Media Room
GOOD NEWS WEEK AT THE CON
The expertise of Con alumni and an Associate Professor have been honoured on three different international fronts this week.
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RELEASE DATE: 18 November 09
A (DI)VINE CONCERT WHERE FOUR HANDS ARE BETTER THAN TWO
The musical mastery of Paul Rickard-Ford and Natalia Sheludiakova, buttressed by their love of music, will be to the fore when they combine for a world premiere performance of a new piano sonata by eminent Sydney composer Carl Vine.
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RELEASE DATE: 12 November 09
RACHEL‘S STAR PERFORMANCE
Sydney’s Rachel Siu has become the youngest musician to win the National Youth Concerto Competition in 33 years.
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RELEASE DATE: 23 October 09
JI WON IS AUSTRALIA’S BEST IN 2009
Sydney violinist Ji Won Kim, a postgraduate student at The Con, has been named the nation’s best young performer.
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RELEASE DATE: 23 October 09
ORCHESTRA PROVES A WINNER IN EUROPE
Rave reviews and standing ovations have been hallmarks of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music’s Chamber Orchestra’s landmark European concert tour, which finished on the weekend.
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RELEASE DATE: 22 October 09
TWO CON PERFORMERS IN THE RUNNING FOR NATIONAL AWARD
Two of the three musicians vying for the title of Australia’s best young performer are from The Con.
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RELEASE DATE: 22 October 09
UNEARTHED: A CONSTELLATION OF SINGING TALENT
The talent pool of student singers is so deep that no amount of Australian Idols would do it justice, according to one of the nation’s most experienced voice trainers, Clarita Derwent.
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RELEASE DATE: 30 September 09
SYDNEY CALL-OUT FOR EX-CONS
A search has been mounted by the Sydney Conservatorium of Music to track down some 2,000 former students who, 20 years on, are now eligible for Alumnus status.
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RELEASE DATE: 27 September 09
EIGHT YEARS ON: OH, WHAT A FEELING FOR MINAH
When musician Minah Choe flies out of Sydney on Sunday for performances in Europe she will be renewing a feeling of a “dream come true” denied her eight years ago.
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RELEASE DATE: 23 September 09
THAT SOUND IS PERCUSSION SNARING KEY PERFORMANCES
Percussion’s asset for fitting the glove of most music ensembles is generating a rising interest in student participation, and a growing demand for international performances, according to eminent musician and mentor Daryl Pratt.
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RELEASE DATE: 18 September 09
RESEARCH ON THE UP AND UP AT THE CON
The Sydney Conservatorium of Music has moved into overdrive in fully documenting the outputs of its creative practice - boosting its database by almost 70 per cent in the past few months.
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RELEASE DATE: 16 September 09
MUSIC COMPOSITION’S NEW WORLD ORDER
Contemporary classical music is in the throes of a "golden era" with more young composers worldwide writing than ever before, according to pre-eminent American composer John Corigliano, who is visiting Australia.
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RELEASE DATE: 9 September 09
A MASTER OF THE HORN JOINS THE CON
Internationally acclaimed musician and scholar, Darryl Poulsen, has been lured to the Sydney Conservatorium of Music to take on the new position of Associate Dean (Academic/Staffing).
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RELEASE DATE: 3 September 09
NEW GLOBAL MUSIC OMNIBUS TRAVELS HIGHWAY 101
Australia has embarked on an epic undertaking to generate more than 100 new musical works that will influence public appreciation around the globe.
The project, called 101 Compositions for 100 Years, aims to inspire a mix of exponents in music composition – from international masters to budding apprentices.
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RELEASE DATE: 31 August 09
ED MORRIS CHANNELS BOB DYLAN
Violin student Ed Morris has reached back decades to introduce the look and sounds of iconic American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan to the streets of Sydney.
Morris, of Balmain, joined with fellow students at The Con in a Dylan Look-a-Like competition to help celebrate the forthcoming world premiere of a composition based on Dylan’s poetry called Mr
Tambourine Man.
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RELEASE DATE: 27 August 09
BRANDENBURG ORCHESTRA FOUNDER AWARDED
Sydney Conservatorium of Music alumnus, Paul Dyer, will be honoured with a special award for professional achievement in advancing the Australian music industry as a performer, conductor, educator and role model.
