Newcastle Music Festival presents: Ben Mingay and Friends
Portrait of Ben smiling
Star of opera, stage and screen, Newcastle's own Ben Mingay joins Heather Price and Sue Carson, and associate artist Bev Kennedy, for a delightful evening of song and fun.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Ben Mingay was originally a construction worker from Newcastle who was dared to audition for the Conservatorium of Music by his mates, where he won a scholarship and went on to train in Opera Voice. Ben’s operatic success has seen him taking lead roles with Opera Australia, including Papageno in The Magic Flute, in February this year. Stage roles include: Shrek in Shrek the Musical; Sweeney Todd in Sweeney Todd; Billy Bigelow in Carousel; The Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera; Zack Mayo in An Officer and a Gentleman; Tommy De Vito in Jersey Boys; Billy Kostecki in Dirty Dancing and Berger in Hair. Ben is also a member of the hit singing group Swing On This. Screen roles include: Jim in Frayed; Flip Menelaus in The Twelve; Jim Delaney in Amazing Grace; Alan Bond in House of Bond; Grease Nolan in Hacksaw Ridge; Trystan Powell in Home and Away; Rob Duffy in Wonderland and Buzz Graham in Packed to the Rafters.
Heather Price, the daughter of opera singer, Jennifer Barnes, and jazz musician, Rod Barnes, was surrounded by music from birth. Heather mixes the clarity and accuracy of classical with the intricacies of jazz, tipping her hat to the great Ella Fitzgerald as a huge influence as well. Interested in all styles of music, Heather completed a Bachelor of Music degree on Double Bass (1999–2002) and went on to perform with the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra Victoria. Heather has also performed as both bass player and singer in various contemporary Australian acts, including
Sue Carson is a classically trained multi-genre singer and violinist who has performed as a professional musician for over 30 years, in genres including opera, musical theatre, pop, rock, country, folk, bluegrass, and jazz. She is a musical whirlwind, a musical explorer and a musical all-rounder. Sue is known for her exquisite coloratura soprano performances including Mozart’s “Queen of the Night” in The Magic Flute, her music theatre roles as “Mrs Lovett” in Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, “Carrie” in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel and for her band work with Sligo Maid, Love That Hat and the multi award-winning, Golden Guitar nominated Bob Corbett and the Roo Grass Band.
Bev Kennedy is regarded as one of Australia’s leading musical directors & accompanists, having worked on over 50 professional music theatre productions, including Billy Elliot, Mamma Mia!, The Producers, We Will Rock You, The Lion King, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Chicago, and the concert version of Sunset Boulevard with Judi Conelli. Bev was Associate Musical Director for Simon Gallaher’s Pirates of Penzance, which is the highest selling recording of a musical in Australian history and also won an Aria award for best soundtrack. Most recently Bev has been working on the shows Muriel’s Wedding, Heathers, Jersey Boys, Wicked and was Musical Director on Ave Q.
Event Information
- Date: Saturday 10 August 2024 from 7:30pm - 9:00pm
- Location: Newcastle Conservatorium of Music, Cnr Laman & Auckland st, Newcastle, 2300
The University of Newcastle acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands within our footprint areas: Awabakal, Darkinjung, Biripai, Worimi, Wonnarua, and Eora Nations. We also pay respect to the wisdom of our Elders past and present.