In Conversation

Amy Campbell is one of Australia’s most accomplished dance talents, with a career spanning all areas of the entertainment industry. Her  choreographic credits include 'Once', which is returning to the Darlinghurst Theatre from 3 June, 'In The Heights', 'Violet', 'Hair', 'An Act Of God', 'Spring Awakening', 'Oklahoma', and 'Carmen'. 

Later in the year, her new production of 'A Chorus Line' is back after being suspended on the day of the premiere last year due to Covid lockdowns. She is also the Resident Director of Sydney’s production of Hamilton, the only production of this ground breaking show currently playing anywhere in the world.

Noel Cislowski has a long and rich career as a teacher, lecturer, actor, producer, conductor and director. He has performed lead roles in musical  comedy, and has appeared as narrator/singer in works such as Peter And The Wolf and Tubby the Tuba with the Sydney Symphony and Willoughby  Symphony Orchestras. His passion for education is perhaps best expressed by the fact he is Chair of the Sydney Eisteddfod, one of the largest and most successful competitive performing arts festivals of its type in the world. In 2016, he became a Member of the Order of Australia for his services to the performing arts and community organisations.

Violinist Belinda McFarlane is a stalwart with the London Symphony Orchestra. She’s come back to Australia to play with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, and in June will be appearing with the Australian World Orchestra. 

She spoke to Simon with great passion about her role with the LSO’s Discover Team, which includes outreach into disadvantaged communities, helping to ensure that everyone can share in the joy of music.

(Originally aired in April 2021)

Van-Anh Nguyen is a passionate and versatile pianist, producer, composer – and fashionista! She’s performed around the world and released 8 albums, topped the classical iTunes chart in both the US and Australia, and spends most of her time between her home town of Sydney and her adopted second home of Los Angeles. Van-Anh chatted to Simon ahead of her Australia-wide tour.

Richard Carroll is a Sydney based director, writer and producer. 

One of the co-founders of the Hayes Theatre, his 2017 production of Calamity Jane  won him a Sydney Theatre Award for Best Production of an Independent Musical, and a nomination as Best Director. 

His directing and producing credits also include Monty Python’s Spamalot, Oklahoma!, Gypsy, Sweet Charity, Mame, and Meet Me in St Louis. In 2019, his season of Once at the Darlinghurst Theatre Company was a sold out success, and is now making a return to Darlinghurst’s Eternity Playhouse from the 8th of June before embarking on a national tour. 

Derek Parker has been a presenter at Fine Music Sydney for over 15 years, but his career in radio is far longer than that. He’s been a figure in broadcasting on radio and television for a staggering 70 years, but as if that’s not enough he’s also written over 50 books - covering topics as diverse as the golden years of radio and erotic fiction. But sadly for us here at Fine Music Sydney, he and his wife Julia have decided to return to their native Britain. He will much missed, both on air and off.

UPDATE: This end of this episode has been updated following Derek's passing in January 2025.

Francesco Ventriglia is a dancer, choreographer and artistic director. Making his premiere at La Scala, he’s performed with the Bolshoi Theatre, the  Mariinsky Ballet, Grand Theatre du Geneve, the Venice Biennale. He became Europe’s youngest artistic director in 2010 when he was appointed by the Florence Opera House, and was the artistic director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet during the middle of the last decade.

He’s now in Sydney as the co-founder and artistic director of the Sydney Choreographic Centre, which was launched in March, and has its premier performance this month at the Parramatta Riverside Theatres.

Geoffrey Chard AM is a doyen of the opera world. He was part of the inaugural production of the Australian Elizabethan Trust Opera Company – the forerunner to Opera Australia – back in 1956. He never looked back, performing regularly with the Royal Opera Company at Covent Garden, the English National Opera as well as Opera Australia. In 1988 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for services to opera, and late last year celebrated his 90th birthday. 

In this episode, Geoffrey regales us with tales of his long and rich career.

Madeleine Easton is a violinist internationally recognised for her versatility and expertise. 

She’s appeared as a soloist, concertmaster and director of some of the world’s most respected ensembles and orchestras. Her mentor John Eliot Gardiner described her as having “fire in her belly and a spirit of enterprise” – which probably helps to explain why she is now the founder and artistic director of one of Australia’s newest orchestras, Bach Akademie Australia.

Brian Castles-Onion is one of Australia’s most exciting and well-known opera conductors. His career expands internationally, having worked at New York’s Metropolitan Opera and the Julliard School of Music. His love of opera began when he was just 4 years old, at which point his weekly  accumulation of new LPs began, creating what is now one of the largest private collections of vocal recordings in the world. 

He’s worked with Sumi Jo, Kiri Te Kanawa, Placido Domingo, and in March and April 2021 he’s conducting La Traviata’s triumphant return to Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour.