All Guitar Program at Mitchell Con

Aaron Hopper and Fretworx

Yesterday, I only knew the names of two of the people in the photo above. But the power of social media has changed all that! From left to right, we have Andrew Dean, Emily Foster, director of  Fretworx, Aaron Hopper, Tim Burrey, Melissa McKinnon and Kiaran Bryant, performing two of  Aaron's beautiful compositions in a concert at Mitchell Conservatorium yesterday.

It was an all-guitar concert, which provided an opportunity for Tim Burrey to present his A Mus A program, but it also included a wide variety of guitar styles.

Heath Auchinachie

Heath Auchinachie, of Ilford, began the concert with Drifting, an intriguing piece by Canadian composer Andy McKee. Heath has referred us to an extremely popular clip of the composer himself playing the piece.

Tim Burrey 

Tim Burrey played a program of music that was written by composers who lived between the sixteenth and twentieth centuries.  He showed he was as comfortable playing a Domenico Scarlatti sonata, Milonga Del Angel by Astor Piazzolla, a John Dowland piece or a suite of three pieces by Federico Moreno Torroba.


Tim's first teacher, Georg Mertens, played Villa-Lobos' popular first prelude, Albeniz's Asturias and a Fernando Sor piece.


The concert was warmly received by an enthusiastic audience of supporters. All funds raised from the sale of tickets were donated to Central West Care. We were interested to hear of their innovative programs from its director, Richard Ulbricht at the beginning of the concert.

Music and Art at Mitchell Con

Georg Mertens by Jennifer DeMaere

Mitchell Conservatorium has so many talented people working together producing great things. But we didn't know till very recently that we have a talented visual artist on our staff.

 Jennifer DeMaere has been a valued member of the administration staff of the Con for many years. Her painting of Georg Mertens captures him perfectly.

Georg teaches cello and guitar at Mitchell Con and at home in Katoomba, but is also renowned for the beauty of his musical performances in Jenolan Caves. These have been sensitively recorded and uploaded to Youtube, where his performances have been viewed more than a million times.

I enjoy his performances of J S Bach cello suite movements, and appreciate the trouble he goes to in the interesting annotations he includes with these performances. But I've only discovered this morning that one of the performances of his own compositions has been cleverly juxtaposed with stunning pictures of the cave interiors. Georg's own Ciaconna is enhanced by the scenes included in this video:

 

 You can hear Georg performing with his student, Tim Burrey at 3 PM on Sunday,5th August at Mitchell Conservatorium. Aaron Hopper and Fretworx will also be entertaining the audience with some great guitar sounds.

 All proceeds from your $ note donation will go to Central West Care For more information, please ring Mitchell Conservatorium on 6331 6622 during office hours.

Try Before You Buy

This coming weekend, two great local performers will be touring Lithgow, Mudgee and Bathurst with some interesting and engaging music for you to enjoy.

Aaron and Rob are two of the popular guitar teachers at Bathurst campus of Mitchell Conservatorium. The samples below are from recordings they have made with their own groups, Stringmansassy and The Straight Back Fellows.

In Stringmansassy, Aaron Hopper combines his special stylings with vocalist Kasey Patrick.



Rob's group, The Straight Back Fellows, combines clarinets, saxes and flutes with a wide range of percussion instruments and of course Rob's guitar. You can hear short excerpts of Rob's music with the band here, but if you sign up with Myspace, you will be able to hear the full versions.


Friday 20 May 7.30pm Secret Creek Sanctuary Café & Restaurant, 35 Crane Rd, Lithgow

Saturday 21 May 7.30pm Baptist Church & Community Centre, 70 Bruce Road, Mudgee

Sunday 22 May 3pm Mitchell Conservatorium, Russell Street, Bathurst

Tickets: Adults $30, Concession $20, U3A/CPSA $10 Enquiries 6331 6622

Winter Showcase

Christopher Dove, of Bathurst Brass Boys

If you would like to hear some great music to warm up a winter afternoon, head to Bathurst's Entertainment Centre this Sunday, 22nd August at 3 PM for a concert which begins with Mitchell Con's own Bathurst Brass Boys, and also features Fretworx, directed by Aaron Hopper, Lachlan division's Dr Music and the Con Kids, The Allegri Singers, conducted by William Moxey, the Bathurst Chamber Orchestra and The Bathurst City and RSL Concert Band, conducted by Mathias Rogala-Koczorowski.

Stringmansassy: duo featuring Mitchell Con's Aaron Hopper and vocalist, Kacey Patrick