Your guide to the Australian Festival of Chamber music coming to Townsville this month
A much-loved Townsville festival is returning this month, much to the delight of chamber music fans.
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A much-loved Townsville festival is returning this month, much to the delight of live music fans.
The Australian Festival of Chamber Music, which began in 1991 and is the biggest chamber music festival in the southern hemisphere, will be held from July 26 to August 4 at various locations across the city.
Featuring more than 35 artists, including 10 international and 20 Australians, the festival has something for everyone, from free public concerts to intimate evening performances.
Check out the festivals top 10 highlights for this year:
1. AFCM Queens Gardens Concert with the Barrier Reef Orchestra
Date: Sunday, 28 July 2024
Time: 4:00pm
Location: Queens Gardens
Admission: Free
The annual Queens Garden Concert will feature artists including AFCM Artistic Director Jack Liebeck on violin, Katie Yap on viola, Queensland Symphony Orchestra Chief Conductor Umberto Clerici on cello, Kees Boersma on double bass, Jackie Newcombe on bassoon, Julian Bliss on clarinet, Ben Jacks on French horn, Benjamin Roskams on viola, Anna Rabinowicz on viola and the Barrier Reef Orchestra under the baton of Theordore Kuchar.
The program will include works from Beethoven, Bernstein, Dvorak, John Williams and Australia’s Elena Kats-Chernin.
2. AFCM Families’ Concert presented by Townsville Bulletin
Date: Saturday, 3 August 2024
Time: 2:00pm
Location: Townsville Civic Theatre
Admission: Tickets available at afcm.com.au
Designed to captivate and entertain audiences of all ages, this concert will feature Paul Rissman’s Stan and Mabel and A Cat Called Scratch.
Stan and Mabel is a children’s book that tells the adventurous story of Stan the dog and Mabel the cat and their quest to create an animal orchestra.
3. Evening Concert 2 – Wonderful World – An Orchestra Experience
Date: Wednesday, 31 July 2024
Time: 7:30pm
Location: Townsville Civic Theatre
Admission: Tickets via afcm.com.au
Festival organisers say unique ‘concert-show’ is world-leading and takes audiences on an immersive journey of our amazing planet.
Created and performed by French cellist Christian-Pierre La Marca, accompanied by piano and a 10-piece string ensemble, it features classical, jazz and current tunes including Moon River, Somewhere over the Rainbow and What a Wonderful World.
The show features a visual backdrop of stunning scenery and celebrates ‘the beauty of our world while recognising the need to protect it too.’
4. AFCM Illuminates 1 – An Introduction to Chamber Music with Stephen Johnson
Date: Saturday, 27 July 2024
Time: 3:30pm
Location: C2, Townsville Civic Theatre
Admission: Tickets via afcm.com.au
For those who may be new to chamber music, famed and much loved UK musicologist Stephen Johnson will lead an insightful journey through the history and beauty of chamber music, featuring live excerpts from AFCM musicians performing Henriette Bosmans’ String Quartet (1927).
5. Opening Night Concert – Festival Feelings
Date: Friday, 26 July 2024
Time: 7:30pm
Location: Townsville Civic Theatre
Admission: Tickets via afcm.com.au
After the opening work by William Mabo, the Goldner String Quartet’s AFCM swan song begins with the Schumann String Quartet Op. 41 No.3.
Introducing the three pianists, we will hear some Percy Grainger, harking back to the old (or some would say odd) country with an Old English Folk Song for three pianists.
The night finishes with an incredible arrangement of Ravel’s String Quartet.
6. William Barton Wulgurukaba Dancers
Date: Friday, 2 August 2024
Time: 6:15pm
Location: AFCM Festival Garden
Admission: Tickets via afcm.com.au
A powerful collaboration blending traditional and contemporary
music, featuring renowned didgeridoo artist William Barton and the Wulgurukaba Dancers. The program includes Barton’s original compositions such as Birdsong at Dusk, and a newly commissioned work celebrating the cultural heritage of the Wulgurukaba people.
7. Concert Conversations 2
Date: Monday, 29 July 2024
Time: 10:00am
Location: The Pavilion at The Ville
Admission: Tickets via afcm.com.au
A morning of conversation, coffee and concert. Festival Artistic Director Jack Liebeck chats to several visiting musicians including cellist Christian-Pierre La Marca, violinist Alexandra Raikhlina, baritone Roderick Williams, conductor and cellist Umberto Clerici and musicologist Stephen Johnson.
8. Sunset Series 4 – Brothers in Love
Date: Thursday, 1 August 2024
Time: 5:00pm
Location: Townsville Civic Theatre
Admission: Tickets available at afcm.com.au
A sunset concert featuring Brothers in Love, an work exploring themes of kinship and love with repertoire from the Schumann brothers and Brahms.
9. International Public Masterclass with Piers Lane
Date: Wednesday, 31 July 2024
Time: 1:00pm
Location: The Pavilion at The Ville
Admission: Free
A wonderful opportunity to watch a masterclass by celebrated pianist Piers Lane as he works with talented young musicians, guiding and developing their musical skills.
10. Closing Night Concert – Festival Farewell
Date: Saturday, 3 August 2024
Time: 7:30pm
Location: Townsville Civic Theatre
Admission: Tickets available via AFCM website
Organisers say the closing concert for AFCM is always energetic and entertaining and this time also a little sad as the festival bids farewell to the Goldner String Quartet, its resident quartet of the last 25 years.
The concert begins with a very special arrangement of Bach Concerto BWV 1053r for vibraphone and strings; includes Ruth Schonthal’s A Bird Flew Over Jerusalem; plus the joyous Mendelssohn String Sinfonia, some beautiful Ibert for winds and finishes with the Goldner String Quartet performing Tchaikovsky’s breathtaking String Quartet No.1.
For more details and tickets to the Australian Festival of Chamber Music visit the website.
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