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The White Hat Guide to Brisbane

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10th Biennial Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Show & Cultural Festival 2011

The richness and diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australia will be on display at the Biennial Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Show and Cultural Festival
September 2013 ?

St Aidans, 11 Ruthven St, Corinda -

Puccini's Tosca

John Copley’s critically acclaimed production of Puccini's Tosca returns to the Lyric Theatre. A stellar cast has been assembled for this revival.

  • Floria Tosca - Cheryl Barker
  • Mario Cavaradossi - Julian Gavin
  • Baron Scarpia - Douglas McNicol
  • Sacristan - John Bolton Wood
  • Spoletta - Virgilio Marino Cesare
  • Angelotti - Andrew Collis
  • Sciarrone - David Hibbard
  • Gaoler - Guy Booth
  • Conductor - Nicholas Braithwaite
  • Director - John Copley
  • Set Designer - Allan Lees
  • Costume Designer - Michael Stennett
  • Lighting Designer - Donn Byrnes

Sung in Italian with projected English translations. Running time: approximately two hours and 40 minutes including two 20-minute intervals. There is no vocal amplification used in this production.

7.30pm on 15, 20, 22 and 25 October/6.30pm on 27 October/1.30pm on 29 October 2011

QPAC Lyric Theatre -

Enquiries: (07) 3735 3030

Brisbane Moonlight Cinema

Watch a movie in the night air in the outdoor setting of New Farm Park at Brisbane Powerhouse. Enter the cinema via Lamington Street or Brunswick Street.  Tickets from $16/$14/$12 plus booking fee. Full details and bookings at Moonlight Cinema. Gates open at 6pm and screenings start at approximately 7pm. Food and drink available together with a full bar on site. (Please note: Moonlight Brisbane is a non-BYO alcohol venue)

  • Wednesday 14th December 2011 - The Descendants (M)
  • Thursday 15th December 2011 - The Debt (MA15+)
  • Friday 16th December 2011 - The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 (M)
  • Saturday 17th December 2011 - Alvin And The Chipmunks 3: Chipwrecked (G)
  • Sunday 18th December 2011 - Crazy, Stupid, Love. (M)
  • Wednesday 21st December 2011 - Drive (MA15+)
  • Thursday 22nd December 2011 - Arthur Christmas (G)
  • Friday 23rd December 2011 - We Bought A Zoo (PG)
  • Wednesday 28th December 2011 - The Smurfs (G)
  • Thursday 29th December 2011 - Contagion (M)
  • Sunday 1st January 2012 - The Muppets (G)
  • Wednesday 4th January 2012 - Arrietty (CTC)
  • Thursday 5th January 2012 - Immortals (MA15+)
  • Friday 6th January 2012 - The Ides Of March (M)
  • Saturday 7th January 2012 - Ferris Bueller's Day Off (PG)
  • Sunday 8th January 2012 - The Ages Of Love (MA15+)
  • Wednesday 11th January 2012 - Grease Sing-A-Long (M)
  • Thursday 12th January 2012 - Jack and Jill (PG)
  • Friday 13th January 2012 - Puss In Boots (PG)
  • Saturday 14th January 2012 - The Darkest Hour (CTC)
  • Sunday 15th January 2012 - Red Dog (PG) - Doggie Night - Bring your dog along. (Rules Apply)
  • Wednesday 18th January 2012 - The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 (M)
  • Thursday 19th January 2012 - Monty Python's Life of Brian (PG)
  • Friday 20th January 2012 - New Year's Eve (M)
  • Saturday 21st January 2012 - Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (M)
  • Sunday 22nd January 2012 - J. Edgar (M)
  • Wednesday 25th January 2012 - A Few Best Men (CTC)
  • Thursday 26th January 2012 - The Sitter (CTC)
  • Friday 27th January 2012 - Midnight In Paris (PG)
  • Saturday 28th January 2012 - Dolphin Tale (PG)
  • Sunday 29th January 2012 - Buck (PG)
  • Wednesday 1st February 2012 - Attack The Block (MA15+)
  • Thursday 2nd February 2012 - Tower Heist (M)
  • Friday 3rd February 2012 - Warhorse (M)
  • Saturday 4th February 2012 - Happy Feet Two (PG)
  • Sunday 5th February 2012 - The Iron Lady (M)
  • Wednesday 8th February 2012 - We Bought A Zoo (PG)
  • Thursday 9th February 2012 - Carnage (CTC)
  • Friday 10th February 2012 - Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows (CTC)
  • Saturday 11th February 2012 - Don Giovanni (CTC)
  • Sunday 12th February 2012 - Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows (CTC)
  • Wednesday 15th February 2012 = Melancholia (M)
  • Thursday 16th February 2012 - The Descendants (M)
  • Friday 17th February 2012 - The Skin I Live In (MA15+)
  • Saturday 18th February 2012 - The Adventures Of Tintin (PG)

