Just before the commencement of his recent Melbourne tour I had the opportunity to film an exclusive interview with world renowned Cellist, Columbian born Santiago Cañón Valenciaat the Tolarno Hotelin St Kilda.The next day I saw him perform at the Melbourne Recital Centre.
Under any circumstances this young man is a standout. At 19 years old he is already a veteran of the world stage, playing with some of the best Symphony Orchestras from across the globe from the age of 6!.
With an impressive array of accolades Santiago is a well polished, disciplined musician who was born into a gifted musical family all of whom play classical and his teachers were carefully chosen. But does anyone really know the source of this kind of musical presence?
I’ve seen many of the worlds best performers do their thing. Santiago is something else altogether.
He plays the Cello as a Maestro. When he is playing, one’s eyes are firmly fixed on him and his ring clad fingers. His playing is ethereal, hypnotic and transportive. His physical appearance conjures gothic images of past worlds. If I had to draw on a contemporary romantic parallel to describe Santiago’s appearance in the flesh, who springs to mind are the beloved characters from Ann Rice’s sizzling novel Interview with a Vampire. But of course, that is only fantasy and Santiago is very human, very gracious, and a very talented young virtuoso.
Lady Marigold Southey, champion of the arts in association with Skyhigh Promotionsdelivered Santiago to our shores to give us a taste of what is to come from this unique and enigmatic musician.
My lasting impression is Santiago Cañón Valencia is classical music’s equivalent to a Rock God.
The release of our forthcoming filmed interview with Santiago Canon Valencia by gifted Melbourne pianist 15 year old Spencer Harris titled ‘The Man Behind the Cello’ is coming soon so stay posted…
Lady Southey, AC is proudly launching her signature series of concerts with the incredible Santiago Cañón Valencia. Having been hailed by critics as “a phenomenon” and “without doubt already one of the finest cellists on the world stage today”, the young virtuoso cellist Santiago, has established himself as one of the most exciting, emerging musical talents.
Santiago Cañón Valencia (born May 9, 1995 in Bogotá, Cundinamarca) is a Colombian cellist. He comes from a family of musicians (his father is a clarinetist of the Bogotá Philharmonic Orchestra and his sister is a violinist). His mother started teaching him cello when he was 4 years old. When he was still 6 years old, in 2002, he gave his first concert with the Bogotá Philharmonic Orchestra. He has played with the world’s best ever since.
Santiago is returning to Australia for some concert performances, to kick start this wonderful program. Marigold’s philosophy has always taken pride in nurturing talent and promoting the art of performance. Skyhigh Promotions has developed this new platform, which is named after Marigold Southey, for her continued commitment to the arts in general and young people specifically; in an effort to reach out to artists at an early point in their burgeoning careers. Artists will include young, up & coming opera singers, musicians and chamber ensembles amongst others.
Santiago will be performing alongside the Strings of the newly formedMelbourne Sinfonietta, led by Roger Jonsson, the outstanding Concertmaster who co-led the Melbourne Ring Orchestra in 2013. Roger Jonsson has held regular positions in nearly all of Sweden’s leading orchestras, including the Swedish Radio Symphony, the Baroque Orchestra, Stockholm’s New Chamber Orchestra and the Stockholm Sinfonietta. Roger has performed in many tours throughout Sweden and Europe. Roger is currently OV’s Concertmaster.
Santiago has performed concertos with orchestras in Colombia, Australia, New Zealand, China, South Africa, United States, Canada and Hungary. Recently, he was invited to perform Haydn in C Major Cello Concerto with the Moscow Soloists andYuri Bashmet as conductor, in Bogota, Colombia. He has also been a guest artist several times at the Cartagena International Music festival and in 2015, he will play with the Mahler Chamber Soloists at the same festival.
“Santiago possesses a musical maturity that is way beyond his years. His technical precision is quite staggering and he is without doubt already one of the finest cellists on the world stage today.” Adam Chalabi, Melbourne, October 2012, Elgar Cello Concerto with the Orchestra Victoria
“Playing the Shostakovich First Concerto, Valencia proved to be a phenomenon.”
William Dart, New Zealand Herald, March 2011
‘TO WIN’ a double ticket giveaway to see Santiago Canon perform at The Salon – Melbourne Recital Centre on the 7 April 2015 be the first to ring Kerrie on 0423 308 005 and tell me Santiago’s current age.
