The combined forces of St Paul’s College Choir and the Muffat Collective produced two fabulous nights of early opera in the Waddy Centre on 9 and 10 August 2024. This subversive political allegory of the 1730s is somewhat in-step with the critical thinking and divergent student views on the political landscape of today but set to the glorious music of John Frederick Lampe (1703-51) with libretto by Henry Carey (1687-1743). The plot comes from medieval legend about a dragon (government overreach), a drunken knight (the common man) and two maidens (rivals for love), and is typical of the extravagant Italian Baroque operas that dominated London theatres in the 1720s and 30s.
Even more special for the College—this was the opera’s Australian premiere!
Under the direction of Jack Stephens, the College’s Director of Music, the Muffat Collective conveyed enthralling interpretation of the period music and the choir, as the chorus, beautifully supported the delightful soloists Ariana Ricci, Molly Ryan, Elian Wilson and guest artist Peter Coleman-Wright AO. The audience was treated to an exuberant and entertaining show. This production has maintained the very high standard for music at St Paul’s which is reflected weekly during semester in the work of the Chapel Choir at evensong (5.15 pm Tuesdays), which is open to the public, with the Pauline community much encouraged to attend.
The Waddy Centre, although only a few months old, is building a profile as a centre of excellence for the performing arts for students and professionals. In the week following the opera the Sydney Eisteddfod held its Kawai Senior Piano Scholarship, Woodwind Concerto Competition and NSW Doctors Orchestra Instrumental Scholarship final in the centre.
The College community acknowledges the efforts and achievements of the cast and crew:
Adam Masters | Anthony Abouhamad | Anton Baba | Ariana Ricci | Elias Wilson | Jack Stephens | James Tarbotton | Lampe | Matthew Greco | Molly Ryan | Peter Coleman-Wright | Pippa Macmillan | Rafael Font | The Choir of St Paul’s College | The Muffat Collective
To re-start the Intercol sports campaign we celebrated the Rosebowl Rowing win with a very historic victory dinner. In 1867 St Paul’s rowed against University in the very first Sydney University sporting competition and on 9 April 2024 we came full circle with the first ever win by a St Paul’s all-women crew in the Intercol Regatta. For the first time a Rosebowl Competition trophy has landed at St Paul’s.
At the April regatta Paul’s took out the Rawson, Rosebowl and Mixed VIII events. Many thanks to the rowing teams, the coaches and the amazing support of the College community, and congratulations to all St Paul’s College crews on their great victories.
Toast to the Crew from Georgia Robson and coach Harry ScamblerJerusalem!The victors enterFilling the rowing cupPodium on 9 April 2024
After months of planning the St Paul’s College Union held a very successful reunion event on Friday 26 July at the College. The Hall was themed in College colours for a three-course dinner with paired wines and the JRC was heaving to the dance music of The John Field Band. The night sky was lit up with fireworks to celebrate the 10, 20, 30 and 40 year reunions all combining to make this 2024 event one of the most spectacular Union events in memory.
A huge thanks to Simon Ford for coordinating the event, the Union Committee and College staff for their support, and to all those who were able to attend this fabulous event. The Union has plans for the next big bash in April 2025.
Across the board members of the Pauline community are contributing to the success of the University’s great run of world rankings. The University of Sydney has secured its highest ever ranking overall and continues to be rated as a top 20 global university in the 2025 QS World University Rankings.
The impressive result was due to the University’s strong performance in sustainability, academic reputation, employer reputation, citations to research papers and its international research network.
There are a good number of Paulines amongst the University’s staff and it is the staff who have been given much of the credit in this round of world ranking assessments for ‘excellence in teaching’ and the research community addressing pressing global challenges. Paulines who are current senior members of the staff include
Deputy Chancellor Richard Freudenstein;
Challis Chair of International Law and Elected Senate Fellow, Prof Ben Saul who is also a United Nations Special Rapporteur;
Professor of History, Prof Julia Horne who is a Fellow of the College;
Chief Operating Officer of the United States Studies Centre, Edward Palmisano;
Dr Lukas Opacic who teaches constitutional law at Sydney Law School; and
Dr David Martinez-Martin who is one of the longest-standing members of Graduate House, a physicist and Deputy Director of Sydney Microscopy and Microanalysis, co-chair of the sensors and diagnostics cluster of the Nanohealth Network and Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Sydney.
