The IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition (ASC) is considered the most prestigious competition in Australia and is now in its 40th year.
With the largest suite of prizes, awards, scholarships, educational opportunities, performance opportunities and grants on offer, it is highly competitive and a great accomplishment to progressing in the ASC.
23-year-old Jeremy Boulton, who has Greek Australian heritage, has progressed to the Finals of the IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition.
Boulton has music in his blood, with his grandfather, Anthimos Panagiotidis, an avid clarinet player, as his inspiration for studying and continuing the art of classical and opera music.
The 10 ASC Semi-Finalists after their Semi-Final performances at The Independent Theatre. Photo by Mark Sotheran (WinkiPop Media).
The ASC Heats were conducted around Australia in July. The National Adjudicator, highly acclaimed Counter-Tenor and Managing Director of Arts Management, Graham Pushee, with assistance from local Adjudicators, selected ten impressive young singers who competed at the Semi Finals Concert of the IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition on Sunday, August 28 at the Independent Theatre, North Sydney. All ten singers performed with collaborative artist, celebrated pianist Bradley Gilchrist.
At the end of the well-attended ASC Semi-Finals Concert, Mr Pushee, supported by his fellow Semi-Finals Adjudicators (Cheryl Barker AO, Brian Castles-Onion AM, Michael Halliwell, and Nöemi Terracini-Nadelmann) named the 2022 ASC Finalists: mezzo Kristin Astouroghlian (VIC), bass Jake Bigwood (WA), baritone Jeremy Boulton (NSW), soprano Billie Tumarkin (VIC), and soprano Younji Yi (NSW).
The 5 ASC Finalists, and National Adjudicator, Graham Pushee. Photo by Mark Sotheran (WinkiPop Media).
The IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition Finals Concert will take place on Saturday, October 1 starting at 7pm at the Concert Hall at The Concourse in Chatswood, NSW.
Each performer will sing two pieces accompanied by the incomparable Opera Australia Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Vladimir Fanshil. The Finals Concert will be recorded for broadcast on ABC Classic.
Generous arts philanthropist, Dr Haruhisa Handa, has sponsored the Orchestra at the Finals through his International Foundation for Arts and Culture since 1997.
The IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition is open to opera and classical singers under the age of 26, and offers a number of career-building awards making it Australasia’s premier competition. In 2022, entry age has been extended to 28 to accommodate the interruptions caused by Covid-19.
Former Victoria University (VU) Chancellor, George Pappas AO, received an Honorary Doctorate today to recognise his significant contributions to higher education, business, and philanthropy in Melbourne’s West and beyond.
Dr Pappas served as VU’s fourth Chancellor from 2010 to 2019, bringing to the University his vast business experience and networks, and a brilliant strategic mind.
He was a strong advocate of introducing the Australian-first VU Block Model of teaching and learning in 2018, and worked closely with then-Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Dawkins to ensure its proven success in increasing student success, retention and engagement.
As a migrant from the island of Rhodes in Greece who came to Australia with his family at age six in 1952, Dr Pappas displayed a strong belief in the power of education to transform the lives of students, especially those from diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds – many of whom were first in their families to go to university.
Dr Pappas and his wife Jill, are generous philanthropists and have contributed widely to VU scholarships for asylum seekers and First Nations students, and to VU’s work with AVID Australia, a whole-school improvement system that supports teachers and school leaders to raise the education outcomes of under-achieving students. They also contributed to VU research appeals and to VU’s 2016 Centenary Campaign, among many other causes.
After graduating with a Bachelor of Economics with First Class Honours from Monash University in 1968, and an MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School in 1971, Dr Pappas joined the international management consulting firm, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in the USA, before returning to Australia to co-found Pappas Carter Evans and Koop (PCEK).
It became the country’s leading management consultancy before it was eventually acquired by BCG, where Dr Pappas remained as a member of its worldwide Executive Committee.
Dr Pappas undertook a range of State and Federal Government assignments after retiring from consulting in 2002, which included serving as Under Secretary of the Victorian Premier’s Department from 2003 to 2005, and leading an audit of the Federal Defence Budget in 2008.
He was appointed Chairman of the Committee for Melbourne in 2005, leading its efforts to support new and innovative industries, and promote Melbourne as a centre for higher education and biotechnology.
