Lunchtime Concert: Fiona Loader & Ria Andriani - French Reflections

A lunchtime recital by Fiona Loader and Ria Andriani a beautiful duo recital of piano, organ, and soprano works in the beautiful historic surrounds of St James Church.

Biography:

Ria Andriani is a musician and writer whose work focuses on lifting marginalised and disadvantaged voices through story-telling and performance arts.

A classically trained soprano, Ria obtained a Bachelor of music and Bachelor of arts from UNSW in 2015.

Her singing teachers include Dame Emma Kirkby, Carolyn Sampson, Kathleen Connell, Nancy Long and Amy Moore.

Ria specialises in performing renaissance polyphony and new music by living composers. She regularly performs with Backstage Music and Sydney Chamber Choir and formerly sang with St James Choir and St James Singers and the choir of Christ Church St. Laurence.

Ria is a staff writer at ABC Classic. Her work has also been featured in The Guardian, Overland literary Magazine and Unbias the News.

Fiona Loader is a pianist, organist, accompanist, singer and composer. She completed a Bachelor of Music with Honours in piano at the Canberra School of Music, Australian National University, and later earned a master’s degree in composition from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, where she studied with Dr Paul Stanhope.

Fiona began studying organ with Ross Cobb at St Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney, in 2019 and in the same year gave a solo organ recital at the magnificent Gustaf Vasa Cathedral in Stockholm. Fiona has performed at the international organ festival of Ukrainian music in 2023 and 2024 and performs regularly in Sydney recitals as both a pianist and organist. She holds performance diplomas in piano and organ from Trinity College of Music, London, and the Associated Board.

Fiona sings first soprano with the Choir of Christ Church St Laurence and the St Andrew’s Cathedral Chamber Choir. As a composer, her works have been performed at major music festivals across Australia and internationally in London, Berlin, Helsinki, Edinburgh and New York. Last year, she was voted by the Australian public to be in the country’s “Top 25 in 25” composers.

Ria and Fiona first met as fellow sopranos at Christ Church St Laurence. They now collaborate as lyricist and composer and perform together as soprano and pianist/organist.

Programme:

A chloris – Hahn

O ma belle rebelle – Gounod

L’heure exquise – Hahn

Après un rêve – Gabriel Fauré

Clair de lune – Claude Debussy

Clair de lune – Claude Debussy*

Chanson d’Orkenise from ‘Banalities’ - Francis Poulenc

Je te veux – Erik Satie

Gnossienne no. 1 – Satie*

Le secret – Gabriel Fauré

Pie Jesu – Lili Boulanger**

Prélude from ‘Trois pièces’ – Nadia Boulanger***

Les feuilles mortes – Jacques Prévert, Joseph Kosma

Les chemins de l’amour – Francis Poulenc

La vie en rose –Louis Guglielmi, Marguerite Monnot

Hymne à l’amour – Marguerite Monnot

*= piano solo

**= soprano accompanied by organ

***= organ solo