Some of Australia’s finest musicians are heading to Armidale for The New England Conservatorium of Music (NECOM) inaugural Chamber Music Festival to be held from April 17 to 21. This unique event is the first to be offered anywhere in NSW, so Armidale is in for a treat.
NECOM’s outstanding guest musicians will include the Flinders Quartet, Armidale born clarinettist David Griffiths, trumpeter Paul Goodchild, orchestral tango specialist Maggie Ferguson, Dalcroze Eurhythmics experts Sandra Nash and Madeline Hagon, as well as NECOM’s own teaching staff.
The Festival has inspired over 40 emerging young musicians from Armidale and as far afield as Bellingen, Inverell, Tamworth and Warialda to travel to Armidale and to play in one of the 13 chamber ensembles.
“This is an amazing and unique opportunity for our young musicians to work with Australia’s expert musicians and to experience how incredibly exciting it is to play in a chamber ensemble,” said Director of the Conservatorium, Susanne James.
“Almost every professional musician I know says that playing chamber music together with friends is the ultimate and most rewarding part of being a musician.
“Research shows that ensemble playing gives young musicians the best opportunity to build their confidence, communication skills and their sense of belonging.”
Through four days of intensive workshops, the students explore ensemble playing, musical interpretation and technical accuracy. Workshops with Dalcroze specialists will provide ensemble co-ordination and rhythmic vitality to their performances and tango specialist Maggie Ferguson will explore authentic tango repertoire with a number of the ensembles.
After four intensive days of immersing themselves in playing chamber music together, the chamber ensembles will go live by giving three free concerts at the Armidale Town Hall on Saturday April 21@ 11am, 12:30pm and 2pm.
NECOM invites everyone to come along to hear beautiful and inspiring chamber music played by the New England’s emerging young musicians.