It’s a feeding frenzy for fans of The Walking Dead aswe reveal the katana-wielding heroine, Danai ‘Michonne’ Gurira, will be joining the Supa-Star lineup for next month’s Melbourne (11 &12 April) and Gold Coast (18 & 19 April) events.
Zimbabwean-American actress, Danai Gurira, is best known as Michonne on the television series The Walking Dead. An award-winning playwright, Danai has written for stage and screen. Prior to TWD Danai starred in film The Visitor, and played a recurring part on the Cyclone Katrina drama, Treme. Danai joined the cast of The Walking Dead in its third season in 2012 as one of the main supporting characters in the storyline.
Christopher Lloyd: ‘Doc’ Brown, Back to the Future
Celebrities include:
Christopher Lloyd: ‘Doc’ Brown, Back to the Future
Dolph Lundgren:Ivan Drago, Rocky IV
Tyler Hoechlin: Derek Hale, Teen Wolf
Ryan Hurst: Opie Winston, Sons of Anarchy, Gerry Bertier, Remember the Titans
James Cosmo: Jeor Mormont, Game of Thrones, Angus MacLeod, Highlander
Robin Lord Taylor: The Penguin, Gotham
Willa Holland: Thea Queen, Arrow, Kaitlin Cooper, The O.C.
Manu Bennett: Deathstroke,Arrow, Azog,The Hobbit
Jason David Frank: original Green/White Ranger, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
George Takei: the original Hikaru Sulu, Star Trek
Nichelle Nichols: the original Nyota Uhura, Star Trek
Walter Koenig: the original Pavel Chekov, Star Trek
James Marsters: Spike, Buffy the VampireSlayer, Angel
Charisma Carpenter: Cordelia, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel
Georgina Haig: Elsa, Once Upon a Time
Sean Maguire: Robin Hood,Once Upon a Time, Leonidas,Meet the Spartans
Rachel Skarsten: Tamsin, Lost Girl, Black Canary, Birds of Prey
Martin Klebba: Marty, The Pirates of the Caribbean, Randall, Scrubs
Kevin McNally: Gibbs, The Pirates of the Caribbean, Hugo Lang, Doctor Who
Jessica DiCicco: Flame Princess, Adventure Time
Todd Haberkorn: voice actor from Soul Eater, FullmetalAlchemist: Brotherhood
Robbie Daymond: voice actor fromSailor Moon, Breadwinners
Kirby Krackle: geek rock band from Seattle, USA
Tony Moore: artist – The Walking Dead, Fear Agent
Arthur Suydam: artist – Marvel Zombies, Deadpool, Army of Darkness
Peter F. Hamilton: author – Greg Mandelseries,Night’s Dawntrilogy
John Scalzi:author – Old Man’s War series, Lock In
Dolph Lundgren: Ivan Drago, Rock IV
Also joining the event is Richard Epcar, whowas voted one of the Top 20 Video Game Voice Actors of all time by IMDb, having voiced over 400 characters in games, animation and anime. Best known as the voice of Batou in Ghost in the Shell, and The Joker in several Batman-themed games, including Injustice: Gods Among Us. Some of Richard’s other notable voice credits include characters from Robotech, Digimon and Bleach.
Classically trained actress Ellyn Stern has worked as a voiceover artist, director and writer, with a career spanning across film, television and stage. Ellyn’s debut into anime voice acting was during the ‘80s on the original sci-fi series, Robotech, in which she voiced a number of characters. Ellyn’s other voice credits include Miyuki Gotou in Noein. and Haraway in Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence.
Greg Van Borssum is an Australian fight designer and weapons consultant for feature films. An accomplished athlete and martial artist, Greg recently worked as the fight choreographer for the highly anticipated Mad Max: Fury Road. He has also worked as an assistant director on the animated films, Happy Feet and Happy Feet Two.
Brisbane-based journalist-turned-author, Paula Weston will join Supanova’s Gold Coast event. Paula is the master behind The Rephaim series, containing three books: Shadows, Haze and Shimmer. The fourth and concluding book in the series, Burn, will be released this coming June.
Supa-Stars Alexander Vlahos and Steve Worland have been called away to work on some new and very exciting projects, which unfortunately means they will be unable to attend Supanova in April as planned. Both guests send their apologies to fans in Melbourne and The Gold Coast.
To see the full lineup of talented guests from the realms of film, television, anime, comics and fantasy/sci-fi writing visit ourSupa-Star Guest page.
