Paul Daniel Previews WASO 2012

November 21, 2011
by Rodney Olsen
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Paul Daniel became Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO) in 2009.

He was Music Director of English National Opera from 1997 until 2005. He has worked with London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic and far too many others to mention around the world. He’s conducted the internationally televised Last Night of the Proms in London with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. In 1998 he received a Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera and was awarded the CBE in the 2000 Honours List.

He’s now preparing for the West Australian Symphony Orchestra’s 2012 season and he joined me today on the Morning Café on 98.5 Sonshine FM. We talked about the very wide range of performances planned for the new year. Audiences are set to be taken on an incredible musical voyage.

Some people may think of classical music as pieces that were written hundreds of years ago, but WASO continues to premiere new works and be extremely innovative in taking their extraordinary talents to a wider audience.

The West Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO) is Western Australia’s largest and busiest performing arts company. Established in 1928, WASO is the state’s only professional orchestra, playing a central role in the cultural life of Western Australia.

WASO’s vision is to touch souls and enrich lives through music. Each year the Orchestra reaches out into the community and gives people across Western Australia and beyond the opportunity to experience the magic of classical music through concert performances, touring, education programs, and other initiatives.

The Orchestra performs over 140 concerts each year with some of the world’s finest conductors and soloists to an audience in excess of 200,000. In addition to its own concerts, WASO regularly performs with the West Australian Opera and West Australian Ballet.

You can hear our conversation by clicking the play button on the audio player below.

[audio:http://mpegmedia.sonshinefm.ws/feeds/MOR211111_1506.mp3]

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Melinda Schneider in Perth

September 15, 2011
by Rodney Olsen
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Melinda Schneider is a leading light of the new-breed of Australian Country music artists both in Australia and the US. She made her stage debut at the age of three and has developed into an accomplished singer, songwriter and performer.

Among the many awards she’s won, Melinda has picked up six Golden Guitars and her songs have been recorded by artists as diverse as John Farnham, Billy Thorpe, Jimmy Little, Olivia Newton-John and Paul Kelly.

Lately her career has seemed to take off in some surprising directions, firstly with her involvement in television’s Dancing With The Stars, and now a new album honouring Doris Day, Melinda Does Doris.

She has dazzled with her dexterity on television’s Dancing With The Stars and has put her country recording career on pause for a moment to indulge a passion that goes back decades. A passion that has resulted in a connection with Universal Music and the shimmering tribute album Melinda Does Doris.

It all began when, in childhood, she laid eyes on Calamity Jane, Doris Day’s 1953 film tour de force and was smitten by all she saw. “She was such a huge talent” she enthuses now, “a triple threat as they say – she could sing, dance and act. I thought then she was the best of everything a woman can be and when I grow up I want to be just like her!  I’ve always loved musical theatre but I had to put a lot of that side of me away when I was making country albums.” But growing up with a yodeling mother and in a broad musical variety environment it was never going to all that far away.

She had been tossing the idea of a classy tribute albums around in the back (and more often than not, the front) of her mind for years and, after those five fine albums of deft, honest, effecting and widely acclaimed original country music, and the unstoppable rise of an instinctive almost visceral desire to revisit some of the sounds that had shaped her, this was an idea whose time had most definitely come. “It was meant to be,” she confirms. “The planets had aligned.”

She joined me on the Morning Café at 98.5 Sonshine FM today. You can hear our conversation by clicking the play button on the audio player at the bottom of this post.

Melinda will be bringing her show, Doris Day – So Much More Than The Girl Next Door, to the Regal Theatre in Subiaco from the 12th to the 16th of October.


[audio:http://mpegmedia.sonshinefm.ws/feeds/OTH150911_1224.mp3]



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Vinyl and CD Sale

September 13, 2011
by Rodney Olsen
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What’s round, black and about the size of a pizza?

A vinyl album … and after over 23 years on air 98.5 Sonshine FM has thousands to clear, from Beethoven to Bowie, Keith Green to Amy Grant. There will be many old favourites as well as rare albums, some of which have never been played.

We’re selling stacks of Christian and mainstream albums and CDs at the Thornlie Christian College Open Day this Saturday. I’m looking forward to being there broadcasting live.

If you’re in the Perth area, you can grab some music history at Thornlie Christian College Open Day, 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. this Saturday. You’ll find the college at 19 Furley Road in Southern River.

While you’re there you can check out the college, enjoy some entertainment and grab something to eat or drink.



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I’m So Straight I’m A Weirdo

August 22, 2011
by Rodney Olsen
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This is not everyone’s taste but I really wish I still had my copy of this Rick Wakeman song. I had it on a single many years ago but let someone borrow it. I never saw it again.

It was released back in 1980 with the song, Do You Believe in Fairies on the B side. (Back in the day when there was such a thing as a B side.)



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Before Gaga

July 13, 2011
by Rodney Olsen
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I must admit that I’m not a big fan of Lady Gaga. I don’t see what all the fuss is about.

On the other hand, I’d certainly pay to see Stefani Germanotta in concert. The weird thing is, they’re the same person. The video above is Stefani Germanotta in 2005 before she created her Lady Gaga persona. She performs two of her own songs and her talent is obvious.



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