA awards and been nominated for countless more. He’s performed in venues around the world, from London’s Royal Albert Hall to Vienna’s Konzerthaus, and is not afraid to perform a...

One of the most thrilling violinists on the planet, Ilya Gringolts is renowned for his extraordinary technical command and musical sensitivity. He’s equally at home with contemporary and rare works, as much as with the great orchestral masterpieces. Rising to fame as the youngest ever winner of the Paganini International Violin Competition, he's since appeared with the world’s top orchestras, incl...

Lebanese-French pianist/composer Rami Khalifé has been hailed as one of the most exciting young composers of the 21st century. His work is as eclectic as it is bold, whether it’s improvised concerts, recording a Prokofiev concerto, or performing with his father, Marcel. His compositions include two piano concertos, a cello concerto, and a requiem, as well as writing for the screen, plus writing an...

An award-winning director who is taking the Sydney arts scene by storm, Shaun Rennie has received three Sydney Theatre Award nominations for Best Director, and won the Broadway World Award for Best Direction for both his productions of Rent at the Hayes, and Baby Doll at the Ensemble. Most recently, he directed the highly acclaimed The Lovers , a musical version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream , prod...

In the final episode for 2022, Simon Moore speaks with a man who has been declared by the National Trust to be a National Living Treasure. Roger Woodward has dazzled audiences for over 60 years here and overseas. A champion of Australian composers, he has performed at the invitation of Sviatoslav Richter, Claudio Abbado, Zubin Mehta, Charles Dutoit… the list goes on. Performing from New York to LA...

British keyboardist and director Chad Kelly has a very long list of credits to his name. He has been living in Australia less than two years, but has already performed with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the Victorian Opera, and with the Sydney and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras. Earlier this year, he joined Opera Australia. His commitment to historically informed performance practice has led hi...

Nicholas Hammond first appeared on Broadway at the age of just 11, and his career only opened up further from there, and never stopped. He’s worked all over the world on stage, film and television. He’s been in over 40 films, from Lord of the Flies to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood , more than 250 TV shows, most notably the Amazing Spiderman , and he’s made an award winning documentary of the true...

An acclaimed actor, director and writer, Jonathan Biggins has entertained audiences for decades with his wit, cheekiness, and a very healthy dose of irreverence. He’s played Peter Sellers, appeared in The Mikado , and directed Australian productions of Avenue Q and Noises Off . But his most well-known work is in political satire, as one of the brains behind, and a performer in, The Wharf Revue , w...

Liesel Badorrek is a Sydney based writer, director and performer with a diverse and wide ranging repertoire. She’s a founder of Loose Canon Arts, which has created new work for young people throughout Asia and the Middle East, has directed with the Darlinghurst Theatre and CDP Productions, and keeps thing real as a member of the all-woman comedy cabaret collective Six Quick Chicks. Somehow, she al...

German baroque violinist Jonas Zschenderlein certainly got off to an early start. He’s been performing with professional ensembles since he was a teenager, around the same time as he began his own ensemble, 4 Times Barque. He’s played all over Europe, Asia and the Americas, from the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam to Carnegie Hall in New York, and he’s now performing at the City Recital Hall Angel Plac...

One of Australia’s greatest writers, David Malouf has been publishing acclaimed novels, short stories, poetry, plays and opera librettos for over 50 years. He’s the recipient of countless awards – most notably the International Dublin Literary Award for Remembering Babylon in 1996, the Australian Prime Minister’s literary award in 2008, and in 2016 the Australia Council Award for Lifetime Achievem...

Alexander Gadjiev is an exciting young pianist who is making waves across the world. He was the winner of the 2021 Sydney International Piano Competition, second place getter in the International Chopin Competition of the same year, including being awarded the side prize for best performance of a Chopin Sonata, and was the BBC New Generation Artist since 2019.  In this conversation, Alexander give...

Anyone witness to the Australian theatre scene over the past five decades will know and love Geraldine Turner. Her long and distinguished career, most particularly in musical theatre, includes the original Australian productions of A Little Night Music and Chicago , and she’s also appeared in productions of Company , Oliver , Anything Goes , and The Mikado, to name just a few. She’s been in evergr...

An opera singer with an impressively long and distinguished career, Cheryl Barker has sung some of the key roles in the repertoire, perhaps most famously playing Mimi in Baz Luhrmann’s production of Puccini’s La Bohème , her incredible performances of Tosca , and creating the role of Sarah Miles in Jake Heggie’s The End of the Affair , in Houston. She and her husband, baritone Peter Coleman-Wright...