Reviews

Now, that’s how to fill a Concert Hall! Wow! Songs of Hope & Healing was a benefit concert for the charity, HEAL, which supports young people from refugee backgrounds, and the talent showcased was astounding. After a warm welcome to country by Gaja Kerry Charlton, the opening number set the tone for the 90-minute show to follow with the beautiful Bill Withers song, ‘Lovely Day’ sung by the QPAC Chamber Choir, with Tina Liu accompanying, led by Choir Master Timothy Sherlock. What a treat to hear that piece sung by more than 20 voices.

Shows of such high calibre don’t happen by chance. The creative team and volunteers at CentreStage Geelong have gone above and beyond (the barricades) to bring Les Misérables to regional theatre starved audiences. During Covid, CentreStage’s previous production, West Side Story, had to be shutdown with enormous repercussions financially and otherwise.

Some of the best anti-war stories are those with the horrors just out of sight but foreshadowing what is to come. That’s the strength of The Sound of Music, written by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, based on Maria von Trapp’s memoir of her family’s pre-war escape from their beloved Austria to Switzerland to escape the Nazis. The story lures you in with the singing children, spirited Maria and enigmatic Captain Von Trapp, and then the clouds of war loom.

Concert-goers were treated last night to a unique blend of musical styles with Baroque composer Vivaldi's classic example of one of the earliest forms of 'program' music (music designed to evoke an image) being coupled with a selection of Argentinian composer Piazzolla's avant garde tangos, arranged for solo violin and string orchestra by Ukranian-born Leonid Desyatnikov.