Tait Memorial Trust - Winter Prom 2013

The Tait Memorial Trust presents

Dedicated to John Amis

Tuesday 26th November 2013

Special guest artist:

Dame Gillian Weir with

Travis Baker, Organ • Primavera Shima, Piano • Rosemary Forbes-Butler, Soprano Valda Wilson, Soprano • Musique Cordiale • Introduced by Joanna McCallum

Holy Trinity, Sloane Square, London

The Tait Memorial Trust Winter Prom 2013

The Tait Memorial Trust Winter Prom 2013

PROGRAMME

Arranged by John Amis

Handel (1685-1759) Organ Concerto No. 10 in D Minor Op. 7, No. 4, HWV 309 for organ and strings Organ: Travis Baker • Musique Cordiale • Adagio • Allegro così così • Organo ad libitum: Aria • Allegro Op 7 No 4 in D minor was probably assembled after Handel’s death. The first movement was composed in 1738 as a Concerto (Adagio) for two organs and orchestra. The second movement, marked with the unusual tempo indication Allegro così così dates from between 1744 and 1746. The third movement (the Prelude from the D minor Harpsichord Suite) marked Organo ad libitum: Aria, while the fourth, marked Allegro, was a great favourite of Handel and may pre-date his move to England. He re-used this material several times in a Concerto for violin and orchestra of 1712 and as the Presto in a Harpsichord Suite of 1720.

Handel (1685-1759) Messiah HWV 56 I know that my Redeemer liveth Soprano: Rosemary Forbes-Butler Musique Cordiale Messiah HWV 56 is an oratorio composed in 1741

by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible, and from the Psalms included with the Book of Common Prayer. First performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742 and received its London premiere nearly a year later. The text draws from both Job and Paul and is one of the most glorious arias written for the soprano voice.

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A Prelude and three Ave Marias: JS Bach (1685-1750) First Prelude from the Forty-Eight BWV 846 Piano: Primavera Shima JS Bach’s set of 48 Preludes and Fugues, spanning all 24 major and minor keys twice each, is one of the cornerstones of Western classical music. The Well-Tempered Clavier is a set of teaching books, with forty-eight movements traversing every key signature and style imaginable. Bach wrote Book 1 while working for Prince Leopold of Cöthen, in 1722. The prince died in 1723, so Bach then accepted a prestigious job offer in Leipzig; there, he composed Book 2 in 1742. On the title page of Book 1, Bach inscribed, “For the profit and use of musical youth desirous of learning”

Bach – Gounod (1818-1893) Ave Maria Soprano: Valda Wilson Piano: Primavera Shima Charles Gounod’s famous Ave Maria is a curiosity in music history—a musical collaboration between two great composers whose lives did not overlap.

It is a song whose melody was written 130 years later than its accompaniment, Bach’s Prelude in C. The song is now a standard for weddings and a firm favourite amongst young singers due to its long lines and soaring melody.

Schubert (1797-1828) Ave Maria D 839, Op. 52. No. 6 Soprano: Rosemary Forbes-Butler Piano: Primavera Shima This Ave Maria was composed in about 1825 by Franz Schubert (1797-1828) when he was twentyeight years old and filled with devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was written for voice and piano and first published in 1826 as Op 52 no 6.

Although the song is a prayer, Schubert’s Ave Maria was not written with religious practices or the Catholic Church in mind. The Ellen of the original title was Ellen Douglas, the heroine of sir Walter Scott’s long poem set in the Scottish Highlands.

Verdi (1813-1901) Ave Maria (from Act 4 of Otello) Soprano: Valda Wilson Musique Cordiale Desdemona kneels before an image of the Madonna and intones a beautiful prayer (Ave Maria). She rises after a few moments and slips into bed. Desdemona is praying for all the people who suffer as much as she does. But her prayers won’t stop the jealous Otello from murdering her in her bed. It’s a key moment in the last act of Verdi’s great opera.

Schumann (1810-1856) Romance in F sharp, Op 28, No 2 Piano: Primavera Shima Schumann’s Three Romances, Opus 28, were written in 1839 and were intended to be played as a group, linked by key, starting with B flat minor and sections in F sharp major and E flat minor, followed by F sharp major and B major.