His role as a board member spanned bodies in government, medical research and sport — and included service to his beloved Western Bulldogs Football Club from 2001 to 2013, where he was made a life member. Dr Pappas received the Order of Australia (AO) in 2016 for such wide-ranging and highly successful contributions, and for the strong commitment and dedication to all he does – which continues to be highly valued by Victoria University.
Films or movies serve as entertainment, as escapism and as art – hopefully encompassing all of these aspects. Films as art can get tricky. What is an ‘art’ film, which is more often than not an independent (indie) film?
These are among the many themes clarified in my interview with the independent film maker of Greek-Australian origin, Mr Bill Mousoulis. Now 59 years of age, Bill has been making movies since he was 19.
From short films on his hand-held film camera, to feature films, to films in Australia and even films in Greece, Bill Mousoulis’ filmography incorporates over 100 diverse movies. With mainly non professional actors, he has written, directed, edited, funded and self promoted almost all of his films.
One of his feature films, ‘A Nocturne’ (2007), for which he won the Best Film award at the Melbourne Underground film festival – led him to be invited to European film festivals for screenings. This included Athens in 2008.
I asked him why as a Greek Australian he hadn’t considered visiting Greece before 2008 (when he was 45 years of age)? He tells me that he was so preoccupied with his filmmaking passion in Australia, that he just didn’t have the time.
“Although I was contacted by the Athens Film Festival regarding my three (Australian) feature film ‘My Blessings’ in 1997 to go there. But, being an independent filmmaker, I didn’t have enough money to be able to make a second copy of the film (pre advanced technology) and send it to them,” he laughs.
A scene from ‘My Blessings’
I ask Bill, how could a budding filmmaker make a film now, on hardly any money?
“Well nowadays, you can make them on your phone, because film has become so expensive, and phone cameras are good. Just film around your reality. For example, my first films were shorts, where my cousins were the actors!” he says.
He also advises: “Unfortunately many think more about awards and their profile, but start first with the joy of making art, and when you’ve made something you like – enter it in film festivals, but also stream your film online!”
“Everyone tends to think primarily in money terms more these days. They’re not as independent, due to social structures; a deeply entrenched capitalism. For example in the 80’s there were film co-ops where people worked together for the love of the art predominantly. Now it’s changed and is mainly big money oriented to mainstream films, where artistic integrity usually suffers in the process.”
After having watched quite a few of Bill Mousoulis’ films, I am in awe of his creativity and artistry, but also of a professional path whereby he seems to innately stay true to himself and to his humanistic values. I ask him which films inspired him as a child, and to my surprise he tells me:
“I was never really into movies until I was 19. My mum would take me as a kid to see Disney movies on school holidays at the pictures, and I enjoyed that. I also later appreciated Spielberg and Hitchcock movies for example, in their staging and editing, but it was at 19 that I discovered European Cinema, and then I decided I was going to be a film-maker,” he says.
Bill goes on to mention Rossellini and Godard and the French New Wave of films as really inspiring him as a true art form – in their creativity and social realism.
“Compared to mainstream films, I was in awe of their deep humanism and more complex artistry in regards to life’s injustices. I also found this sentiment in Greece, more so than Australia and so I spent quite a bit of time there, interspersed between 2008-2017,” he explains.
The main character in ‘Wild and Precious’
He made two feature films in Greece: ‘Wild and Precious’ (2012) – about an expat filmmaker in Greece, who had to often leave his wife and child behind to follow his creative passion, including working as a documentary of the Greek economic crisis for an Australian journalist in Athens. The film has a semi-documentary as well as a dramatic style, testament to Bill Mousoulis’ eclectic, individual approach which varies in each film.
“Actors Jennifer Levy and Alessandro Figurelli with Bill Mousoulis, shooting Wild and Precious”.
His other Greek feature film, ‘Songs of Revolution’ (2017) – with English subtitles, shows a sub culture of musicians who are politicised due to the socioeconomic context of their lives in modern Greece, and use their music as an artistic outlet. Bill tells me that he met most of the film’s participants in cafes in central Athens and was impressed by their talent and radical, philosophical voices.
He also made a shorter version of the same film – ‘Songs of the Underground’ which is condensed but just as moving and entertaining.
