Sydney Announces First Jewish Music Festival

Shir Madness – the first ever Jewish music festival in Sydney, Australia – is set to kick off this summer on Aug. 15. Over 35 acts are expected to play during the festival.

Four stages will be set up at the Bondi Pavilion in Sydney, where Jewish music styles such as Klezmer and Ladino will be featured along with contemporary blues, jazz, rock reggae, dance and rap.

Shir Madness will start off with a Gala Opening Concert on Saturday, Aug. 14. However, the main festival will take place the next day. It runs from 11.00 a.m. to 11.00 p.m. The festival hopes to showcase young Jewish performers.

Australia has produced a long list of Jewish artists of international standing, including jazz and soul singer Renée Geyer, Ben Lee, bassist Tal Wilkenfeld, among others.

Festival organizers are still accepting submissions. While the focus is on Sydney acts, musicians from around the world can apply. The application forms are available online at http://www.shirmadness.com They have already received entries from Perth and Tel Aviv.

Four Winds Festival Easter 2010

Four Winds Festival Easter 2010
Stretch out on the grass, and listen to some of Australia’s best musicians play and sing classical, jazz, blues, from Gregorian chant to flamenco, with humour and wonderful collaborations, in this fine 3 day festival over Easter in Bermagui, NSW.
http://www.fourwinds.com.au/


Italian maestro to play exclusively at Four Winds Festival 2010

Different times and different cultures will be brought together in three days of exquisite music at the Four Winds Festival in Bermagui, at Easter 2010 when the “Yo Yo Ma of the viola da gamba” , Paolo Pandolfo, will play exclusively at the Festival.

The Festival was shortlisted by Limelight Magazine as one of the six best Festivals in Australia in 2008, and the artistic director is virtuoso recorder player Genevieve Lacey.

The romance of renaissance Italy and music reverberating around the ancient squares of Tuscany will be brought alive in the Australian bush by Italian maestro Paolo Pandolfo.

Sultry flamenco from Arte Kanela will play as dusk settles on Friday and bring a contemporary latino element picked up by the Flinders quarter on Sunday when they join with Karin Schaupp on guitar in a new collaboration of fandango with friends. Karin with join with harpist Marshall McGuire in a first time collaboration on strings playing de Falla, Granados and an Albeniz tango.

The exhilarating open air site for the Festival, close to the sea, will give people an opportunity to stretch out on the grass and dream to Melbourne group e21 singing songs of earth, sky and sea, including mediaeval Gregorian chant and songs of place from Australian Indigenous songlines.

Gospel and soul will be brought to mind when the women of the Black Arm Band sing in 13 Indigenous languages on Sunday afternoon – anyone who enjoys Sweet Honey in the Rock will love these songs which breath life into that which was lost.

This walk through the ages will be launched on Good Friday with a free concert and a cast of bells, conch shells, massed choirs and scores of musicians under the masterful direction of John Bolton.

David Hewitt will bring humour and whimsy, not to mention all manner of percussion to a performance of the resonant village on Saturday and will continue with the four winds cinematic orchestra and a bewildering array of instruments, objects, sound effects and absurd dialogue, gravely played, and hilariously funny.

A world premier on Saturday afternoon from the Andrea Keller Quartet, commissioned by the Keir Foundation, will be a highlight of a weekend and will blur collaboration and improvisation in jazz and contemporary classical music.

The strands of ancient and modern musics and styles will be brought together with assurance and brilliance by Jessica Aszodi (soprano) and Marshall McGuire (harp).

Media Contact: Marilyn Chalkley, 0418 624 http://www.fourwinds.com.au/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fourwindsfestival

Jazz In The Vines

Jazz In The Vines - 2009 11am - 6pm

http://www.jazzinthevines.com.au/

JITV returns for 2009. Come along and get hooked like so many others on the fun, music, great food & wines. We've brought together some of Australia’s finest musicians for a big 17th Anniversary lineup that will appeal to Jazz lovers and non Jazz lovers alike.

While we have always been a little green here at Jazz in the Vines, we are now taking a few more steps in the green direction.
There are a few things you will notice when you get to the event…
Recycle your bottles! – we have a glass bottle recycle system, where you get a discount if you return your empty when you purchase another bottle.
Environmentally friendly packaging – where possible all cutlery, crockery and plastic cups and bags will all be biodegradable
Transport – leave the car at home and catch a bus!
Printing - All posters and flyers created for the festival have been printed on 75% recycled paper by our keen, green printer. We ask anyone that has a flyer or poster for the festival to please recycle it afterwards.
These are simply first steps on a long road. Each year we will try to do more and more until we are as environmentally friendly as we can be.

Indulge yourself with entre size servings of gourmet delights from some of the great restaurants of Wine Country, Elizabeth´s Café, The Verandah Restaurant, Esca Restaurant, Redsalt and Majors Lane Café. The Hunter Valley Cheese Company and Pukara Estate Olives will also be there with wonderful delights on offer... or Pre-book a picnic hamper and pick it up on the day from San Martino Restaurant.

Wine Not one but six of the areas best wineries Tyrrell´s, Drayton´s, Tamburlaine, Bimbadgen Estate and the Hunter Valley Wine Society will have wines by the bottle while Peterson´s Champagne House will be setting up a bubble bar for the day. Beer, soft drink, water, tea and coffee is also available for purchase on the day. Please note there is no BYO alcohol.