Introducing Sara Macliver & Russell Harcourt
Get to know the guest artists for our second 2021 concert series, Higher Angels.
Hold on to your heart in 2021 when these two friends of the Brandenburg return.
The close connection of the sublime soprano and the emotional countertenor is what makes their pairing in our 2021 Series 2 concerts, Higher Angels, so alluring. To bring these distinctively different yet connected voices together, Artistic Director Paul Dyer AO has invited two performers at the height of their craft to perform with the Brandenburg; soprano Sara Macliver and countertenor Russell Harcourt.
A regular performer with all Australian symphony orchestras, The Australian Chamber Orchestra, a frequent performer with Melbourne and Sydney Festivals and with more than 35 CDs and many awards to her credit, Sara Macliver is one of Australia’s most popular and versatile artists.
Sara’s history with the Brandenburg stretches back as early as 1996, when she performed with us for Diana, Princess of Wales. Sara also performed at the very first Brandenburg Christmas concert as a guest soprano in 1999. The concert, called A Brandenburg Christmas at the time, has now become our extremely popular Noël! Noël! series in which she performed for us again in 2000.
Listen to Sara Macliver on the Brandenburg album If Love's A Sweet Passion
A graduate of both the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and the Royal Academy of Music, Russell Harcourt’s career has seen him perform in many of the world’s great opera houses. He made his operatic début in 2007 as Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, making a Royal Opera House début only 3 years later performing in the Crush Room, as part of the Deloitte Ignite 2010 series. Recent engagements have seen Russell perform all over the UK and Australia, receiving accolades including a Helpmann Award nomination as Best Male Performer in a Supporting Role in opera.
You can watch Russell perform arias by Handel, Vivaldi and Porpora on Brandenburg One here.
Combined these two performers will share the stage in a shimmering exposition of Baroque arias and duets. We could not be more excited for them to perform for you at the upcoming Higher Angels concert.