Message from Jenni Hibbard

Artistic Director

Tyalgum Festival of Classical Music

June 2013

Dear Concert goers,

This year has been challenging for the Festival committee, with many changes and some great  sadness. But as in all situations like this, many good things come from many directions. Our team welcomes our new project manager, Jenny Unwin, who has dared to take on a huge and sometimes daunting task.  We also welcome an ever expanding band of talented and dedicated people, both on the Management Committee and as volunteers, who will help stage the 2013 Tyalgum Festival of Classical Music.

We thank Alex Deen for her wonderful contribution and dedication to the Festival over the years, and wish her well in her new direction. We have worked together for many years and have shared some great adventures with the Festival and associated activities. She has excelled at putting my sometimes very complicated programs on stage and I thank her greatly for this.

With great sadness we remember Carmel Kaine,  wife of the founding Music Director John Willison, and many times performer and supporter of the festival, who has died in England.  Carmel and John came to Australia and bought a home on Bald Mountain, where they immediately began to  give concerts with their friends and colleagues. If I remember correctly, the Schubert Octet, played in their lounge room, was the spark that ignited the Festival as we have it today.

I was reading through an old diary of mine, and an entry from that time read “...an astounding and beautiful performance, I wonder if a festival will come out of this?” We now know the answer to that question!

Carmel was a child prodigy, Australian, but who lived and performed in England and abroad for most of her life. When she returned to Australia, she was head of  violin studies at the Queensland Conservatorium.  She greatly encouraged many young musicians in their chosen fields of string study, brought her ensembles to the Festival on several occasions, and performed herself many times as either a soloist or in leading chamber groups.

So our heartfelt thanks to Carmel and John for the wonderful legacy that is the Tyalgum Festival, and our thoughts go to John at this time of sadness.

The 2013 Festival on September 6-7-8 will present a stunning cast of musicians and artists ready to fill the hall with extraordinary beauty and interest.

The whole weekend will be recorded live, and we have musicians coming from Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane, and even Norway! Yes .… some old friends and some new.  The whole program will be launched very soon. Watch this space!

The annual Friends Concert this past 26 May, featured the brilliant Kurilpa String Quartet from Brisbane, with guest guitarist Joel Woods. Composer Erik Griswold was also in attendance.

With music by Bartok, Griswold, and Robert Davidson, our audience journeyed from the volcanic regions of Wollumbin and the Glasshouse Mountains, to the heart of American folk, blues and bluegrass, and on to Romania for some feisty and mystical eastern Europe dances -- string playing at it's most creative and best.

Each of the players brings a strong national and international profile and performed  with great artistry and passion. We dedicated this concert to the memory of Carmel Kaine, in honour of her contribution to the Tyalgum Festival.

Page Update 2013-06-02

Return to Top of Page

Go To Next Page

Welcome

News & Updates

Driving Directions

© Tyalgum Festival Committee Inc.

HOME