Stravinsky (1882-1971) arr. Agosti Suite, The Firebird: Danse infernale – Berceuse – Finale Piano: Primavera Shima Igor Stravinsky’s music for solo piano includes: two sonatas, the Serenade, four Études, a few marginal pieces such as the Rag-time and Tango, and, of course, the Three movements from Petrushka.

Stravinsky, himself, wrote the piano reductions of his ballets (including Petrushka and The Rite of Spring for four hands). That of The Firebird, his first masterpiece written for Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, was published in 1910, shortly before the orchestral score. In 1934, Guido Agosti, a student of Busoni’s, followed the example of the Three Movements from Petrushka, proposing a transcription of three pieces from The Firebird (‘Danse infernale, Berceuse et Finale’) for solo piano.

JS Bach (1685-1750) Concerto in D Minor, for harpsichord and strings. BWV 1052 Harpsichord: Dame Gillian Weir Musique Cordiale Allegro • Adagio • Allegro In 1717 Johann Sebastian Bach entered the service of the Prince of Anhalt-Cöthen. Free from ecclesiastical duties and with an instrumental ensemble of about 17 players to hand; Bach took the opportunity to expand his instrumental output.

Also dating from this period are the Harpsichord Concertos, products of the composer’s association with the Telemann Musical Society. Just as Handel is credited with the birth of the organ concerto, the harpsichord concerto owes its origins to J.S. Bach whose weekly appearances at the Society were an ideal forum in which to transcribe extant concerto movements for solo and multiple harpsichords. This harpsichord concerto is thought to be based on a lost violin concerto in D minor which was later arranged as an organ concerto in 1728 for use in two of Bach’s cantatas.

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The Tait Memorial Trust Winter Prom 2013

“I have nothing but the deepest respect and gratitude for the work of the Tait Memorial Trust.

When young Australian artists come to this side of the world to start their careers, it is not just about the monetary support: the wide variety of Tait concerts in which I sang allowed me to establish a supportive network of colleagues and friends, enjoy some brilliant collaborations with other young artists, and gave me a wonderful performance platform in a very busy city.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for taking a chance with me!�

Valda Wilson

Soprano Tait Awardee 2008

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Cubitt House advert

The Tait Memorial Trust Winter Prom 2013

Message from the Chairman, November 2013

Honouring The Tait Brothers

It really seems like yesterday when my mother asked me if I could help look after a young Australian singer. “Perhaps you could put on a concert for her?” my mother suggested. I formed a committee and collected a 300-strong crowd with Australian connections on 9 December 1992. Due to the volume of acceptances we held our first concert in the Exhibition Hall, Australia House introduced by Derek Nimmo. We raised our first funds and the Tait Memorial Trust was born

The Tait Memorial Trust was formed in 1992 by Isla Baring and her trustees to honour the enormous contribution that Isla’s father, Sir Frank Tait, and his four older brothers had made to the arts in Australia. In Melbourne, Australia, three years before the turn of the last century, a family of five sons of John Turnbull Tait, a sheep farmer in Lerwick, Shetland who had emigrated to Australia in 1860, entered into the entertainment world to become the dominating influence in the theatrical scene for the next seventy years.

Since then we have held over 100 fundraising events in various London venues, big and small, and given out more than £250,000 to young Australian performing artists – singers, instrumentalists and ballet dancers – studying in the UK. Many events have been held in Australia House, with the unfailing encouragement and support of the Australian High Commission, for which we are very grateful.

One of their earlier ventures, in 1905, was to make the world’s first full-length feature film - a 4000-foot film on the capture of the notorious Ned Kelly Gang. The film was a sensation and was played in every Australian capital city until the films wore out – only fragments remain. J&N Tait Concert Management was formed in 1906.

From concert management the Tait brothers amalgamated with JC Williamson in 1920 to form the largest theatrical empire in the world, offering a constant flow of ballet, drama, grand opera and musical comedy.

I am most proud of the concert we shared with the Australian Music Foundation under Chairman Peter Andry for Dame Joan Sutherland’s 70th birthday Celebration in 1996. This memorable event was very successful for both our charities.