New Farm Park at Brisbane Powerhouse -

Brisbane Moonlight Cinema - We Bought A Zoo

Watch a movie in the night air in the outdoor setting of New Farm Park at Brisbane Powerhouse. Enter the cinema via Lamington Street or Brunswick Street.  Tickets from $16/$14/$12 plus booking fee. Full details and bookings at Moonlight Cinema. Gates open at 6pm and screenings start at approximately 7pm. Food and drink available together with a full bar on site. (Please note: Moonlight Brisbane is a non-BYO alcohol venue). Tonight's movie is We Bought A Zoo
Wednesday 8th February 2012

New Farm Park at Brisbane Powerhouse -

Brisbane Moonlight Cinema - Carnage

Watch a movie in the night air in the outdoor setting of New Farm Park at Brisbane Powerhouse. Enter the cinema via Lamington Street or Brunswick Street.  Tickets from $16/$14/$12 plus booking fee. Full details and bookings at Moonlight Cinema. Gates open at 6pm and screenings start at approximately 7pm. Food and drink available together with a full bar on site. (Please note: Moonlight Brisbane is a non-BYO alcohol venue). Tonight's movie is Carnage
Thursday 9th February 2012

New Farm Park at Brisbane Powerhouse -

Brisbane Moonlight Cinema - Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows

Watch a movie in the night air in the outdoor setting of New Farm Park at Brisbane Powerhouse. Enter the cinema via Lamington Street or Brunswick Street.  Tickets from $16/$14/$12 plus booking fee. Full details and bookings at Moonlight Cinema. Gates open at 6pm and screenings start at approximately 7pm. Food and drink available together with a full bar on site. (Please note: Moonlight Brisbane is a non-BYO alcohol venue). Tonight's movie is Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows
Friday 10th February 2012

New Farm Park at Brisbane Powerhouse -

Brisbane Moonlight Cinema - Don Giovanni

Watch a movie in the night air in the outdoor setting of New Farm Park at Brisbane Powerhouse. Enter the cinema via Lamington Street or Brunswick Street.  Tickets from $16/$14/$12 plus booking fee. Full details and bookings at Moonlight Cinema. Gates open at 6pm and screenings start at approximately 7pm. Food and drink available together with a full bar on site. (Please note: Moonlight Brisbane is a non-BYO alcohol venue). Tonight's movie is Don Giovanni
Saturday 11th February 2012

New Farm Park at Brisbane Powerhouse -

Brisbane Moonlight Cinema - Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows

Watch a movie in the night air in the outdoor setting of New Farm Park at Brisbane Powerhouse. Enter the cinema via Lamington Street or Brunswick Street.  Tickets from $16/$14/$12 plus booking fee. Full details and bookings at Moonlight Cinema. Gates open at 6pm and screenings start at approximately 7pm. Food and drink available together with a full bar on site. (Please note: Moonlight Brisbane is a non-BYO alcohol venue). Tonight's movie is Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows
Sunday 12th February 2012

