Thursday 4 April 2013

PARCHED MARCH WRAPS UP AT IVY...



Parched March, Sydney's month-long bar odyssey, has wrapped up for 2013 by throwing a huge VIP media and celebrity event at The Lawn, Ivy last night.

The rain didn’t deter guests from gathering on the second level of Ivy to enjoy delicious cocktails by Suntory, wines from Wild Oats and canapés. Founder of Parched March, Amy Cooper, gave a heartfelt speech thanking everyone involved before Simon Mercier, owner of participating Parched March venue Name This Bar, jumped on stage to auction off artworks created as part of Parched March. The Parched March PUP UP dog statues sold for a combined $2000, Merivale’s Justin Hemmes generously bought the Mambo Surfboard for $1500, Nacho Pop’s ‘Elephant’ artwork sold for $450 and Wade Osborne from band Amy Meredith sold his ‘Doggie Style’ artwork for $250, all money raised was donated to Animal Welfare League NSW.

Swing dancers graced the stage and got everyone doing the ‘twist’ before SYP, the Australian Psy impersonator, did an impromptu performance of Gangnam Style which got everyone jumping up and down!

The event was a media and celebrity frenzy, with guests including Dr Katrina Warren (celebrity TV vet), SYP (Australian Psy impersonator), Rex Lee (American actor from Entourage), Lynette Bolton (WAG Nation TV star and married to Sydney Swans player Jude Bolton), Amy Meredith (3-time ARIA-nominated Australian band), Hayley Jensen (former Australian Idol contestant), Annalise Braackensiek (TV presenter and model) and even our own Parched March furry brand ambassador Fashion Dog.

More than 60 Sydney bars mixed up special cocktails throughout the month of March, including Bondi Hardware, The Botanist, Gazebo Wine Garden, Hugo’s, Palmer & Co, Méjico, LL Wine & Dine and many more. The annual Good Times for a Good Cause has been the biggest year yet with over $40,000 raised in total over the month, a new record and double of what Parched March raised last year.

“Parched March helps raise money for Animal Welfare League NSW (AWL) by encouraging people to enjoy our city’s bars responsibly. It proves that doing good doesn’t always mean depriving yourself,” says Parched March Director Amy Cooper.

"It's now become a much-anticipated event on the Sydney social calendar, bringing friends and colleagues together as well as showcasing this city's brilliant bar culture."

In 2013 Parched March put on a number of unique challenges and events, with highlights including:

The Parched March PUP-UP – Throughout the month of March specially commissioned papier mache dogs were decorated by Mambo artists, Jamie Durie and other celebrities, and appeared in participating venues. The unique artworks were auctioned off at the launch.

March 10th 2013: Pets at the Pub – at The Alexandria Hotel. Was a pet-friendly afternoon in Sydney’s biggest beer garden with interactive entertainment and celebrity appearances.

March 17th 2013: Pets at the Pub - Lord Dudley Hotel, Woollahra. Held a Best in Show dog contest, fun, prizes and special appearance from Dr Katrina Warren at the lovely English-style pub.

March 21st 2013: MR CBD, at Ananas at The Rocks turned up the heat in town, with a beauty parade and auction of the hottest male city workers. Brings new meaning to sex and the city! We have now crowned our very first Mr CBD for 2013, Angelo Bourras.

March 22nd 2013: Furry Friday Rescue Challenge - The fast-paced treasure hunt through participating CBD Parched March bars will saw teams following clues to find the Pup-Up dogs.

April 3rd 2013: The Wrap Party – The invite-only bash was the culmination of the month.

In the name of furry, charitable fun, Parched March 2013 has been the biggest celebration yet of Sydney’s top-notch bar culture.  We'll drink to that!

To find out more about Parched March, visit www.parchedmarch.com

About Parched March:

Parched March was born in 2010 and is all about Good Times for a Good Cause. Founder Amy Cooper created the campaign as a fun alternative to dry campaigns such as FebFast and Ocsober. It celebrates sensible drinking and Sydney’s fabulous array of world-class bars www.parchedmarch.com


About Animal Welfare League NSW:

Reliant on donations, Animal Welfare League NSW (AWL) is a dynamic and high impact organisation, working to save and improve the lives of pets that have been surrendered, neglected or abandoned.

AWL protects animals through regulatory work with various Government bodies and helps to enforce legislation with a team of Inspectors who are on the ground every day.

