David SharpConductor

Tom PulfordSaxophones, fl ute & clarinet

David Sharp was awarded a Bachelor of Music Performance with Honours in Conducting from the University of Adelaide in 1995. Since graduating he has conducted many of the major Symphony Orchestras of Australia, appeared on television, fi lm and radio, and conducted orchestras overseas.

David was the inaugural conductor and curator of the ASO’s Tea and Symphony concerts and he conducted the orchestra’s East End Rush Hour Concert Series. He has also conducted Family concerts, regional tours, and Alfresco concerts.

David enjoys working with young people, conducting a number of Education projects for the ASO and performing engagements with the Adelaide Youth Orchestra and the Elder Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra.

David made his international debut with a main series concert for St Matthew’s Chamber Orchestra in Auckland, New Zealand in June 2003 returning in October 2003 and since 2005 has appeared annually with this orchestra.

As an active participant in Symphony Australia’s Conductor Development Program from 1998 until 2004, David has conducted the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and worked with internationally renowned conductors Arvo Volmer, Christopher Seaman, Jorma Panola, Janos Furst, David Porcelijn and Gustav Meier.

Tom Pulford is an award-winning saxophonist, composer and arranger. After completing a Bachelor of Music majoring in jazz performance in 1998, Tom went on to become a much sought-after saxophonist and instrumental teacher, and has performed in many varied ensembles both in Australia and abroad. In 2003, Tom won the Barossa Valley Winemakers’ Association Jazz Scholarship, which enabled him to travel to the USA and study saxophone with Vincent Herring and Rich Perry.

Tom has been engaged as a freelance saxophonist and woodwind specialist with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, and other orchestras and musical theatre productions, most recently the 2016 Adelaide season of Singin’ in the Rain. Signifi cant musical collaborations include the Mike Stewart Big Band, the Adelaide Sax Pack, Mark Ferguson’s Marmalade Circus, and The Mulder-Pulford Nonet, a project Tom co-leads with Melbourne trombonist Nick Mulder, and which features the two leaders’ compositions and arrangements. Through collaborations with these and other ensembles, Tom has performed alongside such jazz luminaries as Bob Mintzer, Ray Vega, George Garzone, Jon Gordon, Jamie Oehlers, and James Muller to name a few, as well as backing a list of renowned entertainers including Bernadette Peters, Olivia Newton-John, Natalie Cole, Michael Feinstein, Ann Hampton-Callaway, Rhonda Burchmore, Tom Burlinson, Kate Ceberano, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and Michael Bolton.

Since 2012, Tom now works as a full-time musician in The Band of the South Australia Police, as well as continuing freelance work as a performer, educator, composer and arranger.

A S O d o e s L a t i n w i t h t h e M a r m a l a d e M a nFri 2 & Sat 3 Feb 2018, 8pmASO Grainger Studio

A D E L A I D E S Y M P H O N Y O R C H E S T R A S E A S O N 2 0 1 8

Major PartnersPlatinum Partner Government Partners

The ASO receives Commonwealth funding through the Australia Council; its arts funding and advisory body

Gigs at Grainger 1

I first discovered Latin music just before I got to University through the wonderful compositions of US jazz legend Chick Corea. At the time, young jazz students used the term ‘Latin’ incredibly loosely; anything that didn’t have a swing feel or a rock beat was a ‘Latin’ tune. It took many years before I understood the differences between samba, salsa and mambo, but once I did, a whole world of musical possibilities opened up.

What holds all of these musics together under the ‘catch-all’ term ‘Latin’? They were developed in the Latin Catholic countries of the Americas by combining the sounds of the Spanish and Portuguese colonists, the indigenous inhabitants (if they weren’t wiped out by disease), and the African slaves. The music in each country, and sometimes each region, developed with distinctly different features: the drama of the Argentinian Tango; the refinement of the Danzon from urban Cuba; the raw polyrhythmic energy of the Guaguanco of rural Cuba; the exuberance of the Brazilian Samba.

I joined a Latin dance band in the early 2000s, learned some incredible tunes, played numerous gigs…and then got sacked. This was a blessing in disguise as it motivated me to take my relatively new band, the heavily Latin-influenced Marmalade Circus, to a new level, and I began cold-calling promoters and festivals interstate (thankfully with some success).