A great example of the contribution current Paulines make is Pat Campbell (MD III) former Middle Prefect. Pat has been admitted to the Oxford Medical Elective, a programme similar to an exchange, where each year 50 students are selected to study and live at Oxford for one term. It is a highly competitive opportunity, with only a limited number coming from Australia. Pat will be on placement at the John Radcliffe Hospital in the Nuffield Department of Surgery, spending time in operating theatres, outpatient clinics, and on the wards.
For further reading about academic merit see this article about GH PhD student Ines Wen (PhD I) CLICK HERE.
Ines Wen is one of only five scholars world-wide to be chosen for an international research award from the International Association for Chinese Management Research (IACMR) based within the University of Cambridge Press. IACMR is an academic organization that serves scholars, students and businesses promoting organization and management research. The association has over 14,000 registered contacts from almost 100 countries and its mission has an emphasis on ethics, rigor, relevance, and impact in the Chinese context. The objectives of active idea exchanges, closer cooperation and collaboration, and advancement of excellent scholarship, define its appeal to international scholars.
[Pictured above (credit – Linda Zhang): Ines presents one of the Chinese and culture tutorials at Graduate House.]
The Kwok Leung Memorial Dissertation Fund was created to commemorate the life and work of Professor Kwok Leung and to continue his mission of supporting young scholars. This fund is intended to assist PhD students who need financial support to collect data for their dissertations. It is open to all doctoral students conducting research in Chinese Management.
The five 2024 winners come from Zhejiang University, City University of Hong Kong, University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, and Ines from The University of Sydney.
Ines is enrolled in the USYD Business School and her thesis is How Disruption Catalyses the Innovation Process in Chinese State-Owned Enterprises in Global Contexts. She credited the Graduate House Dean’s academic writing instruction gained during Dr Antone Martinho-Truswell’s Academic Writing Seminar at the end of Semester 1 for gaining recognition for her dissertation. After the seminar she amended her thesis proposal and this resulted in her selection for the award. Ines states:
Most literature regards disruption as a negative complexity in organizations, but I consider it in another way, and contend that disruption can be a source of innovation or a catalyst to drive innovation. My chosen case is the second largest hotel chain worldwide, which has experienced a number of disruptions in the past century leading to subsequent innovations. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company established its Global Innovation Centre and initiated several new activities. My research focuses on the innovation process from ideation and development to implementation and commercialization.
In an online format I will invite friends to share their journey from researchers to business entrepreneurs. All Paulines are welcome to join. (Those interested in participating should contact Richard Morgan, Director of Community engagement at the College).
‘The Great Wave of Kanagawa’ (1831) is used by Ines to illustrate how disruption triggers innovation using the metaphors contained in the image for management and organisational structures.
If you have seen NCIS: Sydney on TV Channel 10 you may not know that its producer/director is Pauline Morgan O’Neill. Morgan was at Paul’s 1992-95 and Senior Student in 1994. He contributed widely to music, debating, Mummers, social rugby and JDDs while at College and was chair of the Intercol Committee. He went on to become a professional musician, singing jazz and playing saxophone, a showrunner, writer and director. He graduated from University of Sydney and National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in 1998.
His contribution to the entertainment industry in Australia and the US includes: television roles in Home and Away, All Saints, Water Rats and Sea Patrol; motion picture credits in Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles, Joanne Lees: Murder in the Outback, Supernova, Little Oberon and the 2012 Netflix movie, The Factory, which he also directed; he directed the ABC TV Show Les Norton and most recently worked as a producer on Nine Network’s The Block.
He has recently produced and directed NCIS: Sydney which is showing currently on Channel 10 and streaming on 10Play.
His slick crime caper Solo is the first film produced by Project Greenlight Australia.
He is the winner of the first Project Greenlight Australia and continues to write scripts. Morgan says: “Filmmaking is such a collaborative effort, you have to test ideas, use the synergy of the group. And lastly, know that not winning is not losing. I’ve written so many plays that have been rejected. I know how difficult it is writing a screenplay.”
Congratulations to Morgan O’Neill who is generating great mass entertainment with careful research and well written scripts and engaging some of the best actors and emerging talent in Australia.
‘Mummers’ began in June 1948, a group formed by the then Warden, Revd Dr Felix Arnott, which included women from the Women’s College for the first time in student productions of the College. Prior to that all Paul’s revues and dramatic productions had casts from only the men of St Paul’s (see Alan Atkinson, Hearts and Minds 2017, pp.291 ff).
