1 April

Tracy Wan (Violin)

Ying Ho (Piano)

Violin Concerto No.5 in A major, K.219, - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
"Turkish" - First movement (Composed in 1775)

Violin Sonata in G minor - Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
(Composed in 1917)
1.Allegro vivo
2.Intermède: fantasque et léger
3.Finale: très animé

Danza espagnola - Manuel de Falla (1876-1946)/Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962)
(Composed in 1926)

Schoen Rosmarin - Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962)
(Composed before 1910)

Tracy Wan began her violin studies at the age of 5. At the age of 10, she made her solo debut with the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts Chamber Orchestra, performing the Mozart Violin Concerto No.5. She won numerous prizes in the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival, such as 1st prize in the violin concerto competition. There she studied with Alice Waten and then Pavel Prantl. In 1993, she was awarded full scholarship from the Meadowmount School of Music. Tracy Wan won the 1st prize in the 1994 Kocian International Violin Competition in Prague and was invited to perform for the Hong Kong Governor, Chris Patten at the Hong Kong Governor's House.

Having awarded full scholarships from The Australian Institute of Music for the Young Musicians Program and SCECGS Redlands, Tracy Wan continued her violin studies with Alice Waten in Sydney in 1995. She won 1st prize in the 1998 Ku-ring-gai Philharmonic Orchestra Concerto Competition; as well as 1st prize in the 1999 Polish Concerto Competition and the Multiple Instruments Concerto Competition 2000. In 1998, she was awarded a full music scholarship from St. Andrew's Cathedral School. Her solo performances frequently broadcasted on the 2MBS-FM. In 1999, the Pan Pacific Music Camps awarded her a full scholarship to participate in the International Violin School.

In 2002, Tracy Wan was awarded the International String-Player Award and was placed second in the Gisborne International Music Competition in New Zealand. Her live performance was selected for broadcast on Concert FM, Radio New Zealand. She also recorded for "Young Australia", ABC Classic FM. She was the associate concertmaster of the Bishop Symphony Orchestra at the Australian Youth Orchestra music camp 2002. She led the Viva String Quartet from 2001- 2003, which won the 1st prize in the Open Age String Quartet Competition at MacDonald's Performing Art's Challenge 2003. The quartet was invited to perform in the 4th Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition. Tracy Wan held a full scholarship for her Bachelor of Music in performance at the Australian Institute of Music. There she was granted Advanced Diploma of Music in performance in 2003.

Tracy Wan relocated to Melbourne in 2004, to fulfil her commitments as an Academy Musician at the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) and was the concertmaster of the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Orchestra and the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) Symphony Orchestra. The Age noted,'"...played at a high level and precisely following the conductor's direction". She performed as a soloist with the ANAM Chamber Orchestra, playing the Bach Violin Concerto No.2 under the baton of John Harding and recorded for the "Hush Collection" CD vol.II which is now distributed around Australia. Tracy Wan graduated from the VCA – Melbourne University with Bachelor of Music in performance (Honours) 2004.

After studying with Zakhar Bron and Benedict Cruft, Dean of Music at HKAPA in 2005, Tracy Wan began her Master of Music in performance under Kathleen and Allison Short scholarships with the Chair of String Unit, Goetz Richter at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 2006. She performed in Julian Rachlin's masterclass and gave solo recitals in NSW, including Inverell and Dorrigo. In 2007, Tracy Wan performed live on 2MBS-FM as part of the "Emerging Young Artist Series".

Tracy Wan founded the Sapphire String Quartet which was selected to perform for the APEC Summit at the Sydney Opera House on the 8th September 2007. The Quartet has played in masterclasses for the Borodin String Quartet and the Artemis String Quartet. Last year, Tracy led the Sapphire Ensemble into the finals of the Musica Viva Chamber Music Competition.

Tracy Wan has been a member of the Australia Opera and Ballet Orchestra since 2007. She also joined the Lurline Chamber Orchestra last year and frequently plays with Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra, Sydney Scoring Orchestra and Sydney Lyric Orchestra.

