Matthew Manchester (cornetto) and Anna Sandstrom
(soprano) exploring 17th-century songbooks with David Drury (organ) and Daniel Morris (Theobo) at the Friday evening concert
Canowindra Fine Music, the organising body for Baroquefest is delighted that the 2021 Canowindra based festival of baroque music, set for 17 to 19 September, has virtually sold out online.
Established in 2015, Baroquefest is now a mature event on the inland NSW festival calendar with a core of regular subscribers, and new enthusiasts for the genre joining every year.
Canowindra’s accommodation is fully booked with musicians and audiences for the five concerts coming from Sydney, Canberra, the southern highlands, Wollongong, Blue Mountains and many other places. The full program is on the website at www.baroquefest.org.au.
For locals who may be disappointed that the festival passes are sold out, 13 single tickets remain available for the Camerata Antica concert on Friday evening, and 16 for The Australian Haydn Ensemble’s performance on Saturday, both of which will be held at All Saints Church. Prices for the two concerts are $40 and $60 respectively.
The NSW Government through Destination NSW has made a $10,000 grant for this year’s festival and generous funding assistance has been provided in past years by Australia Council of the Arts, Orange Regional Arts Foundation, Cabonne Council, Arts Out West and Musica Viva.
This funding enables us to bring some of Australia’s best known professional musicians and ensembles, and their followers to beautiful Canowindra. Ticket prices for these boutique concerts can be kept well below what concert goers would expect to pay in major centres for such superb performances.
The Baroquefest committee will be monitoring closely the COVID-19 situation in greater Sydney and elsewhere during the leadup to the festival. As happened last year, the festival may have to be postponed again, so keep your fingers crossed!
By Richard Statham
Chairman, Canowindra Fine Music