Chamber fest set to charm

ENJOY some of Australia’s best musicians in the city’s greatest concert venues when the Bendigo Chamber Music Festival returns next month.

Fourteen masterful instrumentalists will delight audiences at matinee and evening performances from 2 to 6 February.

Now in its third year, festival co-director Chris Howlett said the event brought together the top calibre of musicians from across the country.

“We’re doing 15 concerts between the Wednesday and Sunday performing a number of chamber music works that everyone knows and loves,” he said.

“Then we’re showing some of the lesser-known works that are absolutely incredible.

“That’s the joy of festivals, you have those pillars that you know but because it’s so immersive, it’s a chance to discover new repertoire and new players as well.”

Violinists Sophie Rowell and Natsuko Yoshimoto will return to the festival stage, joined by young up and comers Grace Clifford, Charlotte Miles and Chloe Lankshear, to name a few.

Some 40 educational concerts will be held at schools across the region, alongside mainstage performances at Ulumbarra Theatre, The Capital, Bendigo Art Gallery, Forest Street Uniting Church and even a community concert with the Bendigo Chamber Choir at the Town Hall.

“When we were looking to do a large festival like this, the city was key. The city and the festival have to be an equal partnership,” Mr Howlett said.

“We couldn’t have had this success with the festival without the local community getting behind it and supporting it.

“Everyone gets in the spirit of the festival and it’s so great to be able to walk up and down View Street as we rush from concert to concert seeing all the festival passholders activating all the spaces.”