Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Gala Dinner

Some of the Pacific Opera 2013 Young Artists were asked if we could do a lunchtime concert, a mystery gig, at the Shangri-La Hotel on the 26th of October. Less than two days before the appointed gig, we found out that it was actually an evening event - providing operatic entertainment in two brackets at a gala dinner for the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, an exclusive Australian chapter of a worldwide organisation of, essentially, foodies. People who love their food and wine. Sounds like something I could really get behind, to be honest! It was founded in Paris in 1950, and is referred to as an international gastronomic organisation. Yessssss.

It was pretty obvious by some of the surprised faces in the room that our appearance during the dinner was an unexpected but very welcome event! They were such a lovely and appreciative audience, and I am truly grateful for some of the members who got up at the end of the show to congratulate me privately. It was a much needed confidence boost and I thank you! One woman said that I was really engaging and funny, which is pretty much the highest praise I could ever get, so thank you very much indeed.

I sang:

Porgi, amor, from La Nozze di Figaro by Mozart
Chi il bel sogno di Doretta from La Rondine by Puccini
Mister Snow from Carousel by Rodgers & Hammerstein

Our pianist was Yerim Lee, as Glenn Amer was unavailable. She was a very sweet girl.

Our General Manager, Claire Palmer, treated us to a bottle of sparkling wine in the Shangri-La Hotel Lobby Bar after the performance, and then we went up to Level 36 Bar to check out the absolutely stunning panoramic view of Sydney City at night. Holy crap, if you haven't done that, I really recommend it! I will be taking Joe to see it as soon as practical.

There was an official photographer there taking photos but i haven't gotten my hands on any of those... here are some photos from backstage.

Zoe and I accidentally wore the same colour - RED! - but that turned out to be a theme colour of the evening decorations anyway, so we pretended that we planned it that way. Obviously.

The singers were Pamela Andrews, Zoe Drummond, Sepehr Irandoost and Damian Arnold.