A Diverse Mix of Music and Venues at the Newcastle Music Festival

WORDS MICHELLE MEEHAN - Features Writer

Elena Andrews

Newcastle will become a mecca for music lovers this month when more than 350 performers converge on the city for a two-week celebration of rhythm and melody.

The third annual Newcastle Music Festival will showcase the extraordinary talents of both local and visiting musicians, who will perform in 28 events from August 3 to 19 with a diversity in styles ranging from classical chamber music to contemporary compositions.

With the theme of love your city, love your music, the event will also highlight Newcastle’s diverse mix of live music venues, with major concerts making the most of the glorious acoustics offered by the Christ Church Cathedral, Civic Theatre and Newcastle Conservatorium while more intimate shows will pop up everywhere from the Adamstown Uniting Church to the Umbrian café.

Co-founder and artistic director Ross Fiddes said the festival was a unique attraction for Newcastle, which could develop into a major tourist drawcard for domestic and international visitors in years to come.

“There is nothing like this in NSW. It is probably the biggest event of its kind in NSW, which concentrates exclusively on music, sometimes as connected to other art forms, and mixes guest performers with excellent locals,” he said.

“As such it strengthens local music infrastructure, gives an opportunity for locals to perform with stunning guests and also involves important partnerships with educational institutions such as TAFE NSW and UoN (the University of Newcastle).

“The aim is to make this event into an annual tourist cultural destination, attracting visitors from across the nation and overseas.” The line-up certainly has plenty of pulling power in 2018, with headline performers including the internationally renowned champions of chamber music, the Omega Ensemble, who have been appointed as the festival’s first artists-in-residence.

Members of the Sydney-based group will feature in four festival events, including Beyond Time at the Harold Lobb Concert Hall on Thursday, August 16. With Véronique Serret on violin, David Rowden on clarinet, Paul Stender on cello and Maria Raspopova on piano, the Omega Ensemble will perform a selection of evocative pieces by renowned German composer Johann Sebastian Bach and Newcastle’s own David Banney, as well as ‘Quartet for the End of Time’, a musical expression of hope and mysticism written by French composer Olivier Messiaen in 1941 during his time as a prisoner of war.

Rowden and Raspopova will also appear in concert with stunning bel canto soprano Elena Xanthoudakis on August 10, performing a program of works by Spohr, Mendelssohn, Poulenc and Bellini, as well as Schubert’s Shepherd on the Rock.

Raspopova will be back in action a day later as she helps adjudicate the skills of the next generation of pianists to award scholarships from the Music Teachers’ Association of NSW. Meanwhile, Rowden will add his clarinet to the stunning Festival Finale at Christ Church Cathedral on August 19, which will also feature the Christ Church Camerata, Newcastle Strings and Festival Strings in a program that includes the slow movement from Mozart’s much-loved Clarinet Concerto, Graeme Koehne’s mesmerising Time is a River and Tchaikowsky’s sumptuous Serenade for Strings.

While much of the Newcastle Music Festival’s program focusses on classical compositions, Fiddes said the line-up offered something for everyone, with indie rock, Scottish fiddle music, cabaret, jazz and big band performers.

There will also be some magnificent vocal offerings ranging from intimate solo shows to spectacular choirs, with an opera masterclass from Newcastle resident Deborah Humble at Adamstown Uniting Church on August 18 one of the most eagerly anticipated events.

Born in Wales and raised in Adelaide, the mezzo soprano’s opera career has taken her to Europe and the UK, in addition to performances in Australia.

During the masterclass Humble will put nominated singers through their paces, working with them on their chosen arias to achieve their most beautiful and expressive sounds.

Audiences wanting to hear more of Humble can also see her in action later that night when she is joined by guitarists Andrew Blanch and Ariel Nurhadi, and pianist Amanda Neale at the Newcastle Conservatorium for Habanera, a concert centred on the exotic colours and rhythms of Spanish songs.

Tamara-Anna Cislowsk

Photo credit Steven Godbee

A range of international influences are evident throughout the festival program, including the new Music on a Plate series, which will put music on the menu at two Newcastle cafes in a cultural feast for the senses.

Enjoy extraordinary African singer-songwriter Berias Masseque and a sumptuous two-course Italian lunch at the Umbrian café on Saturday, August 11, or savour innovative folk music fused with an Indian vegetarian feast when Newcastle band Vanishing Shapes dish up a mouth-watering performance at Momo Wholefood café on August 17.

Another addition to the program this year will see the festival extend its boundaries beyond the borders of Newcastle, with an exclusive concert in the vibrant surrounds of the Maitland Regional Art Gallery (MRAG). In a fantastic fusion of creative cultural pursuits, the Music and Magic at MRAG event will see vocalist Susan Carson and pianist Terence Koo perform a selection of cabaret and jazz classics chosen in response to the gallery’s current exhibition of works by renowned Australian painter Wendy Sharpe.

With so many exciting events on offer Fiddes said it was impossible to pick one single highlight of this year’s program, however, he hoped music lovers would make the most of the value offered by the Festival Pass to see as many of the local and visiting musicians as possible.

“We hope to enthuse music lovers in our city and environs to attend one, two or more events,” he said.

“We are bringing some stunning musicians and singers to the city, and mixing many of them with our locals. The idea is that Newcastle does not have to import all performers to have a magnificent music festival, but mixing our guests with locals will also give acknowledgement to the standards we have in the area. From my point of view there are many [highlights], I could list all 28 events really as they are all exciting.”

For more information or to book tickets visit www.newcastlemusicfestival.org