Pop Up Music Festival

Two international orchestras and a trio of pianists feature in a 14-16 April Geraldine Pop-Up Music Festival hosted by the Geraldine Community Arts Council and St Mary’s Church. The festival’s programme showcases Wollongong Conservatorium’s BlueScope Youth Orchestra, the Café Latte Orchestra, which brings together mostly trans-Tasman performers, and South Canterbury’s own Vintage Trio.

Priest-in-Charge of the Anglican Parish of Geraldine Hugh McCafferty says a generous quantity of serendipity underlies the event in terms of the musical groups’ collective availability and its landing during the Easter holiday period. With philanthropy driving the three shows, entry to each is by donation.

Coordination by the arts council is the other main ingredient at play. Chair Elaine Taylor says, “The Geraldine Community Arts Council aims to provide exciting and memorable concerts for the community”, describing the groups’ performance qualities as “breath-taking”.

The 30-piece BlueScope Youth Orchestra is the flagship of the Wollongong Conservatorium of Music. Its repertoire sweeps across much of musical time, including Vivaldi’s Winter and works by Dvorak and Youkali.

Mark Walton’s full Café Latte Orchestra includes nearly 200 musicians (never all at once), gathering in smaller numbers several times a year on both sides of the Tasman and as far away as England to ensure everyone has rehearsal and on-stage time. The group’s 15 April show will include classics and popular pieces and give Mark, a clarinet and saxophone specialist, solo time.

Concertgoers should also be on alert for guest participation by priest-in-charge Hugh. He says, “Mark put out an invitation to local students and musicians to rehearse with the orchestra and take part in the performance. I told him I once played back-of-the-row of the violins for the Chiswick Youth Orchestra. Mark was on for it, so I’ll go to rehearsals, and if I don’t make a complete ass of myself, I’ll be there in second fiddle.”

Threesome on the keys, qualified music teachers Margaret Foley, Helen Hayes, and Audrey Rule - also known as Vintage Trio – are rehearsing a diverse programme to raise funds for a to-be-decided cause at the pop-up festival’s third performance. Audrey says they’ll present jazz, popular, and classical greats with up to six hands on St Mary’s piano at any time. “It’s great fun; we like to entertain people. Audiences appreciate what we do.” Other recent shows by Vintage Trio have resulted in significant relief funding for Ukraine, South Canterbury farmers, and Cyclone Gabrielle recovery.