INFORMATION ABOUT BROADCASTING AND RECEPTION OF 5MBS 99.9FM

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NEWS

Last update 21 May 2008

Radiothon

The 2008 Radiothon will be conducted from 24 May - 1st June and there will be lots of activities for members and listeners to enjoy. Money raised in the Radiothon will go towards the cost of 5MBS moving to new premises when its current lease expires in a couple of years' time. Moving is such an expensive business particularly when our new premises will require extensive re-wiring and modifications to accommodate our studio and broadcasting needs. Existing members can help by talking to your friends about 5MBS and suggesting that they listen to us. We don't have a budget for advertising because most of our income goes on broadcasting. So we rely on our listeners to advertise by word-of-mouth. Please let your family, friends and work colleagues know that we exist and how they can find us on the Internet and on the radio. Radiothon is a great time for new listeners to become members because we offer give-aways and other incentives.

So please help us by being our promoters and advertisers.

New Premises

5MBS has to move in the year or two because the lease on our present building will expire and the landlord wishes to sell the property. We have a small subcommittee looking for new property but maybe you know of one that is currently available or will soon become available for lease. Our requirements are that it is in the central business district (preferably in the South Eastern corner) with line-of-site to our transmitting aerial on the top of Hotel 208 on South Terrace or in one of the inner Southern suburbs such as Parkside or Unley. We need approximately 300 square metres of space including a large meeting room, kitchen and toilet facilities. We currently share some facilities with our building owner so we do not need exclusive use of these areas. We would need at least 3 areas for studios, an office and a room large enough to house the CD library.

If you know of a property that might be suitable to our needs, please contact the Station Manager on 8232 6566 or by email.

European Broadcasting Union

The network of MBS stations in Australia has recently been admitted to the European Broadcasting Union. This means that we will now have access to recordings of live performances by some of the finest orchestras in Europe and elsewhere in the world. We intend to have more information about how we will use this content in our programming in the next edition of Fine Music – expected to be distributed to Members in February 2008.

Young Performers' Award

VIOLINIST AND TENOR TAKE AWARDS AT STATE HEATS OF THE NATIONAL MBS YOUNG PERFORMERS AWARD

Winners of the SA finals of the MBS Young Performers Award held on 25 September 2007, chosen from a strong field of eight talented young South Australian musicians, were:

State Instrumentalist Award Winner and National Finals Representative
Violinist Imants Larsens 25 who received a cheque for $300 sponsored by Silver Keys and Strings.

Imants was also selected as the State representative to go forward to the National Finals on 25 November in Melbourne where he will compete for the National Young Performers Award and its prize of $10,000 Travelling Scholarship; a prize which will open professional doors for the winner. Should he win Imants will complete a hat trick for SA as both the 2005 and 2006 National winners hailed from this state.

State Vocal Award Winner
Young tenor Robert MacFarlane, 20, won the vocal award, and received a cheque for $300 sponsored by John Davis Records.

A full broadcast of the competition featuring all eight of the competitors can be heard on Radio 5MBS at 8pm 23 October.

The distinguished judges Diana Harris and Tim Sexton both agreed that theirs was a very difficult task to select just two winners from a field of eight outstanding young musicians, who were all Eisteddfod prize-winners before this competition.

The judges congratulated all the competitors and went on to say of the winners: 'Robert MacFarlane is a voice of the future. Give him a few years and more extensive experience and he'll be wowing audiences beyond Australia.'

Imants Larsens' program concluded with a Wieniawski show stopper that literally stopped the show. Not only was it the last item on the program but it was played with enormous flair and excitement. Our decision was unanimous that this was the most completely satisfying and exciting performance of the evening.

IMANTS LARSENS

Imants Larsens commenced his violin studies in early childhood with his paternal grandmother, Alita Larsens as his first teacher. He was subsequently accepted at the Elder Conservatorium of Music as a single study student of Keith Crellin and, later, Dr Semyon Kobets.

In 1997/98 he toured Europe with the Pembroke School Chamber Orchestra as soloist and co-leader and in 1999 was soloist and leader of the Pembroke Symphony Orchestra. In 1998 he completed his AMEB Associate Diploma with distinction, and, in 1999, his Licentiate Diploma also with distinction, for which he was awarded the Licentiate Prize for South Australia and the Northern Territory.

In 1998 Imants was a soloist at the Adelaide Bach Festival in Elder Hall and also attended the Margess International Summer Course for outstanding young string players and pianists in Switzerland.

In the Adelaide Eisteddfod, he was the winner of the Alice Burns Memorial Prize in 1999 and in 2000 he was awarded the Australian String Teachers Association prize for most outstanding competitor on violin, viola or cello 18 years and under.

In March 2000, Imants went to Switzerland to further his studies under his father, Gunars Larsens at the Musikhochschule Zentralschweiz in Lucerne. Since then he has actively participated in master classes with Pinchas Zukerman and the Vermeer Quartet, among others, and performed as soloist with several orchestras in Switzerland, France and Australia. In July of 2001, Imants auditioned and was accepted into the degree Konzertreifediplom. He also won the Beryl Kimber Bach Prize and the Alice Burns Memorial Prize at the 2001 Adelaide Eisteddfod.

