Stefan Cassomenos
Written on May 21, 2012 at 4:32 pm, by Carlos
Composer in Residence
Melbourne pianist, conductor and composer Stefan Cassomenos completed his tertiary studies on full scholarship at the University of Melbourne and the Australian National Academy of Music, majoring in piano performance. His main piano teachers were Margarita Krupina and Stephen McIntyre. Stefan has appeared as a soloist in St Petersburg, Tallinn, Warsaw, Krakow, Rhodes, Athens, Rome, Milan, Amsterdam, Bangkok, Tokyo, and throughout the United Kingdom and Australia. His 2007 London debut was described, in a Musical Opinion review by John Amis, as ‘alive, passionate, and dramatic … a prodigious London debut by a formidable talent.’ He was recently a grand finalist in the 2012 Rhodes International Piano Competition, and he has been shortlisted following international auditions as a participant in the 2012 Sydney International Piano Competition, to be held in July. Stefan gives regular solo recitals throughout Australia, and frequently performs concertos with orchestras, which have included the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria, Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Orchestra, Melbourne Youth Orchestra, Youth Philharmonic Melbourne, and several other youth and community orchestras.
Stefan has been writing music since the age of seven, and his compositions were performed by the Symphony Orchestras of Melbourne and Adelaide when he was still a high-school student. He has recently written music for The Yarra Trio, the Melbourne International Brass Festival, the Australian Music Association, Orchestra 21, Patma Music, the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Choir, and the Curro String Quartet. As Composer-in-Residence for Creative Universe’s CI-2010 Conference, he premiered his Piano Concerto No 3, The Art of Thought, at the Melbourne Recital Centre.
Stefan is also active as an Artistic Director and Conductor. He was the Artistic Director of the 2007 Melba Festival in the Yarra Valley, Guest Artistic Director of Melbourne’s Piano Landmarks festival 2009-10, Conductor of the Percy Grainger Youth Orchestra 2010-11, Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Chamber Strings of Melbourne for 2011, and founding director of Creativity Australia’s ‘Our Community Sings’ Choir for 2011.
Stefan is generously supported by Kawai Australia, Creative Universe, and the Youth Music Foundation of Australia.
Tania de Jong AM
Written on May 9, 2012 at 2:37 pm, by Carlos
Diva in Residence & Executive Producer
Presentation:
TBA
Tania de Jong AM is a leading Australian soprano and social entrepreneur. She founded Creativity Australia and Creative Universe to improve wellbeing, engagement and innovation in organisations and communities. Tania presents keynote speeches globally and consults to multinational organizations on creative leadership for the 21st Century. She is Founder and Executive Producer of Creative Innovation 2010, 2011 and 2012.
She works with a range of migrants and disadvantaged communities through Creativity Australia’s innovative With One Voice choir programs to build social capital, employment pathways and community wellbeing. The With One Voice programs bring together a diverse range of people in different locations enabling individuals to find their voice. When many diverse voices come together as one voice, the outcomes can be transformational!
Tania is considered one of Australia’s most talented sopranos and has performed with the Victoria State Opera, as a soloist with a number of orchestras and has performed in over 40 countries and released 7 CDs with her group Pot-Pourri.
She is Artistic Director and Founder of entertainment booking agency and event production company Music Theatre Australia. She has a Bachelor of Law (Honours) from the University of Melbourne and is a graduate of Victorian College of the Arts.
Her numerous awards include “Outstanding Individual Contribution to Australian Culture”, Churchill Fellowship, a Melbourne Award and Ernst and Young Australian Social Entrepreneur of the Year. She founded The Song Room which has provided access to creative learning for over 250,000 disadvantaged Australian children. She was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2008 for service to the arts as a performer and entrepreneur and through the establishment and development of music and arts enrichment programs for schools and communities. She was inducted into the AGSE Entrepreneurs Hall of Fame at Swinburne University and named Brainlink Woman of Achievement 2009.
In her spare time, Tania is working on The Pianist and The Diva and ECHO – a new music theatre work with Stefan Cassomenos.