Leeuwin Estate Concert Series

The Leeuwin Estate Concert Series are annual open-air events featuring international and Australian performers at Leeuwin Estate Winery.[1]

History

The first concert was a performance from the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1985, with the Australian tour underwritten by Leeuwin Estate owners Denis and Tricia Horgan on the condition that the orchestra play at Leeuwin Estate.[2][3][4] Hosting the concert was considered a risk due to the physically remote location of the Margaret River, being 260 kilometres from the state capital of Perth. Friends tried to talk the Horgans out of the idea,[2] but they went ahead and the concert was a great success, with 5000 people attending and the event attracting international coverage.[3][5]

The next two concerts also featured orchestras, with the Berlin Staatskapelle performing in 1986 and the Royal Danish Orchestra in 1987.[6] In 1989 the series featured its first individual star, when the Chicago Symphony Orchestra could not attend and instead Ray Charles was brought in to perform with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra.[2] The West Australian Symphony Orchestra has featured eight further times since accompanying other musicians.[6]

In 1990 Leeuwin Estate hosted Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, with other stars Diana Ross and Tom Jones performing in 1992 and 1993 respectively. 1993 also saw the first iteration of the "Australian Family Concert" series featuring Australian performers at a separate event each year.[6]

In February 2005, a concert was performed by Sting that drew an audience of 6,000 and raised over $4 million for the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami relief efforts after Sting had to cancel a scheduled concert in Sri Lanka due to the disaster.[7][8][9]

The 26th year of the series in 2010 saw Boz Scaggs & Michael McDonald perform in front of a sold out crowd of 6500 people.[10][11]

The concert has become a major tourism draw for the Margaret River and Western Australia.[12][13] Denis Horgan was awarded with a Centenary Medal and both he and Tricia Horgan were inducted as Members of the Order of Australia in 2001 for services to tourism in Western Australia.[14][15][16]

Leeuwin Concert Series

The following is a list of the performers and the year of the concert.[6][17]

Year Performer
1985 The London Philharmonic Orchestra
1986 The Berlin Staatskapelle
1987 The Royal Danish Orchestra
1988 Ray Charles and The West Australian Symphony Orchestra
1989 Dionne Warwick and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra
1990 Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, James Galway and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra
1991 The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
1992 Diana Ross
1993 Tom Jones
1994 Julia Migenes, Perrin Allen and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra
1995 George Benson
1996 Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra
1997 Shirley Bassey and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
1998 Julio Iglesias
1999 Bryn Terfel, Yvonne Kenny and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra
2000 Michael Crawford and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra
2001 Roberta Flack
2002 John Farnham
2003 k.d. lang
2003 Picnic in the Vineyard with James Taylor
2004 Lesley Garrett & Anthony Warlow with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra
2005 Sting
2005 Jack Johnson
2006 Amici Forever & Jane Rutter
2007 Simply Red
2008 Yvonne Kenny, David Hobson & The West Australian Symphony Orchestra
2009 Chris Isaak
2010 Boz Scaggs & Michael McDonald
2011 Roxy Music
2012 Marina Prior, David Hobson and The Perth Symphony Orchestra
2013 Carole King
2014 Diana Krall and The Perth Symphony Orchestra

Australian Family Concerts

The following is a list of performers and years as part of the annual Australian Family Concerts.[6]

Year Performer
1993 Kate Ceberano and friends
1994 Yothu Yindi
1995 Black Sorrows and Vika and Linda Bull
1996 Paul Kelly and Joan Armatrading
1997 Yothu Yindi
1999 The Whitlams
2000 Paul Kelly, Uncle Bill and Kasey Chambers
2001 Tex Perkins and Jimmy Little
2002 The Waifs and Oh Susanna
2003 Mahotella Queens
2004 The Waifs
2005 The Waifs
2006 The John Butler Trio
2006 Alex Lloyd
2007 Kate Ceberano
2008 The John Butler Trio & The Waifs
2009 The Waifs
2010 The John Butler Trio
2011 Pete Murray and Passenger
2012 N/A
2013 The John Butler Trio
2014 Pete Murray
2015 Bernard Fanning

References

  1. Santich, Barbara (24 June 2001). "NYTimes - Choice Tables". Australia; Margaret River (Australia): Select.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
  2. 1 2 3 "Leeuwin". Margaret River Wine. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
  3. 1 2 "From a Granite Coast, Velvet Wines". NYTimes. 2 January 2002. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
  4. "Vine romance: artists line up for picnic gigs". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
  5. John Mariani - 23 November 2009 00:01 EST (23 November 2009). "Rhone Ranger’s Vinthology, Winemakers’ Profiles: Holiday Books". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "Leeuwin Concerts' History". Leeuwin Estate. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
  7. "Sting Concert Raises 4m for Tsunami". SMH. 11 February 2005. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
  8. "Sting's special gig for tsunami victims". ABC. 3 February 2005. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
  9. "BBC - Willie Nelson stages Tsunami gig". BBC News. 10 January 2005. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
  10. "Yahoo Entertainment - The Leeuwin Concert - Michael McDonald and Boz Scaggs". Au.news.yahoo.com. 15 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
  11. Paddenburg, Trevor (13 February 2010). "All walks of life lured to Leeuwin". Perth Now. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
  12. "Culture vultures head south for the Margaret River wine festival". WA Business News. 2005-11-14.
  13. "LA Times - Unknown but Nose-Worthy". Articles.latimes.com. 19 July 1998. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
  14. "It's an Honour - Australian Honours - Centenary Medal - HORGAN, Denis Byrne". Itsanhonour.gov.au. 1 January 2001. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
  15. "It's an Honour - Australian Honours - Order of Australia - HORGAN, Denis Byrne". Itsanhonour.gov.au. 26 January 2001. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
  16. "It's an Honour - Australian Honours - Order of Australia - HORGAN, Patricia Anne". Itsanhonour.gov.au. 26 January 2001. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
  17. Wendy Caccetta (17 February 2014). "The original and the best: 30 years of Leeuwin Estate concerts". News Ltd. Retrieved 22 February 2014.

External links

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