During 2002, Imants participated actively in master classes with Michelle Markarski, Rafael Gintoli and Achim Fiedler, gave concerts as a soloist in Zürich, Basel and Luzern - and was concertmaster of the Junge Philharmonie, Zentralschweiz. He also took part in the Andrea Postacchini International Violin Competition in Fermo, Italy, the Tibor Varga International Violin Competition in Sion, Switzerland, and was a semi-finalist in the Grosser Förderpreiswettbewerb der Konzertgesellschaft München International Violin Competition in Munich, Germany. In 2002 and 2003, Imants was an active participant in the Sonata Master classes given jointly by Pierre Amoyal and Pavel Gililov at the Lausanne Academy in Switzerland.

In 2003, Imants recorded a sonata program as well as a virtuoso program with radio stations in Adelaide, gave concerts as a soloist in both Switzerland and France, and in July he completed his Konzertreifediplom in Lucerne, Switzerland with distinction. He was also invited to perform a solo recital program in the Barossa Festival Academy and completed his AMEB Fellowship Diploma.

In 2004, Imants played on many occasions in a professional orchestra in Switzerland, participated in various master classes, including with the Guaneri Trio Prague and completed his Lehrdiplom in Lucerne, Switzerland.

Since returning to Adelaide, Imants teaches at Immanuel College and Primary School and is Head of Strings at Mercedes College. He has done casual work with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra on violin as well as viola and also performs regularly with the Adelaide Art Orchestra. In 2006 he gave a master class for one of the Music Teachers’ Association of South Australia's Professional Development Days and was a council member of the MTASA. He was concertmaster for CoOpera performances of Don Giovanni in Adelaide, Sydney, and Melbourne and for a tour of South East Asia. He tutored at the Border Music Camp and performed with the 2005 and 2006 winners of the Geoffrey Parsons Award in lunch hour concerts for the Accompanists’ Guild. This year Imants will be touring Europe with the Australian Youth Orchestra as well as performing in Adelaide as a soloist on both violin and viola.

ROBERT MACFARLANE

Tenor Robert Macfarlane completed a Bachelor of Music in December 2006 (with High Distinction in Voice Performance) at the Elder Conservatorium under head of studies Keith Hempton, and is now pursuing his Honours at the Conservatorium. He combines this with study in Melbourne under soprano Merlyn Quaife, as part of the Helpmann Academy Optus Mentorship scheme.

Robert's operatic roles include the cover of Laurie (Little Women) for State Opera, Camille (The Merry Widow) for Co-Opera, Lacouf (Les Mamelles des Tiresias) for State Opera Young Artists, Bastien (Bastien and Bastienna) for St. Peter's Cathedral and Eisenstein (Die Fledermaus) for the Elder Conservatorium. He also performed the role of Ted Strehlow in State Opera’s workshops of Gordon Kerry’s Ingkata.

Robert appeared as part of the Male Chorus in the 2004 State Opera Ring Cycle, and returned to perform in the chorus of Donizetti's Elixir of Love. Robert has performed regularly for Recitals Australia, and was a recipient of a 2006 Recitals Australia scholarship. Other recent concert appearances include acclaimed performances as the Evangelist in Bach's St. John Passion, Britten's Les Illuminations and Handel's Carmelite Vespers under Graham Abbott.

A core member of Adelaide Chamber Singers, he travelled with the group on their 2006 international tour with the aid of a Helpmann Academy Grant. Robert has been awarded many prizes and scholarships and was named Best New Voice in the Advertiser's 2005 Oscart Awards. Upcoming performances include Messiah under Graham Abbott, Count Almaviva in Barber of Seville for State Opera's Education program and the role of Ferrando in the Elder Conservatorium's production of Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte.

5MBS PUBLIC FUND

The 5MBS Public Fund has been established for the purpose of seeking and receiving donations from members of the public to support the objects and purposes of 5MBS. The 5MBS Public Fund is listed on the Register of Cultural Organisations (ROCO) maintained by the Australian Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts.

Because the 5MBS Public Fund is listed on the ROCO, donations to it are tax deductible. Tax deductibility applies to cash donations of $2 or more. There are other forms of donation that can be made and you can get information about these from the Australian Taxation Office.

Bequests

5MBS is Adelaide's only community station devoted to Fine Music. The cost of maintaining this Fine Music service is very high even though all associated with it are volunteers. We can only continue the service to music lovers with the aid of subscriptions and donations.

If you enjoy Fine Music and Jazz and wish to see it continue to be part of the future, please consider leaving a bequest to 5MBS in your will. Your legacy will ensure that future generations will continue to enjoy Fine Music and Jazz in the way that you do now. For an appointment to discuss leaving a bequest to 5MBS, please contact the Station Manager, Michael Owen on 8232 6566 or by e-mail at mbs@5mbs.com.