The Requiem the end

It was another she'll be right on the night and it was. Maruki played a combined concert with Canberra Community Voices and a few soloists. The main work was most of Mozart Requiem (what a pleasure to play that one!) but also a few other pieces to fill out the first half, not least with soprano soloist Lousie Keast (who also plays cello with Maruki when not singing up front). Particularly interesting for the bass section was our guest Chris Bainbridge (whose Mum and Dad were also performing, in orch and choir). He's a graduate of Maruki, ANU and ANAM and now studying in Vienna and an AYO bassist who's just toured Europe and China, performing, not least, at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam. We were blessed. Four basses, a strong section. Loved it and I, for one, learnt a bit from playing with Chris. Otherwise, we played a gloriously beautiful piece, Mozart Ave verum corpus, a few overtures from Wagner and Rossini, some songs from Bizet and Puccini and some majestic choral numbers, Vivaldi Gloria and Handel Hallelujah chorus. And the soloists were excellent: Louise Keast (soprano and coordinator of the singers for this event), Veronica Thwaites-Brown, (interestingly, an excellent Maria in the Sound of Music that I played, amongst other more traditional performances), Lachlan McIntyre and Colin Milner. The Canberra Community Voices were directed by Kenneth Teoh (who, I read in the program, has played clarinet with the Berlin Phil, no less; a match for conductor John's time with the London Symph). But nothing can match the grandeur and beauty of great music like the Requiem or the pleasure in navigating the glorious and sometimes twisted basslines. A great pleasure all round.

Maruki Orchestra performed under John Gould (conductor). Canberra Community Voices is led by Kenneth Teoh (musical director). They performed Mozart Requiem and more at Albert Hall with singers Lousie Keast, Veronica Thwaites-Brown, Lachlan McIntyre and Colin Milner (vocal soloists).