Les Misérables star Daniel Koek graced the stage of the Elgar Rooms at the Royal Albert Hall this week to showcase his new album High. The highly-regarded Australian performer moved to London ten years ago when he was awarded a place on the musical theatre postgraduate course at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, graduating in 2005. This was followed by lead roles in shows such as the 50th anniversary production of West Side Story, Craig Revel Horwood’s award-winning staging of Chess, the Lincoln Center production of South Pacific and Les Misérables in the West End. High is the follow-up to his debut album, Self-Titled Tenor.
The sophisticated and intimate setting at the Elgar Rooms allowed Koek to engage with the appreciative audience as he sang extracts from several musicals including The Phantom of the Opera and Taboo. The long-awaited ‘Bring Him Home’ arrived in a beautiful duet with ex-G4 frontman Jonathan Ansell which was utterly mesmerising.
We also witnessed the talents of three lovely ladies: soprano Charlotte Jaconelli (well-known from Britain’s Got Talent), West End leading actress Na-Young Jeon (Kim in Miss Saigon and Fantine in Les Misérables), while young Caoimhe Ballard (who played Cosette opposite Koek in Les Mis) impressed us with her rendition of ‘Castle On a Cloud’. Guitarist Sam Brittain was also on hand to help Koek give us a taste of his roots with an Aussie hit rock song.
Not only was the evening filled with the best of Koek’s album, but the audience also got to see his warm personality as he gave us an insight into his life and career. He dedicated Billy Joel’s ‘And So It Goes’ and ‘She’s Always a Woman’ to the neighbour who befriended him when he first moved to London as a student – she sadly lost her battle with cancer last year. His live band made the performance seem effortless.
Tracks on the new album include ‘Bring Him Home’, ‘Oceano’, ‘February Song’ and duets with Jonathan Ansell and Les Misérables co-star Carrie Hope Fletcher. The album is released in October and is available to pre-order now from www.pledgemusic.com/projects/danielkoek with some of the proceeds going to Marie Curie Cancer Care.
You can listen to three exclusive tracks here: https://soundcloud.com/liberationmanagement/sets/daniel-koek/s-N8uY9 and watch the promotional trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBrf_u8nT30
Molly Kerrigan
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