The Gala event in November 2012 with Richard Bonynge CBE at Australia House celebrating Richard’s 50 year career and our 20th was another milestone for the Trust.

It has been a terribly sad year for us losing two of our much loved Patrons, Jeffrey Smart AO and John Amis. Jeffrey was one of Australia’s most accomplished and celebrated contemporary artists with a unique style and will be sadly missed by us all and a great loss to the world of Art. The loss of John Amis in August has made 2013 a particularly difficult year for me personally.

John was my partner and best friend who… these past 8 years has been of tremendous help in the day to day running of the Trust. John was a remarkable man.

This year we are particularly thrilled to see our young artists elevated to the world stage: Amy Dickson (2007) won the Mastercard Breakthrough Artist of the Year at the Classic Brits; Valda Wilson (2008) is now singing in Germany, recently at the prestigious Verbier Festival and will sing in Salzburg on New Year’s Day in Carmina Burana and Helena Dix (2006)

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The Tait Memorial Trust Winter Prom 2013

received rave reviews for her performance in Christina, Regina di Svezia at the Wexford Festival.

Highlights in 2013 include: our first ‘Tait Scholar’, Kevin Penkin (2013) began a Masters Degree in Composition for Screen at the Royal College of Music in September; Lauren Fagan (2013) and Lauren Zollezzi (2012) at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Opera School singing the leading roles and performing to such a brilliant standard; Marlene Devoe, winner of the Tait Trust Performance Award in the Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge Foundation, Bel Canto Awards is now studying at the Wales International Academy of Voice with celebrated Tenor, Dennis O’Neill.

Thank you for all your support! The past 21 years would not have been possible without the help of a wonderful committee, our sponsors and venues, and of course, our enthusiastic and dedicated supporters. Not to forget our committee in Australia; The Tait Performing Arts Association are going great guns with concerts and working closely with the Mietta Singing Competition all at The Savage Club in Melbourne.

To support and encourage these talented young Australians honours the legacy of the Tait brothers, my mother Viola and their important contribution to the Arts in Australia.

The Taits presented world famous celebrities such as Melba, Chaliapin, Flagstad, Pavlova, Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, Paderewski, Harry Lauder, Oistrakh, Margot Fonteyn, Menuhin, Marcel Marceau, Gracie Fields, Kreisler, Heifetz, Danny Kaye, Victor Borge, Katherine Hepburn, Sir Robert Helpman; the musicals My Fair Lady, Oklahoma, South Pacific, The Pajama Game and many others.

They brought out the Shakespeare (Stratford) and Old Vic Companies, and toured the Borovansky Ballet, not to mention all the Gilbert and Sullivan operas.

recognition of the major contribution he and his brothers had made in their dedication to Australian theatre. It was Sir Frank’s ambition to present Dame Joan Sutherland to the Australian public after her international acclaim. The Sutherland Williamson Opera Company was formed in 1963. As Artistic Director Richard Bonynge engaged a team of worldrenowned principals and internationally successful Australian artists. One of the principals was Luciano Pavarotti, a young tenor from Modena; the chorus was Australian. There was no government subsidy and the fate of Williamson’s future rested on the success of the venture.

Sir Frank lived to see his ambition fulfilled. The triumphant Melbourne opening heralded the return of Dame Joan to her homeland: it was a season never to be forgotten. He died at the age of 81 after the Melbourne season finished and while the company were in Adelaide. It was the end of an era in the history of Australian theatre. In Richard Bonynge’s words, “Sir Frank Tait has done the greatest service to Australian Theatre and to the arts of anyone we know.”

Frank Tait helped form the Australian Ballet, and was Chairman of the Board until his death. In 1957, he was made a Knight Bachelor by the Queen in

Isla Baring OAM Founder & Chair of the Tait Memorial Trust

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The Tait Memorial Trust Winter Prom 2013

Biographies Travis Baker, Organ A native of Melbourne, Australia, Travis Baker is considered to be one of the finest organists of his homeland. His music tuition began at the age of seven and he continued studying in Melbourne where he gained his B.Mus. (Performance) with Honours in 2001. Travis became Assistant Organist at St Paul’s Cathedral, Melbourne, and during this time performed as soloist with an array of Australian orchestras as well as being Director of Training Choirs for the Australian Children’s Choir.

