Join Fleur Millar - Soprano, Thompson Quan Wing - Tenor, The Manning Clark Chamber Singers and Pianist Sam Row, for a delightful lunch time Salon style concert, celebrating feminine identity chamber style - the music of friends. 

With music and scenes evoking a feminine sensibility and some of the great heroines of opera, classic favourites include: arias and duets from La Traviata; Offenbach's Barcarolle; Schubert's Serenade; the main theme from Pride and Prejudice; the Shostakovich Waltz No 2, music from HMS Pinafore and a taste of the NLA chamber music collections.

The delightful flow through narrative illuminates some of the great feminine voices of history, drawing inspiration from French post structural philosophy, and includes a slide show of photographs evoking our theme, with work from Max Dupain and other treasures from the NLAs collection. We'd love you to join us in this musical celebration of the simple gifts of life.

Fleur Celia Millar - Soprano, Director

Fleur holds a Bachelor of Music, Performance Voice, Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne; Bachelor of Arts, Drama, Art History, ANU; Grad Dip Humanities, University of La Trobe and a Certificate Four in Training and Assessment from CIT and post graduate vocal training in London with Professor Raymond Connell. Singing teaching positions include; Vocal Trainer CIT Solutions; Performance Teaching Fellow, ANU School of Music; Head of Community Music, Tuggeranong Arts Centre and Head of Music, Manning Clark House. Fleur trains singers extensively in the VET and NDIS sector and facilitates singing cultural events which she writes, directs, and produces with student and professional singers including for; Gas Works Melbourne, The National Portrait Gallery, Smiths Alternative and NSW regional venues including, The Hive Queanbeyan. As a soprano soloist she has worked with directors and musicians including Domenic Mico OAM, Caroline Stacey and Maestro David Kram, for venues including 'The Street Theatre' and 'Wesley Music Centre', her one woman shows programmed in both the Adelaide and Melbourne Fringe Festivals. Executive Board positions include; Manning Clark House and The Australian National Eisteddfod. Fleur believes everyone can learn to sing and is passionate about demystifying the art of singing to all.

Thompson Quan Wing - Tenor

Thompson began his vocal training in 1994 and was soon recommended to learn with David Parker, at that time Head of Voice at The Canberra School of Music, who quickly recognized and further nurtured his talent. He is currently training as a Tenor with Teresa Block and Fleur Millar. Stage roles Thompson has performed include; Lun Tha in 'The King and I' and Caliph in 'Kismet' for The Queanbeyan Players. In 2016 Thompson took a break from singing to focus on set design and construction, however, promised himself if he survived his heart operation, he would sing at least one operatic aria and perform in front of an audience again. Since this time Thompson has more than fulfilled this promise and been a soloist in many concerts including; 'Follow the Music' for Manning Clark House and at Smiths Alternative for Toby Coles Music Salon and Fleur Millar's Finding Your Voice (CITSOL) as well as countless CIT voice workshops and Vocal masterclasses. 

The Manning Clark Singers Chamber Ensemble

This Chamber singing group (Kathleen Graham, Thompson Quan Wing, Elizabeth Goodbody, Isabel Sun and Eloise Taylor), led by Fleur Millar, is the smaller classical ensemble born from the original Manning Clark House Community Choir. We sing for cultural and social events and in line with the values of Manning Clark House, with themes for the betterment of humanity and reflecting the Chamber music philosophy of 'the music of friends'. We are a diverse group, with singers from the community, vocal students and semi-professional singers. Our philosophy is to sing and train all who wish to learn the art of classical ensemble singing in an enjoyable, social and domestic environment, reflecting the early days of chamber singing in the home. The MC Singers have performed in concert extensively at Manning Clark House and for Smiths Alternative and The Canberra Hospital including the Intensive Care Ward. They have also performed in concert with international artists including Penelope Thwaites AM.

Sam Row - Pianist

Sam graduated from the Queensland Conservatorium at Griffith University in 2016 with a Bachelor of Music in classical piano. Growing up in North Queensland, Sam played for many music theatre productions with the Burdekin Singers. Sam has continued classical piano studies with Colin Forbes in Canberra. Sam currently teaches piano and accompanies solo instrumentalists and singers for exams and recitals, including The Manning Clark Singers and the Queanbeyan Community Choir for regular concerts. Sam has been involved in the Canberra music community as repetiteur and orchestra member, playing keyboard for Canberra Philharmonic, Free Rain and Queanbeyan Players, Canberra Opera and National Opera. Further accompaniment engagements include for Cellist Charlotte Winslade at the Canberra Legacy Variety Concert and Tenor Eric Zhao for Canberra Chinese Community Events. Sam regularly presents lunchtime piano recitals at Wesley Music Centre and is often invited to perform piano solos in Canberra vocal concerts.