Gloucester festival brings classical music to a barn

These are the two key elements of the Craven Creek Chamber Music Festival, started by Greg Lindsay on his property outside Gloucester in the heart of the Barringtons.

The event celebrates its seventh year this weekend.

"We fit 120 people in and turning something that normally holds a tractor and all the other things that farm sheds hold, including dust, is a fair bit of work," Lindsay says.

"We had no idea that the whole thing would take off from the first single concert six years ago, but there you go.

"Getting top players has been the key we think. Also, for some bizarre reason, the shed has good acoustics. I don't think it would have worked if it didn't."

The two-day event this Saturday and Sunday features musicians from the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Opera Australia Orchestra and others who play with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra plus world-class soloists, including American harpist Emily Granger (now living in Sydney) and Newcastle-born European-based flautist Jonathan Henderson, who has recently returned to Australia.

The two concerts (2pm on Saturday and Sunday), plus a harp recital (11.15am Sunday), include works by Brahms, Vivaldi, Villa-Lobos, Ibert, Nigel Westlake, Philip Glass and more.

The concerts are held in an 80-year old barn at Kingfisher on Craven Creek Road, Rookhurst, off Thunderbolts Way. This year's shows are sold out.

"The drought has meant that Craven Creek has stopped flowing, but this has not affected the flow of music," Lindsay says.

The festival draws attendees from New England, Sydney and the local area.

The Craven Creek Music Association has commissioned a new work, Rustic Dances by Sydney composer Tristan Coehlo to have its world premiere this weekend.

Rustic Dances paints a picture of the beautiful and varied rural countrysides of NSW, " Lindsay says. "The overall tone of the work is a jubilant expression of appreciation for our precious landscape."