Love, loss & loyalty. Passionate opera favourites.

The Berrima Singers returns to the Bowral Memorial Hall this August to present concert renditions of favourite choruses from the grand opera stage. Hum along to Verdi’s Chorus of the Hebrew slaves, and his Anvil chorus; Tchaikovsky’s Waltz scene (from Eugene Onegin); or the Bell chorus from Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci. Under the direction of conductor Carlos Alvarado, the choir will be accompanied on the BMH’s concert grand piano and by a string ensemble. We will be joined by two outstanding Sydney-based opera soloists for the Habanera from Bizet’s Carmen, the Brindisi from Verdi’s La Traviata, and Dido’s Lament with final chorus from Dido and Aeneas (Purcell). Soprano Samanta Lestavel and tenor Daniel Verschuer will also bring us much-loved arias from operas by Puccini and Donizetti.

A special inclusion on the program will be a medley of tunes from George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, often hailed as “the first great American opera”. Remember Summertime? I got plenty o’ nuttin’? It ain’t necessarily so? You’ll be hearing these and more in the lush choral harmonies of Ed Lojeski’s arrangement.