As the state’s live entertainment sector comes back to life, Castlemaine locals have a unique chance to enjoy some top-shelf live music while supporting a good cause for the region’s wildlife.
A classical afternoon concert taking place in Castlemaine on Saturday November 13 will feature music performed by Melbourne’s Zephyr String Ensemble and MSO principal bassoon Jack Schiller, and will raise funds to build the new Central Victoria Wildlife Hospital near Daylesford.
Among the organisers, Deb Shnookal lives at Hepburn Springs but plays music with the Castlemaine cello group and cares deeply about the region’s wildlife and their vulnerability to bushfire.
Deb used her contacts in classical music circles to help organise the benefit concert at Castlemaine’s Northern Arts Hotel, and a similar concert in Daylesford, in a move particularly prompted by the impacts of the horrific Black Summer bushfires on the state’s wildlife.
“We wanted to launch the fundraising appeal for the hospital with a bang,” she told the Express last week.
“A special feature of the concert will be a quirky new piece of Australian music for solo bassoon, The Song of the Wombat, that captures a young wombat’s short bouts of energetic playfulness between long daytime snoozes.
“It was especially composed for a recent resident of the Hepburn Wildlife Shelter, a young wombat named Momo who has now been released back into the wild.
“It will be performed by Jack Schiller, principal bassoon of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.”
Deb said the Zephyr String Ensemble was a group of young, professional musicians from Melbourne and along with Jack they would perform works from a range of composers including Mozart, Hildegard of Bingen, a lovely quartet for bassoon and strings by Francois Devienne, some Martinu madrigals for violin and viola and a folk set or two.
“We want the concert to be a celebration of the return to life, the return to music, and also a celebration of the fantastic wildlife we do have in this region – and also to make people aware of how precious they are,” she said.
“There’s a real challenge at the moment just to get proper vet care for injured wildlife in the central Victorian area.
“The hospital was an initiative of the Hepburn Wildlife Shelter, run by Gayle Chappell and Jon Rowdon, both environmental scientists who have treated and cared for hundreds of every species of wildlife, from microbats to large macropods (kangaroos).
“They envisage the hospital as an asset for all the shelters in central Victoria.”
The project has got off to a good start with a $100,000 donation from two local residents, a further $100,000 or so raised in 2020 along with $300,000 in anticipated grants.
The upcoming concert is programmed to begin at 3pm with double-vax proof needed to attend and tickets available online through TryBooking.