Travis is now based in England studying with world-renowned concert Organist, Dame Gillian Weir. His recital career takes him throughout the UK and mainland Europe, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark.

2010 saw Travis touring as far afield as New Zealand and a six-week tour of the USA and Canada including Montreal, Ottawa, San Francisco, Los Angeles and St. John the Divine, New York. His growing reputation led to an invitation to perform the 2011 Annual Opening Concert for the Organ Club of Great Britain. He is Director of Music at St Mary’s Parish Church, Putney.

Rosemary Forbes-Butler With a remarkable, unforgettable voice savoured throughout Europe, Rosemary Forbes-Butler is a highly sought-after soprano for a variety of vocal requests. Now residing in both England, her country of birth, and Italy, Rosemary has a wealth of experience as an opera singer, baroque soloist, concert performer, musical actress and film soundtracks vocalist.

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The Tait Memorial Trust Winter Prom 2013 Rosemary is particularly renowned for her vocal versatility. She has performed with José Carreras in Carmen, with John Amis at the Wigmore Hall, has toured with the Hilliard Ensemble and has had the pleasure of recording with Pavarotti, Roberto Alagna, Michael Jackson, Mike Oldfield, and The Pet Shop Boys. She can be heard on dozens of soundtracks including Batman, Prometheus, Alice in Wonderland and Moulin Rouge. She has premiered two operas and performed Damon Albarn’s Monkey Journey to the West in Chinese.

Rosemary loves French music too, especially baroque and 20 th Century. She met John Amis at a dinner party over a conversation about Poulenc. Their exchange of songs was the beginning of a long and lasting friendship.

Joanna McCallum Joanna McCallum has worked extensively as a leading actress in Theatre, Television and Radio, and her films include Tom and Viv in which she played Virginia Woolf. Arriving in England from Australia, she worked with The Young Vic Company as Katherine in The Taming of the Shrew, Rosalind in As You Like It, and as Lady Macbeth. For the RSC she was the Queen in Cymbeline, Mistress Quickly in Henry V, and Mistress Page in The Merry Wives Of Windsor, and at the Chichester Festival Theatre she played Portia to Sir Alec Guinness’s Shylock in The Merchant of Venice.

Joanna also played Gertrude to Mark Rylance’s Hamlet at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, Bankside, and in the West End she was Lady Blakeney to Sir Donald Sinden’s Scarlet Pimpernel. TV appearances include All Creatures Great and Small, Poirot, Sherlock Holmes, The Gathering Storm, The Ginger Tree, Law and Order UK and as Aroon St Charles in the BBC adaptation of Molly Kean’s Good Behaviour.

Joanna is married to the writer Roger Davenport and they have two children, Alexandra and Harry. She is a Vice President both of the Combined Theatrical Charities and The Theatrical Guild, and is proud to have recently joined the committee of the Tait Memorial Trust, supporting young Australian students of the performing arts.

Primavera Shima Starting at the earliest age at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Primavera quickly entered the pre-college division of the prestigious Juilliard College of Music, New York. She gained recognition as early as 2001 by being one of the local state-finalists of the ABC Symphony Australia Young Performers Award, and performed a one-hour live programme on Australian national radio 2MBS-FM. She also performed the Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1 with the East-West Orchestra in Sydney under the baton of Henryk Pisarek.

In 2010, Primavera received the Managing Director’s Award at the Jacques Samuel Intercollegiate Piano Competition. The same year, she became the first ever dual-recipient of the Sterndale Bennett Prize and of the Sterndale Bennett Scholarship since their inception 140 years ago at the Royal Academy of Music where she received her Bachelor of Music with honours in 2011. Shortly after in 2012, she finished 4th at the 5th Mayenne International Piano Competition in France, and was awarded the Special Prize at the 5th Rhodes International Competition in Greece, before performing a concert at the Salle Cortot in Paris. In 2013 Primavera won the Tait Award at the annual Royal Over-Seas League Music Competition.

