In Conversation

One of Australia’s most distinguished violinists, Dene Olding has a long history with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, having been their Concertmaster for two separate stints. He’s performed as a concerto soloist in Australia and internationally, whether it be performing the great concertos of the past or premiering new works. A member of the Australia Ensemble, he’s also first violinist of the reno...

A celebrated actor and director, John Bell has been a driving force in the shape and direction of Australian Theatre for more than half a century. A former Associate Artist with the Royal Shakespeare Company in the UK, he’s performed all of Shakespeare’s seminal roles, often several times over. He’s also formed two theatre companies, one of which still bears his name. In this conversation, John Be...

A composer across a full spectrum of genres, Christopher Gordon has written for Australia’s leading orchestras, for major events such as the 2006 Commonwealth Games, has penned ballets, and scores for films such as Master and Commander, Mao’s Last Dancer and Ladies in Black. In this program, Christopher talks candidly with Simon Moore about his unorthodox entry into composing after recovering from...

An exciting and dynamic young conductor, Leonard Weiss has made a name for himself with the Canberra Sinfonia, and the Sydney, Queensland and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras, to name just a few. He’s the inaugural winner of the Conductor NSW Orchestral Early Career Fellowship with the Sydney Youth Orchestras in conjunction with Create NSW, and was recognised as the “rising star of 2020” by John Hopk...

He made the role of Lola in Kinky Boots his own, performing it on three continents, including on Broadway and the West End, and winning a Helpmann Award for Best Male Actor in a Musical for his performance on these shores. He’s also appeared in such seminal musicals as Rent, The Lion King and Miss Saigon. Callum features as Raoul in The Phantom of the Opera, on Sydney Harbour from March 25. He spe...

One of Australia’s leading harpists, Emily Granger has performed across the world, including as Principal Harp of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Sydney, Tasmanian & Canberra Symphony Orchestras. She’s played for presidents and prime ministers, presented recitals from the Sydney Opera House to Carnegie Hall, and performed with international artists such as Yo-Yo Ma and Jonas Kau...

A regular director with Opera Australia, Constantine Costi was responsible last year for the triumphant production of La Traviata on Sydney Harbour. He’s worked with other leading Australian arts companies including Pinchgut Opera and the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, and is co-artistic director of Red Line Productions at Sydney’s Old Fitz. Simon Moore speaks with Con in the lead up to him tak...

Multi-Helpmann Award winner Amber McMahon plays Eve Kendall, one of the ultimate Hitchcock Femme Fatales, in the stage adaptation of North by Northwest at Sydney’s Lyric Theatre from the 9th of March. In this conversation, Simon Moore takes Amber on a deep dive into her 20 year stage career and delve into the craft of acting. She’s worked with Cate Blanchett, picnicked at Hanging Rock, and climbed...

He is a conductor who has fast established himself as a versatile artist covering the symphonic, operatic and ballet genres. He’s made a splash in Europe with such orchestras as the Mariinsky, the Budapest Festival Orchestra, and the Odessa National Philharmonic. He and his wife, soprano Eleanor Lyons, have more recently created Live at Yours, an exciting and ever growing project, bringing top qua...

Jeanell Carrigan is an Associate Professor in the Collaborative Piano Unit at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. She has performed throughout Australia and Europe as a soloist, chamber musician and collaborative duo partner. Her area of research is Australian solo piano repertoire and more recently in the piano music composed by early 20th Century Australian women composers. She’s released 32 alb...

He is a man who has entertained Australia for over 30 years. He’s danced on film in Strictly Ballroom, stepped into stilettos for the Rocky Horror Picture Show, donned top hat and whip for a tightrope-walking PT Barnum, and everything in between – including West Side Story, Singing in the Rain, The Pirates Penzance, Cabaret, and Anything Goes. But perhaps his most well-known performance has been t...

It’s difficult to find a more well-rounded musician than violinst Henning Kraggerud. The Norwegian virtuoso has had a career that covers everything – a soloist, composer, arranger, improviser, plus he’s the Artistic Director of the Arctic Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra. The discussion, from when he was visiting Australia in 2017 to guest direct the Australian Chamber Orchestra, provides some fasci...