Dyer, who graduated from The Con in 1983, established the country’s first period orchestra, the Brandenburg, in 1990 and in the years since, as Artistic Director, has been instrumental in gaining international status for the ensemble.
The University of Sydney Alumni Awards will be presented on 11 September.
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RELEASE DATE: 17 August 09
SCHOOL’S IN FOR ROS
Ros Dunlop, a lecturer in clarinet at The Con, has spent six years recording Timorese indigenous music through a scheme called Music Recovery, in collaboration with composer Martin Wesley-Smith.
Their objective of reviving original sounds and songs and putting them to practical contemporary use through the local education system has been given a giant boost through the development of the island country’s first music school “Hadahur.”
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RELEASE DATE: 5 August 09
HISTORY REPEATS FOR PETER SCULTHORPE
Emeritus Professor Sculthorpe, who turned 80 this year, has received the Casa Asia Prize for his stellar career in music generally and his highly acclaimed work, The Quiros Suite.
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RELEASE DATE: 30 July 09
PLAYING THE PIPER WILL BE NOTEWORTHY FOR ALEXA
Still recovering seven months on from a bicycle accident that shattered her left knee and broke her right arm, Alexa Still is psyching up for one of the most demanding of flute concertos.
The internationally acclaimed flautist is preparing to take-on the lead role in John Corigliano’s orchestral epic The Pied Piper Fantasy in Sydney in August as part of The Con’s 2009 Concert Series – and out of deference to the renowned American composer’s visit to Australia.
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RELEASE DATE: 27 July 09
NO RADIO SILENCE FOR COLIN’S SOUNDSCAPES
Doctorate candidate at The Con, Colin Black, continues to impress the listening public around the globe with his evocative soundscapes – the latest being in Austria.
His Soundprints: The Prague Pressings, a 20 minute composition inspired by the history, spirit and magic of the Czech capital, has been featured on the influential Kunstradio program, gaining a broad European audience.
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RELEASE DATE: 13 July 09
X MARKS THE SPOT FOR 2015 PROJECT
The global 101 Compositions for 100 Years project has taken to he stage for the first time, with a world premiere performance of Suite by The Con’s Michael Duke and David Howie.
The work, by Australian composer Mark Zadro, was written specially for the Alto Sax-Piano duo to help celebrate The Con’s centenary in 2015. Duke and Howie, both lecturers at The Con, layed all eight movements of X Suite at the World Saxophone ongress, held in the College of Music, Bangkok.
X Suite was commissioned by Fr Arthur Bridge on behalf of the Ars Musica Australis. It represents the initial overseas performance of the prestigious 101 Compositions scheme that aims to commission 101 new musical works from national and international composers over the next seven years.
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RELEASE DATE: 6 July 09
NOISE WORKS FOR ANGHARAD
There is a difference between noise and music, but they don’t need to be mutually exclusive.
So says The Con musicology masters student, Angharad Davis, who has won a coveted place in the PhD program at Yale University.
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RELEASE DATE: 13 July 09
CON STUDENTS TOPS IN ASIA PACIFIC STRINGS
Students at The Con have triumphed in the finals of the prestigious Asia-Pacific Chamber Music Competition (formerly the National Chamber Music Competition), winning three of the six prizes on offer.
Rebecca Chan (SCM, Master of Music 1) and Stefanie Farrands SCM, B.Music 1), performing as part of the Hamer String Quartet, claimed first place in the Robert Salzar Foundation Prize; Musica Viva Most Outstanding Australian Ensemble; and the Peter Druce Audience Prize.
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RELEASE DATE: 6 July 09
SPECIAL ROYAL RECITAL AT THE CON
Didgeridoo virtuoso William Barton and his Opera Diva mother Delmae will perform a special recital at The Con for Queen Sophia of Spain on Friday.
They will join with the Orava Quartet for a private presentation of Birdsong at Dusk for Queen Sophia in the Verbrugghen Hall, followed by a solo didgeridoo and guitar fusion piece by Barton.
It is the Royal couple’s first visit to Australia in more than two decades.
It is understood the recital of traditional Indigenous music was a personal request of Queen Sophia.
