Local soprano to star in Easter concert

THE Basilica of St Mary of the Angels will host a celebration of music and the spirit of Easter next month when the annual Windfire Easter concert returns to the hallowed Geelong venue.

This year’s concert will take place on April 13 between 5pm and 6.30pm, and feature the talented Windfire Choir and orchestra, led by well-known conductor Tom Healey.

Emerging musician and soprano Zinaida Campion will serve as soloist.

A Winchelsea local, Ms Campion comes from a family of classical music lovers and describes her own craft as heavily influenced by Marjorie Lawrence, a renowned soprano who found fame through the 1930s and 1940s.

She is currently studying with the Victorian State Opera and is a student of award-winning Geelong soprano Lee Abrahamsen.

Her performance at the Basilica next month follows a number of highly successful recitals across the region, of which two have helped to raise much-needed funds aiding restoration works at the Barwon Mansion and Queenscliff’s St George’s Anglican Church.

Music at the Basilica secretary Jane Bashiruddin encouraged the community to come along and experience some of the region’s finest classical musicians.

“The Windfire Choir and orchestra, conducted by Tom Healey, will present the beautiful Miserere Mei by Allegri, Mozart’s Ave Verum and Laudate Dominum, featuring up-and-coming soprano Zinaida Campion, as well as works by Rheinberger and Stephanie Martin,” she said.

“Come and enjoy these stunning choral works and more in the ambience of our beautiful Basilica.”

In the lead up to the concert, a series of free recitals will also be held at the Basilica on Sunday afternoons between 5pm to 5.30pm.

These concerts will feature organist Frank De Rosso and a rotating cast of acclaimed local musicians, including clarinettist Vicki Hallett, flutist Brighid Mantelli and oboist Salvador Blasco, who performed on March 16.

On March 23, vocalists Emily Swanson, Helen Seymour, Alex McAuley and Tom Healey will perform choral arrangements of music by Bach, Telemann, Bohm and Langlais, before Ms Campion graces the stage on March 30.

The final recital in the series will then be held on April 6, with cellist Miranda Brockman set to perform.

Bookings are not required, and all are welcome, with attendees also invited to join the artists for refreshments after each recital.

For more information, head to musicatthebasilica.org.au, or to purchase tickets to the Windfire Easter concert, head to trybooking.com/CYIWR