Valda Wilson, Australian soprano, Valda Wilson, was born in Sydney and graduated with a Diploma of Opera from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and a first class Honours Science degree from Sydney University. Valda was awarded the Opera Foundation Australia, National Opera Studio award, was a member of the Dresden Junges Ensemble 2010-2012 and was selected as the soprano soloist at the memorial service for Dame Joan Sutherland at Westminster Abbey in 2011. Valda has since made her debut at Teatro di San Carlo, sung at the Salzburg and Verbier Festivals and won the Stella Maris International Voice Competition.

She sang the title role in Handel’s Rodelinda under the baton of Maestro Richard Bonynge in Sydney. Her operatic performances encompass a wide range of repertoire: Pamina Die Zauberflöte (Semperoper), Laodice in Hasse’s Il Siroe (Ensemble Serse, London Handel Festival), Susanna Le nozze di Figaro (Weimar Volkstheater), Mlle Silberklang Der Schauspieldirektor, Adina L’elisir d’amore, Rosina Il barbiere di Siviglia (Verbier Festival, and Opera Australia Touring Company). She has toured twice with Philippe Herreweghe singing Liszt and Mozart, and debuted earlier this year with The Hallé Orchestra in Bridgewater Hall, Manchester. She returns regularly to the Semperoper Dresden as a guest artist, has sung there in two world premieres, and enjoys lively collaboration in chamber music concerts with musicians from the Dresdner Philharmonie and Sächsische Staatskapelle. In the 2013/14 Season she made her debut as Donna Anna, Don Giovanni, in Bamberg and will shortly sing in the New Year celebrations at the Grosses Festspielhaus in Salzburg singing Carmina Burana.

Primavera now lives in France and is looking at finishing her studies at the Ecole Normale de Musique Alfred Cortot de Paris under the guidance of Marian Rybicki.

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The Tait Memorial Trust Winter Prom 2013

Dame Gillian Weir The internationally celebrated concert organist Gillian Weir has been at the forefront of her profession for more than four decades. Gillian Weir made her début at the Royal Albert Hall while still a student, as soloist in the Poulenc Organ Concerto, on the opening night of the 1965 season of the Promenade Concerts, and in the same year at the Royal Festival Hall in recital, then the youngest organist to have played there.

Her repertoire is exceptional for its breadth and variety, stretching from the Renaissance to contemporary works; she has performed the complete organ works of Bach and others, as well as of Olivier Messiaen, and her pre-eminent position as Messiaen interpreter has been further underlined by her CD release of his complete organ works to great acclaim as well as by her contribution to Faber’s The Messiaen Companion and other publications. Her series of six weekly recitals in Westminster Cathedral of Messiaen’s organ works in 1998, the 90th anniversary of his birth, brought huge audiences and for her performances she was awarded The Evening Standard Award for Outstanding Solo Performance, the first organist to have been so honoured.

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The Tait Memorial Trust Winter Prom 2013 She has received a host of awards and honours worldwide, the most notable of which was presented in 1996 when she was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire, the first organist to receive this accolade. She had previously been awarded a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) in the Queen’s Birthday Honors in 1989.

Gillian Weir’s six-part television series for the BBC in 1989 drew weekly audiences of two million in Britain, exceptional for an arts program, and has been repeated in many countries throughout the world.

Recently, after the sold-out Gala concert at Westminster Cathedral which marked her final public performance as an organist, the Daily Telegraph wrote, “ there’s no organist in the world quite so starry and honoured as Gillian Weir”, and John Allison in the Sunday Telegraph wrote, “The organ world will never be quite the same again”.

John Amis wrote, “Gillian Weir has been numbered rightly among the very greatest living artists, a supreme performer-musician”.

She continues her musical activities now as a master teacher, competition adjudicator, writer and recording artist, and tonight supports the work of the Tait Memorial Trust by appearing as harpsichordist in one of Bach’s finest keyboard concertos.

Gillian Weir and John Amis, London 1982

Musique Cordiale Musique Cordiale is an international classical music festival, which fosters participation, excellence and education. Over the last 9 years, Musique Cordiale, has become a respected and valued part of the musical life in the Var. During the last decade, a dedicated group of music lovers from all over Europe have worked to build the festival’s reputation for quality and accessibility. In 2010 it was recognized by one eminent music critic as one of the top ten classical music festivals in Europe.

