Music
Press
STAR soprano Trisha Crowe will help bring the bright lights of New York to Hobart when The TSO Goes to Broadway tonight.
Crowe and Sydney singer Michael Falzon are guest soloists for the latest Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra show, which will feature much-loved hits from popular Broadway musicals including The Phantom of the Opera, The Sound of Music, South Pacific, Miss Saigon and more.
Crowe has performed around the world, including shows in London, Beijing and Shanghai.
She first appeared with the TSO in 2006 and wowed audiences last summer at the TSO's Symphony Under the Stars concerts in Glenorchy and Launceston.
"The TSO Goes to Broadway is for musical lovers of all ages," she said.
"I'll be singing I Could Have Danced All Night from My Fair Lady and I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables and, with Michael, the classic love duets Tonight from West Side Story and All I Ask of You from The Phantom of the Opera.
The TSO Goes to Broadway concerts will be held at Wrest Point today at 8pm and at Launceston's Albert Hall on Saturday at 7.30pm. Tickets to the Hobart show are $73-$83 from tso.com.au
kane.young@news.com.au - The Mercury
What made you want to become a singer?
I've always known I would be a performer! From the age of four, I took dancing and acting lessons, often appearing in concerts and plays. After seeing the magical London production of Phantom of the Opera, I started singing lessons with opera star, Rita Hunter CBE and her husband John Thomas. They nurtured a real love and passion for communicating through music and song. From then on I seriously pursued classical singing.
Is it tough trying to make it in musical theatre?
That depends on what “make it” means to each performer. For some, it’s “I’ll make it when I perform this particular character” or “when I’m the star”; while for others it may be just to land a job in music theatre. I think hard work and a love for what you do usually gets results in the end.
You haven’t made any recordings yet. If you could choose any music for your first solo album, what would it be?
My first album would include songs in the classical crossover style with new orchestrations reflecting the vastness of the Australian landscape and feature indigenous music. (I am currently in discussions for a recording – so fingers crossed!)
You spent time working in London. How do you compare the scene over there to the one here?
The scene in London is vibrant and there is a lot of work available. The performers are passionate about their craft and proud of their theatrical and musical traditions. The scene in Australia is smaller but no less vibrant.
What’s your proudest professional moment to date?
Stepping onto the stage at the Sydney Opera House for the first time and singing with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in Showstoppers in 2006 was an incredible experience. Equally though, I feel proud to be working with the SSO and MBF’s Music For Health program which shares music with the elderly, children suffering illness and the mentally and physically disabled. I always feel incredibly privileged to work with people who create such wonderful opportunities to contribute to other people’s lives.
What’s the best thing about your job?
The best thing about my work is trying to create special moments for audiences in songs and shows. Moments filled with emotion, which uplift or tell stories about people in new ways.
The worst?
Balancing finances!
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
In music: Practise, practise, practise! Love your audience. In life: Be passionate and love every moment of your life and the people around you.
Do you have a musical guru or hero?
There are so many. I listen to various singers and composers who inspire me. When new music is released or a new artist is recorded, I am creatively inspired all over again by the new sound. Obviously this is a symptom of our crazy and technologically driven world – too much choice!
What are your other projects for the future – recordings, recitals etc?
I am performing in some concerts coming up shortly in India. Then in October I’m thrilled to be singing with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the Opera House. I’m also trying to begin recording – so it should be an exciting next few months!
Trisha Crowe performs in the Best of Broadway at the Sydney Opera House on Oct 28&30.
http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/Magazine/Default.aspx?issue=699 - Limelight Magazine
Excerpt:
Trisha Crowe's vocal on Love Never Dies is simply beautiful, as it is in The Phantom Of The Opera, which alongside Michael Cormick, provides the most popular and captivating song of the night. Later, in Pie Jesu, her bell-like clarity is again superb. - New Zealand Performing Arts Review
“I REALLY love doing concerts with the beautiful CSO,” though “it can be pretty scary with a whole lot of players behind you,” says the glamorous soprano Trisha Crowe.
Classically-trained, with a vocal range reminiscent of Sarah Brightman, Crowe will star in a slap-up gala in Llewellyn Hall, where she’ll perform numbers by George and Ira Gershwin, with the CSO and pianist Piers Lane.