New Farm Park at Brisbane Powerhouse -

Chopin & Mendelssohn's Octet

Polina Leschenko

The Australian Chamber Orchestra with Richard Tognetti (Artistic Director and Lead Violin) and Polina Leschenko (piano).  The orchestras three wonderful heritage violins – a Stradivari, a Guarneri and a Guadagnini - will display their wares in the Paganini caprices. Chopin's first piano concerto is a much loved work full of romantic lyricism and although Górecki is best known for his haunting and heartfelt Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, his Piano Concerto bristles with driving rhythms and energy. The concert ends with one of the glories of chamber music - Mendelssohn's Octet. In White Hat's experience ACO's performance of this work is the equal of any performance you are likely to hear anywhere else in the world.

8pm, Monday 13th February 2012

QPAC Concert Hall, Brisbane -

Buy tickets direct from ACO here

Brisbane Moonlight Cinema - Melancholia

Watch a movie in the night air in the outdoor setting of New Farm Park at Brisbane Powerhouse. Enter the cinema via Lamington Street or Brunswick Street.  Tickets from $16/$14/$12 plus booking fee. Full details and bookings at Moonlight Cinema. Gates open at 6pm and screenings start at approximately 7pm. Food and drink available together with a full bar on site. (Please note: Moonlight Brisbane is a non-BYO alcohol venue). Tonight's movie is Melancholia
Wednesday 15th February 2012

New Farm Park at Brisbane Powerhouse -

Brisbane Moonlight Cinema - The Descendants

Watch a movie in the night air in the outdoor setting of New Farm Park at Brisbane Powerhouse. Enter the cinema via Lamington Street or Brunswick Street.  Tickets from $16/$14/$12 plus booking fee. Full details and bookings at Moonlight Cinema. Gates open at 6pm and screenings start at approximately 7pm. Food and drink available together with a full bar on site. (Please note: Moonlight Brisbane is a non-BYO alcohol venue). Tonight's movie is The Descendants
Thursday 16th February 2012

New Farm Park at Brisbane Powerhouse -

Brisbane Moonlight Cinema - The Skin I Live In

Watch a movie in the night air in the outdoor setting of New Farm Park at Brisbane Powerhouse. Enter the cinema via Lamington Street or Brunswick Street.  Tickets from $16/$14/$12 plus booking fee. Full details and bookings at Moonlight Cinema. Gates open at 6pm and screenings start at approximately 7pm. Food and drink available together with a full bar on site. (Please note: Moonlight Brisbane is a non-BYO alcohol venue). Tonight's movie is The Skin I Live In
Friday 17th February 2012

New Farm Park at Brisbane Powerhouse -

Brisbane Moonlight Cinema - The Adventures Of Tintin

Watch a movie in the night air in the outdoor setting of New Farm Park at Brisbane Powerhouse. Enter the cinema via Lamington Street or Brunswick Street.  Tickets from $16/$14/$12 plus booking fee. Full details and bookings at Moonlight Cinema. Gates open at 6pm and screenings start at approximately 7pm. Food and drink available together with a full bar on site. (Please note: Moonlight Brisbane is a non-BYO alcohol venue). Tonight's movie is The Adventures Of Tintin
Saturday 18th February 2012

New Farm Park at Brisbane Powerhouse -

Australian String Quartet - Towards Light

The Australian String Quartet have new personnel for 2012 and White Hat feels it is appropriate that for their first concert the new ensemble should emerge out of the dreamtime with Peter Scunthorpe's Jabiru Dreaming (String Quartet No.11). Dvořák as at his tuneful best in his String Quartet No.10 then the concert finishes with one of the great 20th century chamber works - Shostakovich's Piano Quintet. This work captures Shostakovich in one of his rare moments of relaxation and seeming contentment. We have rated this concert at 4 hats on potential and, who knows, after this new ensemble has been heard for the first time this may become 5 hats.