Musique Cordiale is based in Seillans and takes place over two weeks in early August in several villages in Provence in the foothills of the Alps in southeastern France. Its audience and reputation has grown steadily. It now attracts professional and good amateur musicians from 10 European countries. Over two weeks they rehearse and give 20 concerts of Choral and Orchestral works, Opera and Jazz. It is an unusual collaboration of young and old, amateur and professional musicians from all over Europe. Since 2005 they have performed the Bach Mass in B minor, Mozart’s C minor Mass, the Mozart Requiem, Duruflé Requiem, Bach Magnificat, Haydn Te Deum, Haydn Nelson Mass, Handel Dixit Dominus, Faure Requiem, Purcell’s, Dido & Aeneas, Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro, Cosi fan Tutte; Puccini’s La Bohème and numerous a cappella works, including the Frank Martin Mass for double choir.

Musique Cordiale Sophie Mather ~ Violin Ed McCullagh ~ Violin Suzanne Bareau ~ Violin James Swainson ~ Viola Gemma Kost ~ Cello Lachlan Radford ~ Double Bass

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The Tait Memorial Trust Winter Prom 2013

The Tait Memorial Trust Proudly supporting young Australian performing artists in the UK Founded in 1992 Chairman

Isla Baring OAM

Founding Patrons

Dame Joan Sutherland AC OM DBE, Viola, Lady Tait AM, John McCallum AO CBE, Googie Withers AO CBE

Patrons

The Tait Memorial Trust Winter Prom 2013

The Tait Memorial Trust is pleased to be assisting these fine young Australian artists in 2013 Adam Szabo, cello, Royal Northern College of Music, Thornton Foundation Lauren Fagan, soprano, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Michael & Karen Whalley Xenia Deviatkina-Loh, violin, London Masterclasses & Royal Academy of Music, Thornton Foundation

Julian Gavin, Patricia Countess of Harewood, Peggy Haim, Barry Humphries AO CBE, Piers Lane AO, June Mendoza AO OBE, Ermes de Zan

Benjamin Mellefont, clarinet, Royal College of Music, Michael & Karen Whalley

Trustees

Greta Bradman, soprano, Wales International Academy of Voice, John Amis Award

Justin Baring, Isla Baring, Shirley Barr, Anne Longden, Susie Thornton

Committee

Lorraine Buckland, Kelly Dalglish, Jan Gowrie-Smith, Ros Higgins, Robyn Hollands, Kelly Lovelady, Wendy Kramer, Joanna McCallum, Gayle McDermott, Patricia Nimmo, John Pierce, John Rendall, Margaret Rodgers, Ann Seddon, Belinda Syme, Jacqueline Thompson, Rosemary Tuck, Rosemary Wood

Executive Director James Hancock

Registered charity 1042797

Tait Memorial Trust 4/80 Elm Park Gardens, London SW10 9PD

info@taitmemorialtrust.org

www.taitmemorialtrust.org

Kelly Lovelady, conductor, Ruthless Jabiru, Julian Baring Award Other awards, prizes and scholarships: Kevin Penkin, Royal College of Music, ‘Tait Scholar’, Tait Memorial Trust Morgan Pearse, baritone, Australian musician showing the most promise, Royal Over-Seas League Prize Marlena Devoe, Tait Award, Bel Canto Awards, Joan Sutherland & Richard Bonynge Foundation TBA, Southbank Sinfonia, Sir Charles Mackerras Chair Connor Barlow, ballet, English National Ballet School, Thornton Foundation Calvin Richardson, ballet, Royal Ballet School, Michael & Karen Whalley Sophie Moffatt, ballet, Royal Ballet School, Sinclair and Wendy Hill Award, Dance Arches Award

In 2013 the Trust created a new scholarship at the Royal College of Music, the recipient to be known as the ‘Tait Scholar’; the young Australian composer Kevin Penkin is the first Scholar. In addition to this, the Trust continues to support its numerous existing awards: the Sir Charles Mackerras Chair with the Southbank Sinfonia; grants to young Australian dancers with the Royal Ballet School, English National Ballet School; grants to singers with the Wales International Academy of Voice and a special award to a finalist in the Mietta Song Recital Award in Melbourne.