For pets in need, AWL provides customized care through a foster care and branch network, three shelters and veterinary hospital, working to find loving forever homes for animals in their care.





Websites

Parched March

Animal Welfare League NSW

The Ivy


Sydney Opera House & Melbourne Recital Centre present Mahler Chamber Orchestra



One of the world’s best chamber orchestras to visit Australia for the first time "The orchestra sounded superb, light and robust, graceful and full." New York Sun "The plaintive warmth of the string playing was beyond belief." New York Times Sydney Opera House and Melbourne Recital Centre today announced the premiere visit to Australia of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra (MCO). Regarded as one of the most artistically interesting and successful ensembles on the international classical music scene, the MCO gives two performances at Sydney Opera House on 10 and 11 June followed by two performances at Melbourne Recital Centre on 12 and 13 June.


When the MCO made its debut at the Teatro Real in Madrid in 2008 Le Monde called it “the
best orchestra in the world.” The MCO is a travelling orchestra with 45 core members from
20 different countries including one Australian, Kirsty Hilton. The MCO is on the move for
approximately 200 days each year and in 2012/13 will perform in 13 countries with
performances in major musical centres as well as exclusive festivals from the North Pole to
the Red Sea. The MCO has been recognised as an official European Cultural Ambassador
for the years 2011 to 2013.


The ensemble's flexible structure makes it possible for them to perform a very wide range of
repertoire, including everything from chamber music to large symphonies and operas, from
baroque to world premieres of contemporary works.


The Orchestra’s name refers to their roots in the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra. Alongside
founder, Claudio Abbado, Daniel Harding is the conductor who has played the most
significant role in the Orchestra’s history. In the summer of 2011 the musicians voted
unanimously to give Harding the permanent title of Conductor Laureate. As the protégé of
Sir Simon Rattle, Daniel Harding will be making his Sydney debut with the Orchestra on this
tour.


The first performance of the Sydney season features internationally renowned violinist
Christian Tetzlaff, who was recently profiled in The New Yorker and who has been described
by The Guardian as a performer “…few can equal today.” Teztlaff performs the virtuosic
Beethoven Violin Concerto on a bill including Australian composer Brett Dean and
Schumann’s Symphony No. 3, Rhenish. The second performance of the Orchestra in
Sydney features American star cellist Alisa Weilerstein whose playing has captivated
everyone from Daniel Barenboim to local audiences with some of the “most technically
complete and emotionally devastating” playing to be heard on the international stage.
Weilerstein performs the Shostakovich Cello Concerto No.1and the program concludes with
the Orchestra’s thrilling interpretation of Dvorak Symphony No. 9 From the New World.


Program
Beethoven’s Violin Concerto
(Sydney, Monday 10 June & Melbourne Thursday 13 June)
DEAN Testament
BEETHOVEN Violin Concerto
SCHUMANN Symphony No.3 Rhenish
Composers like Beethoven and Schumann are the foundation of the Mahler Chamber
Orchestra’s repertoire, the gold standard of an orchestra’s prowess. Christian Tetzlaff and
his ventriloquist’s skill for letting a composer speak through his playing will make this
performance of Beethoven’s concerto unforgettable. Under the baton of conductors like
Daniel Harding, Schumann’s symphonies are at last being heard for the works of genius they
are. The Rhenish is full of high-spirits, high ideals – the work of a Romantic visionary in love
with nature and with life.


Shostakovich and Dvorák
(Sydney Tuesday 11 June & Melbourne Wednesday 12 June)
HENZE Sonata for strings
SHOSTAKOVICH Cello Concerto No.1, Op.107
DVORÁK Symphony No.9 From the New World
Shostakovich’s white-knuckle cello concerto is the ideal vehicle for Alisa Weilerstein, whose
intense and dramatic reading of this work has a devastating power. Shostakovich is
emblematic of the bitter facts of Soviet Russian life but Dvorák’s Symphony No.9 is the
optimistic opposite, born in a new world. This portrait of the golden age of 19th-Century
America was premiered, aptly, in Carnegie Hall. Both are ideal showcases for the brilliant
Mahler Chamber Orchestra.


Where: Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House
When: 10 & 11 June 2013
Time: 7pm
Tickets: 49 (transaction fees apply)
Bookings: sydneyoperahouse.com / 02 9250 7777
Where: Melbourne Recital Centre
When: 12 & 13 June 2013
Time: 7.30pm
Tickets: from $49 (transaction fees apply)
Bookings: melbournerecital.com.au / 03 9699 3333







Lennard Promotions Presents: An Evening with Todd Rundgren




Lennard Promotions present a musical evening spanning four decades of hits with legendary musician, songwriter, producer and musical visionary Todd Rundgren.

