SIX choirs from the Manning will kick-start festivities tomorrow for this week’s Manning Winter Festival.
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Manning Valley Choral Society, Kantabile, Taree Christian College, Taree High School, Windsong and Manning U3A will perform in the program Hot Harmony, which features musical items from classic to jazz and capped off by a combined performance.
The concert will start at 7pm at the Taree Baptist Church centre on Kolodong Road (near Bowers Cafe).
The Manning Regional Art Gallery will host the official festival launch on Friday.
Highlights will include the announcement of the 2012 Visual and Performing Arts award winners and entertainment by guest artists composer and pianist Katie Hardyman and cellist Michael Bardon.
Twelve nominations have been received for the three categories: Outstanding Contribution to the Visual Arts, Outstanding Contribution to the Performing Arts and the Special Arts Awards (this is open to groups and organisations).
The awards evening starts at 6.15pm.
Michael Bardon, a former local, will follow up his appearance at the launch by featuring in the performance Breathing Space, also at the gallery over the weekend.
These performances, which include oboe player Ben Opie, are something completely new and different.
Saturday’s performance (from 5.30pm) is ‘Beware of the Dog’, an experimental performance art piece which explores what we know, what we think and what we think we know within the context of unknowing, the hidden and the dark.
Sunday (from 10am) is ‘An invisible silence’ and demonstrates the interweaving of conversations between poetry and music, listener and the environment. This performance features cellist Michael Bardon, oboe player Ben Opie and poets Kit Kelen, Judy Johnson and Cecelia White. All are internationally acclaimed for their talents.
The festival program also includes Jazz on the Waterfront on Saturday from 2pm, with Saxanova and the dynamic young Port Macquarie band Young Guns performing at the Waterfront Restaurant, Taree.
Also on Saturday, acclaimed Australian pianist Roger Woodward will conduct a master class for local students at the regional gallery. Sinfonia Orchestra of the Mid North Coast and the Conservatorium Mid North Coast will host this event.
On Sunday, Roger performs Chopin, Debussy, Mozart and Bach at the Manning Entertainment Centre from 2pm.