Music-lovers have rushed to snap up tickets for this year’s 10th Stradbroke Chamber Music Festival. The first four concerts have sold out, but tickets remain for two concerts at the Dunwich Public Hall on Sunday, July 30.
The hall is a five minute stroll from the Stradbroke Ferries water taxi and ferry terminal at Dunwich, making this an ideal musical outing for day-trippers from the mainland.
At the 10am concert, Minjerribah Miniatures, the festival players including acclaimed guitarist Karin Schaupp, perform a series of short musical gems that celebrate the natural world. Featured composers include Debussy, Sculthorpe, Dvořák, Elgar, Paul Stanhope, Ross Edwards and Paul Hankinson.
These musical miniatures are linked by stories from Oodgeroo’s Stradbroke Dreamtime, narrated by Chenoa Deemal, who is currently starring in the national tour of The 7 Stages of Grieving (Queensland Theatre/Grin & Tonic) being held at the Redland Performing Arts Centre on August 3.
In the lunchtime break between concerts, concert-goers can feast on fresh local mullet barbecued by a team from the museum, and they also have the chance to join a guided tour of heritage features of the historic Dunwich township.
The Sunday concert begins at 2pm with the premiere performance of a piece for clarinet, violin, cello and piano by Israeli-Australian composer Yitzhak Yedid, specially commissioned to celebrate the festival’s 10th anniversary.
Next, Joseph Tawadros displays his virtuosity in solo pieces for the oud or Middle Eastern lute, before being joined by the festival strings in a performance of Eye of the Beholder, a composition for oud and string quartet, where Vivaldi meets Egyptian music.
The concert concludes with a masterwork: Dvořák’s Piano Quintet No. 2, full of spirited melodies influenced by Czech folk music, with Stephen Emmerson the featured pianist.
Stradbroke Island Holidays are offering a special Sunday concert package for $99 per person, providing return water taxi/walk-on ticket, entry to the two concerts and a barbecue mullet lunch. Call 3821 0266 or visit www.stradbrokeholidays.com.au to book your concert package.