Musicians Antouan Parinis and Dimitris Poulikakos in ‘Songs of Revolution’
Bill is now working on his film in Australia, titled ‘My Darling in Stirling,’ which he tells me is a musical, and that the ‘Stirling’ part is related to the name of a place in Australia in the Adelaide Hills. “It should be out mid next year” he says.
As to Greece beckoning: “I plan on going next year with my wife, but I don’t have any plans for making another film there.”
In closing, I ask Bill what he hopes to convey to the audiences of his films, within his own passion for film-making as a creative outlet.
“I want to convey an appreciation and wonder of life and its mystery and complexity. I want to show that people can own their own lives and be fulfilled, and be fair and connected to others. I’ve always been a realist and thus express and capture life; this helps people have a connection. I want to provide a little sense of something real and valuable. To have done some good in the world,” he concludes.
Bill Mousoulis: An admirably talented artist, and an admirable Greek-Australian and human being with integrity.
You can find out more about Bill Mousoulis and his films, as well as watch them through his website www.innersense.com.au including watching each of his films on Vimeo for free.
This September, host of Gardening Australia and Landcare champion Costa Georgiadis is joining forces with Junior Landcare to ask Aussie kids ‘What’s in your backyard?’
Junior Landcare understands that children can’t be involved in caring for the environment if they don’t love it – and one way to do this is for children to get their hands and feet in it. Throughout National Biodiversity Month and the school holidays, children are encouraged to grab a camera, or use a mobile phone camera, to capture photos of the flora and fauna in their backyard, and then share them with Costa and Junior Landcare, explaining why their backyard is important to them.
“We’re calling on all Aussie kids to get outside and explore their local environment,” says Costa. “Your backyard might be a garden. If you live in an apartment, your garden could be plants on your balcony. You may live near a park or bushland area, or a river or wetland. You may live on the coast close to the sea, or on a farm – these could all be your backyard!”
Children (via their parents, carers and educators) can submit photos to the Junior Landcare website, under one of four themes including biodiversity, food production, First Nations perspectives and waste management, to be in the running to win one of nine cameras (RRP $250), book hampers and other great prizes. One school or youth group will also win a visit from Costa to check out their environmental projects.
Joining Costa as a campaign supporter and host of Channel 10’s The Living Room, Barry Du Bois, says that he wants his ten-year-old twins, Bennett and Arabella, to experience the same sense of wonder around nature that he had when he was young.
“As a young boy, I loved exploring the creeks, beaches, animals and secret hiding spots in my own backyard, and I want that for Bennett and Arabella. There’s something magical about nature, and the ‘What’s in your Backyard’ campaign will help kids to find that magic in their own backyards.”
‘What’s in your backyard?’ is a key activity of Junior Landcare’s Learning Centre. The online platform features fun, easy-to-use learning activities developed by education professionals to help children be aware, empowered and active in caring for their local environment.
The resources have all been designed to help children build knowledge and deeper connections to biodiversity, where their food comes from, recycling and waste management, and First Nations perspectives.
This year, together with First Nations educator, Wiradjuri man Adam Shipp, 10 new First Nations learning activities have been developed by Landcare Australia to teach children and educators about how to have a connection to Country.
“Young people play a vital role in caring for our environment, which needs all the help it can get! Junior Landcare gives children – no matter where they are across the country – the opportunity to understand nature, connect with it and take action to protect the world around them. With Junior Landcare, we are educating the next generation of Landcarers – and this starts with parents, carers and educators encouraging simple moments outdoors,” says Costa.
The ‘What’s in your backyard’ campaign opens on 6th September, as part of National Biodiversity Month, and closes on 31st October, so grab a camera, get outside, and snap photos of the flora and fauna in your backyard to share with Costa and Junior Landcare. Find out more atwww.juniorlandcare.org.au/WIYBY.
About Junior Landcare:
Junior Landcare provides children the opportunity to play an active role in ensuring the safe future of their environment. Activities in the Junior Landcare program helps young Australians to develop skills, share knowledge, create experiences and foster connections with place and community. Junior Landcare encourages continuous participation from childhood to adulthood so that the children of today, become the Landcarers of the future.
The City of Sydney has approved the redevelopment of the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation of Our Lady in Redfern, Sydney, Architecture AU has reported.
The church filed a development application with the City of Sydney almost two years ago and it has now been approved, having undergone negotiations with the Heritage Office and Transport for NSW.
The cathedral itself is recognised as the centre of Greek Orthodoxy in Australia and has been heritage listed.