Our rating:
Four Hats

Hat Hat Hat Hat  
7pm, Thursday 8th March 2012

Conservatorium Theatre, South Bank, Brisbane -

Tickets available from Australian String Quartet

Australian Chamber Orchestra & The Hilliard Ensemble

Hilliard EnsembleThe Australian Chamber Orchestra (Helena Rathbone Lead Violin) with The Hilliard Ensemble. White Hat refards The Hilliard Ensemble to be one of the finest male vocal ensembles in the world. Their attention to tuning and chording in Medieval and Renaissance music gives it a 'ring' not heard in ensembles who stick to compromise of the equal temperament of the keyboard. This attention to ensemble tuning also pays dividends in contemporary music. This promises to be a special concert.
  • Elgar Serenade for strings
  • Sheryngham Ah, gentle Jesu
  • Raskatov Obikhod (Australian Premiere)
  • Pärt Most Holy Mother of God
  • Gregorian Chant Veni Creator Spiritus
  • Anon (French Medieval) Veni Creator Spiritus
  • Edwards Veni Creator Spiritus
  • Arensky Variations on a theme by Tchaikovsky
8pm, Monday 12th March 2012

QPAC Concert Hall, Brisbane -

Buy tickets direct from ACO here

Tafelmusik - The Galileo Project Music of the Spheres

Tafelmusik

Canadian ensemble Tafelmusik will take you on an epic space odyssey, performing period music before stunning images from the Hubble deep space telescope. Combining music, photography and story-telling, The Galileo Project brings to life the brilliant minds of the early astronomers and the music that inspired them, as a large-scale, ever-changing backdrop of stars and planets unfolds.

The publicity states "Using the best of Bach, Handel, Monteverdi and Vivaldi, come and hear the tunes that were probably stuck in Galileo’s head when he discovered the moons of Jupiter." Now you are probably thinking, like White Hat how could tunes of composers who hadn't been born yet be stuck in his head. However we are sure that this program has been meticulously researched so all will be revealed. The program will also feature works by Lully, Purcell, Rameau, Telemann & Michelangelo Galilei brother of the astronomer). From the reputation of the group and the reviews of this concert, White Hat suggests you go out of your way to attend.

[For those wanting a little background to the history of the concept that over the centuries was known as The Music of the Spheres, White Hat suggests that you consult the program notes of Music of the Spheres - given by Ars Nova of Melbourne. This concert is unrelated to the one above but was also based on the relationship composers, mathematicians and scientists long saw between music, mathematics and the heavenly bodies.]

Wednesday 14th March 2012

QPAC Concert Hall, Brisbane -

Enquiries & bookings: 1800 688 482

St Lawrence String Quartet and Diana Doherty

St Lawrence String QuartetWhite Hat suggests that lovers of the oboe should head out of their way for this concert. Diana Doherty is an Australian oboist who has won international acclaim. In this concert she joins with the fine St Lawrence String Quartet to perform Mozart's F major oboe quartet which is tuneful and refined - you would expect nothing less of Mozart and later performs Australian composer Matthew Hindson's Rush with its driving rhythms borrowing strongly from rock and pop music. Mozart's quartet is flanked by string quartets from fellow Viennese, Haydn and Beethoven.

Diana Doherty

7pm, Wednesday 18th April 2012

Conservatorium Theatre, Brisbane -

Enquiries & bookings: 1800 688 482

Australian String Quartet - Legacy

The Australian String Quartet's second concert in their 2011 combines early Beethoven, late Brahms and the Australian composer Brett Dean who will also be playing viola. White Hat suggests that the richness of texture provided by the additional viola should make this a particularly satisfying concert.

  • Beethoven String Quartet in D, Op 18 No 3

  • Brett Dean Epitaphs for Viola and String Quartet

  • Brahms String Quintet in G, Op 111 (with Brett Dean, viola)

7pm, Thursday 7th June 2012

Conservatorium Theatre, South Bank, Brisbane -

Tickets available from Australian String Quartet

Takács Quartet

Takács Quartet

White Hat expects that this may well be on of the standout chamber music concerts of the year in Australia. Debussy's delicate and atmospheric string quartet together with Janáček's passionate first quartet both played by the ensemble most acknowledge to be one of the finest string quartets in the world.

