Maleny maestro honoured with OAM as Patience returns to the stage
FRESH from receiving her Medal of the Order of Australia at Government House on May 21, Maleny musical director Margaret Taylor is returning to the rehearsal room to bring one of Gilbert and Sullivan’s best-loved operettas back to the stage.
The founder of the Maleny Singers and one of the Sunshine Coast hinterland’s most respected musical figures will direct Patience at the Maleny Community Centre this June, supported by the Maleny Performing Arts Orchestra.
The Australia Day honour recognised Ms Taylor’s decades of service to community music and the arts – a contribution spanning international opera stages and generations of performers in the hinterland.
Before migrating to Australia in 1986 with her late husband, Major Derek Taylor, to establish and lead the Tamworth Conservatorium, Ms Taylor enjoyed a distinguished professional career in the United Kingdom. She performed with both the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company and the English National Opera, including performing the title role in Patience for the ENO.
After settling in Maleny, she founded the Maleny Singers, which has since grown into one of the region’s premier community music organisations.
Under her direction, the company has staged an extensive repertoire over more than two decades, including HMS Pinafore, Pirates of Penzance, The Gondoliers, The Mikado, Cavalleria Rusticana, Pagliacci, The Merry Widow, Die Fledermaus, Orpheus in the Underworld, Carmen, The Magic Flute and The Marriage of Figaro.
Now the company returns to Patience, Gilbert and Sullivan’s sharp satire on celebrity culture, fashion and public obsession with image. First staged in 1881, the operetta follows two rival poets competing for the devotion of a group of infatuated admirers, while a regiment of bewildered Dragoons struggles to understand why they have suddenly become unfashionable.
Featuring colourful costumes, memorable music and a full live orchestra, the production promises an entertaining afternoon of comedy and live performance.Performances will be held at the Maleny Community Centre on June 13, 14, 20 and 21 at 2pm. Tickets are available through TryBooking or from the Maleny Visitor Information Centre.