Soprano Alison Jones and pianist William Schmidt will return to Bairnsdale for the final Pipe Organ Music and Events Group (POMEG) concert for 2025.
After their widely acclaimed performance of Gershwin favourites last year, this joint concert with an exclusively French flavour is expected to be hugely popular.
The program starts with two loved piano pieces by Debussy, followed by opera excerpts, songs and piano works by Bizet, Faure, Delibes, Poulenc, Satie and Edith Piaf.
Songs with a French flavour but by non-French nationals include I love Paris (Cole Porter) and Do not leave me (Jacques Brel).
The concert concludes with a medley from the very French Les Miserables.
So where do the advertised Fantasie Impromptu and Minute Waltz by the Polish Frederic Chopin fit into all this Frenchness?
For Chopin, France and particularly Paris nurtured his musical genius more than anywhere else and some of his greatest works were
written there.
Alison Jones grew up in Gippsland. After studying at the Victorian College of the Arts and participating in the Victorian State Opera Young Artist Program, she expanded her prodigious talent by singing major solo roles with Australian opera companies.
She went on to perform with opera companies all over the world.
She was a principal artist with D’Oyly Carte Opera and appeared in concert and
oratorio performances in London and throughout Europe.
After returning to Australia, Alison has continued to sing major operatic roles in Melbourne, has toured nationally with Promac Productions Australia, and, as founder/director of La Prima Opera Company, she is taking high quality opera into the regions.
Pianist William Schmidt first impressed local audiences at a solo concert in 2022, returning last year to play solo piano and also to accompany Alison.
POMEG is delighted to have him return again.
Based in Melbourne he has a fine reputation as a solo performer, accompanist, composer and musical director.
He has two Masters degrees in piano performance, from the University of Melbourne and The Music and Arts University of Vienna, Austria.
He has received a number of prestigious awards and scholarships and is a sought-after accompanist for examinations and recitals.
The concert, presented by POMEG, is at Bairnsdale Uniting Church, corner of Great Alpine Road and Lane’s Road, on Sunday, November 2, at 2pm.
Tea and coffee will be served during the interval. Pay at the door. School students are free.
