VICTORIA Brass will take to the stage for the first time in five years to delight Bendigo audiences at the Sacred Heart Cathedral.<\/p>\n
Principal conductor and Bendigo expat Dr Matthew van Emmerik said the 27 and 28 November concerts were \u201call about the musicians\u201d and the distinct sound of the church\u2019s organ.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe concept of what we\u2019re trying to do here is to have a celebration for the musicians after the lack of performance opportunities over the last two years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe idea really came from thinking that something needed to be done of a high level.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have the best players in the state performing with the band so it\u2019s quite a special thing,\u201d he said. \u201cThe repertoire for the concert is geared around that.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the program are organ symphonies Widor Toccata<\/em> and Saint-Saens<\/em> along with Bach\u2019s famous Toccata and Fugue<\/em> performed by guest soloist Dr Calvin Bowman.<\/p>\n The concerts will also mark the Australasian premieres of Philip Wilby\u2019s The Pilgrim\u2019s Progress<\/em>, which has spoken elements narrated by soloist Matthew Little, and Circius<\/em> by Norwegian composer Torstein Aagaard-Nilsen.<\/p>\n With the COVID-19 pandemic having been a real detriment to community music making, van Emmerik said when the band reunited \u201cit was like we\u2019d been playing together week in week out.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just absolute elation to be perfectly honest,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been working really hard on putting these pieces together and making it a pretty special couple of events.<\/p>\n \u201cThe whole reason this was put together was for the musicians to feel like they\u2019ve achieved something over this two-year period.\u201d<\/p>\n Of the concert venue, van Emmerik said it was an unmatched space that he had always wanted to perform in.<\/p>\n \u201cWe needed to find a venue that would benefit the music and we needed the music to be able to benefit the venue,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a young person growing up and living in Bendigo, I always thought how good it would be to have an elite ensemble performing in the cathedral and what it would be like to conduct it.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the audience in the middle of that sound, it will be something that I don\u2019t believe people have ever heard in the cathedral before.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" VICTORIA Brass will take to the stage for the first time in five years to delight Bendigo audiences at the Sacred Heart Cathedral. Principal conductor and Bendigo expat Dr Matthew van Emmerik said the 27 and 28 November concerts were \u201call about the musicians\u201d and the distinct sound of the church\u2019s organ. \u201cThe concept of […]<\/p>\n