Some 76 years later Mummers produced the first performance in the newly opened theatre in the Waddy Performance Centre on 17, 18 and 19 May. This was not the first performance of Pauline-only cast and crew. Since 2023 the Mummers cast has been, the men and women of the undergraduate College community. Mummers have a five-year-old rival which is the Imprearios of Graduate House who have performed an annual play in the Refectory since 2019.
In May we found ourselves in the Waddy Theatre for the very first ticketed production. ‘Black Comedy’ by Peter Shaffer (1926-2016) follows the chaos that ensues when a power outage strikes during a dinner party, plunging the characters into hilarious misunderstandings and farcical situations. This play uses the power of clever British humour of the period and was premiered at the National Theatre in Chichester in July 1965, so these days it might be considered a period piece!
The three Mummers’ performances were very well patronised and in terms of recent productions for Mummers these shows were a triumph. The new theatre space was used to great advantage and the crew had at their fingertips all the advantages of the programmable state-of-the-art lighting and audio systems.
Director and President of Mummers Max Philips stated in the Director’s Notes: “Programming the opening play for this venue proved challenging, as one always wants a memorable debut number, or to start as they mean to go on. After the serious yet poignant ‘Twelve Angry Jurors’ last semester, I felt Mummers needed to return to its roots for this grand opening; a one-act comedy being a slight twist on a contemporary classic.”
The cast and crew certainly achieved that, greatly helped along by the crisp comic writing of Shaffer, with their attention to detail and a lot of rehearsing which resulted in tight comedic dialogue and their use of English and German accents gave a real sense of the play’s origins.
The play is written to be staged under a reversed lighting scheme: the play opens on a darkened stage – indeed in the Waddy the audience sat in complete darkness which added a sense of foreboding – “is there a problem with the lighting!” A few minutes into the action there is a ‘short circuit’, and the stage is illuminated to reveal the characters in a ‘blackout’. On the few occasions when matches, lighters, or torches are lit, the lights grow dimmer.
Max goes on to state: “In the context of our society and Coll. S. Paul, it recognises the eras of Mummers, now entering its 76th year, and acknowledges the scores of alumni and Old Paulines, who have trodden the boards with this society and have contributed immensely to the fabric of its rich historical tapestry.”
Black Comedy, 17-19 May, the Waddy Performance Centre, St Paul’s College
Director: Max Philips
Cast
BRINDSLEY MILLER – a young sculptor, mid-twenties, intelligent and attractive, but nervous and uncertain of himself: Felix Power
CAROL MELKETT – Brindsley’s fiancée. A young debutante; very pretty, very spoiled, very silly. Her sound that is an unmistakable, terrifying debutante quack: Charlotte Hocking
MISS FURNIVAL – a middle-aged lady. Prissy and refined. Clad in the blouse and sack shirt of her gentility, her hair in a bun, she reveals only the repressed gestures of the middle-class spinster — until alcohol undoes her: Annika Johnson
COLONEL MELKETT – Carol’s commanding father. Brisk, barky, yet given to sudden vocal calms which suggest a deep alarming instability. It is not only the constant darkness which gives him his look of wide-eyed submission: Jack Rowe
HAROLD GORRINGE – the bachelor owner of an antique-china shop, and Brindsley’s neighbour, Harold comes from the North of England. His friendship is highly conditional and possessive: sooner or later, payment for it will be asked. A specialist in emotional blackmail, he can become hysterical when slighted, or (as inevitably happens) rejected. He is older than Brindsley by several years: Sam McCredie
SCHUPPANZIGH – a German refugee, chubby, cultivated, and effervescent. He is an entirely happy man, delighted to be in England, even if it means being employed full time by the London Electricity Board: Ryan Bond
CLEA – Brindsley’s ex-mistress. Mid-twenties; dazzling, emotional, bright, and mischievous. The challenge to her is to create a dramatic situation out of the darkness is ultimately irresistible: Freya Carmody
GEORG SAMBERGER – an elderly millionaire art collector, easily identifiable as such. Like Schuppanzigh, he is German: Will Nicholas
Stage Manager: Ben Varela
Associate Producer: Helen Jordan
Set Designers: Ria Alva, Heidi Best, Greta Bourne, Anoushka Cayzer
Costume Designers, Hair and Make-Up: Georgia Blattman, Olivia McMillan, Ines Trehane, Sophie Wright
Lighting and Sound: Ben Johnston, Alex Mudri, Milly O’Connell,
Props and Backstage: Aidan Cheung, Hamish Ierino, Grace Morrow, Tahlia Sorgiovanni, Sophie Wright
Usher: Jack Lockhart
Marketing and Promo: Heidi Best
Photographers: William Chang, Matilda Johnson, Luka Vujanovic
At the Graduate House Mid-Winter Feast on 14 June our post graduate community celebrated the end of Semester 1 and the 5th year of Graduate House. Towards the end of the dinner something quite different happened in the 165-year-old Blacket Hall. One of our leavers, Linda Zhang (MEd(Psych)) performed a traditional fan dance in Chinese Qipao dress to the great delight of the students, alumni, staff and guests attending.
