Lyndon Pike, Author at 2MBS Fine Music Sydney

2MBS Fine Music Sydney Open Day Guest: Amelia Farrugia

Classical Open Day

One of our special guests for the 2MBS Fine Music Sydney 2023 Open Day is renowned soprano singer Amelia Farrugia who has captivated audiences with her stunning vocal range and emotive performances in some of the world's most prestigious opera houses and concert halls.

On this Day: March 30, 1897

Classical On This Day

Frederick Delius is widely regarded as one of the most influential British composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Although he spent most of his life in France, his music was heavily inspired by his time in the United States and South America. In 1897, Delius composed his first opera, Koanga, which premiered at the Stadttheater in Elberfeld, Germany.

Program Highlight: Evenings With The Orchestra Friday March 31, 8pm

Classical Program Highlights

During the early 1900s, England saw the rise of several provincial orchestras outside of London, Manchester, and Birmingham. These orchestras were often founded by local music enthusiasts and musicians who aimed to bring classical music to their communities.

CD Review: Felicity Wilcox – Threading The Light

CD Reviews Classical Paul Cooke

Felicity Wilcox’s major composition, the chamber opera Threading the light, was completed and recorded in 2012 as part of her PhD in composition. It has now been released, spurred on by its recent world premiere performance by The Cooperative at Pitt Street Uniting Church. Its title, and those of its four movements (Light, Water, Blood and Fire), reference the importance of ritual in transcending worldly concerns.

Born On this Day – Barry Miles

Born On This Day Jazz

Barry Miles is a jazz musician from Newark, New Jersey, who has made significant contributions to the jazz scene since the 1960s. Born in 1947, Miles grew up in a musical family and began playing piano at a young age. He was soon drawn to jazz music, particularly the music of bebop pioneers like Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.

Coy Composers Round 7 – A Word Puzzle

Classical Trivia and Crossword

These composers all born in March don't want to celebrate their birthdays! Help find them so they get to enjoy a slice of cake.

French Master par excellence

Classical Fine Music Magazine

Former French Prime Minister Charles de Freycinet was walking amongst the urbane people of Paris when he recognized César Franck approaching at a fast trot, his uniform an oversized frock coat, grey trousers hoisted too high, top hat haphazardly brushed against the nap. The Prime Minister slowed to talk, but Franck, without breaking stride, called as he passed, “Will you come with me to Sainte-Clotilde? But don’t speak to me. I heard last night heavenly things, and I don’t want to forget them!”

What is The Wagner Tuba?

Classical

The Wagner tuba, also known as the Bayreuth tuba, is a brass instrument that was invented by Richard Wagner for use in his operas. It is a unique instrument that looks like a cross between a French horn and a tuba, with a conical bore and a wide bell.

Born On This Day – George Benson

Born On This Day Jazz

George Benson is one of the most influential and versatile guitarists in the history of jazz music. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, March 22 1943, Benson began his musical career as a young boy, singing and playing the ukulele. By the age of eight, he had already made his first professional recordings, and by the time he was a teenager, he had become a skilled guitarist, playing with some of the top jazz musicians of the time, one of which was Wes Montgomery.

CD Review – Love Letters: Compositions For Solo Piano – Tim Bruer

Barry O'Sullivan CD Reviews Jazz

Some purists prefer artists to stay in their lane, but often when they venture out of that tried and tested territory, we hear another side of their superb musicianship. Such is the case in the new recording of Sydney-based jazz pianist Tim Bruer.