The Trust has helped many young singers, dancers and instrumentalists who have subsequently performed with British orchestras and in leading opera houses and ballet companies around the world, including Benjamin Bayl, Catherine Carby, Amy Dickson, Helena Dix, Grant Doyle, Tristan Dyer, Lauren Easton, Julian Gavin, Jayson Gillham, Alexandra Hutton, Liane Keegan, Miranda Keys, Li-Wei, Morgan Pearse, Duncan Rock, Siobhan Stagg, Derek Welton, Valda Wilson and Elena Xanthoudakis.

In Australia, The Tait Performing Arts Association (TPAA) was formed in November 2011, supporting the same ideals as the Trust. Please help the Trust in the UK, and the TPAA in Australia, so we can together spread our wings and help nurture our young talent to survive in this competitive world.

Sabina Im, piano, London Masterclasses, Anonymous donor

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John Amis Award For the last six years, The Tait Memorial Trust was privileged to have John Amis as a very active Patron. Our Chairman, Isla Baring OAM, wishes to create an Award in his name to be called the ‘John Amis Award’. We ask you to contribute generously to institute this award in 2014. We have created a JustGiving page at justgiving.com/john-amis or you can use the GiftAid envelopes provided. Any money donated via John’s page will go directly to fund this new award.

As well as taking an active interest in the careers of many Australian performers over the years, John talked, presented and performed for the Trust in London, and for the Tait Performing Arts Association in Australia:

For the Trust - all at 49 Queen’s Gate Terrace (Vernon Ellis Foundation): 17 April 2007 Babar and Friends Presented and narrated by John Amis 23 April 2008 Rush Hour Concert Series: John Amis meets Percy Grainger 14 October 2008 John Amis on Britten and Tippett 18 March 2009 A Life of Music: John Amis presents Prokofiev 21 October 2009 Man, Music and Ballets: John Amis on Tchaikovsky 6 October 2010 Spotlight on Richard Bonynge: Interview by John Amis to celebrate Bonynge’s 80th Birthday 7 April 2011 Spotlight on Stravinsky’s Life and Works 23 April 2012 Humphrey Burton interviews John Amis to celebrate John Amis’s 90th Birthday 24 April 2013 At the Drop of a Hat: John Amis on Flanders and Swann

For the Tait Performing Arts Association: 24 February 2010 A Life in Music with John Amis: Artists I have known - The Savage Club Melbourne 25 September 2011 Percy-vering with Percy: John Amis meets Percy Grainger - The Women’s Club Sydney 5 October 2011 Lust for Liszt - The Savage Club Melbourne 11 October 2011 Percy-vering with Percy: An Evening with John Amis - Baillieu Library, University of Melbourne 16 October 2012 Poulenc’s Babar The Elephant and Ferdinand The Bull - The Savage Club Melbourne 30 October 2012 John Amis introduces pianist Rosemary Tuck launching her new CD - The Savage Club Melbourne

The Tait Memorial Trust Winter Prom 2013

Acknowledgements John Amis for creating tonight’s concert

Sir Sydney & Lady Lipworth CBE

Dame Gillian Weir DBE for her support and donating her services tonight

Irene Samuel

Valda Wilson, Rosemary Forbes-Butler, Primavera Shima and Travis Baker for donating their services tonight

The Thornton Foundation

Joanna McCallum

Raffle

Pippa Pawlik & Musique Cordiale

The Baring Family

The Tait Trust Committee

The Sloane Club

Australia Day Foundation

Steve McCrae of the Royal Ballet

Treasury Wine Estates

Anonymous benefactor

Mrs Ann Seddon Michael and Karen Whalley

Claire Hammett for the loan of her beautiful harpsichord Jane Sutherland, Chef and her team The Rector and Staff at Holy Trinity Church, Sloane Square

The

Thornton Foundation

The partners of Minter Ellison, Australia’s

Sponsors Cubitt House

leading independent law firm, are proud to

Dance Arches Minter Ellison Royal Over-Seas League Royal Philharmonic Society

support the work of the Tait Memorial Trust,

Donations Mrs Kitty Adam The Baring Family

and wish you an enjoyable evening at the Winter Prom.

