Orange Cultural Precinct will come alive this Saturday, April 30, with a series of free, pop-up performances combining heritage, the visual arts, and classical music in one unique event.

CULTURED, part of the Orange Chamber Music Festival, is a free all-day event building on the success of last year’s Music at the Museum, which saw local violinist Lisa Stewart and flautist David Shaw perform pieces in the Orange Regional Museum, while attendees wandered the exhibition.

Expanding on the idea, CULTURED 2022, will feature four performances, from outdoor pop-ups to intimate solo recitals, held at the Civic Square South Court, the Orange Regional Gallery, and Orange Regional Museum.

“We came up with this idea of integrating all of the arts organizations of Orange and unite heritage, visual arts and music,” Carmen Nieves, Director of the Orange Chamber Music Festival said.

“It is a pop-up style, so not a sit-down concert and that is a concept we discovered last year with Music at the Museum and it was very well received. Tourists were stepping into the visitor centre, they didn't know about the festival, and they just came in and found these musicians playing and there was no restrictions — like you have to sit quietly - you can wander around.

“So this year we thought we need to develop that better and integrate the gallery and do the same thing. So we want people to come and walk around, enjoy the musicians and enjoy the art  —not just sitting down quietly.”

As well as encouraging people to come and experience the gallery and the museum, CULTURED is also about removing preconceived ideas about classical music and making it more accessible to people, Festival organiser, Jay Byrnes said.

“A big goal of the festival really is to pull away from that preconceived idea of ‘stuffiness’ with classical music.

These events in the gallery and the museum and the Southcourt is to show that classical music can be accessible to everybody. It doesn't have to be this idea of sitting in a concert hall and knowing when or when not to clap or those sorts of things. It is about trying to open up our passion for classical music to the general public.”

As professional musicians who have attended many other festivals, Carmen said they wanted the experience in Orange to be different.

“Seeing all the facilities and the quality of the environment here we knew we needed to do something different, something that is accessible, that will invite younger people as well,” Carmen added.

“We are trying to offer something for everyone of all sets; people that are very knowledgeable of classical music and chamber music in particular so we have to keep the quality high.. But at the same time we want to invite tourists to just be surprised when they arrive here and see all this happens in Orange.”

One of the most popular and charismatic brass bands in Australia, the NSW Police Band Brass Ensemble will kick the day off in the Southcourt at 11am, performing a repertoire of popular and well-known pieces.

Next up, at 2pm, will be the Orange Regional Conservatorium Chamber Academy, a group of Orange’s best and brightest school-age musicians who will be premiering exciting new works by Lyle Chan, Sally Greenaway and Noel Annett.

At 4.30pm, CULTURED moved inside the Orange Regional Gallery, where  American harpist Emily Granger will perform works from her latest album In Transit.

At 5.15pm and 6.15pm, Lisa Stewart and Stefan Duwe of the Acacia Quartet will be joined by local flutist David Shaw, performing classical music in the Orange Regional Museum, as audiences wander the exhibitions How Cities Work and Inherit.

The Orange Chamber Music Festival begins today and continues until May 1. For more information and the full program, visit ocmf.com.au