A Wizard, A True Star. The title of Todd Rundgren's 1973 solo album aptly sums up the contributions of this multi-faceted artist to state-of-the-art music. As a songwriter, video pioneer, producer, recording artist, computer software developer, conceptualist, and, most recently, interactive artist, Rundgren has made a lasting impact on both the form and content of popular music. This July Todd and his amazing band which includes keyboard master John Ferenzik (Jefferson Starship, Todd Rundgren), guitarist and former Guitar Player Magazine editor Jesse Gress, drummer Prarie Prince (The New Cars, The Tubes, Jefferson Starship) and on bass Kasim Sultan (Blue Oyster Cult, The New Cars, Utopia), will bring to life 40 years of amazing music to Australian audiences.

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Rundgren began playing guitar as a teenager, going on to found and front The Nazz, the quintessential `60's cult group. In 1969, he left the band to pursue a solo career, recording his debut offering, the legendary Runt. But it was 1972's seminal Something/Anything?, on which he played all the instruments, sang all the vocal parts, and acted as his own producer, that catapulted Todd into the superstar limelight, prompting the press to unanimously dub him 'Rock's New Wunderkind'. It was followed by such landmark LPs as The Hermit of Mink Hollow and the above mentioned A Wizard, A True Star, as well as such hit singles as I Saw The Light, Hello It's Me, Can We Still Be Friends, and Bang The Drum.

In 1974, Todd formed Utopia, an entirely new approach to the concept of interactive musicianship, and embarked on an extensive round of touring and recording. Standout Utopia offerings included Oops! Wrong Planet, Adventures in Utopia, and Oblivion. Along the way, Utopia combined technical virtuosity and creative passion to create music that, for millions, defined the term "progressive rock."

Rundgren's myriad production projects include albums by Patti Smith, Cheap Trick, Psychedelic Furs, Meatloaf, XTC, Grand Funk Railroad, and Hall And Oates. Rounding out his reputation as rock's Renaissance Man, Rundgren composed all the music and lyrics for Joe Papp's 1989 Off-Broadway production of Joe Orton's Up Against It (the screenplay commissioned by The Beatles for what was meant to have been their third motion picture).

Early last year Rundgren performed his iconic 1973 album A Wizard A True Star in concert in its entirety for the first time ever, and recently did the same with a double bill: Todd & Healing. His latest two studio albums Todd Rundgren’s Johnson, a collection of classic Robert Johnson songs, and reProduction, covers of songs Todd has produced for other artists. This summer he toured with Ringo Starr (for the third time).

Todd Rundgren will release his new studio album State on the Esoteric Antenna label via Cherry Red in May, 2013.State is Rundgren's 24th solo studio album (and that's not including the two albums he recorded with his first band The Nazz, and the nine albums he recorded with his band Utopia). Todd's latest musical vision is a fusion of rock, soul, r'n'b and electronica that is at once danceable, ground-breaking, spiritual, challenging and infectious.


Lennard Promotions Present
An Evening With Todd Rundgren
Tickets on sale 12th of April 2013

17TH. JULY THE GOV, ADELAIDE
Tickets via Moshtix on 1300 438849 or venue box office 8340 0744
19TH. JULY CHELSEA HEIGHTS HOTEL, CHELSEA HEIGHTS
Tickets via Ticketmaster on 136100 or venue box office on 9773 4453
20TH. JULY FERNTREE GULLY HOTEL, FERNTREE GULLY
Tickets via Ticketmaster on 136 100 or venue box office on 9758 6544
21ST. JULY CORNER HOTEL, MELBOURNE
Tickets via venue box office on 9427 9198
23RD. JULY LIZOTTES, NEWCASTLE
Tickets via venue box office on 4956 2066
25TH. JULY BRIDGE HOTEL, BALMAIN
Tickets via moshtix on 1300 438 849 or venue box office on 9810 1260
26TH. JULY WHITLAM THEATRE, REVESBY WORKERS, SYDNEY
Tickets via venue box office on 9772 2100 or via www.rwc.org.au
27TH. JULY TWIN TOWNS SERVICES CLUB, TWEED HEADS.
Tickets via venue box office on 1800 014 014


For tour information visit: