New venture growing our city’s classical music scene

Orange, renowned for its natural beauty, historic streetscapes and thriving food and wine scene, is fast becoming the classical music hub of regional NSW.

Following the successful, sold-out debut of the Orange Chamber Music Festival 2021, organisers say events are already selling out for their expanded program in April 2022.

“Yeah it was fantastic,” said festival director and saxophonist Carmen Nieves. “We were pretty well sold out at every event last and we got some really great feedback. People really loved the festival and the diversity of the music that we provided, from Latin America as well as your traditional classical, so it was a really good response.

“And then we launched for this year’s festival and we’ve got just a couple of full passes left — the full passes give you access to everything — and so we are more or less sold out in that regard.”

Tickets have since been released for the larger venue events at the Orange Civic Theatre and Orange Function Centre, and they too have seen a lot of traction, said Carmen.

With an obvious demand for classical music in and around Orange, Carmen along with husband and fellow saxophonist Jay Byrnes, have launched their own music management business, Alianza Music Management, to present their own local concerts as well as connecting businesses and venues with musicians eager for opportunities in the region.

“At the moment artists are desperate to get out and play and make music and perform for people, because they haven’t been able to for so long,” said Jay.

“We’ve got great connections and a network of musicians in Sydney who are all really keen to come out and perform in Orange. A lot of our colleagues and friends have come to visit Orange for a few days, just to get out of Sydney, and realised how great it is here. They’ve then thought one way they could come back again is in a professional situation, so we are also creating opportunities for them. We organise the venue and the publicity and things like that to put on those concerts.”

Carmen and Jay are preparing to present a series of local concerts out of the newly renovated Orange Uniting Church hall in the lead-up to the Orange Chamber Music Festival in April, the idea being to grow local interest in the festival and in classical music in general.

The first of Alianza’s Live in Orange concert series will be a solo performance by talented violinist and former Orange local, Rachael Kwa, on 29 January.

“We have already got a pretty strong arts culture, an amazing arts gallery and a lot of music going on here, so we just want to keep building and promoting more of our direction of music, which is that classical direction,” said Jay.

“So by putting on all these concerts, it’s building that culture and that will hopefully have a compounding effect for the chamber music festival as well; making more awareness of the festival and getting more people to come along.

“The arts are thriving here, and I think it is important to keep promoting that and building that because it can be another big drawcard for the region. There’s a huge community in our cities and regional centres of people who love the arts and by building that here in Orange it just brings so much to our town for local people and also for the tourism industry.”

For more information on the upcoming concert series, search for Alianza Music Management on Facebook.

Tickets and information about the Orange Chamber Music Festival can be found at ocmf.com.au