BY JO ST LEON
Rising from the ashes of Hobart Baroque, the inaugural Tasmanian Chamber Music Festival is the brainchild of Allanah Dopson, known to art lovers as the director of the Handmark galleries in Hobart and Evandale.
Her initial idea was to recreate the former baroque festival and build on the widely discussed groundwork of the former festival’s producer Leo Schofield. But it soon became apparent that the level of funding required by such an enterprise would not be forthcoming a second time.
Undaunted, Allanah regrouped, approached sponsors for much lower levels of funding, and created a festival that is both smaller and larger than its predecessor.
The “boutique” festival offers an intimate and varied experience for the concertgoer. Timed to coincide with the spring bloom, Tasmania’s gardens and natural beauties will be an integral part of the festival experience.
The state’s heritage will also be a feature, as some of Australia’s finest chamber musicians perform in venues that include the Georgian elegance of the Clarendon Estate, beautifully restored barns, historic churches and the stunning surrounds of Josef Chromy vineyard.
Add to this a generous helping of Tasmania’s gourmet food and wine, and you have a feast for the senses – the likes of which Tasmania has, quite literally, never seen before.
A celebration of life.
Allanah describes it as “a celebration of life”. With this vision, she has created an event that is unique and a reflection of her own passions. It has the potential to transform the cultural landscape of Northern Tasmania.
Passion is a word that Allanah uses a lot. Growing up in Queensland, her first passion was for music. She studied singing, double bass and piano at the Queensland Conservatorium, and then went on to study voice and arts management in London.
“I was quite a good singer – but quite good is not enough,” Allanah says. “I discovered my real strength lay in the management side of the arts. I have a passion for organising.”
She moved to Tasmania 16 years ago, initially to run Arts@Work, a program aimed at creating arts opportunities within the community. She initiated Living Artists Week, and has become an advocate for artists in Tasmania, with her Handmark galleries showcasing the work of more than 90 Tasmanian artists.
The chamber music festival is not about promoting exclusively Tasmanian musicians, but rather about bringing an international level of musicianship to the island. With her extensive knowledge of music and musicians, Allanah knew this was exactly what she wanted.
“It was obviously important that the artists should be outstanding performers, but I also wanted characters and communicators. People that could talk to audiences and add an extra dimension to their experience.”
It’s smaller than Hobart Baroque, in that the festival eschews Tasmania’s larger cities in favour of the small Georgian town of Evandale, which in reality is little more than a village. There are no grand opera productions; venues are small and intimate, and audiences experience real communication with the musicians. For Tasmanian concertgoers, this is an incredibly important part of their experience.
And it’s larger, in that this festival appears to be about so much more than the music alone. It aims to celebrate the beauty, history and cultural richness of Tasmania.
Pianist Piers Lane will perform a recital in the Barrel Room of Josef Chromy, and will then be heard in conversation with ABC Classic FM’s Christopher Lawrence, as patrons enjoy a lunch with matched wines in the restaurant overlooking the lake and vineyard.
The opening concert of the Festival, featuring the Tinalley Quartet, will be followed by supper at Clarendon House; again affording audiences a glimpse into the lives and personalities of the performers.
Harpist Marshall McGuire, recorder virtuoso Genevieve Lacey and Tasmania’s newest chamber orchestra, the Van Diemen’s Band, complete the impressive line-up.
Allanah has created a festival that she herself would want to attend. She believes audiences want to hear the music they love and that is familiar to them, and her programming reflects this belief. While repertoire ranges from the early baroque to the contemporary, the emphasis is firmly on the earlier masterpieces, with only occasional excursions into less charted waters.
With Allanah’s unflagging energy, artistic vision and entrepreneurial skill, she is set to host a lively event and perhaps spark the beginning of a Tasmanian tradition. There is little doubt that her dream of an annual festival will come to fruition: the whole weekend sold out almost as soon as tickets went on sale, and she is looking at extending the event into Longford next year with larger venues increasing ticket availability. We might even see the festival become a cultural icon of Northern Tasmania.
The inaugural Tasmanian Chamber Music Festival takes place in and around the historic town of Evandale from 27 – 29 October. If you would like to read more about the festival or the artists, visit www.taschamberfestival.com.au.
Images supplied.
