RELATED: Orchestra in Bendigo for whole week
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ORCHESTRA Victoria music director Nicolette Fraillon is excited to return to Bendigo.
The Bendigo Festival is made up of five days of chamber and symphony music. It begins on Monday night with a brass performance at Sacred Heart Cathedral.
Ms Fraillon said Bendigo has some truly impressive music venues and she was eager to return after a strong first year.
“Our first year was really successful. We played packed concerts and had a lot of demand to come back, so here we are,” she said.
“Bendigo has some of best chamber music venues I've seen in the world. They are beautiful sounding, it is a perfect festival town because there are also so many venues in close proximity to each other.”
Ms Fraillon has great experience in the musical world having studied in Vienna, Hannover and the Netherlands before arriving in Australia.
“Obviously, Ulumbarra is the bigger one, a really great new theatre both acoustically and visually, you don’t feel miles away from the performance.
“We love The Capital, which we are using for our chamber music concerts. It is a perfectly preserved theatre, that would hold up anywhere I've been including place in Europe.”
For the first time Orchestra Victoria will perform at the Golden Dragon Museum.
“The work is by a Chinese-Australian composer and based around his heritage,” Ms Fraillon said.
“Percussion concerts are always spectacular and this piece is written about the Australian people has a strong connection.”
The Bendigo Festival will venture outside the city limits when it plays in Elmore on August 23.
“We know there are strong arts communities around Bendigo and Elmore is one,” Ms Fraillon said.
“The community supports music and performance in their hall and after bigger brass concert (on MOnday night) we are taking quintet to Elmore on Tuesday.”
Orchestra Victoria will also perform at the Bendigo Art Gallery and the Bendigo Library.
“Those spaces are again acoustically lovely. Chamber music is designed for smaller venues,” she said.
“The series of concerts in the library is very different but you feel like you are taking music to the people.”
Also returning is Orchestra Victoria’s education program On the mOVe!.
Members of the orchestra work with aspiring young musicians from across the district for three days before the students perform alongside their professional role models.
Orchestra Victoria’s five-day Bendigo Festival runs from Monday to Friday.
For more details visit www.australianballet.com.au/bendigo-festival