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RELEASE DATE: 26 June 09
JIWON IS QUEEN OF THE STRINGS
Sydney Conservatorium of Music masters student, Jiwon Kim, as announced as the winner of the Strings Final for the 2009 ABC Young Performer of the Year award with a stunning violin performance in Brisbane.
Kim, 24, who moved from Melbourne to The Con to specifically study under Associate Professor Alice Waten, played the Sibelius: Violin Concerto to edge out fellow finalists Xenia Deviatkina-Loh, 18, and Katherine Lukey, 28, also students at The Con, and Kana Ohashi, of Victoria.
The award is acknowledged as the country’s most important concerto performance for strings.
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RELEASE DATE: 15 June 09
CHILDREN AT PLAY ARE A SIGNPOST TO TEACHING YOUNG MUSICIANS
How and what children do in the playground can guide how better to teach them music in the classroom, according to specialist music educator Kathryn Marsh.
Over a 15 year period of observing students in playgrounds in a range of countries, Marsh’s internationally recognised research has involved analysis of more than 70 hours of field recordings overing 2,172 musical games across 333 different genres.
Associate Professor Marsh, who is the Chair of Music Education at The Con, is the author of The Musical Playground-Global Tradition and Change in Children’s Songs and Games (Oxford University Press), released late last year.
In April, the book was the focus of presentations at the International Research in Music Education conference at Exeter University in England, and later at Cambridge University and the University of Sheffield, as well as the University of Stavanger (Norway).
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RELEASE DATE: 08 June 09
LIGHT WALK PLUS JAZZ – COOL!
Jazz, from funk to hip, will be front and centre this week for people taking part in the Light Walk tour of artistic installations spread from Observatory Hill to the Opera House as part of the Smart Light Sydney Festival.
The free Café Recitals at the The Con to help celebrate the three week-long festival include performances by the Eamon Dilworth Quartet (Wed 3 June) and Chris Long Trio (Fri 5 June).
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RELEASE DATE: 01 June 09
RILEY’S MASTERY WINS NEW FANS FOR THE SHAKUHACHI
The Con’s Riley Lee, the first non-Japanese to attain the rank of shakuhachi grand master, is “wowing” American students with his skill and knowledge of the venerable instrument.
Now two-thirds into a six month tutoring and performance tour of the US East Coast, Dr Lee has attracted a “cocktail” of undergraduates at Princeton University to a semester-long course on how the shakuhachi is represented in Japanese
mythology, religion, literature and arts.
The bamboo flute, which traces back to the eighth century, is unfamiliar to many Western ears. With just five finger holes and no mouth piece, the end-blown bamboo pipe can make infinite sounds of a mellow timbre.
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RELEASE DATE: 28 May 09
MUSIC TO BRIGHTEN-UP LIGHT WALK
A series of free and ticketed after dark concerts at The Con will provide a special opportunity for people “walking on the wild side” of the inaugural Smart Light Sydney Festival’s Light Walk.
The Con’s Songlines installation is an integral part of the Light Walk route, which will lead participants from Observatory Hill, through The Rocks and Circular Quay, up to The Con and then onto Sydney Opera House nightly from this Tuesday 26 May until 14 June.
The program of performances, starring nationally and internationally acclaimed musicians, students and young virtuosos, will range from mini recitals to major works.
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RELEASE DATE: 21 May 09
WATEN’S WINNING WAYS
Alice Waten denies she has the “Midas touch”, but try telling that to her students.
As one of Australia’s most pre-eminent international music teachers, Associate Professor Waten has added another record to her long list of “firsts” with three of her Sydney Conservatorium of Music pupils winning through to the finals of the 2009 ABC Young Performer of the Year Award.
The Award, to be judged in Brisbane on 13 June, is acknowledged as the country’s most important concerto performance for strings.
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RELEASE DATE: 21 May 09
NEAL AND DANNY ARE BACH WITH SPELLBINDING CD
When it comes to Johann Sebastian Bach, few musicians in the world play his sonatas better than Neal Peres Da Costa and Daniel Yeadon.
The pair proved that last year when they joined with Con alumnus and Australian Living Treasure Richard Tognetti to produce the Aria Award-winning album, Bach Sonatas for Violin and Keyboard.
