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Jennie Rhodes
Malaga
Friday, 6 September 2024, 14:33
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Damian Whiteley is in the process of writing a musical from his home in the centre of Malaga and as an internationally acclaimed pianist and soloist, he has travelled around the world, performing opera in some of the most well-loved operas and venues.
Originally from New South Wales, Damian, 50, reveals that he was first taught to play violin and piano by "an Irish nun in the Australian outback" after his father, who had wooed his mother by telling her he played the trumpet (he didn't), was determined that his children would be musical.
His father's plan paid off, as did the nun's lessons, and Damian went on to graduate from the University of Sydney with a degree in Music and Languages. He moved to the UK where he spent time in London before being accepted into the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and later went to the Zürich Opernhaus.
As a member of the Académie Européenne de Musique Damian performed at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence in a production of Don Giovanni and has appeared regularly at the Teatro Real Madrid and the Opéra Comique in Paris.
Damian has also toured his native Australia as well as New Zealand, Germany and Switzerland in Mozart & Me, a one-man show based on the life of Lorenzo Da Ponte, the Italian poet and librettist best known for his collaboration with Mozart and written by Melvyn Morrow. Damian is hoping to find an opportunity to bring the show to Malaga.
Despite this close relationship with Mozart however, Damian reveals that the composers he most likes to perform are Ravel and Strauss.
Since 2011 the musician has been based in Malaga, where he says he started coming on holiday "at the turn of the century" and "like many Brits, to get away from the rain of Manchester".
He explains that part of the attraction was the climate which is "similar to Sydney", but curiously Damian has discovered that one of his ancestors was a Sephardic Jew who, like many, was forced to leave Spain after the Reconquista. Now he has come to Malaga, Damian feels like he has brought his family "home". Although Damian says he's not sure which part of Spain his ancestor was from, perhaps the draw to Andalucía is something to do with that heritage.
He also has Danish grandparents, so the attraction not only to Spain, but to other parts of Europe, came from both sides of the family.
As well as performing, Damian coaches professional singers from his home in Malaga and says that since the pandemic, which put a temporary stop to his touring, he has started to do more of it.
The singers may be local or come from other countries to rehearse with the opera singer before taking to the stage for a performance or tour themselves. Damian also composes his own music, which is something else he started doing again during the pandemic. He reveals that he's putting the final touches to "a short comic opera" and is also in the process of "writing a musical".
Damian will be performing at St George's in Malaga on 14 September along with the Italian soprano Antonella Sicignano, who is also based in Malaga. Damian explains that he only recently met Antonella when they performed at the charity gala event at the English cemetery earlier this summer.
The duo have been invited back to the church to give another performance in which Damian will be playing the piano. He promises the concert will be "amusing, fun and entertaining" with a "light programme" to end the summer - a sort of Last Night of the Proms if you will (although with less 'pomp and circumstance' I'm told, but Damian did hint that there may be the chance for a little sing along). Doors open at 7.30pm and the concert starts at 8pm.
For more details and to book tickets for the concert on 14 September go to www.stgeorgesmalaga.com
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