Australian Festival of Chamber Music

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The Australian Festival of Chamber Music (AFCM) is a highly regarded and successful ten day international festival focused on Chamber Music but also featuring tours of regional and remote Australia, fine food, Master classes for musicians and lecture series by international scientists themed on the Great Barrier Reef.[1] The AFCM combines the good qualities of Chamber Music and North Queensland.

20 to 30 chamber musicians from around the world converge on Townsville, Queensland each year to perform and teach emerging artists. The Festival was founded in July 1991 and has been held annually ever since.[1] It is the largest festival dedicated to chamber music in the southern hemisphere.[2]

During the festival master classes are held for around 30 music students attending the 'Winterschool' by the artists who also have a full schedule of performances.[1] In the lead up to the festival an ensemble of musicians from the festival are sponsored to tour mining communities across North Queensland.[1] Since 2002 the Festival has partnered with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMRA) and Australian Institute of Marine Science[1] to present Reeftalk, a series of free talks over four evenings. In 2006 Reeftalk's Special Guest was Peter Garrett MP and all lectures were held at the Townsville Civic Theatre, Townsville's main theatre.[3] Concerts recorded at the Festival are broadcast nationally on ABC Classic FM regularly throughout the following year.[1]

The Festival focuses on involving Australian composers and musicians going against contemporary trends in symphony orchestra programming.[4]

When it is built the administration of the AFCM will be moving into the new Townsville Arts Hub which will be situated at the old railway station site on Flinders Street West.[5]

The AFCM is presented in partnership with all three levels of government as well as several commercial, tourism, regional development, educational, scientific and media organisations.[6] The Festival's Patron is Ms Quentin Bryce AC, Governor of Queensland.[7]

Contents

[edit] History

The festival was founded in 1990 for a 1991 premier by Theodore Kuchar who continued as the Artistic Director for the next 16 years until 2006. The Festival began conservatively focusing on the more contemporary music of the classical and romantic periods, over the first five years Kuchar started delicately inserting works of Bartok, Bloch, Martinu, Shostakovich, expanding the musical depth for enthusiasts while maintaining the popular appeal.[4]

The Festival has tried to avoid a perception that it is only there for cultivated southerners, for example in 2005 for the first time the AFCM had a presence at a Cowboys football match and in 2006 increased publicity focusing locally[4]

[edit] New management 2007

In 2007 the AFCM has a new management and artistic team, with Piers Lane as the new artistic director, David Pratt as general manager and Chris Smeed as artistic administrator.[2] Mr. Lane is a leading international pianist who until recently was based in London but originally was born in Innisfail[8], Mr. Pratt is a former Australian Film Commissioner in Los Angeles and an international arts, film and events leader and Mr. Smeed comes from the Brisbane festivals organisation.[2]

The 2007 programme will involve vocalists and more variety than previous years to appeal to a broader audience, this year's festival will take a 'lifestyle approach'; focussing on music, wine and food.[9]

[edit] 2006 Festival

[edit] Audience

At the 2006 Festival about 10 000 tickets were issued with five concerts sold out,[10] outperforming all previous years and 2005 by 20% it had pre-sold 1200 tickets for one concert alone (Symphony Under the Stars at Queens Gardens)[11] and had an average audience size of about 750 people. About 50% of audience numbers were interstate or international guests to Townsville.[12]

[edit] Venues

[edit] Reeftalk

All of the free evening Reeftalks were held at the Townsville Civic Theatre on 1, 5, 6 and 7 July. Special Guests were Peter Garrett AM MP, Professor Russell Reichelt (Director, Marine and Tropical Sciences Research Facility), Dr Paul Marshall (Manager, The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority), Dr Terry Done (Australian Institute of Marine Science), Professor Rick Speare (James Cook University). Reeftalk was curated Dr Clive Wilkinson, Senior Specialist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science. Themes of talks included Reef and Rainforest Research and Management, Climate Change and Coral Reefs, Indonesian Corals and Infectious Diseases.[3]

[edit] Outback Tour

The outback tour brought some of the best music in the world to some of the most isolated places in the world. Enthusiastic music lovers, join six musicians (including legendary Didgeridoo player William Barton) in a five day tour of Outback Australia, visiting Cloncurry, Ernest Henry Mine, Mount Isa, Normanton and Karumba focusing on fine food and music and masterclasses with hands on experience of the Queensland mining industry and communities. Works included; Sculthorpe – String Quartet no 9, Glass – String Quartet no 2 “Company”, Hardin (aka Moondog) – Synchrony no 2, Lee - Morango – Like a Tango, Barton – Sacred Song and Hindson – Technologic.[14]

[edit] Australian Chefs in the North

For the Australian Chefs in the North event five top Queensland and interstate chefs were paired with five local chefs, a wide selection of Queensland wines were on offer and entertainment was provided by harp, violin and didgeridoo performances.[15]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f AFCM Official Webpage - About the Festival :: Festival Profile. Retrieved on January 10, 2007.
  2. ^ a b c Townsville Bulletin The Guide Dynamic team gears up published 20 November 2006 p24
  3. ^ a b AFCM Official Webpage - Festival Program :: Reef Talk. Retrieved on January 10, 2007.
  4. ^ a b c Matthew Westwood; MATP Festival to tackle new directions The Australian, Features, published 4 July 2006 p14
  5. ^ Casey-Ann Seaniger GO FOR HUB Townsville Sun Community Newspaper published 20 September 2006 p1
  6. ^ AFCM Official Webpage - Support the Festival :: Partners. Retrieved on January 10, 2007.
  7. ^ Courier Mail, The Vice-Regal published 6 July 2006 p84
  8. ^ Isis Stuckenschmidt New AFCM director cases the joint Townsville Bulletin, published 28 October 2006 p5
  9. ^ Minikas, Lisa. "David Pratt To Hollywood & Back", City Life, March 2007, p. 17.
  10. ^ Townsville Sun Australian Festival of Chamber Music roundup published 12 July 2006 p8
  11. ^ Leonie Johnson Music lovers in tune with festival Townsville Bulletin, published 10 July 2006 p7
  12. ^ Isis Stuckenschmidt Festival set to end on right note Townsville Bulletin, published 8 July 2006 p13
  13. ^ AFCM Official Webpage - Festival Program :: Concerts. Retrieved on January 11, 2007.
  14. ^ AFCM Official Webpage - Festival Program :: The Outback Tour. Retrieved on January 11, 2007.
  15. ^ Christy Vena taste of the good life Townsville Bulletin (Savvy) published 7 July 2006 p206

[edit] External links

AFCM Official Website

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