The Baroque masters’ affinity is again to the fore with their new CD homage to Bach’s three sonatas for gamba and harpsichord.
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RELEASE DATE: 18 May 09
THE CON’S MATTHEW HINDSON IS “CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD”
2009 is proving a stellar year for The Con’s Chair of Arts Music, Dr Matthew Hindson.
Already to his credit this year are a range of new compositions, major performances of his works in Australia and overseas, working with the Dean of the Conservatorium for development of the 101 Compositions for 100 Years project and the artistic direction of the 2010 World New Music Days Festival and Aurora Festival.
Now, a senior appointment to the Australia Council.
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RELEASE DATE: 15 May 09
GALAXY OF SOUND, SIGHTS AND SCIENCE
Music will line-up with the planets, stars, suns and moons tomorrow night as part of an arts meets science convergence
to celebrate the International Year of Astronomy (IYA).
The Music and the Cosmos concert in the Great Hall, University of Sydney, will bring together leading University astronomers and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music’s Brass Ensemble in a blend of celestially-inspired sound, images and discussion.
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RELEASE DATE: 4 May 09
THE CON ON THE ROAD AGAIN
A 10 year tradition will be extended when a group of highly talented young musicians from the Sydney Conservatorium
of Music travel to regional NSW locations this week to perform in schools and churches.
The six member team led by David Miller, the Chair of The Con’s Ensembles Studies Unit, will play and provide coaching
to pupils at infants, primary and secondary schools in Cowra, Parkes, Bathurst, Millthorpe, Molong and Orange.
Concerts will be staged in all locations as well as in Canowindra.
The travelling party for the “Grand Western Tour” includes a wind quintet (bassoon, clarinet, french horn, flute and oboe)
plus a classical guitarist.
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RELEASE DATE: 1 May 09
THE CON JOINS BATTLE OF THE BASSOONS
The world’s top eight bassoon players, including The Con’s Kim Walker, will rule the musical waves at the inaugural International Bassoon Festival in Beijing next month.
The five day festival, hosted by China’s nine Conservatorium’s, seven Arts Academies and the Symphony Development Foundation, will feature a program of ensemble and solo performances in the National Centre for the Performing Arts.
Kim Walker, the Dean and Principal of The Con, will join Valery Popov (Russia), Albrecht Holder, Mor Biron and Frank Forst (Germany), Zhang Jinmin (Singapore), Matthias Racz Switzerland) and Philipp Tutzer (Austria) as the star musicians.
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RELEASE DATE: 30 April 09
VALDA HAS AN OPERATIC DATE WITH PLACIDO
Sydney Conservatorium opera graduate Valda Wilson has finished ahead of 760 other contenders to claim a place in
the line-up for the prestigious Operalia, Placido Domingo’s World Opera Competition in Budapest, Hungary in July.
Only 40 singers are selected for the competition, with the finalists earning a coaching stint with Domingo, and a
singing role with the orchestra conducted by the pre-eminent Spanish tenor.
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RELEASE DATE: 22 April 09
VINE TO SPIN HIS MUSICAL MAGIC AT THE LECTERN
On every day of the year, somewhere in the world, a musician will play a piano sonata composed by Carl Vine – such is
the broad significance and appreciation of the Sydney writer’s work.
With 20 scores for classical dance, an impressive catalogue of chamber music and varied compositions for film, television
and theatre to his credit, it’s no wonder that he is the inaugural Australian composer for the 100 Compositions for 100
Years project.
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RELEASE DATE: 20 April 09
SONGLINES TO HELP LIGHT-UP FESTIVAL
The Con’s Songlines installation has been confirmed as an integral part of the Smart Light Sydney festival’s Light
Walk, expected to attract thousands of visitors in May and June.
The 10 metre high and five metre round red cylinder was created as part of the Conservatorium’s Open Day in
March, and emanates musical sounds as prevailing winds “caress” three giant Aeolian Harps acoustically placed
inside the structure.
It was officially opened by the NSW Minister for the Arts, The Hon Virginia Judge, and the Lord Mayor of
Sydney, Clover Moore MP.
