Post-festival wrap-up

Dear festival supporter

Well, a couple of months after this year’s Stradbroke Chamber Music Festival (where did that go?), I am finally breathing out and taking stock. It always takes me more time than I think to come back to earth after the many months of preparation, practice and travel.

This year’s festival was a very meaningful one for me – the 10th, as well as one when my family and I were able to spend more time on the island than usual, giving Nora, our one-year-old daughter, a chance to savour the beach, the bush, kangaroos, kookaburras and of course her visiting family members. She still can’t stop talking about it!

We had a wonderful line-up of performers again this year. Newcomers Karin Schaupp, William Stafford and Joseph Tawadros brought some inspired music-making, and, with the skill and enthusiasm of our exhilarating regular performers, the week of rehearsals and concerts was a joy. Nearly all the concerts were sold out, something I would never have dreamt possible 10 years ago. In this landmark festival, our role as musical storytellers was highlighted, and a new work commissioned from Brisbane-based composer Yitzhak Yedid marked the occasion.

I am deeply grateful to all the supporters who, in combination, make the Stradbroke Chamber Music Festival the extraordinary community event that it is. Thank you all – and thanks, of course, to the audience for their loyalty and warmth. We hope to see you again at next year’s festival, from 27 to 29 July 2018.

Here’s to another 10 years!

Warm wishes

Rachel Smith

Artistic Director

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A message from our friends at Musica Viva about their 2018 International Concert Season:

The Musica Viva 2018 International Concert Season glitters with dazzling talent and unexpected gems. Superstars of the Baroque, Tafelmusik, deliver an incredible theatrical expedition in Bach and His World, and legendary German clarinettist Sabine Meyer makes a surprising appearance in the company of the remarkable Alliage Quintett for a program of orchestral favourites especially arranged for this unusual ensemble. A leading virtuoso fêted the world over, violinist Ray Chen undertakes his second national tour for Musica Viva with pianist Julien Quentin.

Electrifying wizard of the mandolin Avi Avital joins the energetic young Giocoso String Quartet to present masterworks old and new. For more than 70 years the unparalleled Borodin Quartet has encapsulated generations of Russian string-playing tradition; it once more brings its trademark musical depth and perfection to our concert halls.

Australian composition figures strongly through the season, with new works commissioned from Elena Kats-Chernin, Elizabeth Younan and Matthew Hindson, and repeat performances of Gordon Kerry’s atmospheric Im Winde piano trio.

Click here to hear more from Carl Vine about the 2018 season.