Alex Roose and Graham Bell Come to Kent Town

It has been a glorious season of 2018 Winter and Spring Concerts@KentTown but alas we've now come to the end of this delightful series for this year.

The final concert in Concerts @ Kent Town for 2018 will be held at 2pm 21 November at Wesley Church Kent Town, cnr Fullarton Road and Grenfell Street, Kent Town. Tickets,available at the door, are still only $15 which includes a generous afternoon tea.

In an unexpected change of program Wesley Church is delighted to welcome newcomer Bass Baritone, Alex Roose to our final concert for 2018. Alex will be accompanied by Concerts@KentTown favourite, pianist Damien Mansfield.They will perform works by Vaughan Williams, Brahms, Schubert and Finzi.

Born and raised in Adelaide, Alex studied Modern European Languages at the Australian National University (ANU) and Music at the University of Melbourne.

As a soloist he has performed with the BBC Concert Orchestra on Radio 2, and with James Bowman and Dame Emma Kirkby for the Brighton Fringe, as well as numerous recitals and oratorio concerts throughout the UK and continental Europe.

He has also won multiple prizes at the Australian National Eisteddfod and regional competitions.

As an ensemble singer, Alex has been broadcast regularly on BBC Radio and TV, and ABC Classic FM and recorded for Chandos, Hyperion, Signum, and Delphian.

He is a member of Adelaide Chamber Singers and directs several choirs around Adelaide, including Vocali Chamber Chorale and Voices in the Wilderness.

Graham Bell, Wesley's own organist, also makes a welcome return appearance to the concert series with a program of majestic works by JS Bach; Druckmuller, Hollins, Guilmant and Frank Bridge, all performed on the historic, and recently restored, JE Dodd organ.

Graham Bell was born in Adelaide in 1959. Whilst his working life was as a professional botanist, music has always been "the other life". He has sung in choirs since childhood and was drawn to the pipe organ from earliest recollection.

Piano lessons led on to organ studies, mainly with James Govenlock at the Elder Conservatorium where Graham was awarded the Josephine Christiansen and Elder Scholarships for organ. Other tuition was undertaken with Owen Standen, Ashleigh Tobin and Christa Rumsey, each representing very different approaches to a broad range of musical styles and lineages. Singing studies were also undertaken with Belinda Matonti.

>From 1979 until 2010, Graham was Organist and Choirmaster at North Adelaide Baptist Church, during which time he was involved in a wide variety of performances for many groups as organ soloist, conductor, singer or accompanist. He has been Organist and Choirmaster at Wesley Uniting Church since January 2011. In both churches he has sought to build on and develop long-standing traditions of fine church music.

As an organ soloist, Graham has presented or been involved in many concerts, especially for the Organ Music Society of Adelaide, for which his first appearance was in 1975. Graham has been on the Committee of the SA Branch of the Royal School of Church Music since 1990, editing the Branch Newsletter as well as presenting workshops and acting as conductor or accompanist for many events.

Final concert for 2018
2pm Wednesday 21 November
Tickets $15 at door, includes afternoon tea
With
Bass Baritone Alex Roose and Graham Bell, Organ