Ying Ho has performed throughout Australia, England, Europe, and Israel as soloist and chamber musician. A graduate from the Royal Academy of Music, London and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, she is a recipient of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music International Scholarship, the Else Cross Brahms Prize, the Maud Hornby Memorial Prize, the Kathleen and Allison Short Memorial Scholarship, and the John and Dorothy Vimpani Scholarship. From 2008 to 2009, Ying taught at the Edward Said Conservatory of Music in Jerusalem, during her time there she performed in the cities of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Ramallah, Haifa and Nazareth, and conducted the Conservatory's Orchestra in Bach's Keyboard Concerto in G minor.

A keen chamber musician, Ying has participated in masterclasses at the Lausanne Academie de Musique in Switzerland with Pierre Amoyal and Bruno Canino, and the Prussia Cove International Musicians Seminar. She regularly performs with the Sydney Symphony Fellows and has been broadcasted on ABC Classic FM and 2MBS-FM.

8 April

Alastair Duff-Forbes (Violin)

Ying Ho (piano)

Nigun from 'Baal Shem' - Ernest Bloch (1880 - 1959)

Sonata in A for violin and piano - César Franck (1822 - 1890)

Allegretto ben moderato
Allegro
Ben moderato
Allegretto poco mosso

15 April

Alana Blackburn

and

Hans-Dieter Michatz (recorders)

Boffons – Jacob van Eyck (c.1590-1657)
From: Der Fluyten Lust-hof II, Amsterdam 1646

A Species of Fire - Margery Smith (b. 1956)
Arc of light
Casting Shadows
Sharp & Prickling Heat

Ode II – Ryohei Hirose (1930-2008)

The Shepherd's Flute and The Actor and the Monkey - Isang Yun (1917-1995)
From: Chinese Pictures (1993)

Wat zalmen op den avond doen - Van Eyck (c.1590-1657)

Sonata No. 5 for 2 flutes – G.P. Telemann (1681-1767)
Allegro
Poco Allegremente
Poco Presto

Fresh back from Europe, Alana Blackburn has been hailed as a rising star in recorder performance. A graduate of both the Sydney and Amsterdam Conservatories, Alana specialises in both early and contemporary repertoire performing works spanning over 500 years. An international career has seen Alana perform in some of the world's greatest recital halls including Wigmore Hall (UK), Konzerthaus Berlin, Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the Sydney Opera House. Alana has performed with a number of notable ensembles including The Royal Wind Music, The New Dutch Academy, Salut! Baroque, The Bell Shakespeare Company and The Sydney Consort as well as featuring as a guest soloist with the Manly-Warringah Orchestra and Sydney Conservatorium's Early Music Ensemble directed by Neal Peres da Costa. She has recorded 3 CDs with the Royal Wind Music as well as performing live on radio broadcasts in Sydney, New Zealand, Germany and The Netherlands. A former student of Hans-Dieter Michatz, Paul Leenhouts and Jorge Isaac, Alana has also had lessons with leading recorder virtuosi Walter van Hauwe, Han Tol and the late Gerd Lünenbürger. Also a highly sought after teacher, Alana has been a guest tutor at Orpheus Music workshops, The New England Conservatorium and the Sydney Society of Recorder Players.

Hans-Dieter Michatz has a long-standing reputation as a performer and educator. His unique blend of a European background and training – his teachers included Ferdinand Conrad, recorder and Barthold Kuijken, baroque flute – and a deep affinity with modern Australian culture have influenced several generations of musicians in his adopted country. As a notable player of modern and baroque flute as well as recorder, he has performed and recorded with many orchestras and Early Music groups, most notably as principal flute with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra for many years, with Salut Baroque and The Sydney Consort. As a conductor, he pioneered landmark premier performances of newly discovered works by J.D. Zelenka, and recently, the first Australian performance of Vivaldi's 'Dixit Dominus' RV 807. Hans-Dieter teaches recorder at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and is Classical Performance Studies Coordinator at the Australian Institute of Music.(AIM). He is also the patron of the Sydney Society of Recorder Players. As part of regular engagements overseas he will be touring to Germany, Scandinavia and the Baltic States with the Sydney Consort in 2011 and '12.

