Canberra Academy of Music and Related Arts

CAMRA, Inc., the Canberra Academy of Music and Related Arts, is a community organization dedicated to performance and training in music and theatre for the community of Canberra, Australia.

Founded in 1997, CAMRA was launched with a complete cycle of Mozart's piano sonatas performed on fortepiano by Colin Forbes, in five concerts from July 1998 to July 2000.

Musical theatre and opera

WS Gilbert and A Sullivan's Iolanthe was CAMRA's first full theatrical production in November 2000, followed by Patience in 2001, The Mikado in August / September 2002 and The Sorcerer in November 2004 and April 2005. CAMRA'S production of John Gay's The Beggar's Opera in August / September 2003 won the 2003 Canberra Critics' Circle Award.

In August 2007, in its 10th anniversary year, CAMRA presented four sell-out performances of Mozart's opera the "Marriage of Figaro".

Sacred music

CAMRA sings sacred music in performance and as music for special church services in association with St. Philip's Anglican Church, O'Connor. Works sung have included Bach's "Johannes Passion", Haydn's Little Organ Mass and Nicolai Mass, Benjamin Britten's "Ceremony of Carols", Giovanni Battista Pergolesi's "Stabat Mater", Mozart's Mass in F and Schubert's Mass in G.

Hildegarde of Bingen's "Ordo Virtutum" was presented in September 2005 and June 2008, and Handel's "Messiah" in December 2005, 2006 and 2007.

Directors

The musical and artistic directors of CAMRA are Colin Forbes and Patricia Whitbread. On graduating from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Colin Forbes became Lecturer in Piano at the Conservatorium as well as pianist and percussionist with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. He later joined Opera Australia as a repetiteur and has also worked with other leading concert organizations including the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Synergy and the Australia Ensemble. A study tour of Germany took Colin to the Folkwang Academy (Folkwang Hochschule) in Essen to study piano with Paul Badura-Skoda. Colin subsequently taught and performed in Germany. On returning to Australia he became Head of Keyboard at Ascham School in Sydney, later moving to Canberra in 1992 to take up the position of repetiteur at the Canberra School of Music. Colin gave sonata recitals with violinist Erich Binder (Concert Master of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra) on both of his visits to Australia. In 1997 Colin helped to establish the CAMRA, where he is currently Artistic Director and principal piano teacher.

Patricia Whitbread studied singing with Alice Mallon-Muir in Perth, Western Australia. She was successful in many competitions, including the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Instrumental and Vocal (State and Commonwealth Finalist), and the Metropolitan Opera Auditions (Commonwealth Finalist, regional winner in Hawaii in 1974, and Australian representative at the finals in New York). In these early years, she performed principal roles with the West Australian Opera and the Victorian State Opera (now part of Opera Australia). Patricia was a trainee principal with Opera Australia in 1975 and 1976, and was awarded an Opera Foundation Scholarship to study in West Germany (1977). From 1978-1980, she was a principal singer with Opera Australia, and returned to West Germany to perform and teach from 1980-84. Since returning to Australia, Patricia has taught and performed extensively in Sydney and Canberra. She is President of the ACT Chapter of the Australian National Association of Teachers of Singing.

Venue

CAMRA Inc. has a friendship with St. Philip's Anglican Church, O'Connor, ACT and its rehearsals and performances are usually held in the church.

External links

[http://camra.asn.au CAMRA, Inc.]

[http://www.stphilipsoconnor.org.au St. Philip's Anglican Church, O'Connor ACT]