Pre Festival Event
Sunday 23 April
Armidale Choral Society - conductor Robert van Gend
Vivaldi Gloria and Bach Chorales
(entry by $20 donation)
3pm Armidale Uniting Church
Thursday 27 April
1. Catgut and Quills - Gamba and Harpsichord
Shaun Ng and Anthony Abouhamad perform solo and duo sonatas by J S Bach and his contemporaries and a new work by Benjamin Thorn
7:30pm Armidale Uniting Church
Friday 28 April
2. Double Suites - Cello and Percussion
Cellist Rachel Scott (Bach in the Dark) plays Bach cello suite no. 1 and is joined by percussionist Ben Sibson playing range of different drums in suite no. 3 to highlight the dance aspects of the music.
12:30pm Armidale Uniting Church
3. La Follia
Alana Blackburn, Joanne Arnott (Australian Recorder project) and Anthony Abouhamad (harpsichord) perform virtuosic dance inspired music from the baroque igniting curiosities from all audiences, throwing the stigma of ‘primary school instrument’ out and making way for new approaches to early music performance.
7:30pm Armidale Uniting Church
Saturday 29 April
4. The Peasant Cantata
A dramatised version of the cantata that explores the vagaries of dealing with the taxman.
Free event
10:30am Hanna’s Arcade
5. Cello and Guitars
Cellist Rachel Scott is joined by guitarists Duo Agostino with works by J S Bach arranged by Janet Agostino and reimagined by Richard Charlton with some Villa Lobos and Koehne thrown in.
12:30pm Armidale Uniting Church
6. Armidale Organ Crawl
An ambulatory concert featuring four organs (St Mary and Joseph, St Peter’s, St Paul’s, Uniting Church) featuring Lena Schmalz, Heather Moen-Boyd and Anthony Abouhamad. Like a pub crawl but with an organ recital in each church rather than a beer in each pub.
2:30pm starting in St Mary and Joseph’s Catholic Cathedral.
7. Bach and the Edge of Sky
Baroque jazz fusion brilliantly performed by Warwick Dunham, Stephen Tafra, Stephen Thorneycroft and friends. Music that appeals to body, mind and soul. The hit of previous festivals.
7:30pm Armidale Uniting Church
Sunday 30 April
8. Heroic Marches and Recorders
Telemann’s Heroic Marches and Bach;s Orchestral Suite No. 1 in new arrangements for recorder quartet. And a new work by Matthew Minter.
Joanne Arnott, Alana Blackburn, Benjamin Thorn and Robert Manley.
12:30pm Armidale Uniting Church
9. 2 + 2 = 4 Guitars
Guitar duos EphenStephen, and Duo Agostino perform as duos and then combine as a quartet. Original arrangements by both groups.
2:30pm Armidale Uniting Church
10. Festival Evensong
Bach’s sacred music performed in the context for which it was written. Featuring David Watson, Heather Moen-Bord and St Peter’s Choir.
5pm St Peter’s Anglican Cathedral