A great treat for kids, all are invited to enjoy the day’s entertainment including magic shows, face painters, balloonist, baby animal farm, photo booth and live musical performances.
There will be a 3 course meal including drinks and a night jammed packed with information and entertainment.
Hosted by comedien John Barresi the night’s entertainment will include a star studded lineup with singer / songwriter Lucy Gale and her eight piece big band Galeforce along with special guest artists’ , musical director / composer Dominic Ross and Melbourne opera singer Brett Kaye.
This special event offers you an up close and personal view of the Magical Getaway Foundation providing extensive information about what is being done and what can be done to implement positive change.
‘It’s about kids, kindness, love, opportunity and hope’
It is a sobering awakening to discover that current statistics, as published duringAnti-Poverty Week 2014,show that 1 in 7 Australians and I in 6 children are living in poverty.
As a resident of Melbourne’s south eastern suburbs I simply do not see this reality on a day to day basis…
I discovered these facts during an interview with Rosemary Teedwho is currently a Student Wellbeing Coordinatorand a specialist in issues related to poverty and its ripple effect.
Throughout her vocation of over twenty years
working with children, Rosemary felt that she was putting proverbial bandaids on poverty stricken kids until she ‘bit the bullet’ and went about formalising her vision in the Magical Getaway Foundation.
It is important that there are experienced and dedicated people like Rosemary Teed working on the front lines who continue to rise up and manifest practical solutions to what are often spiritual maladies within our communities.
This non-for-profit organisation is about providing financially disadvantaged children and their caregivers the chance of experiencing a family holiday for the very first time in their lives.
The ultimate goal is to plant life changing ‘seeds of hope’ through positive experiences.
It’s about kids, kindness, love, opportunity and hope; the fibre of any healthy society.
First established in 2013, theMagical Getaway Foundationis hosting these two very special events on the 24 May 2015 to further illuminate their call to action and encourage sponsorship from corporate organisations, trusts, private donations and government agencies from within our community.
To find out more about this relatively new non-for-profit organisation and Sponsorship opportunities please go to www.magicalgetawayfoundation.org
For bookings to the Give Back & Get Away Gala event on 24 May 2015 at the Park Hyatt, Melbourne please call +61 419 372 629 or email info@magicalgetawayfoundation.org.
The audience was full of Melbourne’s theatre and show biz elite and the atmosphere was one of anticipation.
This is such a heartfelt and polished production that from start to finish the audience seemed spellbound by the rhythm of the live band and grace of the dancers. The absolute cleverness of the the staging and lighting also created ripples of awe in support of the pace and pitch of the story line.
Not sure about other audience members but I was emotionally charged and very aware of the legacy left byPatrick Swayce and I had it in my mind that he would have been proud of this 2015 rendition of Dirty Dancing.
Even though I was totally absorbed throughout the musical, a couple of stand out moments were heralded by the deliciously delightful and heart stopping vocals and stage presence of Mark Vincent.
Mark, in his musical theatre debut seemed to hit the night’s crescendo with his solo performance ofIn the Still of the Night which wasonly to be topped by his later rendition ofThe Time of My Life accompanied by the extra ordinary vocals of Anna Freeland. This of course ended the show with a much deserved, tear in my eye and a standing ovation.
I’ve been told by insiders that John Frost known as one of the best, builds a solid foundation to support his productions and that sense of solidarity was felt in that theatre on and off stage.
I was at the Yarra Hotellast Saturday night for special acoustic and electric guitar performances by outstanding legendary Aussie singer / songwriter’sFrank Yamma andEl Witerifront man forThe Red Eyes.
On entering the pub the first people we saw were Frank exuding an unassuming presence yet looking magnificent in his flaming red shirt and black vest and reggae man El, switched on and ready to rock the first set, delivering a beautifully sung upbeat performance on love and life.
Once on stage Frank morphed from unassuming to the embodiment of land and culture.
Totally compelling, crystal clear songs both in his native tongue ofPitjantjatjaraand English, rich in imagery, emotion and spirit. Powerful acoustic, hand made guitar playing, that at times, to my ears, conjured, didjeridoo and a choir of voices.
Perceived as a World Musicperformer the world cannot get enough of Frank Yamma who was off to Japan the next day followed by a tour of Europe, USA and Canada.
Needless to say I purchased Frank Yamma’s CD Uncle.
