Dear Members of the Media
Please find attached a media release announcing the winner of the Accompanists’ Guild of South Australia’s 2010 The Geoffrey Parsons Award.
Earlier this evening (3 July), the Final of the Accompanists’ Guild of SA’s 25th Geoffrey Parsons Award, named in honour of Australia’s greatest accompanist, took place in Adelaide at the Elder Conservatorium of Music, The University of Adelaide.
The three Finalists competed for a cash pool of $4,000. They were selected from auditions earlier this week which included a performance of prepared works with their chosen associates, sight reading and a first rehearsal of the set work, Schubert’s Heimliches Lieben Op. 106, no. 1 with New Zealand tenor, Patrick Power.
The Final was judged by a panel, chaired by the Guild’s Pianist in Residence for the 2010 Festival of Accompanists, Opera Australia’s Assistant Director of Music, Anthony Legge. He was joined by leading SA pianists and educators, Stephen Whittington and Berenice Harrison.
In announcing the winners who are all graduands or students of the Elder Conservatorium of Music, Chairman of the Jury, Anthony Legge said, “In choosing the prize-winner it came down to key factors, the musician’s poetic ability and their future potential as a professional accompanist. In making the decision, the panel were in agreement that it was a very close competition.”
The 2010 winners were:
| FIRST PRIZE ($3,000) |
Karl Geiger | (Linden Park, SA) |
| SECOND PRIZE ($600) | Christopher Lian-Lloyd |
(Paradise, SA) |
| THIRD PRIZE ($400) | Andrew Georg | (Pt Pirie, SA |
2010 Geoffrey Parsons Award Prizewinner, Karl Geiger performed Britten’s On This Island with soprano, Desiree Frahn and Schumann’s Fantasiestücke with cellist, Ashleigh Geiger.
Karl Geiger is a graduate of the Elder Conservatorium of Music and The University of Melbourne where he studied piano with Monika Laczofy and Benjamin Martin. He has had extensive experience as a choral accompanist on both piano and organ. He is also an active vocal accompanist, Karl works as a repetiteur, studio/session rehearsal pianist and as a performance artist.
For further information, interviews and pics, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Kind regards
Chris Wainwright
Honorary Publicist
Accompanists’ Guild of SA
0438 829 728
A downloadable copy of this press release can be found here