Kettering Concerts

Kettering Concert 2023-03-05

Clarinet and Piano Duo
Andrew Seymour (Clarinet), Karen Smithies (Piano)

Clarinet Masterworks

REPLACING PROGRAMME ORIGINALLY PLANNED
Andrew and Karen will present a programme of works for clarinet and piano.

Programme:

Clarinet Sonata No 1 in F minor, Op 120 – Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Fantasiestücke, Op 73 – Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Sonata for Clarinet and Piano in B♭, FP184 – Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)

Sunday 5 March 2023, 3pm
Kettering Community Hall
Tickets available on-line or cash at the door
$15 on-line plus a smalll booking fee, or $15 cash at the door
Stay for the post-concert afternoon tea, meet and chat with the musicians.

Andrew Seymour

Principal Clarinet with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra (TSO) since 2012, Andrew Seymour studied with Robert Schubert at the Victorian College of the Arts. Between 2009 and 2011 he toured nationally as a member of the orchestra for OzOpera. Andrew was singled out by The West Australian review of OzOpera’s production of Verdi’s La Traviata, saying “his every note was meaningful.” In 2014 Andrew was featured in recital on ABC Classic FM’s Sunday Live program, his performance praised by Limelight Magazine as being “soaring and colourful” and by the Hobart Mercury as “an astonishing display of instrumental virtuosity.” Andrew has performed as guest principal Clarinet with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, West Australian, Melbourne, and Canberra Symphony Orchestras. In 2016 Andrew made his solo debut with the TSO performing the Copland Clarinet Concerto under the baton of Chief Conductor Marko Letonja. His performance was described by The Hobart Mercury as “sensitive and beautifully shaded” and “gloriously vibrant.” As well as performing the concertos of Mozart and Weber with the TSO, Andrew has featured regularly as soloist in the TSO ‘Live Sessions’ series where he has performed a diverse range of pieces from Klezmer and Jazz inspired works alongside new pieces by Tasmanian composers Jabra Latham and Stephen Cronin. As a chamber musician, Andrew has been featured in the Tasmanian Chamber Music Festival, performed with the Southern Cross Soloists and regularly performs with Virtuosi Tasmania. Since 2017 Andrew has been a staff member at the University of Tasmania, Conservatorium of Music, where he is Lecturer in Clarinet and Coordinator of Woodwind. Andrew is a Backun artist and performs on Backun Clarinets crafted in Cocobolo wood.

Karen Smithies

Karen Smithies moved to Tasmania from the Central Coast of NSW in 1998. She completed her Masters in Music Performance at the University of Tasmania in 2003, studying with Beryl Sedivka and David Bollard. Upon graduating from Sydney Conservatorium with a Bachelor of music in piano performance and accompaniment, Karen was awarded the “Mollie Neal” scholarship for excellence in Accompaniment. She has appeared as soloist and accompanist with regional orchestras and major vocal ensembles across the Central Coast and in Sydney.

Karen has made several national ABC and 3MBS FM broadcasts with artists such as cellist Christian Woijtowicz, violinists Marina Phillips and Romana Zieglerova, baritones Christopher Richardson and Michael Lampard and the TSO Brass and Friends.

Karen is currently lecturer in Accompaniment at the Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music and has lectured in piano studies at the University of Tasmania since 2000. In that time she has been busy as a repetiteur, and accompanist of undergraduates, postgraduates and visiting artists at the Conservatorium and throughout Tasmania. Karen regularly plays as orchestral and rehearsal pianist for the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and repetiteurs for the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra Chorus. Karen lives in on Hobart’s Eastern shore with her husband Matthew and four children.

Halina Donarska – Artist

Born in Poland in 1931, Halina Donarska, obtained a Masters degree in Poland, and worked for several years as a photographer, before migrating to Australia in 1966. She was employed in a large photographer's studio in Sydney before moving to Tasmania due to ill health.
In Hobart she discovered oil painting and finally realized her childhood dream to become an artist, using oil paints to interpret her view of the world. She joined art groups and residential schools in Tasmania and on the mainland where well-known artists such as Jan Senbergs, Frank Hodgskinson, Mirka Mora and Jeff Makin,as well as her friend Max Angus, taught her. Halina was one of the founding members of the Tasmanian Abstract and Contemporary Artists organization which formed in 1985. She had a joint exhibition with Patricia Gilles.
Her individual approach is characterized by vibrant colors whether she paints the landscape outdoors or an indoor still life; they show reflections of her early memories and traditions of her homeland Poland, and her love of the country side. Halina Donarska has had several solo and group exhibitions in Australia as well as a solo show in Canada.