AUSTRALIA
2023: Unfortunately there will be no Boxwood Australia in 2023 and we look forward to the return of Boxwood to Queenscliff in Feb/Mar 2024.
BOXWOOD AUSTRALIA TRADITIONAL MUSIC WEEKEND IN QUEENSCLIFF, VIC
03-06 March 2022
Boxwood returns to beautiful & historic Queenscliff Thursday evening 3 March – Sunday afternoon 6 March 2022 for a weekend of immersion in traditional & early music. Join us for an unforgettable gathering of musical discovery and fun. Click here to register!
‘As a long-time admirer of Chris Norman’s Boxwood festivals, it is an absolute honour to be named guest director in 2022! The thing I love the most about Boxwood is the space it creates for people to take a creative deep-dive into new repertoire, techniques, styles, history and ideas. Our weekend at Queenscliff will be all about bringing together musical traditions both new and old: classic Irish tunes and ‘new trad’, folk songs and vocal workouts, 18th-century airs on fiddle, flute, recorder and harp, as well as a choir open to all. I hope to see you there!’
Shane LESTIDEAU – baroque fiddle
Irish fiddle
Ado came to Irish traditional music as a teen, captured by a thriving Irish music scene in Canberra in the mid-1990s. From the early days Ado’s style was shaped by local players, as the pull of the session drew him ever deeper into the tunes of Clare and Donegal. As a performer Ado is best known as a member of seminal Aus-Irish trad band Trouble in the Kitchen and trio The Freewheeler. As a teacher, he has been sought-after for workshops at festivals and camps far and wide, including the National Folk Festival’s Easter School and New Zealand’s Ceol Aneas.
Irish flute
Dougal started out learning the highland pipes at a young age and subsequently became fascinated with Irish traditional music. The transition was cemented by a trip to Ireland in the early 1980s and he has been playing the flute ever since. In 2015 he had the pleasure of recording with long term musical friends Ado Barker and Ben Stephenson which resulted in the release of the CD “ The Freewheeler”. The trio were invited to play at the Strokestown Festival in Ireland in 2016. In addition he has taught the flute at various festivals including the Ceol Aneas festival in New Zealand.
baroque flute
Greg Dikmans is an internationally recognised performer of 18th-century flutes, practitioner of historical performance practices and artistic director of the critically acclaimed Elysium Ensemble (elysiumensemble.com). Since 2014 Greg has released four recordings on the UK label Resonus Classics. The latest is a recording of flute concertos by Johann Joachim Quantz. Early Music Review described Greg’s playing as: ‘Exemplary … intelligent and deeply moving.’
recorder
Ryan’s creative practice focuses on performing and creating improvisatory & exploratory music, ancient music, traditional music from Eastern Europe, North America, Ireland & Japan, and much more. Regularly performing with a broad variety of arts companies, including a recorder & uilleann pipes duo, Ryan especially loves skill-sharing collaborations with other artists and community musicians. At Boxwood 2022 Ryan will be leading the classes for pipes and whistle participants.
harp
Australia’s legendary harper Andy Rigby started playing Celtic music in 1981 before discovering the harp styles of Paraguay and Ecuador a few years later. Since 1990 he’s been a full-time musician and instrument maker specialising in medieval Gaelic brass-strung harps, Spanish Baroque chromatic harps and other Celtic and Latin harps.
song, harp
Claire is an award-winning musician with a passion for traditional Irish, Scottish, jazz, baroque and classical music, often intertwining these styles in her music making. A sought-after choral director and educator, her specialty is bringing out the best in singers by creating an environment that is inviting and fun, while extending singers’ vocal ability and musicianship. She is a singer and harpist, and has directed, performed and recorded with a number of Australian ensembles.
View the complete program here!
- Fiddle / violin – traditional Irish, Scottish, Australian and baroque tunes, all bowed strings welcome including viola, cello, etc
- Flute – traditional Irish, Scottish and baroque styles & tunes – simple system, wooden, baroque and modern flutes welcome
- Whistle, recorder & Scottish smallpipes – across a variety of styles and improvised settings
- Harp – Celtic & early tunes and techniques and ensemble playing
- Songs & ballads – from the Celtic traditions and baroque canon
- Baroque style & repertoire – open to all instruments
- Discussion topics
- Sessions
- Seaside walks
- Annual evening concert – featuring Boxwood Australia artists
- Delicious healthy meals
- Local craft beer & wine tastings – (BYO-pot-luck)
