On its 50th anniversary, the KPO joins ROGER WOODWARD AC, who return to Sydney for a single performance – in his childhood suburb of Chatswood – to celebrate the orchestra’s 50th anniversary AND raise funds for the Foundation of the Sisters of Charity.
The scintillating occasion on Sunday, December 11 at 3 p.m. in the Concourse Concert Hall will recognize Roger’s enormous contribution as an Australian pianist on the world stage and feature his electrifying rendition of Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3.
The concert will include the Festive Overture and the Chamber Symphony Op. 110a and a work by Sydney composer Naomi Dodd, Deep Calls to Deep, specially commissioned by the KPO.
Australian National Treasure, Roger grew up in Chatswood, attending the local state school. He was a student at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music before winning the ABC Young Performer’s Award performing this same work. The award provided Roger with opportunities for study and performance with orchestras in Australia and overseas, launching what was to become a successful international career.
“The Concourse has always been close to my family,” says Roger. “When it was Chatswood Town Hall, it was where my brother and sisters went for our Chatswood Elementary School speech day and concerts with the Ku-ring-gai Male Voice Choir – which my dad sang in the tenors in. My first major there was a public concert when I was 10, although I also accompanied the school choir there. , was our family church where I fell in love with the organ works and cantatas of JS Bach and eventually became an organist.My brother and I also knew all the candies and milk bars on both sides of Victoria Avenue in Around this time we also started our first piano lessons in nearby Saywell Street with Winifred Pope…all in all a very happy and productive time in our lives.”
The spectacular program will be directed by the artistic director of the KPO, Paul Terracini.
The KPO will donate proceeds from this concert to the Sisters of Charity Foundation, supporting scholarships for young people from host families to undertake higher education. Supporting young people is close to Roger’s heart. He donates his performance and covers his own travel expenses to support the Sisters of Charity Foundation in its work.
Comments are closed.