MEDIA RELEASE
1 March 2010 LAURIETON LANTERN PARADE

Working away quietly in the Camden Haven are community groups making huge lanterns to take part in the inaugural Laurieton Lantern Parade, a feature of the upcoming 2010 Camden Haven Music Festival.

With a grant from Festivals Australia, four lantern makers lead by master artist Claude Teyssier are teaching children and adults how to fashion bamboo into a range of marine and land animal shapes, cover them with muslin and paper, and then paint them.  The results are a range of images, including a dragon, swordfish, whale, dolphins, jellyfish, and the NSW state emblem – a waratah.

Twenty local vessels from fishing punts to motor boats will carry the lanterns up the Camden Haven River on Saturday evening 1 May, in the culmination of months of creative planning and design.

Camden Haven Music Festival director Alvena Ferguson has praised the lantern making groups, saying they were absorbed and dedicated to the task, and that a great opportunity for community organisations to work together on a common goal was realised. “Local boaties have also been wonderfully supportive, agreeing to use their boats as lantern-carriers” she added.  “At the Festival Finale to be held at Bago Vineyards Wauchope, the large lanterns will be auctioned to the highest bidders.  Small lanterns made by school children during the January holidays will be used to decorate the Seymour Street Marina at Laurieton on the night of the Parade, after which the makers of these lanterns will be allowed to take them home” Alvena said.

The 15th Camden Haven Music Festival kicks off on 23 April and runs until 2 May. Tickets will go on sale from mid-March and the program can be viewed from the link on the left. Enquiries to Alvena Ferguson on 6556 9622 or email chmf@tsn.cc

Alvena Ferguson
Festival Director
65569622 or 0401 608 240
Email chmf@tsn.cc

MEDIA RELEASE
9 November 2009

Award Winning Pianists to Feature in Music Festival

The 15th Camden Haven Music Festival next year will feature recitals by two young and exciting pianists as part of the Festival’s classical music component.

Winner of the Sydney International Piano Competition Konstantin Shamray has been invited to perform at Kendall School of Arts Hall on Sunday 25 April in an afternoon concert. Konstantin walked away with a bagful of prizes at the 2008 SIPC including overall First Prize, People’s Choice Prize, Best Performance of a Mozart Concerto, Best Performance of a work by Beethoven, Best Performance of a work by Mozart (excepting Concertos) as well as the ABC Classics and Naxos Recording Prizes. This year Konstantin has been in Australia on a national tour with the Australian String Quartet, another of the prizes he won at the Competition.

“The Sydney International Piano Competition is held every four years and is recognised as one of the world’s most important competitions for pianists” explained Alvena Ferguson, Music Festival director. “It is something of a coup to be invited by SIPC to host a recital by its most recent winner, and confirms the Camden Haven Music Festival’s place as one of Australia’s most respected regional music events.”

Seventeen year old Max Foster, the ABC Symphony Australia Young Performer of the Year in 2008 has also been invited by the Music Festival to bring his exhuberant piano style to the 2010 Festival. At the Award Finals Max played to a capacity crowd at the Victorian Arts Centre last year. He received a $20,000 cash prize, the Sir Charles Moses Trophy and concert engagements with major Australian symphony orchestras, as well as his own recital in the Sydney Opera House's Utzon Room. He was also presented with the 2008 David Paul Landa Scholarship.

The ABC Symphony Australia Young Performers Awards is an annual competition which encourages the talent and ambitions of Australia's young musicians. Inaugurated in 1944 the Awards have provided opportunities for an extraordinary number of our finest classical performers, including many past performers at Camden Haven Music Festival.

The 15th Festival will run from 23 April to 2 May inclusive. The full program will be posted on the website once all performers have been confirmed. Enquiries to Alvena Ferguson on 6556 9622 or email chmf@tsn.cc, or check the website www.chmf.org.au.

Alvena Ferguson Festival Director
Ph 6556 9622; Email chmf@tsn.cc

MEDIA RELEASE
18 July 2009

LAURIETON LANTERN PARADE

Festivals Australia has granted funding of $15,000 to Camden Haven Music Festival Inc to hold a Lantern Parade on the Camden Haven River at Laurieton as part of its 15th Festival celebrations in 2010. “We will soon be inviting community groups, schools and individuals to participate in workshops to be held early next year, which will design and manufacture a series of lanterns depicting the importance of the environment generally and our River especially” explained Festival Director Alvena Ferguson. “This is a large project which we anticipate will bring all sectors of the community together in a celebration of where we live, our beautiful environment and the importance of protecting our natural assets” she added.

Camden Haven Music Festival commenced in 1996 and has been held annually to “celebrate the spirit of music” in venues across the Hastings, providing a wide range of music styles performed by well-known Australian musicians. “Our 15th Festival is an important event for the community, and we wished to mark it with a special project which will attract visitors to the area and hopefully provide a much-needed economic boost” Mrs Ferguson said.

To guide the 2010 Music Festival, the organisation has recently held its annual general meeting at which some new faces joined its Management Committee. Joy Walker steps up from the committee to the position of president, with new members Kim Madden (Bonny Hills), professional musician Adam Bishop (Kew), former ABC Classic FM producer and presenter Jaro Kovaricek (Dunbogan) and music buff and long-time Festival sponsor Gavin Rippon (Laurieton) adding their substantial expertise and dedication. Joan Newton retains the position of vice-president, while Ian Ferguson and Alvena Ferguson remain as treasurer and secretary respectively.

Next year’s Camden Haven Music Festival is planned to commence on 23 April and run for 10 days until 2 May. A special music program is already well advanced in planning, with some exciting new and favourite repeat performances likely to be part of the celebrations. Enquiries are welcome to Alvena Ferguson on 6556 9622 or email chmf@tsn.cc.

Alvena Ferguson Festival Director
Ph 6556 9622; Email chmf@tsn.cc

2010 Management Committee for Camden Haven Music Festival

(l to r) Kim Madden, Joan Newton, Alvena Ferguson, Jaro Kovaricek, Adam Bishop, Ian Ferguson, Joy Walker, Gavin Rippon (absent)