Musical Version of Helga Visser's THE BUSH CONCERT Comes To The Dunstan Playhouse

Eight Adelaide Symphony Orchestra musicians and actor Susan Ferguson will present two highly participatory performances of Helga Visser's much-loved Australian tale THE BUSH CONCERT on Saturday 9 July at 1pm and 3pm in The Dunstan Playhouse.

Violins squawk like galahs and clarinets interject like noisy minor birds in this remarkable interpretation of Helga's original book which weaves the sounds of the Australian bush into an enchanting musical score by South Australian composer Mark Simeon Ferguson.

Suitable for children from age three and their families, The Bush Concert is based on the book The Bush Concert, written and illustrated by Helga Visser. It's a heart-warming rhyme with a simple message: when things are looking down, get together and sing a song or dance - you'll feel great.

The Bush Concert was commissioned and produced by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra under licence from Scholastic Australia Pty Limited. The book was first published by Omnibus Books, a division of Scholastic Australia Pty Limited, in 2011.

Mark Simeon Ferguson is a South Australian composer, arranger, pianist and musical director. He completed a Master of Music in 1999 at the University of Adelaide (where he now lectures) and in the same year he was a semi-finalist in the National Jazz Awards. Mark was commissioned to compose The Bush Concert for the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra in 2015. He was previously commissioned to arrange Handel's Messiah as Gospel Messiah for the ASO in 2007. In 2013 he wrote the major commissioned work, the song cycle The Moral of the Story, for the South Australian Public Primary Schools Music Festival. Ferguson writes regularly for the JazzSA Youth Superbands and receives commissions for compositions and arrangements from school orchestras and bands.

Mark has toured with Irish cabaret star Camille O'Sullivan's 2015 Helpmann Award-winning show Changeling (and many previous shows), country legend Beccy Cole and cabaret star Libby O'Donovan's 2015 Helpmann Award-nominated show The Cowgirl and The Showgirl show and New York-based cabaret star Lady Rizo's 2015 showUnescorted. He has also performed with Mark Murphy, Ray Vega, Tito Puente Junior, Wilson Saoko, Rachael Beck, Paulini, Peter Combe and Doug Parkinson.

Susan Ferguson completed a Bachelor of Music in classical voice at the Elder Conservatorium in 1989 and a Graduate Diploma of Education in 1990. In 2015 Susan was presenter and vocal soloist for the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra'sThe Bush Concert. In 2013 and 2014 she was also presenter and vocal soloist for the ASO's Toe Tappers concerts.

Susan has played the role of Lily in Mother Wife and the Complicated Life since 2010, touring Australia and performing at the United Nations and 54 Below in New York City. In 2015 she co-wrote and performed in the show Love in the Key of Bacharach which toured for Out of the Square and was part of the Cabaret Under the Stars season.

Tickets for The Bush Concert are $14.50 for all, unless you subscribe to 4 or more shows - then tickets are $11.50 (transaction fees apply). For more information and to book tickets, visit www.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au

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