News location:

Canberra Today 14°/16° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Fine music rings out across the valley

The 2013 “Arts in the Valley” Festival at Kangaroo Valley is destined to be something of a Canberra-fest, with former ANU School of Music professors David Pereira, Alice Giles, Timothy Kain and Max McBride, high on the list.

Harpist Alice Giles in Antarctica. Photo by Glenn Jacobson, Australian Antarctic Division
Harpist Alice Giles in Antarctica. Photo by Glenn Jacobson, Australian Antarctic Division
With the theme of “Valley Dreaming”, artistic director Belinda Webster has created a three-day event that combines fine music with “Sculpture in the Valley” and Aboriginal performance.

There will be a real corroboree, free and open to the public, presented by the local Yuin Nation and Webster believes it is possibly the first in Kangaroo Valley since white settlement.

Canberrans are very much in the forefront in her chosen exploration of indigenous motifs in music.

On May 3, Max McBride will conduct Canberra Youth Orchestra and the Sydney Youth Orchestra in performing John Antill’s 1946 orchestral ballet, “Corroboree”, in the opening concert at The Scots College’s Glengarry Campus.

Cellist David Pereira. Photo by Silas Brown
Cellist David Pereira. Photo by Silas Brown
2010 “CityNews” Artist of the Year, cellist David Pereira, will perform a solo recital to include Martin Wesley-Smith’s “Uluru Song”.

Continuing the theme, on May 4 didgeridoo master David Hudson will give a solo performance. On May 5, Pereira will join seven other musicians to present a chamber music concert of works by Australian composers such as Ian Munro, Ross Edwards and Colin Bright, who have been inspired by Aboriginal themes.

The “Hausmusik” recitals give the many guest musicians the opportunity of playing in beautiful private homes in the valley. One such is guitarist Timothy Kain, who will premiere Nigel Westlake’s guitar sonata “Mosstrooper Peak”.

One of the more extraordinary contributions is that of Murrumbateman harpist Alice Giles, whose multi-media event “Alice in Antarctica” on May 5 pays tribute to her grandfather Cecil Madigan, a member of the first Australasian Antarctic Expedition in 1911-1914. Giles based the work (which includes compositions by Larry Sitsky and Jim Cotter) on her 2011 trip as an Australian Antarctic Arts Fellow to Davis and Mawson Stations, where she got to play her harp in the snow and ice.

“Arts in the Valley” Festival, Kangaroo Valley, May 3 to 5, bookings to artsinthevalley.net.au or call 0438 631351.

Who can be trusted?

In a world of spin and confusion, there’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in Canberra.

If you trust our work online and want to enforce the power of independent voices, I invite you to make a small contribution.

Every dollar of support is invested back into our journalism to help keep citynews.com.au strong and free.

Become a supporter

Thank you,

Ian Meikle, editor

Helen Musa

Helen Musa

Share this

Leave a Reply

Related Posts

Follow us on Instagram @canberracitynews