The Huntington Estate Music Festival is held each year in the Barrel Room of the winery in Mudgee, a fantastic space with "one of the greatest acoustics on the planet" (Richard Tognetti) and a unique atmosphere. All concerts include generous interval refreshments and are followed by gourmet meals and a selection of the best Huntington wines. All evening concerts are preceded by a choice of aperitifs, with the full service of Huntington wines continuing throughout the concert interval and afterwards.
The musical content is devised by Artistic Director Carl Vine and managed by the world's largest chamber music entrepreneur, Musica Viva Australia. In keeping with the long and distinguished history of the festival, each year features a stunning collection of prominent international performing artists alongside Australia's finest musicians, in stimulating programs that run the full gamut of the chamber music experience.
To find out more, scroll down; move your cursor to the "Music Festival" Tab at the top of this page to reveal additional pages, or click on these links for more information:
Huntington Estate Music Festival 2010
The 21st Huntington Estate Music Festival will be held in Mudgee from Wednesday 24th to Sunday 28th November.
Thirty-four magnificent musicians will perform in a varied program of spectacular experiences in the 2010 festival. Accclaimed soprano Amelia Farrugia, fresh from her success in the title role of Opera Australia's Manon will perform at Huntington for the first time. The 15 talented musicians of the Australian National Academy of Music Chamber Orchestra will bring their youthful energy to works for string orchestra. Ray Chen, a brilliant young violinist of Taiwanese descent and First Prize Winner of the 2009 Queen Elizabeth International Violin Competition in Belgium will be joined by pianist John Chen, winner of the 2004 Sydney International Piano Competition. The award winning Atos Trio from Germany will also make their Huntington debut, while the much loved Goldner Quartet and Ian Munro (as both pianist and composer) return once more. For more comprehensive information visit the "2010 Artists" page.
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2010 Festival Schedule (timings provisional)
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| Wednesday 24 Nov |
8.00pm |
concert followed by supper |
| Thursday-Saturday |
11.30am
6.30pm
7.30pm |
concert followed by lunch
"In Conversation" with featured artists
concert followed by supper |
| Sunday 28 Nov |
11.00am |
concert followed by lunch |
For more information, explore the website, telephone (02) 6373 3825 or email info@huntingtonestate.com.au
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To book accomodation in one of Mudgee's luxury B&Bs, Guesthouses, Hotels, Motels or Caravan Parks, go to www.visitmudgee.com.au.
Aeropelican is Mudgee's airline. They offer two flights every week day and one flight a day every Saturday and Sunday from Sydney Airport (Terminal 2). Sit back, enjoy a scenic 40 minutes flight and let the pilot worry about the radar! Go to www.aeropelican.com.au or click on the Aeropelican logo to book flights.
2009 Festival
Held in Mudgee from 25 to 29 November, the 2009 Festival was described by audience members as "a lifetime joy" and "heaven" for the "best performances and artists ever".
"A long life for the second version of the 20 year-old Huntington Estate Music Festival... seems assured by the size of this year's gathering...and the performances of masterly works...warranted their (the audience's) numbers and enthusiasm" Roger Covell, Sydney Morning Herald (Friday, 27th November 2009)
Musical highlights of the opening night of the 2009 Festival included:
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Andrew Goodwin
"...a cultivated tone, an easy transition from register to register and scrupulous attention to vocal and verbal detail in beautiful and stirring music by Handel, suggesting he is likely to become one of the busiest lyric tenors on the international stage."
(Sydney Morning Herald)
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Li-Wei & Caroline Almonte
"...dazzled listeners in the electrifying virtuosity of the Britten Cello Sonata. Li-Wei's brilliance matched by that of Almonte whose playing was a lesson in the finer details of ensemble"
(Sydney Morning Herald)
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Australian String Quartet
"The four women of the Australian String Quartet were intently disciplined and mutually responsive in the best musical sense..."
(Sydney Morning Herald)
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Huntington Estate Baroque Ensemble
"Music earlier than the Viennese classical period has been in short supply in Huntington's recent times. This gap... has been filled in an encouraging way by the first appearance of the Huntington Baroque Ensemble, most capably led by Lucinda Moon (violin) with Linda Kent (harpsichord).
(Sydney Morning Herald)
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For more images of the 2009 Festival, visit the Photo Gallery.
2008 Festival
The highlights of the 2008 festival were the peerless European period music sensation Hesperion XXI and brilliant Polish pianist Ewa Kupiec. The phenomenal Pavel Haas Quartet from the Czech Republic joined local groups the Goldner and TinAlley string quartets, supported in turn by Australian pianists Ian Munro and Raymond Yong. The festival also featured the world premiere of String Quartet no 1 by Sydney composer Paul Stanhope.
2007 Festival
Matthew Westwood, The Australian, 3 December 2007:
"The convivial atmosphere of music-making, food and company..."
Download: TheOz_HEMF07.pdf
Roger Covell, Sydney Morning Herald, December 2007:
"Cicadas supplying a distant, softly pulsing undertone to string quartets and a blue-faced honeyeater …".
Download: SMH_HEMF07.pdf
History of the Festival
'...Take a few days out of your life to absorb yourself in the world of musicians and their music making.' Bob Roberts
The Roberts family had no idea that their first "music in the winery" would develop into what it is today - The Huntington Estate Music Festival.
'...It started on a Saturday night in October with a group of young musicians from the ABC Sinfonia playing Quartets and Trios, some friends and Huntington wine patrons numbering one hundred. A sit down dinner featured especially prepared local spring lamb, slow open pit roasted , basted in salt, herbs and garlic, accompanied by asparagus picked that morning. The golden half lambs were placed along the centre of the tables on white towelling; the guests were told to each bring a knife and they carved for themselves. The musicians were of course placed amongst the audience at the tables. We had such a good time, in every way that we just had to do it again.' Bob Roberts.
Richard Tognetti had formed the Huntington Chamber Orchestra whilst at the Sydney Conservatorium and had performed previous winery concerts. Everyone was well aware of the stunning power of an orchestra in the winery but Bob and Wendy Roberts couldn't help but wonder if anyone would come?
Twenty years on the Huntington Estate Music Festival is a much loved and highly respected event on the Australian and international music calendars. Over the years the winery has welcomed musicians and guests from all over the world and played to sell-out audiences year after year.
Tim Stevens, the new owner and winemaker of Huntington Estate, was enthusiastic to carry on every aspect of the Huntington Estate Music Festival and so, starting in 2006 under the direction of Carl Vine and Musica Viva, Huntington Estate continued to welcome exceptional musicians from Australia and overseas to the winery. The new incarnation of the festival has been met with rave reviews from the guests, the media and most importantly, from the Roberts family.