Make a beeline for Bendigo and BIFEM
Image: The Concrete Porcupines Argonaut Quartet at BIFEM 2018. Photo: supplied.
Sponsored content
The central Victorian city of Bendigo isn鈥檛 your average regional Australian city.听
A beacon of arts, culture, fine food and wine, and incredible Gold Rush architecture, it鈥檚 always held its own against our larger cities.听
It鈥檚 no surprise, then, that the Bendigo International Festival of Exploratory Music (BIFEM) this week scooped a national award for excellence.
The festival, now in its seventh year, was honoured with the Award for Excellence in Experimental Music at the 2019 Art Music Awards in Sydney on Monday.
Music, art and culture connoisseurs will soon be able to experience this award-winning festival for itself, with the 2019 festival set to run from September 6 to 8.听
鈥淏IFEM is for anyone with open ears and a curious temperament – which is basically anyone!鈥� says BIFEM鈥檚 Founding Artistic Director David Chisholm.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a festival that doesn鈥檛 tell you how to listen, but is rather asking, how do you listen?听
鈥淎 lot of the first half of the 20th century was spent positioning newly composed music into settings that generally people felt you need to be an expert to understand. BIFEM resets this by getting out of the way of the performer and the audience.鈥�
An impressive line-up of international artists will appear at this year鈥檚 BIFEM, drawn from across the globe.
Chisholm says acts to look out for include Ann Ros茅n and Sten-Olof Hellstr枚m from Sweden who he describes as 鈥渁 fiercely interesting composer duo who both actively perform with and in each other鈥檚 works: working with knitted knee cuffs, graphite drawings, candles and electronics鈥�.
鈥淚t鈥檚 wildly visceral work.”听
French cellist Severine Ballon and New Zealand Hurd gurdy performer Kerian Varaine are also name-checked by Chisholm as highlights, as are several Australian acts.
鈥淪ydney鈥檚 The Music Box Project is going to be a highlight and our own in house roster Argonaut has two great concerts and the ever present always exciting Argonaut String Quartet,鈥� he enthuses.听
All events will be held in the renowned Bendigo Arts Precinct – Victoria鈥檚 largest arts and culture destination outside Melbourne.
The precinct includes the Bendigo Art Gallery, one of the country鈥檚 oldest, largest art and most visited galleries.听
Chisolm said most BIFEM events would be free or low cost, in a boon to music fans who can experience one of the world鈥檚 best art music events right here in Australia.
鈥淲hile exploratory and new concert music is a globally fragmented community, it is a very active and engaged one, and so the first weekend in September 鈥� now seven years in 鈥� is globally recognised as BIFEM weekend.鈥�
The 2019 BIFEM Festival will run from Friday, 6 September to Sunday, 8 September at the Bendigo Arts听Precinct. For full details of events visit the official website .
For information about more attractions in and around Bendigo, as well as accommodation options, visit .
You May Also Like