I later joined another Latin dance band and spent seven years exploring Latin music, learning countless tunes (the best way to learn a style of music) and working alongside some big international artists (and our excellent electric bassist Shireen Khemlani). In 2009 I was asked to direct the University

of Adelaide’s Latin Ensemble, a group with an unorthodox instrumentation that needed a constant stream of new repertoire to keep the students engaged. Fairly quickly it was apparent that writing new tunes ‘in the style of’ was quicker than transcribing! I then formed a 20-piece group Orquesta Mermelada to feature our wonderful percussionist Fabian Hevia (one of Australia’s best), and many of the youngsters I had been working with. So when ASO Director of Artistic Planning, Simon Lord asked me to curate this concert it seemed logical to focus on Latin music.

I was fortunate to begin my association with the ASO about 13 years ago when Chris Matters, the former Artistic Administrator, asked me if I thought it was a stupid idea to try to create a Gospel version of Handel’s Messiah. Since then I have been honoured to work on a number of other projects for the ASO and have been given the opportunity to see how dedicated this team are—how open they are to new ideas, and how supportive of local talent they are.

Our soloist tonight is one of my favourite musicians, the wonderful multi-instrumentalist Tom Pulford. Tom joined Marmalade Circus in mid-2005 and has been an integral part of the ‘2nd edition’ of that band, bringing his humour, excellent taste in head-wear and fabulous musicality to the stage on every gig.

Some of what you will hear tonight will be authentic ‘Latin’ music; some of it will be ‘Latin’ sounds filtered through my Australian jazz palette. Hopefully all of it will be enjoyable—it certainly will be rhythmic!

Gigs at Grainger 1

Fri 2 & Sat 3 Feb

Mark Simeon Ferguson Curator & Piano

David Sharp Conductor

Thomas Pulford Saxophones, flute & clarinet

#letthemusicin #ASO2018

PROGRAM

Ferguson Tropical Fruit Chunks

Ferguson Kings Cross Tango

Ferguson Bailarias con mermelada

Ferguson En vuelo

Ferguson Simeon’s Blues

Ferguson Collapso

Ferguson Bonaira

- Interval (20 mins) -

Ferguson Los pajaros del amor

Ferguson The Bella Dance

Ferguson Back to Happyland

Ferguson Anniversary Song

Ferguson Mucho Mambolicious

Ferguson Yup!

This concert runs for approximately 2 hours including interval.

ASO does Lat in w i th the Marma lde Man

Mark Simeon Ferguson Curator & Piano

Mark was born into a musical family and raised in country SA. He began piano lessons with his mother at age five and at nine he had informal composition lessons. He developed an interest in Jazz at High School and went on to complete a Master of Music in Jazz Performance at the University of Adelaide (where he now holds the position of Lecturer in Jazz Piano). He was also a semi-finalist in the National Jazz Awards in 1999. Mark has performed with artists across many different musical styles including Rufus Wainwright, Tim Minchin, Mark Murphy, Ray Vega and Beccy Cole. He has toured as Musical Director (MD) for Johanna Allen, Camille O’Sullivan (including her 2015 Helpmann Award winning show Changeling) the musical Mother, Wife and the Complicated Life and the Musica Viva in Schools group Marmalade Jam. He was also MD for the Closing Gala of the 2017 Adelaide Cabaret Festival and the 2018 Walk of Fame Gala at the Adelaide Festival Theatre. In 2007 Mark completed his first commission for the ASO, rearranging Handel’s Messiah as Gospel Messiah. In 2015 he composed The Bush Concert for the ASO (which was also performed by the SSO in the Sydney Opera House in 2017) which was followed by Herman and Rosie in 2017. In 2013 he wrote the song cycle The Moral of the Story for the SA Public Primary Schools Music Festival and he has just completed their 2018 song cycle Next Stop North Terrace. Mark composed the Nexus World Music Series Commission Whit DaeYe Cry Thon Yin in 2013. He also composes regularly for the JazzSA Youth Superbands and the Adelaide University Latin Ensemble. Mark’s ensemble Marmalade Circus performed at Jazz in the Domain at the Sydney Festival in 2002 and Carols by Candlelight in Elder Park in 2012. He has recorded five albums with his Marmalade ensembles. Marmalade Five is the newest of the bands and features his wife Susan and their three offspring (aged 20, 17 and 10) performing a show designed specifically for children.

Mark Simeon Ferguson