Celebrating music from around the world
'In a testing and challenging time we live in of disinformation, division and worse, I seek to build bridges, and promote diversity, inclusivity and quality.'
Acclaimed pianist/composer Warren Wills, fresh from performing his Mastperpiece series in London’s West End, has returned to Australia to present the One Life, One Hope concert on December 1 at The Edge, Federation Square at 7pm, to celebrate music and the ways in which it brings people together.
Discussing the inspiration behind this concert Wills told The AJN, “In a testing and challenging time we live in of disinformation, division and worse, I seek to build bridges, and promote diversity, inclusivity and quality.
“As an ex-pupil of Scopus, who has a huge repertoire of Hebraic music, I’ve also developed a repertoire in Spanish/Chinese/Arabic/Kazakh music which I mix and match and take to far-flung regions of the world,” he said.
A range of performers will accompany Wills on stage including vocalist Sarah MacLaine, Kate del Rio, Czech violinist Romy Geemans, Chinese flautist Steph Chen, Halev Choir, Tongji Alumni, Sefra Burstin dancers, Donna Gabriel group, Chinese cellist Gabriel Liu and Nancy’s Chinese Aesthetic Dance studio.
The concert will also feature Wills’ socially inclusive music theatre company The Young World Choir. Wills is an educationalist who has long supported diversity in music. Twenty years ago in London, Wills co-founded Haringey Shed, inclusive music theatre for children which later expanded into intergenerational, multi-faith and multicultural inclusion. They performed 20 musicals and won two awards from the UK prime minister.
Truly an international artist, Wills worked for decades on London’s West End composing and producing theatre and opera, and also performed around the Middle East playing piano alongside Iraqi guitarist, singer and composer Ilham Al Madfai, considered the “Sinatra of the Middle East”.
Wills has composed eight original operas performed in London and released 25 albums. He said career highlights include winning the Carling London Best Musical Award in 1990 for Pinmoney Opera, which he composed, and being commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company to compose the Penelopiad with book/lyrics by Margaret Atwood, as well as being musical director on Aladdin in London and Liverpool. Highlights in Australia include in 2018 producing musical theatre Night of Broken Glass in tribute to Indigenous leader William Cooper’s protest at the German consulate to stand up for Jews in the aftermath of Kristallnacht.
One Life, One Hope provides a wonderful opportunity to see Wills perform in Melbourne, alongside a talented array of performers, celebrating human connections and music from around the world.
To book visit: trybooking.com/CWXNV
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