Love rules as Queensland Music Festival unites and delights
- 5 Jul 2019
A performance from the legendary Archie Roach and a presentation of Jessie Lloyd’s Mission Songs Project mark the start of the 2019 Queensland Music Festival, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. The show was a fitting way to celebrate a milestone year for an iconic festival that tells First Nations stories through music.
During the International Year of Indigenous Languages, the 2019 Queensland Music Festival main program kicked off with performances by leading First Nations’ artists.
Regional Queenslanders had been treated to an early festival experience, with a number of shows touring regional communities in the past fortnight. The Mission Songs Project has visited Longreach, Palm Island and Gympie ahead of tonight’s Brisbane show while the communities of St George, Roma and Goondiwindi have experienced the delightful music and dance production The Little Green Road to Fairyland before it opens at QPAC’s Playhouse on 11 July.
Queensland Music Festival 2019 is continuing a fine tradition of bringing diverse and vibrant performances and experiences to all corners of the state.
Queensland Music Festival Executive Director Joel Edmondson said the biennial event provided opportunities for communities statewide to come together to access and participate in world-class performing arts experiences.
“From today, people can experience the full festival program, including the musical treasure hunt of Play Me I’m Yours, with 20 brilliantly painted street pianos hidden across Brisbane for people to discover,” Mr Edmondson said.
“The free boutique hotel room concert series, Immersion, also begins today, featuring artists such as Asha Jeffries, Ben Ely, Jack Carty and Sahara Beck.
“Over the next few weeks, the festival will bring Queensland audiences such diverse experiences as the world premiere of The Night Parrot by Australian composer Jessica Wells, with performances in Winton and Brisbane; the uplifting and inclusive Help is On its Way, starring Glenn Shorrock and community choirs, in Brisbane and eight regional centres. Another absolute highlight will be The Genius of John Rodgers, telling the incredible story of one of the state’s most renowned and visionary musicians and featuring Kate Miller-Heidke, Katie Noonan, Paul Grabowsky, Scott Tinkler, Pearly Black, Erkki Veltheim and many more, with our own Queensland Symphony Orchestra.”
Other festival highlights include:
- The Mount Isa Blast –25 to 27 July
- Opera at Jimbour – 27 July
- Women of Woodstock – 19 to 21 July
- Frank and Fearless with Sigrid and Merle Thornton – 26 and 27 July
- Twilight in the Red Box, intimate twilight concerts showcasing new classical music – 7, 14 and 21 July
- On Song @ Green Jam, featuring six emerging Queensland singer-songwriters –12 July
- Score IT! Public Lecture with renowned film composer and orchestrator Cameron Patrick – 26 July.
Queensland Music Festival will run until 28 July, for full program details, visit https://www.qmf.org.au.