Port Fairy Spring Music Festival

Variety is the key -Warrnambool Standard 7th Oct. 1998 - by Anthony Bunn - Copyright Warrnambool Standard 1998. All rights reserved.
The seaside community of Port fairy will again emphasise its musical ties this weekend. Anthony Bunn spoke to organisers about what is on offer for patrons. Performers ranging from the Hamilton College band to the renown English tenor Ian Partridge highlight the diverse program on offer at this year's Port Fairy Spring Music Festival. Event chairman, Eda Ritchie, believes the line-up reflects a festival with universal appeal for music fans. "We've got a very varied program with some wonderful quality music. There really is something for everybody with the variety of classical music, jazz and ballet", Mrs Ritchie said. Particularly pleasing to Mrs. Ritchie is the injection of district performers which is emphasised in Cook's Tours, a children's musical theatre production which features community members and the Brauer Chamber Choir. "We really wanted to involve some schools in it and the director, Wendy Grose, is telling me she is very impressed with the talent", she said. Major performances at the three- day festival, which runs from Friday to Sunday, will include an Australian farewell by Mr. Partridge, piano recitals by Lachlan Redd and Ian Holtham and a tribute to composer George Gershwin. There will also be a free concert, Songs of the Sea, at the Botanical Gardens on Sunday afternoon, held on the Sydney 2000 Olympic touring concert stage which is being taken around Australia for use at major cultural events. Mrs Ritchie said she was pleased the event, which is now in its ninth year, had reached the stage  of its reputation being a key to attracting performers. "In the music world we're now established as an important event, which is well run, and that helps in attracting performers to Port Fairy", she said. "A lot of the festival is broadcast Australia-wide through ABC-FM and we get good coverage through the national dailies, such as the Age and the Herald Sun, who send representatives down." Around 60 per cent of the audiences at the festival come from Melbourne or interstate, and Mrs. Ritchie believes the appeal for many of those people lies in the location of the event. "There are a lot of different elements (to the events success). It's been the quality of the performances, but also the fact we can have the festival in a small area", she said. "People who come down from Melbourne can walk to all the performances, they don't have to get in their car, and all the performances are quite short which means people can take in a lot of different performances over the weekend". Andrea Lowenthal, who tends to ticket sales for the festival and works at the Port Fairy tourist information centre, said the accommodation for the event was heavily booked and 1000 people were expected to attend concerts. "It's certainly grown and is very well respected, even on a statewide basis. It's known very well in classical music circles, and respected for the quality of performances", Ms. Lowenthal said. She said one of the aims of the event was to create an intimate feel. "We'd like to keep it on a small scale, where the artists can mix with the patrons. We don't want it ever to grow as big as the folk festival", Ms. Lowenthal said.

Port springs into singing -Warrnambool Standard 12th Oct. 1998 - Copyright Warrnambool Standard 1998. All rights reserved.
MUSIC lovers had be early to get a seat at the Port Fairy Spring MusicFestival at the weekend, with nearly all of the 15 concerts booked out. Chairman Eda Ritchie hailed the festival a success."It's been very good, I think the audience really had a lovely weekend,"  Mrs Ritchie said. "There's been great attendance and really a good variety of entertainment. It's been a buzz in the town, really - nearly every concert's been sold out." Yesterday afternoon featured an open air concert, presented by the Sydney 2000 Olympic Arts Festival and Events. "I think every year the festival is different and certainly the ticket sales indicate people are booking earlier," she said."Every year there's a different theme. This year we're celebrating 100 years of George and Ira Gershwin. "So much of this music is of a great quality. It will be broadcast nationwide over ABC-FM." Mrs Ritchie maintained that the star of the festival was tenor Ian Partridge. She said the festival was growing, but was limited by the number of seats at the venues. Director Michael Easton said it was one of the best Spring Music Festivals he had seen.