Linda explains the tradition below.
The Chinese dance drama ‘Confucius’ is a large-scale work that expresses the philosophical and emotional journey of Confucius’s life through modern dance. The drama uses Confucius’s life as a narrative thread, exploring his philosophical thoughts, political ideals, and personal emotional world through dance and music. A distinctive feature of this drama is its integration of traditional and modern dance elements, using modern dance techniques to interpret traditional cultural themes, giving the work both depth and a contemporary feel.
Regarding the ‘Letter Dance’, this is a symbolic dance within the drama. In this scene, the dancers depict the exchange of letters between Confucius and his students and friends. These letters convey not only knowledge and wisdom but also emotions and longing. Through dance, the performers use body language to express the deep affection in the letters, as well as Confucius’s passion for educating his disciples and his pursuit of ideals.
In the dance, performers often use graceful and powerful movements, combined with visual effects and music on stage, to transform this non-verbal communication into an emotional experience that the audience can perceive. The floating letters symbolize the transmission of thoughts and the flow of culture. The entire dance not only portrays Confucius as an educator but also reflects his inner world and endless pursuit of knowledge.
This creative form of dance expression is an attempt by Chinese modern dance drama to explore traditional cultural themes. It reinterprets the life and thoughts of Confucius through the language of modern dance, making it more accessible to the aesthetic and feelings of modern audiences.
Originally performed by male dancers, this piece of the dance drama was adapted by Linda, who replaced the letters with fans, incorporating elements of traditional Chinese fan dance. The Chinese fan dance, has a rich history that dates back over 2,000 years. Originating during the Han Dynasty from 206 BC, it was initially performed in imperial courts and later became popular among common people. In China, fans are not only practical tools for cooling but also cultural artifacts that represent Chinese aesthetics and artistic expression. This innovative performance showcased the grace and strength of Chinese female dancers.
What Linda wanted to express through her dance was to bring more cultural diversity to St. Paul’s. She also gave a Chinese folding fan to everyone attending to show her thanks and bid farewell after her year in Graduate House. Linda is a graduate of Macquarie University in Accounting and has completed a MEd in Educational Psychology at Sydney University.
Congratulations to Bryson Constable (Economics/Law III) who was recently elected President of the University of Sydney Union (USU) for 2024/5. Bryson first connected with the USU through representing St Paul’s in Intercollegiate Palladian competitions and was elected to the USU Board in 2023 with the most votes. Two other recent Paulines serving USU include Cole Scott-Curwood (2019-20) who was president of USU in 2022/23 and Nick Dower (2021-23) who served as Honorary Treasurer in 2023/24.
USU President is a significant role within the University and through it Bryson hopes to foster even greater engagement between the colleges and the USU, as well as serve all students on campus through leadership of the voluntary governing body of USU.
The union began in 1874 and is now Australia’s largest independent student-led not-for-profit organisation with over 46,000 members and over 100 staff. With a $30 million turnover, the USU provides a wide range of services, outlets, events, programmes, facilities, and opportunities to help students get the most out of their time at uni.
The St Paul’s College community is immensely proud of Bryson’s contribution to student welfare and amenities that support daily life on campus. Taking on this important governance and strategic role is both a great learning opportunity for him and critical for the greater good of the University’s student body and the resident community of colleges and halls enjoying on-campus facilities, recreation and events.
Bryson’s grandfather, Prof Ian Constable AO, was in College 1960-64. He is a leading international ophthalmologist based in Perth. He was the founder of the Lions Eye Institute there. Bryson is a debater in the intercol competition team representing St Paul’s, represented the College in intercol Oration last year, is a regular member of the Victoriana! cast, he was winner of the Sir Ian McFarlane Prize for exceptional results in economics/commerce and for service to College in 2022, and was a scholar on the Deans’ List of Excellence (Economics) in 2023.
Congratulations Bryson on your election and best wishes for your busy year ahead.
The Warden and the Union Committee warmly invite Old Paulines, their partners and friends to join us for an unforgettable evening of festivities and live entertainment in the Quad and Salisbury.
