Singers in full voice

By Sonia Isaacs

MALENY Singers will be marking their 20-year anniversary with a very special musical production of the glorious shortopera Cavelleria Rusticana, set to ignite the stage at the Maleny Community Centre in June.

In a bid to boost the power and wow factor of this classic verismo opera by Pietro Mascagni, for the first time ever, Maleny Singers with be joining voices with the Inspiration Project Choir to deliver an acoustically powerful rendition of this dramatic tale of betrayal and revenge. This unique collaboration heralds an exciting evolution for the Maleny Singers, and draws upon the considerable talent and musical expertise of Margaret Taylor and Kim Kirkman; both extraordinary and accomplished artists in their own right.

Speaking with GC&M News, both Margaret and Kim expressed their delight in being involved in such an exhilarating local project.

Margaret said even though she had known Kim for a long time, they had not previously collaborated on a project like this before.

She said she was keen to do something different and, although she had previously conducted performances, she felt the production would benefit greatly from having a conductor with orchestral experience on board, given the complexity of the piece.

“My area of expertise is as an opera singer, so I felt this more ambitious piece required someone of Kim’s calibre to conduct the orchestra and singers; and happily he leapt at the opportunity,” Margaret said.

Kim said as an orchestral conductor and choir leader, he was pleased to be able to lend his expertise to the production and said it was wonderful to be working with Margaret, as well as lead soloist Vanessa West, who both bring their professional opera singing backgrounds to enhance the already high quality of the production.

Kim said he thought audience members will relish the opportunity to hear Pietro Macagni’s masterpiece sung in English, as well as the addition of a narrator at the beginning of each scene to make the experience even more enjoyable and accessible.

“This will be a wonderful opportunity for audiences to hear the calibre of our local