The redevelopment, which is worth an estimated $27.5 million, has been designed by Candalepas Associates and will focus on the conservation of the 173-year-old church, the demolition of the existing theological building and the construction of two three-storey buildings.
Render of the redeveloped Cathedral of the Annunciation of Our Lady. Photo: Candalepas Associates
It will see the inclusion of a new wing of accommodation and offices in the St Andrew’s Theological College, a great hall building to receive international guests, and a museum to keep and showcase important artefacts of religious value that have been collected and gifted over the last century.
According to Architecture AU, the works will incorporate the characteristics of Orthodox architecture, including the use of domes.
In a statement last year, Nicholas Pappas, the Honorary Secretary and Trustee of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia Consolidated Trust, said the redevelopment was “necessary not only to repair ageing and deteriorating infrastructure of the Archdiocese, but will also improve functionality and ensure the Archdiocese’s facilities meet the needs of our community.”
After 37 years, the Conos family is saying goodbye to the seven-storey Swanston House on Swanston Street in Melbourne’s CBD.
This piece of historical real estate is one of only a handful of properties that has changed hands on the strip in the past 10 years, with some properties having been in the same family since the 20’s and 30’s.
Built in 1922, Swanston House was designed by one of the city’s most active architects, Nahum Barnet.
The Conos family’s father Theo Conos and grandfather Michael Economides helped transform Melbourne during the 20th century, and are known as pioneers of the Greek cafes and restaurants in the city and suburbs.
163 Swanston Street will go to auction on October 21 by Alexander Robertson’s Kristian Peatling and Warwick Bramich, along with Collier’s Oliver Hay, Daniel Wolman and Leon Ma, with current pricing for the building between $15 and $20 million.
Alex Epakis has a distinct coaching style for the Perth Glory FC women’s team. He transmits his philosophy and technique to the female players, making him a huge asset to the Australian team and football.
The Greek Herald spoke with Alex to hear all about how he became interested in football and what his plans are for the women’s team at Perth Glory.
How did you get started in football?
I started really late in football because I played rugby league until about the age of 12. I started playing football at school from the age of 13 onwards and I was better at it then rugby. So I stopped rugby league and went into football and started playing in the NSW National Premier Leagues (NPL). I played NPL for the juniors team at Sydney University and also at the University of New South Wales. But then, to be honest, probably when I was 21-22 years old I decided I wanted to stop playing.
What made you move into coaching?
I had to realise that I wasn’t going to make it as a player. I was a good player, but I wasn’t a great player. So I thought to myself, ‘how else can I be professionally involved in the sport?’
Even now that I’m 31, I could play and I miss playing. But not to the point where I feel I made the wrong decision. I made the best decision I might have at the time.
I started the Eastern Suburbs Football Association and I was there for several years. I love the feel of coaching and also the impact I can have as a coach. So it started to become more of a career then a hobby.
After playing with the Hurstville City Minotaurs FC, where did you go?
I went to Sydney FC and worked in the youth academy there for two years. For me, this was a fantastic opportunity to work at a professional club full-time. But what I found at the time was that there was a difference between training adults and training young people. From this experience I realised that I wanted to be a senior coach of women at the University of Sydney in the NPL from 2018-2020.
It was a great three years. Everything was perfect. But I also knew that the end had come. I needed something different. I needed a break. I wanted to explore other opportunities.
What happened next?
I made the decision to leave the club after we lost the grand final, but the decision had already been communicated halfway through the season to the club. I was following my progress in women’s football and something happened at Perth Glory’s women’s team at the last minute where they needed a new coach.
They asked if I was interested and the next thing I know I’m moving to Perth. Once I was at Perth Glory, we had to work really hard to build a team. The first season was tough. We came back and developed a plan with the club for the second season with new recruitments, with training, with everything.
We did a lot of research and I said I believe that if we make these decisions and put them into practice, we can turn it around. The club have been very respectful of my ideas and supported me.
We made a lot of changes and brought in a lot of players and last year, we finished fifth and missed out by just a goal difference from making it into the finals. But within that you also have to understand that we only played one home game because we took the whole team to Sydney for three months and lived in a hotel.
Is there a difference in training for men and women?
I think there’s a difference in coaching any team, whether it’s two different teams, or a men’s team and a women’s team, or a young men’s team to an older men’s team. There are differences based on the people you work with.
