Sarah Penicka-Smith
Sarah Penicka-Smith (Australia) gets kudos for her performance of the big duet that ends the first act of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly. Puccini is notoriously difficult to conduct because he raises rubato to a new level that gives the singers a .007 designation. Penicka-Smith allowed Palmertree and Vargas to go their own way and the result was a moving performance.'
Gregory Sullivan Isaacs, Hart Institute for Women Conductors at The Dallas Opera review, Theater Jones, November 2018
Penicka-Smith ... accompanied stylishly and sensitively in an aria from Vivaldi's Giustino and responded keenly to the twists and turns of a heartrending duet from Puccini's Madama Butterfly. Scott Cantrell, Hart Institute for Women Conductors at The Dallas Opera review,
Dallas News, November 2018 Versatile, perceptive, & a passionate advocate for music as a force for change, Sarah Penicka-Smith thrives working across genres & disciplines. She conducts opera, orchestras & choirs. Sarah's reputation stands on her work with some of Sydney's finest community choirs, but she has also founded or developed several grass-roots ensembles aimed at providing hard-to-find opportunities for musicians & music-lovers alike. Whether inspiring hundreds of singers in a choral workshop, or helping individual singers find their best voice in her home studio, Sarah's approach as a conductor & teacher is always collaborative, creative, & personalised.
RECENT PROJECTS
10 November 2019: Sarah was again the consultant & workshop conductor for ABC Sydney's Sing Out Sydney event, conducting 600 voices in the massed choir with Christine Anu's beautiful 'Kulba Yaday', as well as River City Voices' debut at the event with Lisa Young's 'Other Plans'. Listen here (RCV at 37 minutes; Kulba Yaday at the end). Photo: Georgia Moloney. 18 August 2019: River City Voices & Taikoz premiered new arrangements of Anime music by composers including Yoko Shimamura and Joe Hisaishi at Cumberland Council's annual Cherry Blossom Festival at the Auburn Botanic Gardens. Photo by Grant Leslie. 25-26 May 2019: Macquarie Singers tour to Young; 3 workshops & 1 concert with Hilltops Choir and Cowra Vocal Ensemble. Read the Booroowa News article. UPCOMING 'Starlit Christmas' with Macquarie Singers & Macquarie Chamber Orchestra. 3pm 7 December 2019, Turramurra Uniting Church. Handel's 'Messiah' with Susannah Lawergren, Alexandra Mathew, Damien Noyce, Warwick Fyfe, River City Voices & Orchestra. 7.30pm 17 December 2019, St Patrick's Cathedral, Parramatta. Willoughby Symphony Orchestra, 'Serendipity': Brahms, Farrenc, Debussy, and two world premieres, including composer-in-residence Alice Chance. 23, 24 May 2020, The Concourse, Sydney. Read about the launch of WSO's 2020 season. 'Global Momentum', GALA Choruses Festival 2020 Blockbuster Concert (co-producer & conductor). 7 July 2020, Minneapolis Convention Centre, Minneapolis, USA. |
CONDUCTING APPOINTMENTS
Artistic Director & Principal Conductor, River City Voices; Sydney, NSW, 2019-Present Principal Conductor, Macquarie Singers; Sydney, NSW, 2013-Present Conductor, Macquarie Chamber Orchestra; Sydney, NSW, 2019-Present Director of Music, St Andrew’s College, University of Sydney, NSW, 2011-Present Founding Artistic Director, Pacific Pride Choir; Sydney, NSW, 2016-Present Director of Music, St Andrew’s College at the University of Sydney; Sydney, NSW, 2011-Present Artistic Director, Opera Prometheus; Sydney, NSW, 2014-Present Participant Conductor, Hart Institute for Women Conductors, The Dallas Opera; Dallas, Texas, 2018 Conductor, Lifehouse Volunteer Orchestra; Sydney, NSW, 2018 Music Director, Sydney Gay & Lesbian Choir; Sydney, NSW, 2005-2017 Chorusmaster, Willoughby Symphony Choir; Sydney, NSW, 2010-2012 Assistant Chorusmaster, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs; Sydney, NSW, 2008-2009 GUEST CONDUCTOR
Penrith Symphony Orchestra; Sydney, NSW, 2017-2018 Camp Item Director/Vocal Ensemble Director, NSW Senior Music Camp, The Arts Unit, Dept of Education; Sydney, NSW, 2018 Ku-Ring-Gai Philharmonic Orchestra; Sydney, NSW, 2013, 2016 Opera Prometheus; Sydney, NSW, 2010-2011 The University of Sydney Intercollege Orchestra; Sydney, NSW, 2015 Thoroughbass; Sydney, NSW, 2013-2014 Willoughby Symphony Orchestra; Sydney, NSW, 2010, 2012 Sydney Chamber Orchestra/Ecole Ballet Studio; Sydney, NSW, 2005 Sydney University Symphony Orchestra; Sydney, NSW, 2001, 2004 OPERA
Campra, André - Tancrède, Opera Prometheus, 2010 Cummins, Luke - Timor, Opera Prometheus, 2015 Glass, Phillip - Akhnaten, Ondine Productions, 2013 Krasa, Hans - Brundibar, Joseph/Toltz/Sydney Jewish Museum/Opera Prometheus, 2014 Leon, Bernard - Monsoon, Opera Prometheus, 2015 Menotti, Giancarlo - The Medium, Opera Prometheus, 2015 Purcell, Henry - Dido & Aeneas, Macquarie Singers, 2017 Purcell, Henry - The Fairy Queen, Macquarie Singers, 2017; Sydney Gay & Lesbian Choir, 2009 Wallace, Steward/Korie, Michael - Harvey Milk, Left Bauer Productions, 2015 CLINICIAN/WORKSHOP PRESENTER
Sing Out Sydney, ABC Radio; Sydney, NSW, 2016-Present Hilltops Choir; Young, NSW, 2018-2019 Sydney Philharmonia Choirs; Sydney, NSW — 2017-2018 Cate Madill Voice & Speech; Sydney, NSW, 2017 Director, 61st Intervarsity Choral Festival; Canberra, ACT, 2010 Gay And Lesbian Singers; Auckland, New Zealand, 2007 REHEARSAL CONDUCTOR/CHORUSMASTER
Sydney Philharmonia Choirs; Sydney, NSW, 2005-Present Sydney Youth Orchestra; Sydney, NSW, 2018 59th Intervarsity Choral Festival; Sydney, NSW, 2008 EDUCATION & TRAINING
PhD, University of Sydney, 2011 BA/BMus (Hons), University of Sydney, 2005 Symphony Australia Conductor Development Program, 2012-2015 Mastercourses: Maestro Johannes Fritsch & the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra Maestri Johannes Fritsch, Marko Letonja, Christopher Seaman & the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra Maestro Asher Fisch & the West Australian Symphony Orchestra VIDEOS
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Header photo: Karen Almond