By Mikayla van Loon
Internationally acclaimed opera singer Charles de Long is bringing his musical talents to his hometown of Kilsyth for one afternoon only in the hopes of reconnecting with the community.
The 87-year-old has decided to host the concert on Sunday 6 November to bring people back together and help raise money for Breast Cancer Network Australia.
“I felt having done so many fundraising concerts, we were cooped up and our lives were disrupted big time and people lost a lot of will to go on,” Mr de Long said.
“So I said to myself, it’s about time that I bring a bit of normality to the community and have a cheese and wine concert like before.”
Tickets are $20 each, with funds covering the cost of the accompanying performers and the provided cheese and wine to be enjoyed. Breast Cancer Network Australia tins will also be available for donations.
Not wanting to give too much away about the concert itself, Mr de Long said it would be themed as a Remembrance Day concert, to honour soldiers who have fought in wars gone by.
This is certainly not the first time Mr de Long has used his baritone voice to reconnect with the community and raise funds after significant events.
In the past Mr de Long has held fundraising events in Healesville for the bushfire appeal and more recently in 2017 after he suffered a stroke, he hosted an event for Eastern Health’s Stroke Foundation.
It will be an opportunity to enjoy live music by composers such as Mozart, Puccini and Verdi while hearing songs made famous by tenors such as Pavarotti, Lanza and Caruso at the heart of Kilsyth at the Memorial Hall.
Mr de Long began his operatic career at the age of 34 with the Eoan Group in his home country of South Africa, during a time when separation and discrimination was still rife.
“I had never sung opera before but I could sing,” he said.
“It had never been done. It would normally take seven or five or six or four years. You would not get a top role after one year.”
Ever since, Mr de Long has travelled the world learning the art of opera, training with some of the best and “rubbed shoulders with many singers”.
Mr de Long promises the audience an afternoon of ‘nostalgia and good singing’ with an afternoon of ‘gems and excerpts’ from grand opera, operettas, musicals and light classics.
The Kilsyth Memorial Hall is located at 514 Mt Dandenong Road, Kilsyth, next to Churinga Shopping Centre. The concert will get underway at 3pm. Tickets are available by contacting Mr DeLong on 0426 412 018.