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RELEASE DATE: 20 April 09
SENSATIONAL MUSIC INFLUENCES: FROM METALLICA TO THE CALLS OF THE LAND
Renowned Australian composer Matthew Hindson doesn’t always follow the script when it comes to contemporary classical music,
while didgeridoo virtuoso William Barton draws on childhood sounds to inspire him.
This divergence of approach will be a winning note of the Sydney Conservatorium’s Sensational Sundays Series concert on April 19 in the Verbrugghen Hall.
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RELEASE DATE: April 09
RICHARD IS A FRIEND INDEED OF THE CON – AND FUTURE MUSICIANS
Internationally renowned violinist and conductor Richard Tognetti has been named the
inaugural Friend of The Con, broadening his commitment to furthering the development of Australia’s next generation of musicians.
Tognetti, three time Aria Award winner and longtime Artistic Director of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, said he was “thrilled” with the honour and looked forward to continuing
his spirited support of the The Con’s leadership in performing arts education.
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RELEASE DATE: 24/03/09
REGIONAL TALENT TO TAKE CENTRE STAGE AT THE CON
Sixteen students from five NSW Regional Conservatoria will have a starring role in the first public Open Day in the 94 year history of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music on Sunday.
The students, from Riverina Conservatorium, Central Coast Conservatorium, Mitchell Conservatorium, Macquarie Conservatorium and Goulburn Conservatorium, will join scores of nationally and internationally acclaimed musicians and singers in a 35 event program.
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RELEASE DATE: 25/03/09
OPEN SESAME: MUSIC AND PLAY FOR EVERYONE AT THE CON
Taxi drivers be aware - you can come inside, not just drop-off passengers at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
The Dean and Principal of The Con, Professor Kim Walker, has moved to scuttle any misapprehension that the institution is open to only musicians and scholars.
“You don’t have to have an instrument under your arm to come through our doors... it is a place for everyone and anyone,” Professor Walker declared as part of the message for The Con’s first public Open Day on Sunday (29 March).
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RELEASE DATE: 24/03/09
HARPING ON: MUSIC TO THE EARS VIA THE FOUR WINDS
A giant red cylinder that emanates musical sounds generated by prevailing winds has taken root in Sydney’s CBD – appropriately outside the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
Some 10 metres high and five metres round, the steel, plastic and timber installation aims to deliver a range of sounds courtesy of three large Aeolian Harps acoustically placed in the cylinder.
Called “Songlines,” the installation - the brainchild of Sydney architect Joe Snell – has been created as part of The Con’s public Open Day on Sunday 29 March.
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RELEASE DATE: 23/03/09
ENROLMENTS AT RECORD PITCH AT THE CON
The Sydney Conservatorium of Music has experienced a record level of student enrolments for its nine curriculum streams in 2009.
Auditions numbered a best ever 800 from 23 countries, with a total of 185 places provided – 14 higher than the University quota - in courses straddling performance to research.
Of the 800 applications received, more than 400 were first preferences – some 20 per cent better than in previous years.
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RELEASE DATE: 17/03/09
IN THE CHAIR: THE GODFATHER OF MUSIC COMPOSITION
In a momentous development for the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, the doyen of music composition, Emeritus Professor Peter Sculthorpe, has agreed to endow Australia’s first Chair of Australian Music.
The multi-million dollar endowment will nurture generations of future young composers from Australia and overseas as part of the legacy of Australia’s most prolific and esteemed composer.
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RELEASE DATE: 24/02/09
GERARD DOES IT WITH STEINWAY ALL THE WAY
Two time ARIA winner Gerard Willems knows how to let his fingers do the talking – and the “chatter” is expected to be smoother when he helps baptise the latest edition to the Sydney Conservatorium of Music’s repository of pianos.
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RELEASE DATE: 23/02/09
VISIT THE CON? PLAY AT THE CON? LISTEN AT THE CON? YES, YOU CAN!
One of Sydney’s most iconic institutions – the Sydney Conservatorium of Music – plans to host an “open house” to encourage greater public appreciation and enjoyment of the venue’s musical heritage.
A special event in March featuring exhibitions, masterclasses, workshops and a diverse range of free performances will aim to “knock down the door” of any community misconception that The Con is off-limits to people other than students and staff.
Open Day Sunday 29 March from 10am
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RELEASE DATE: 11/02/09