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The Pianist and the Diva features the stunning young pianist Stefan Cassomenos and golden-voiced soprano Tania de Jong. The show blends virtuosic playing and singing of some of the greatest music of all time with theatricality, humour, brilliant parodies, improvisation, interaction and ultimate classical brilliance. It is a show designed for dinner, cabaret or theatre settings, and the characters continually try to outdo one another and humorously argue about which of their roles is the more significant. The repertoire ranges from Handel, Bach, Lehar, Strauss, Chopin, Rachmaninov, Debussy, Bizet and Mozart to Puccini, Piaf, Gershwin and Dvorak. This is a brand new show created by Music Theatre Australia.
Stefan Cassomenos - Pianist
Stefan Cassomenos is a virtuosic pianist, composer and performer and is considered one of Australia's most talented young artists. Stefan studies at the Australian National Academy of Music and is sponsored by Kawai Australia and Music Theatre Australia. In 2004 the University of Melbourne awarded Stefan the T Allan McKay Piano Scholarship and a Faculty of Music Lunch Hour Series solo recital, and in 2005 awarded him the Ormond Exhibition, and the Florence Menk Meyer Prize. Also in 2005, he was a semi-finalist in the Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition Australia. In 2006, he was a finalist in the Australian National Piano Award, won the major prizes at both the Dandenong Festival and the Wollongong Eisteddfod, and was awarded the Ida Doubleday Bequest Recital, by the Music Lovers Society. He has performed concertos with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria, the Melbourne University Symphony Orchestra, and the Chamber Strings of Melbourne. Internationally, he has appeared as a soloist in St Petersburg, Tallinn, Warsaw, Krakow, Athens, Rome, Milan, Amsterdam, London, Bangkok, and Tokyo. His compositions (written when he was 14 years old!) have been performed by the Symphony Orchestras of Melbourne and Adelaide. He has been broadcast performing with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra on ABC Classic FM, and was recently asked to do a live solo recital broadcast on 3MBS FM. In 2008, Stefan travelled on scholarship to the British School at Rome and was the only Australian pianist invited to take part in the Oxford Music Summer Festival. Other upcoming engagements include a 2008 recital for the British Music Society, performances as a member of The Yarra Trio and with Tania de Jong in the new production, "The Pianist and The Diva". Stefan's playing is something else: alive, passionate, dramatic playing that was also as near technically perfect as dammit. We in the audience were soon bonded, stirred and shaken. This was a prodigious London debut by a formidable talent!
John Amis, Musical Opinion
Tania de Jong - Diva
Tania de Jong performs a unique combination of opera, operetta, Broadway and song to enchant and entertain. Tania de Jong is the inspiration, co-founder and artistic director of Pot-Pourri and of Music Theatre Australia (MTA) one stop entertainment consultancy and event production company. A graduate of the University of Melbourne (LL.B. Hons.), and the Victorian College of the Arts (Opera, Music Theatre and Voice), Tania is considered one of Australia’s most talented sopranos. She has performed with the Victoria State Opera and as a soloist with a number of orchestras. In 2006 Tania received the Ernst and Young Australian Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award for her work with The Song Room. The Song Room, a charity founded by Tania, has brought music and performing arts programs to over 140,000 disadvantaged children and communities throughout Australia. Tania’s other awards include the “Outstanding Individual Contribution to Australian Culture”, Churchill Fellowship and the Accessibility Award in The Melbourne Awards. She was a finalist in the Telstra Business Women’s Awards and has recently been inducted into the AGSE Entrepreneurs Hall of Fame. Tania is on the Board of Child Abuse Research Australia. She was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in June 2008 for service to the arts as a performer and entrepreneur and through the establishment and development of music and arts enrichment programs for schools and communities.(Trivia: She attended college in the USA on a tennis scholarship.) Very talented soprano with clear, golden tones and outstanding dramatic flair…Moved me to tears.
The Press, Christchurch Thank you for your magnificent performance for our major Jewish Museum of Australia event. As you know, this event was for our most important donors and The Pianist and the Diva turned out to be the perfect performance to entertain them. Both Stefan and you looked sensational on stage and your performance was outstanding. The combination of beautiful singing, diversity of repertoire, virtuosic playing and improvisation and interaction with our VIP guests worked like magic. We have received very positive feedback from our guests who have mentioned it was the highlight of their night. We look forward to working with you again soon.
Jewish Museum of Australia |
