Black’s back with a bang

INTERNATIONALLY renowned baritone, Jeffrey Black, will perform with the Noosa Chorale as part of the Gala Concert on 18 and 19 October at The
J.
Black has starred on some of the world’s best concert platforms and major opera houses including La Scala Milan, London’s Covent Garden and the New York Met, and has embraced more than 100 different roles, singing with divas like Kiri Te Kanawa, Joan Sutherland, and Renee Fleming.
Asked if he had any operatic characters he liked playing, Black said his “calling card roles” were Figaro in The Barber of Seville and Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro.
“I’ve probably done about 20 performances of the Barber and about 140 of the count all over the world,” he said.
Having performed throughout the world, Black is now back in Brisbane where he has taken on the role of director of music at Brisbane’s Anglican Church Grammar School, the same school he attended as a boy.
“I was looking at doing other things in the arts’ field and when this opportunity came up it was too good not to put my hat in the ring,” he said.
“I was extremely fortunate with my time there as a schoolboy and a young man as the music experience I had led me into my career as a professional opera singer. Music can be a stimulating and masculine pursuit, but in an all-boys school it’s not an easy sell.
“I just feel I ought to at least give the young men the best opportunity I can.”
But Black said this didn’t mean his opera career is over, and is looking forward to performing with the Noosa Chorale at the Gala Concert later this month.
“Probably my favourite is the title role in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. I did it quite a lot in America and also in Sydney. I love the Russian modality, the harmonic language and also the character. He is quite fascinating. I had to learn the role in Russian and it took me a considerable amount of time to learn it,” he said.
Among the famous compositions Black will feature in are Verdi’s Requiem, Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana and Beethoven’s Choral Symphony (Ode to Joy).
The Brisbane-born opera singer will join three other guests as part of the choir’s 20th anniversary year show, the Noosa Chorale Gala Concert, at The J, Noosa Junction on 18 and 19 October.
Tickets are available now with tiered seating $38 or $35 for concession, and mezzanine seating is $30 per person. Phone 5329 6560 or visit www.thej.com.au to book.