Following the cancellation of last year’s entire season due to COVID-19, Newcastle’s Christ Church Camerata is back at last.
The 2021 concert series opens with Mozart’s ever-popular Eine Kleine Nachtmusik at the Christ Church Cathedral on Sunday 14 March from 2.30pm.
The program will include Handel’s lively Concerto Grosso Op.6 no.9, and a new work by conductor David Banney.
The concert ends with Respighi’s beautiful Ancient Airs and Dances Suite 3, and the Preludio from his Suite for Organ and Strings.
COVIDSafe measures will be in place, so early arrival is recommended.
In 2009, Christ Church Cathedral’s organist and director of music Peter Guy, conductor David Banney and violinist Peta Dries decided to create an ensemble with the Hunter’s finest string players.
The City’s Cathedral had offered itself as a home, so Newcastle’s Christ Church Camerata was born.
Since then the group has presented more than 40 concerts at the cathedral, as well as performances in Sydney, at the Newcastle Art Gallery, at Singleton’s Sacred Spaces, and on a barge in the Hunter River during Newcastle’s Australia Day celebrations.
Soloists have included the great Australian pianist Roger Woodward, Chris Duncan and Catherine Strutt (Scottish fiddle and piano), William Barton and Perry Fuller (didgeridoos), Susan Collins (violin), Sally Walker (flute), Bruce Mathiske (guitar), Christopher Allan (baritone) and Deborah Humble (mezzo soprano).
The Camerata String Quartet has performed at the Adelaide Town Hall and live on ABC Classic FM, which frequently broadcasts the camerata’s CD recording Serenade for Strings.
The organisation has also commissioned and performed new works by local composers and has a cadet program for Newcastle’s best string students.
With its 2015 String Festival developing into the successful Newcastle Music Festival, the Christ Church Camerata is now one of the Hunter’s most significant cultural institutes.
For tickets to the 14 March concert, go to StickyTickets.
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