7pm, Mon 25th June 2012

Conservatorium Theatre, Brisbane -

Enquiries & bookings: 1800 688 482

Danielle de Niese with the Australian Chamber Orchestra

Danielle de Niese

Danielle de Niese (soprano) has long been on White Hat's list of Significant Melbourne People. She was born in Melbourne and won Young Talent Time aged 9, then moved to Los Angeles, won an Emmy and made her debut with the LA Opera aged 15. She has blossomed into one of the hottest properties in opera, enrapturing audiences in roles like Cleopatra, Euridice and Susanna at Glyndebourne, the Metropolitan Opera and on screen.

To celebrate her professional debut in her home country, De Niese sings a specially commissioned Australian work, which also marks the centenary of Australia’s Nobel laureate Patrick White. The fireworks of Mozart's Exsultate jubilatee is contrasted Schubert's haunting song, Death and the Maiden. The Australian Chamber Orchestra (Richard Tognetti Artistic Director and Lead Violin) will then perform Schubert's masterly quartet (arranged for string orchestra) which uses that same song as an inspiration.

8pm, Monday 25th June 2012

QPAC Concert Hall, Brisbane -

Buy tickets direct from ACO here

Trout Quintet & Quartet for the End of Time

Saleem Abboud Ashkar

A rare treat. Two of what White Hat regards as the finest works in the chamber music repetoire presented in the one concert. The Schubert Trout Quintet is full of sunshine and youthful optimism while Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time is, in White Hat's opinion, one of the great works of the 20th century. A prisoner of war, Messiaen wrote the Quartet for the End of Time for the musicians he found in the camp, premiering it to an audience of inmates and guards. “Never” he said, "was I listened to with such rapt attention and comprehension."

Australian Chamber Orchestra Principals are joined by clarinettist Paul Dean and dynamic young pianist Saleem Abboud Ashkar, making his Australian debut.The performers are Helena Rathbone (violin), Christopher Moore (viola), Timo-Veikko Valve (cello), Maxime Bibeau (double bass), Paul Dean (clarinet) and Saleem Abboud Ashkar (piano).

Our rating:
Five Hats

Hat Hat Hat Hat Hat
8pm, Wednesday 11th July 2012

QPAC Concert Hall, Brisbane -

Buy tickets direct from ACO here

Amarcord

AmarcordWhite Hat suggests that if you love unaccompanied singing you take several weeks off work and visit "a cappella" - the annual international festival of unaccompanied vocal music in Leipzig - where you will hear great a cappella ensembles from around the world. If you don't have that time or cash to spare, a much cheaper but highly satisfying option is to head along to this concert performed by the ensemble who initiated the festival and who are recognised as one of the finest male vocal ensembles in the world.

Tales of Love and Murder. Renaissance madrigals by Encina, des Prez, Lassus, Gesualdo and others, and part-songs by Saint-Saëns, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Poulenc, and folk songs from around the world.

7pm, Wednesday 1st August

Conservatorium Theatre, Brisbane -

Enquiries & bookings: 1800 688 482

Beethoven 9 - Ode to Joy

Clare College Choir

The Australian Chamber Orchestra with Richard Tognetti (Artistic Director and Lead Violin), Choir of Clare College, Cambridge (Graham Ross Director), Lucy Crowe (soprano), Fiona Campbell (mezzo soprano), Allan Clayton (tenor) Matthew Brook (bass)

White Hat has long believed that many modern performance of Beethoven symphonies by large symphony orchestras lack the vitality and drive of a performance by a first rate chamber orchestra - supplemented where necessary - of the proportions that Beethoven was writing for For those who share this view we suggest you look no further. Critics called the ACO's recent Beethoven concert in London “the finest concert of the summer” and spoke of “thrilling playing”, “vibrant drive” and “total involvement”, concluding, “this compact chamber orchestra matches anything Europe can offer in energy, precision and interpretative rigour.”

