Melbourne in Concert with Teddy Bell, Sunday July 12, 7pm
Teddy Bell welcomes fellow Melbourne in Concert presenter, baritone Stephen Coutts, to the program to perform live-to-air alongside acclaimed pianist, Stefan Cassomenos. Together, with experimental composer and musician, Nicholas Saunders, they’ll present a captivating 50-minute program of song.
Stephen Coutts
Stephen is an operatic baritone who has performed extensively with the Victorian Opera, Opera Su Presto, Victorian Concert Orchestra, Amore Duet, Melbourne Shakespeare Company and other leading companies around Australia. In the fields of opera, operetta and musical theatre, he has played many leading roles in productions, and he currently studies under the tutelage of Australian operatic soprano Jessica Pratt. Stephen was a Young Songmakers Scholar in 2019 with Songmakers Australia and was the Maroondah Singers Vocal Scholar between 2020-2023. His rich Baritone voice is celebrated for its depth and colour, as well as its delightful light, lyrical quality.
Stefan Cassomenos
Internationally praised for his clarity, depth of expression, virtuosity and versatility, Melbourne-born Stefan Cassomenos is regarded as a leading Australian concert pianist, composer, and conductor. His concerto repertoire now exceeds forty works and has led to regular performances with major Australian symphony orchestras, as well as orchestras overseas. Second-prize-winner at the International Telekom Beethoven Competition, Bonn 2013, he has performed throughout Europe, Asia, and Australia. His compositions include commissions for Victorian Opera and Melbourne Chamber Orchestra. Cassomenos is co-Artistic Director of Port Fairy Spring Music Festival and co-founder of chamber ensemble PLEXUS, which has commissioned over 110 new works.
Nicholas Saunders
Nicholas Saunders is a Melbourne-based vocalist, composer and improviser working across contemporary-classical, jazz and avant-garde music. Now in his third year of a Bachelor of Music (Jazz and Improvisation) at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, he is a dynamic performer whose work explores vocal tone, extended technique, free improvisation and storytelling, with a deep focus on originality and expressive interpretation.
For his premiere 3MBS recital, Nicholas presents original music alongside reinventions of Ravel and Rodgers, and Edge—Sylvia Plath's final poem set by Australian composer Gavin Cornish—in a programme exploring introspection, psychological turbulence and finality. His music is deeply vocal, harmonically lush, and rooted in jazz, Baroque, contemporary classical and art song traditions.