22 April

Good Friday Concert at 2pm

Program
Giovanni Pergolesi "Stabat Mater"
Sir John Stainer "Crucifixion"


Soloists
Judith Rough (soprano)
Amanda Wagg (alto)
Roy Best (tenor)
Gavin Lockley (bass)


Organists
Mark Quarmby (Director of Music)
David Tagg (Organ scholar)


Conductor
Anthony Pasquill


Choir
St Stephen's Choir plus members of several Sydney Parish Choirs


Programs
$20 / $15


Enquiries
Tel 02 9221 1688 OR mark@ssms.org.au

29 April

Kurt Ison (organ and baritone)
Stacey Xiaoyu Yang (organ)
Jennifer Bonner (soprano)
Colin Grisdale (trumpet)

'A HINT OF ROYALTY'

Final Movement from the Trumpet Concerto in F Major - George Frideric Handel (1685 - 1759)

"Eternal Light of Love Divine" - George Frideric Handel (1685 - 1759)

Fantasia and Toccata in d minor - Charles V Stanford (1852 - 1924)

"Let the bright seraphim" (from Samson) - George Frideric Handel (1685 - 1759)

Rondeau (from Abdelazar) - Henry Purcell (1659 - 1695)

"The trumpet shall sound" (from The Messiah) - George Frideric Handel (1685 - 1759)

Kurt Ison (organ and baritone) is one of Australia's leading organists.   He has given solo recitals in places such as Notre-Dame Cathedral, Paris, the Basilica of Santa Rita, Turin and the Jacobikirche, Hamburg.

Kurt is also a baritone, having studied singing with Michael Hissey and Philip Pratt. He has sung as a chorister in numerous venues around Sydney and overseas. Personal highlights include singing in the choir of St Mark's Venice for the feast of the Epiphany and singing in Buxtehude's Magnificat during morning worship at St Thomas's Leipzig.

He also sang in the Tallis Scholars' concert in the City Recital Hall a couple of years ago in Spem in alium of Thomas Tallis. He has also sung as a soloist at the Sydney Town Hall and in the crypt of St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney.

Kurt's solo engagements as a baritone this year include two performances of Stainer's Crucifixion; a concert at Christchurch St Laurence, Sydney, to celebrate the birthday of JS Bach, a solo concert at St Stephen's Macquarie Street and a major concert on Good Friday at St Stephen's Newtown, singing works by Mendelssohn and Schütz.

Stacey Xiaoyu Yang (organ) started to learn the organ from Kurt Ison in May, 2007. In 2008, She passed her 8th grade performance exam and was appointed as organist at St Anne's Anglican Church, Strathfield and the Organ Scholar of The Cathedral Singers. She is the current Organ Scholar at the University of Sydney. She has played many major organs in Sydney which including Sydney Opera House, St Andrew's Cathedral, St James' ,King St, Christ Church St Laurence and the University of Sydney. She will sit for her LTCL organ exam in late August 2010. Apart from organ playing, she has been learning piano from Stephanie McCallum and is a piano tutor at MLC School, Burwood, a piano accompanist for AMEB exam and various competitions and one of the honorary carillionists at the University of Sydney. She will visit Europe in April and September, 2010 and will give carillon recitals at Royal carillon school, Mechelen and Leuven University in Belgium and later in Spain, receive an organ masterclass from Jean-Baptiste Robin at Poitiers Cathedral in France and play organ at Mardrid Cathedral in Spain.

Stacey also received Bachelor of Medical Science degree from The University of Sydney and will have completed a master degree in health science by mid 2010 in the same institute.

Originally from China, Han Xu began  violin lessons at the age of six. After studying at the GuangZhou Conservatorium of Music in China, she completed her Post-graduate Diploma of Music at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. She has performed with many other ensembles throughout the country and overseas, like Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra. She played as a principle player with GuangZhou Youth Orchestra's tour to US, Hong Kong and Macao.