THE music of Bach, Handel and Vivaldi might seem an unlikely soundtrack for a Central West town, but for one weekend each year, it takes audiences on a journey through musical history.
The centuries-old music will fill churches, halls and a working organic farm when the Canowindra Baroque Music Festival returns next month
Now in its 11th year, the festival has built a devoted following, with audiences travelling nationwide to hear some of Australia’s leading performers.
Festival founder and president of the Baroque Music Festival committee Richard Statham said the event had developed a life of its own since it began in 2015.
This year’s program will feature Tasmania’s Van Diemen’s Band, with five concerts held across the region from 18 September to 20 September.
For Mr Statham, the attraction is partly the music and partly the experience of hearing it in regional settings.
The Baroque period, generally considered to have ended around 1750 with the death of Johann Sebastian Bach, produced some of Western music’s most recognisable composers, including Bach, Handel, Vivaldi and Scarlatti.
But audiences attending the Baroque Festival do not need to arrive as experts on the subject.
Former ABC Classic radio presenter and festival patron Marian Arnold introduces each concert, explaining the works and their historical context.
Organising committee member Patrick Rahilly said that was important for people who might otherwise feel classical music was not for them.
“It’s not meant to be that exclusive,” he said.
The committee is also increasingly involving the broader Canowindra community in the event.
Canowindra High School Year 11 students will cater for two events this year as part of their hospitality studies, while musicians will perform for local primary school students before the festival officially begins.
For Mr Rahilly, the festival was what originally drew them to the community.
As a retired paediatrician, he and festival secretary Sue Rahilly were looking for somewhere to live after retirement when they discovered the Baroque Festival.
“Sue wanted to come here,” he said. “She rang me and said, ‘There’s a whole weekend of Baroque music next weekend in Canowindra.
“I said, ‘No, no, that can’t be true. It must be Orange.’ And Sue went and checked. ‘No, it’s definitely in Canowindra.’ I said, ‘Right, in that case, I’m happy to go and live there’.”
While many audience members have been returning for years, organisers are hoping this year’s $40 door tickets for the Rosnay Organic concert will tempt more locals to give Baroque music a try.
The music may have been written hundreds of years ago, but the festival’s organisers believe there is still plenty of life in it, particularly when it is brought into a regional community.
The Canowindra Baroque Festival runs from Friday 18 September to Sunday 20 September, with tickets and the full program available through the festival website.