If you’ve ever had the chance to see Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto perform live, you’ll know he is quite the entertainer. It’s been said that he strips every piece, however familiar it is, back to first principles, and we get to hear it as if for the first time. At the time of this conversation in 2016, he had just been appointed artistic director of the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s emerging...

Olli Mustonen is music's ultimate triple threat – a virtuosic pianist, an extraordinary conductor, and an outstanding composer. He speaks to host Simon Moore about his start playing the harpsichord from the age of 5 in his native Finland, as well as sharing a story about a misprint in a program which led to him to having to rearrange one of his chamber works for full orchestra, and how he pref...

Dean Bryant is a multi-award winning theatre director and writer. He has a string of directorial credits, including (with the Melbourne Theatre Company, where he was associate director from 2016 thru 2019): The Lady in the Van and An Ideal Husband; for Opera Australia Anything Goes; and for the Hayes he directed Assassins, as well as their debut production Sweet Charity, for which he won the Helpm...

(Originally aired in June 2021) Shane Placentino has made the move from ballet dancer, to choreographer, and now opera director. He began his career with the Australian Ballet in 1991, dancing the entire classical and contemporary repertoire. He went on to be with the Sydney Dance Company from 2002, but more recently he’s hung up his dance shoes and moved into direction with Opera Australia - curr...

Sam Allchurch is at the forefront of the next generation of choral music. In 2019 he became artistic director of the Sydney Chamber Choir at just  29, following in the footsteps of the late, great Richard Gill. He’s also Associate Artistic Director of Gondwana Choirs, and Director of Music at Christ Church St Lawrence which has a musical tradition going all the way back to 1845. He’s been praised...

Natalie Aroyan is an Armenian-Australian soprano whose voice has graced the stages of Opera Australia as a principal artist since 2013. She has performed leading roles in Aida, La Boheme, Ernani, and Carmen to name just a few.  In 2019 she was nominated for a Helpmann Award for Best Female Performer in a Supporting Role, and later this month, she will be hitting the stage once again as Odabella in...

Neal Peres Da Costa is Australia’s authority in historically informed performance on the keyboard. Whether it’s the harpsichord, fortepiano or  organ, Neal has performed with all of this country’s leading ensembles, including the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, the Australian Haydn  Ensemble, the Australian Romantic and Classical Orchestra, and several of the top orchestras in this area internat...

It’s 35 years since The Phantom of the Opera opened on London’s West End, making it one of the most successful musicals of all time. It was still  playing there until COVID hit early last year, where Australian Josh Piterman was performing in the title role. Josh Piterman will be donning that famous mask once again in September, this time at the Joan Sutherland Theatre at the Sydney Opera House. K...

Alexander Briger is a conductor who has worked with more orchestras than can be easily listed – pick an orchestra in Australia or Europe, and you can be pretty certain he has conducted them, and that’s before you start adding his work in opera. He counts luminaries like Charles Mackerras and Pierre Boulez among his mentors. Alexander is back in Australia to once again conduct his brain child, the...

Amy Campbell is one of Australia’s most accomplished dance talents, with a career spanning all areas of the entertainment industry. Her  choreographic credits include 'Once', which is returning to the Darlinghurst Theatre from 3 June, 'In The Heights', 'Violet', 'Hair', 'An Act Of God', 'Spring Awakening', 'Oklahoma', and 'Carmen'.  L...

Noel Cislowski has a long and rich career as a teacher, lecturer, actor, producer, conductor and director. He has performed lead roles in musical  comedy, and has appeared as narrator/singer in works such as Peter And The Wolf and Tubby the Tuba with the Sydney Symphony and Willoughby  Symphony Orchestras. His passion for education is perhaps best expressed by the fact he is Chair of the Sydney Ei...

Violinist Belinda McFarlane is a stalwart with the London Symphony Orchestra. She’s come back to Australia to play with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, and in June will be appearing with the Australian World Orchestra.  She spoke to Simon with great passion about her role with the LSO’s Discover Team, which includes outreach into disadvantaged communities, helping to ensure that everyone can shar...

(Originally aired in April 2021) Van-Anh Nguyen is a passionate and versatile pianist, producer, composer – and fashionista! She’s performed around the world and released 8 albums, topped the classical iTunes chart in both the US and Australia, and spends most of her time between her home town of Sydney and her adopted second home of Los Angeles. Van-Anh chatted to Simon ahead of her Australia-wid...