Although Crowe has performed in shows such as “Oliver” and “Eureka!”, she believes that “as a concert artist, you get to explore different music”, praising the “classical basis with lots of jazz” that forms the basis of the gala.
She says that singing with CSO is sheer pleasure and Gershwin is “a new area of music” for her, so she’s been slaving for six months to learn the relatively unfamiliar songs.
Speaking by phone from Singapore where she’d entertained guests at the birthday party of a local shipping tycoon, Crowe says she’s impressed that the CSO’s director Nicholas Milton has revamped the orchestra for the night by adding a “big band” style sax section.
She’s counting off on her song list… “Summertime”, “The Man I Love”, “A Foggy Day “, “I Got Rhythm”, “‘S Wonderful” and a delicious version of “Someone to Watch Over Me” in French.
The last time we’d spoken, she’d just sung a staggering 12 songs for CSO’s 2011 “Symphony in the Park” and was about to open in the “The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber” at Melbourne’s Regent Theatre.
She volunteers some unprompted opinions about the ANU School of Music crisis. “I signed the petition,” she tells me, “Canberra’s music school has had such a reputation.” - City News
Discography
I Dreamed A Dream - Hits from Broadway - With the Tasmanian Symphony and Guy Noble (ABC Classics)
http://bit.ly/15lLXE3
Photos
Bio
Classical pop soprano, Trisha Crowe, blends the technique and tone of classical music with the songs and performance skills of a modern pop diva. She literally sparkles on stage (Canberra Times, 2012) and knows how to connect with her audience. (Guy Noble, conductor) Trisha creates special moments for audiences. Moments filled with emotion, which uplift or tell stories about relationships in new ways. (ABC Limelight Magazine)
From the age of four, Trisha took dancing and acting lessons appearing in many concerts and plays. After seeing the magical London production of Phantom of the Opera, she started singing lessons with opera star Rita Hunter CBE and her husband John Thomas. Trisha relates, They nurtured a real love and passion for communicating through music and song. From then on I seriously pursued classical singing. (ABC Limelight Magazine) She completed a Bachelor of Music (Hons), studying Voice with Rita Hunter and a Bachelor of Arts (Performance).
Trishas singing has led to many travels throughout the world from her first professional engagement, Masterpiece - The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber (For the President of China in the Great Hall of the People, Beijing, and Shanghai); to Regents Park London, acting in Shakespeares Cymbeline, Twelfth Night and the musical HMS Pinafore. In Australia she performed in Oliver! (Cameron Mackintosh, Australia & Asia); as Bridie OMalley - Eureka! (Essgee); Yvonne/Naomi Eisen - Sunday in the Park with George (Q Theatre); Kathy - Company (Kookaburra); in The Noel Coward Letters; and as Nellie Collins Floyd Collins (Meredith Shaw Pty Ltd).
She toured a second time with The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber in Australia, New Zealand and Asia where it was reported in the crescendo, (of Phantom of the Opera) Crowe produces a note so high and compelling it seems that the ornate fixtures of the Regent should have cracked against its force. (Melbourne Liveguide)
Perhaps the most satisfying times in her career have been when singing with orchestras throughout Australia. It was conductor Guy Noble, who first asked her to step onto the Opera House Concert Hall stage and sing with the Sydney Symphony. When you sing with a large number of extraordinary musicians in the orchestra, Trisha says, your whole body vibrates with the sheer volume of sound.
Trisha has sung with the Sydney Symphony on a number of occasions including, Showstoppers (2006); Songs From The Movies (2008) and Best Of Broadway (2010) where her performance was described as nothing short of jaw-dropping. (Daily Telegraph) She has continued to build her concert repertoire with the Adelaide, Canberra and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras. She has recorded with ABC Classics and the Tasmanian Symphony - I Dreamed A Dream: The Hit Songs of Broadway.
Equally important in her life, is her involvement in charity work and music therapy programs including Light The Night (Leukemia Foundation); Hats Off (Equity Fights AIDS); Day Of Difference (Sophie Delezio Foundation); Youth Insearch; Red Cross Charity Ball and together with the Sydney Symphony and MBF, she performed for The Childrens Hospital, Westmead and at the Powerhouse Museum for the mentally and physically disabled. The Olivia Newton-John and Friends Charity Gala (ONJ Cancer and Wellness Centre Appeal) was a special moment for her when Olivia Newton-John joined the audience and gave her a standing ovation.
Links