Shirley, Lady Beecham Thomas P Byrne Mrs S K Davy Jan Gowrie-Smith The Higgins family Mr and Mrs D Hunter Mr and Mrs Martin Kramer Piers Lane AO The Linbury Trust

ADELAIDE AUCKLAND BEIJING BRISBANE CANBERRA DARWIN GOLD COAST HONG KONG LONDON MELBOURNE PERTH SHANGHAI SYDNEY ULAANBAATAR WELLINGTON

Tait Memorial Trust Proudly supporting young Australian performing artists in the UK Founded in 1992

www.minterellison.com

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SYD13 0293 LN Advert - Tait Memorial Trust v2.indd 1

07/Nov/2013 05:03:40 pm

The Tait Memorial Trust Winter Prom 2013

The Tait Memorial Trust Winter Prom 2013

Raffle Items ‘La Fiougiere’ (Daughter of the Water) Provence, South France

‘The Nutcracker’ The Royal Ballet plus backstage tour

An utterly peaceful and idyllic property in Provence. A charming house with charming views set in gardens which sit in a river valley, with rivers, streams and waterfalls flowing into fresh-water basins. Sleeps maximum 6 and includes, Wi Fi, outdoor swimming pool, boules and cook available if necessary.

Two Grand Tier tickets to see the Royal Ballet performing The Nutcracker, Tschaikovsky, at the Royal Opera House for Friday 20th December 7.30pm show. Backstage tour included in the prize. This prize is courtesy of Australian dancer and Royal Ballet Principal, Steven McRae.

Activities in the area include wineries, cycling, kayaking, or strolling into the quaint French market village of Correns for the daily produce.

La Fiougiere is situated near the village of Correns, some 15 km north of the motorway (A8) which runs between Marseille Aix en Provence and Nice. La Fiougiere is an easy 90 minutes from Nice Airport and 75 minutes from Marseilles. Our Chairman, Isla Baring is offering her family home in the South of France for three nights/four days.

To be used before May 2014.

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A young girl’s enchanted present leads her on a wonderful adventure in this classic ballet, accompanied by Tchaikovsky’s glittering score.

Starring Steven McRae, as the Prince.

Watercolour painting of Dame Joan Sutherland

by Michael Stennett

‘The Sloane Club’ Lower Sloane Street – London

A beautiful painting of Dame Joan Sutherland in Meyerbeer’s, Les Huguenots 1981 Watercolour and Goauche. Signed Stennett 72’ x 52’. Former international costume designer for opera, Michael Stennett, regularly designed for Dame Joan, many of his creations are on display at opera houses around the world. From 1990, Michael Stennett began to decline work, finally deciding to end his career in the theatre in 1994. In recent years, Stennett has remained firmly at home in Suffolk arranging exhibitions and accepting various commissions. Stennett’s portrait paintings include a number of studies of Dame Joan Sutherland and members of her family. Several of these feature Dame Joan in her most celebrated roles. In 1993 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II commissioned a portrait drawing of Dame Joan for the Order of Merit Series at Windsor Castle. This prize was generously donated by an anonymous benefactor.

A two night weekend stay in a double or twin room, to be used by June 2014, at the Sloane Club, Lower Sloane Street. SW1W 8BS. The Sloane Club epitomises the best traditions of an English club. The furnishings and decor are elegant and the ambience is serene and most welcoming. The staff are knowledgeable, polite and extremely efficient. Located in one of the most desirable parts of London, within walking distance of the cities most exclusive shops and restaurants. All rooms have air conditioning, broadband/WiFi internet access, direct dial telephone, flat screen television and radio, tea/coffee making facilities, hair dryer, personal safe and trouser press. With thanks to Tony Murkett, Managing Director

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Coming Tait Events 2014 Tait Friends at Stoke Lodge A special reception for our Friends at the home of the Australian High Commissioner, Stoke Lodge.

Tuesday March 18 th at 6.30pm Quadrilles, The French homage to Richard Wagner introduced by Ross Alley with Leslie Howard and friends

49 Queen’s Gate Terrace, London Tuesday April 8th at 7 for 7.30pm

Tait Memorial Trust Proudly supporting young Australian performing artists in the UK Founded in 1992