Joined by one of the finest British choirs this concert promises to be something special where every note Beethoven wrote can be heard rather than lost in a sea of overblown orchestral 'atmosphere'.

8pm, Monday 6th August 2012

QPAC Concert Hall, Brisbane -

Buy tickets direct from ACO here

Australian String Quartet - Sunrise

When ABC listeners voted on their top 100 chamber works, Bartók's 3rd and 4th string quartets didn't get a guernsey. However In White Hat's list of top 100 chamber works both came within the top 20. Why not go along to this concert by the Australian String Quartet with Paul Dean (clarinet) and judge whether you think the ABC listeners are right or whether White Hat is right. Mores seriously, why not go along and experience some seriously good music performed by some seriously good performers.

7pm, Monday 17th September 2012

Conservatorium Theatre, South Bank, Brisbane -

Tickets available from Australian String Quartet

Kuss Quartet & Naoko Smizu

Kuss Quartet  

The Kuss Quartet is a regular at Carnegie and Wigmore Halls and Shimizu was the first female Principal Viola of the Berlin Philharmonic so this concert promises to deliver string quintet playing of the highest level.

  • Gordon Kerry String Quintet (2012)
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart String Quartet no 21 in D major, KV575
  • György Kurtag Officium Breve in Memoriam Andreae Szervánszky, op 28
  • Johannes Brahms String Quintet no 2 in G major, op 111
7pm, Wednesday 26th September

Conservatorium Theatre, Brisbane -

Enquiries & bookings: 1800 688 482

Anthony Marwood and Aleksandar Madžar

Anthony Marwood and Aleksandar Madžar

Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata is justifiably well-known and loved as one of the great works of the violin sonata repertoire. However White Hat believes that Debussy's Violin Sonata, the last work he completed and the last that he performed in public, is yet to be afforded the status it deserves by the public. This fine pair of instrumentalists are sure to do them both justice.

7pm, Wednesday 7th November 2012

Conservatorium Theatre, Brisbane -

Enquiries & bookings: 1800 688 482

Russian Visions

Steven OsborneThe Australian Chamber Orchestra with Richard Tognetti (Artistic Director and Lead Violin), Steven Osborne (piano) and David Elton (trumpet).

Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir is one of his sunniest and most exuberant works and Shostakovich's first piano concerto is full of pyrotechnics for the pianist and accompanying trumpet. What is sometimes less recognised is that this work calls for first rate string playing from the orchestra. For that reason, White Hat suggests you take the opportunity to get along and hear it with one of the best string ensembles in Australia - or any other country for that matter.

8pm, Monday 19th November 2012,

QPAC Concert Hall, Brisbane -

Buy tickets direct from ACO here
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SCIENCE NEWS
Australia's first female Nobel Prize Winner

White Hat congratulates Dr Elizabeth Blackburn on becoming Australia's first female Nobel Prize Winner. Readers of our site will know that we have predicted that she would become a Nobel Prize winner for some time and that Elizabeth Blackburn has long been on our list of 200 Significant Australians and 100 Important Living Australians despite the National Trust Living Treasures list passing over her and people like Fields Medal winner Terry Tao in favour of minor media presenters. Congratulations Dr Blackburn from those thousands who like you studied science at the University of Melbourne.

TOURISM NEWS
Qantas In Flight Magazine chooses White Hat Cemetery Tour as its featured Australian tour for May

There are many fine historical tours throughout Australia including cemetery tours. From these, the prestigious Qantas In Flight Magazine has chosen the White Hat Tour of Melbourne Cemetery as its featured Australian tour for the May 2007 edition. This tour was also featured by ABC radio on 24 May and will feature in a documentary series on Burke and Wills to be shown on European television in 2008. The tour has been operating for many years and has won praise from a wide range of sources. This is not a dry and stuffy tour but in keeping with all White Hat offerings it is Informed, Intelligent, Independent (and occasionally) Irreverent. You can find details of the tour at White Hat Tour of Melbourne Cemetery and view the article at Qantas In Flight Magazine.

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