Media release – Tasmanian Chamber Music Festival, 9 May 2022
Third time’s a charm for Tasmanian Chamber Music Festival
After consecutive COVID-forced cancellations in 2020 and 2021, the Tasmanian Chamber Music Festival is confident it will be a case of third time’s a charm in 2022.
Launched today, the boutique festival is set to finally return to Tasmania’s northern midlands this October, bringing with it a welcome boost to the state’s arts and tourism sectors.
This year’s festival is designed with two consecutive programs – meaning even more patrons will be able enjoy the magic of world class chamber music in the region’s historic venues, while maintaining safe distancing.
The two, three day programs will see performances by the world-renowned Goldner String Quartet, acclaimed percussionist Claire Edwardes, the divine duo of Erin Helyard and David Greco, harpist and broadcaster Genevieve Lang and one of Australia’s most revered classical musicians, Piers Lane.
TCMF Director Allanah Dopson said it was exciting to be able to bring such a diverse and talented line-up of musicians to Tasmania after an extremely challenging period for performing arts festivals.
“When we made the difficult decision to call 2020’s festival off, we vowed to return more special than ever in 2021. After not being able to do that, we’ve doubled down for 2022,” Ms Dopson said.
“The magic of the festival lies in intimate performances held in stunning, character filled venues. Social distancing remains very important and as a consequence, each venue can only take a limited number of patrons.
“Because of this, we have decided to run back-to-back festivals with 150 festival passes available to each festival to ensure the intimacy of performances is not compromised.
“We’re delighted to be able to help fill the void left by the absence of music and experiences of this type in Tasmania for artists, patrons and tourism operators alike with a program filled with some of the nation’s best artists.
“We’re also excited to bring the festival to Westbury for the very first time, showcasing more of the beauty of northern Tasmania with its stunning historic venues, renowned food and wine and picturesque rolling countryside, all tied together with world class chamber music.”
Ms Dopson said despite back-to-back programs effectively doubling capacity of the festival, tickets were still expected to sell out quickly.
“Since our first festival in 2017, the demand for this type of festival in Tasmania has been humbling, selling out each year and drawing visitors from across the mainland and further abroad,” Ms Dopson said.
“With experiences of this type extremely hard to come by over the past 12 months, we’re expecting demand to be particularly high this year and I would encourage everyone to get in quicky to avoid disappointment.”
