claire's petit Cabaret presents BRIAN CASTLES-ONION

3 courses from our new a la carte menu and 2 live set $150 p/p

6 pm sharp

A mother's day show for the Mums who enjoy a night of sophisticated entertainment

Come along as Australia's most exciting opera conductor takes you on a journey through his amazing life in the crazy World of Opera.

Backstage stories and gossip abound as we glide through some important opera moments as well as the odd theatrical calamaty. This not your usual 'opera' concert ... and there won't be any "Nessun dorma" (unless you want to sing it yourself!) but with opera celebrities, Emma Castelli and Luke Gabbedy, we'll have a grand-old time.

Looking forward to seeing you at Claire's Cabaret May 11th.

BIOS

Brian Castles-Onion AM

Born in Cessnock, Brian Castles-Onion is Australia’s most exciting and best-known opera conductor. His career continues to expand internationally and has worked at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, the Julliard School of Music, the Rossini Festival in Italy. He held the position of Artistic Director of Canterbury Opera in New Zealand and currently continues his long run association with Opera Australia. He recently debuted with the Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra in Yerevan in concert with the brilliant soprano Hibla Gerzmava.

His conducting experience – well over six hundred opera performances alone – throughout Australia, Asia and New Zealand includes: La bohème, Tosca, Turandot, Gianni Schicchi, La traviata, Rigoletto, Aïda, La forza del destino, Carmen, Les pêcheurs de perles, Faust, Samson et Dalila, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Count Ory, Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, Die Zauberflöte, Lucio Silla, Rinaldo, Prima la musica, Lucia di Lammermoor, L’elisir d’amore, Norma, La sonnambula, Manon, Les contes d’Hoffmann, Lakmé, La vida breve, The Merry Widow, Die Fledermaus, A Little Night Music, To Hell & Back, The Telephone, Seven Deadly Sins, Mahagonny Songspiel, The Mikado, Iolanthe, The Pirates of Penzance, The Gondoliers, H.M.S. Pinafore, Trial by Jury and My Fair Lady. He has conducted nine seasons of Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour (La traviata– twice, Carmen– twice, Madama Butterfly – twice, Aïda, Turandot and La bohème). He was on the podium for Opera Australia’s 40th Anniversary Gala and 60th Anniversary Gala, The Robert Allman Farewell Gala and conducted the Dame Joan Sutherland State Memorial Service – which was broadcast internationally on television and radio.

His recital, concert and cabaret appearances have seen him as conductor and pianist for many international celebrity artists and his recordings are numerous – on various labels as conductor, pianist, musical arranger and recording producer. He produced ten volumes in the CD series on Désirée Records – “Great Australian Voices”.

Brian Castles-Onion became a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2017 Australia Day Honours List.

Emma Castelli

Soprano

Emma was born in Australia and completed a Diploma of Opera at the Sydney Conservatorium and a Bachelor of Music Double performance at Newcastle Conservatorium.

She is the winner of numerous competitions including The Helpmann Fellowship, The Horace Keats, The Federated Music Clubs of Australia, and The Lady Galleghan prize in Opera Foundation’s Covent Garden Award.

Her roles for Opera Australia include Pamina/Queen of the Night/First Lady/Papagena: The Magic Flute (Touring). Bridesmaid: The Marriage of Figaro, First Orphan: Der Rosenkavalier and Donna Anna: Don Giovanni (Touring).

Emma has been a full-time chorus member since 2007.

Her roles for other companies include Flaminia: Il Mondo della luna (Haydn), Proserpina: World première of Scarlatti’s Il ratto di Proserpina, and Mrs Gobineau: The Medium, First witch: Dido and Aeneas. Musicals include Cosette: Les Misérables, Liesel: The Sound of Music, and Narrator: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. She toured Australia in Hot Opera and On Broadway, and performed her own show on cruise ships. Concerts include Ribbons of Steel, John Rutter’s Feel the Spirit, Elijah.

Emma has a recording titled Think of Me.

Luke Gabbedy

Baritone

After studying at the West Australian Conservatorium of Music and Edith Cowan University, Luke Gabbedy became a member of the West Australian Opera Young Artist Program and the Australian Opera Studio, before joining Opera Australia.

Luke‘s many roles with OA now include Giorgio Germont (La Traviata), Gunther (Die Gőtterdämmerung), Hermann (Tales of Hoffmann), Ping (Turandot), Sharpless (Madama Butterfly), the title role in Don Giovanni, Escamillo and Dancairo (Carmen), Valentin (Faust, Green Room award), Marcello (La Boheme), Albert (Werther), Don Alvaro (Il Viaggio a Reims), Mathieu (Andrea Chenier),Kothner (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg), Cascada (The Merry Widow), Sacristan (Tosca), Jago (Ernani), Pantaloon (The Love for Three Oranges), Marullo (Rigoletto), New Year’s Eve Gala, Great Opera Hits and Opera in the Gardens.

He has also performed the title role in The Barber of Seville, Count Almaviva (The Marriage of Figaro), Marcello and Silvio (Pagliacci) for West Australian Opera and featured as Richard Nixon in The Nixon Tapes for Vivid Festival, Sydney.