July/ August 2023
Lerici Music Festival sets a spotlight on Women, marking 200 years since the birth of the iconic soprano Maria Callas which inspired the theme. Bryn Terfel returned to give a concert performance as Scarpa in Tosca. A stunning line up of soloists and chamber musicians performed in the magical surroundings of Villa Marigola and al fresco in the heart of Lerici and the charming village of La Serra. A new feature was the aperitivi between early evening events and the main concerts located at Villa Marigola.
July/August 2022
Lerici Music Festival goes from strength to strength with a theme focussing on British music and artists, commemorating the 200 years since the death of Percy Bysshe Shelley in the Gulf of Poets. Among the stars attracted to perform in the festival are Bryn Terfel, singing a concert version of Falstaff under the baton of LMF Artistic Director and Founder Gianluca Marcianò, the distinguished British pianist Christian Blackshaw and the mesmeric trumpet soloist Alison Balsom.
2022
Marcelo Bratke releases his recording of Chopin Preludes on the Quartz label which marks a sentimental journey for Marcelo as his first encounter with Chopin was also his first encounter with the piano.
Summer 2021
Back on track post-Covid, Festival Suoni dal Golfo renamed Lerici Music Festival and it continued with its 5th edition Jill Segal is International Development Director. The festival had managed to produce a small, intimate festival in 2020 despite navigating the restrictions of the pandemic.
2020
A year of reflection, virtual consultations, publishing a small collection of poetry Musings - personal reflections and seeking tranquility - and seeking improvement of the soul in the long days of Covid isolation.
August 2019
2 weeks producing Festival Suoni dal Golfo 2019. After an intense year of work it was wonderful seeing it come to fruition with 26 concerts during its run. It was full of joy with wonderful artists and an audience taking the festival to their hearts.
February 2019
Marcelo Bratke, Thiago Soares and Mariannita Luzzati repeat their Lerici programme in Lisbon to huge acclaim.
August 2018
Jill Segal invited to be the Executive Director of Festival Suoni dal Golfo 2019.
Summer 2018
Marcelo Bratke gave a stunning performance at Festival Suoni dal Golfo in Lerici, on the beautiful Gulf of Poets on the Italian Riviera with Brazilian Royal Ballet Principal Thiago Soares and videography by the renowned Brazilian artist Mariannita Luzzati.
December 2017
Exciting news about Marcelo Bratke. On 19 December 2017 Marcelo was awarded his country's highest cultural honour the Order of Merit at the Presidential Palace in Brasilia from President Michel Temer in the presence of First Last Marcela Temer and the Minister of Culture João de Sá Leitão. We are proud to be associated with Marcelo both in business and friendship and are delighted that his tireless work promoting Brazilian classical music and educational musical outreach to young people has been publicly recognised and his inspirational story can reach out and inspire people to triumph through adversity wherever they are.
Spring 2017
Mario Pirovano has recently returned from a very successful tour to Bangkok and Singapore where I was lucky to catch him on stage at Republic Polytechnic's wonderful Cultural Centre's theatre. He gave an animated and captivating performance of Mistero Buffo in English to a delighted audience.
Dimitri Tarlow's sold out performances of The Great Chimera and Chekhov's Three Sisters have finished for the 2016/20017 season and Dimitri has been on stage himself at Poreia Theatre in a rarely performed production of Labiche's Le Plus heureux des trois directed by Yiannis Houvardas. Running simultaneously at the National Theatre in Athens in the Ziller Building - stage "Nikos Kourkulos" is a new play Reaping, written by Dimitris Dimitriadis, directed by Dimitri Tarlow.
Marcelo Bratke has been in Brazil on tour and completing his very successful documentary series on Villa Lobos as well as featuring in a film about his life story. His production of 'L'invitation au voyage' with actor Marco Gambino and a video scenography by Mariannita Luzzati is ready for further performance opportunities.
November 2016
Brazilian pianist Marcelo Bratke has just returned to London from a Brazilian tour of L'invitation au voyage which took the province of São Paulo by storm. This production, a synthesis of piano solo, poetry performed by Italian actor Marco Gambino with a video scenography by Brazilian artist Mariannita Luzzati, brought Brazilian audiences to their feet and a more extensive tour is in a formative stage. Initially performed at Southbank Centre, London this has now developed into an even more captivating show ready to entertain UK audiences.
October 2016
It was with great sadness that we learned of the death of the great Italian Nobel Prizewinning laureate Dario Fo. He was a great man and still creating and performing until his death at age 90 on 13 October. He was due to give an interview in Edinburgh just before he passed away, as a highlight of a month-long celebration of his work including an exhibition of some of his extensive portfolio of paintings, a little known side of his creativity. The festival was called 'Dancing with Colours, Whipping with Words'. Mario's performance was very well received.
Mario Pirovano, Dario Fo's close colleague and dear friend continues performing his one-man plays, giving workshops and promoting the full range of Fo's work with even more dedication in the knowledge that Fo's works are as powerful and important today as the time in which they were written.
July 2016
Just arrived back in London after a stimulating 3 weeks of festivals in Europe - music, art and opera. First stop Angela Hewitt's music festival at Lago Trasimeno in Italy where I interviewed Marina Mahler, granddaughter of Gustav and Alma Mahler at a pre-concert event. Then off to Austria to the inaugural Mahler Festival at Steinbach am Attersee where Mahler composed most of Symphony No. 2 and all of Symphony No. 3. A couple of days seeing the Mahler-LeWitt Studio artists and their participation in the Spoleto Festival and then to the amazing festival at Aix-en-Provence where I saw 3 operas: the most spell-binding production of Debussy's Pelléas and Mélisande I could ever hope to see, directed by Katie Mitchell and starring the mesmerising Barbara Hannigan; Peter Sellars production of Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex and Symphony of Psalms and the ground-breaking opera written in Arabic and telling a folk-story from Palestine by Moneim Adwan called Kalîla wa Dimna. All were outstanding and the first two were conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen and played by the Philharmonia Orchestra. On my return to the UK I had a delightful evening in the Cotswolds at Longborough Festival Opera's production of Jenûfa.
May 2016
I am excited that I am following my heart and focussing my passion for theatre. Jill Segal Associates Ltd. will pull together all my past experience: qualification as a barrister; time spent in the design and art world; 14 years as an agent promoting and managing the careers of classical musicians and consulting in the arts handling projects which captured my interest. Now I am finally wearing the hat that fits me well. I welcome my new friends, colleagues and of course clients and look forward to our enriching journey together.