A good and effective coach should be able to switch and move between all types of training, whether it’s male or female. I never wake up and say I’m a women’s soccer coach. I never wake up and say I’m a men’s soccer coach. What I’m saying is that I’m just a professional coach who wants to be the best I can be.
Why did you choose a women’s team?
I’m very fortunate with the opportunities I’ve been given so far in the women’s game and I really believe that I’m making a little positive impact and I’m enjoying being involved in the women’s game. As my coaching journey continues, I want to keep all avenues open to where coaching may take me. I don’t settle for one or the other.
What do you see for the future of women’s football?
I think it’s an amazing time to be a part of women’s football. As I said, I mostly play a small role in it. But it is moving at a very fast pace, especially in Australia. We are developing some very good players. You know, some of our best players in the national team play for some of the best teams.
We also have the Women’s World Cup in 12 months. The Women’s League is expanding. There are so many positive things happening in the game and I’m happy to play a small part in helping it continue to grow.
The Greek Community of Melbourne, the Greek-Australian Cultural League, and the Hellenic Writers’ Association of Australia, are organising the Greek Book Fair 2022, on 26 – 27 November 2022, 11 am-5 pm, at the Greek Center (Mezzanine, 168 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne).
The purpose is to allow Greek-Australian writers, bookshops, and publishers to present and sell their books to the Greek community and the broader public. The Greek Book Fair 2022 program includes casual talks, panel discussions, social book launches, book signings, and more.
We invite you to participate in the Greek Book Fair 2022 by booking an individual or shared stall for free, talking about your work, or launching and selling your book/s. Writer’s talks and book launches will be every hour. Live online broadcasting is scheduled through Facebook and YouTube.
If you are interested to participate in the Book Fair 2022 please complete this form: https://bit.ly/3AgTWvq.
If you are interested in participating in the Greek Book Fair 2022, or if you require any further information, please contact us at 9662 2722 or by email: info@greekcommunity.com.au.
The trading time for seafood sales has just been taken to new depths with the introduction of new online platform, SFMBlue, essentially eliminating the confines of the 5:30am auction held every weekday and enabling buyers and sellers to trade at any time.
Chief Executive of Sydney Fish Market, Greg Dyer, says that the new trading platform, which goes live on Monday, could potentially double the $165 million annual sales figures in the marketplace.
“We turn over around $165 million and 13,000 tonnes of product each year… It’s our ambition to double that over a period of time by way of SFMBlue, but we’re not imagining that’s going to happen overnight,” Mr Dyer told The Australian Financial Review.
“This is something we are committed to for the longer term.”
Former restaurateur and founder of ShoreTrade, Peter Manettas, said that the platform will move the functions of the antiquated seafood industry into the digital age.
“Those kinds of new features integrated with the Sydney Fish Market’s traditional auction processes and being able to sell the product while it’s on its way to auction, really create transparency in what’s been such a closed-door industry for quite a period of time,” Mr Manettas said.
“Creating a more transparent environment and marketplace will allow for growth of price point and hopefully create more sustainable ecosystems in fishing communities.”
The Greek Community of Melbourne (GCM) will embark on a ‘Storytelling’ project in which a series of events will be curated and staged celebrating the art and discipline of storytelling whilst celebrating Greek and Greek Australian artists, writers, and storytellers.
The project will take many forms and look to celebrate acclaimed works and emerging artists. It will speak to a diverse catalogue of content and present to audiences young and old.
The events will traverse through different themes including identity, finding your own creativity, broadening your internal values and integrity. These broad themes will be a celebration on how diverse and vast the art of storytelling can be.
The project kicks off with Ακούω, Παίζω… Δημιουργώ, on 22, 27 and 29 September which is aimed at children and will see the GCM’s School Teachers facilitating the engagement of young storytellers. At this event, the children will participate in activities centered around storytelling and will work on creating and presenting their own stories with the help of their friends and teachers.
On Friday 30 September the GCM presents the Live Radio Play read of Demetra Giannakopoulos’ Coming Out for Christmas at The Greek Centre. The show, which will feature a cast of 5 actors reading the accompanied by music and sound, is a dramedy about family, community, and living your truth.
Storytelling is presented as part of the GCM’s Cultural Programs and is supported by the Greek Quarter.
