The Jewels of Australian Classical Music Talent in Woodend for Queen's Birthday Weekend

When one of Australia's finest young pianists, Tony Lee, arrives in Woodend to perform a repertoire of Beethoven, Prokofiev and American composer John Adams, he will one in a line up of Australia's best at this year's Woodend Winter Arts Festival.

The program includes international performances however the Australian talent is set to shine at least as bright.

The Australian Guitar Trio will present medieval music through to post modern psychedelia with every influence in between (Renegade Journey), while the Australian String Quartet will perform The Heart of Schubert - beginning with Haydn before moving on to Schubert's last quartet (recognisable to many as the soundtrack of Woody Allen film Crimes and Misdemeanours).

And there will be an Australian premiere performance of featuring some of the lesser known, but no less stunning, works of 'the Red Priest' (Vivaldi had red hair). Vivaldi's Vespers will be performed by Ensemble Gombert and Accademia Arcadia; tickets for the first of these two concerts are almost sold out.

Accademia Arcadia will also perform in two other programmed concerts - one featuring Italian Baroque violinist extraordinaire Davide Monti, Il Diavolo, and a second featuring the music of Bach and Teleman, examples the 'sensitive style' of German composers of the 18th century (Sense and Sensibility).

International music includes:

Quinta essentia (Caboclo) - Brazilian quartet presenting the influences that form what we now recognise as the music of Brazil - a combination of African rhythms and European melodic sensibility

Bohemia near the sea (Trio Alba) - exclusive from Vienna and supported by the Austrian Government, this trio will perform Haydn, Suk and Smetana

Full details of the Festival program, and ticket purchases are available at www.woodendwinterartsfestival.org.au

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