ACCLAIMED Australian conductor and harpsichordist Erin Helyard will visit Armidale this week.
Helyard will be the New England Conservatorium of Music’s guest musician to perform in its Heritage Concert on Sunday at Perrott’s Chapel at Kellys Plains.
NECOM’s popular Heritage Homestead Series presents chamber music in the New England’s private homesteads and heritage buildings and Sunday’s performance will be the first at Perrott’s Chapel.
This intimate and private family chapel was built by the Perrott family almost a century ago and is rarely open to the public.
“This concert will be a step back in time – gorgeous early music played on harpsichord and cello in candlelight as the chapel still has no electricity,” NECOM director Susanne James said.
The conservatorium scored a coup by securing Helyard for the concert as he is considered one of Australia’s rising stars in early music performance.
He is co-founder of Pinchgut Opera and the Orchestra of the Antipodes, and recently received rave reviews as music director of Hobart Baroque.
Now in his early thirties, Helyard was recently appointed to the School of Music at ANU.
He will be joined by cellist Robert Jackson, recently appointed to NECOM’s teaching staff, to perform works by the great father-and-son duo of J.S. and C.P.E. Bach, followed by Boccherini.
A bonus will be a pre-concert talk by Christine Perrott who will discuss the history of her family’s chapel at 1.15pm.
To get tickets for Sunday’s performance, call NECOM on 6773 6419 or visit www.trybooking.com/80849
