Georg Mertens - Loumax Gallery Concerts

HOMEPAGE

of the

LOUMAX GALLERY CONCERTS
Upper Blue Mountains

KATOOMBA - LEURA
Cnr Lovel & Govett St
(56a Lovel St)

The Gallery is situated between the Round-abouts of Katoomba Station and the Leura Mall lower Round-about.
Parking is available in Lovel St and Govett St

Concerts are held in 2008
Every first Saturday of the month 4.30 pm
from July to December

A superb way to enjoy
good music in a visually stimulating surrounding

During the Interval guest have the opportunity to stroll through the gallery enjoying a FREE glass of mulled wine with bikkies and cheese.

Tickets: $25 / Conc. $20 / Child $15
Bookings recommended
Tickets also at the door.

Sat 5 July - Gypsy Music with the Paganini Duo

Sat 2 August - Tango and Latin Rhythms with Alturas

Sat 6 September - Traditional Celtic Music with Johnnie & Tinker Duffy

Sat 4 October - Original Modern Guitar with Aaron Hopper & Rob Shannon

Sat 1 November - Latin & Classical Guitar
with Eric Cathan & Giuseppe Zangari

Sat 6 December - "Music for Grand Dining" with the Blue Mountains Trio

PROGRAM DETAILS

Saturday 5 July 4.30 pm - Gypsy Music with the Paganini Duo
(Gustaw Szelski - violin / Georg Mertens - guitar)

Photo courtesy of Michael Small from Kumbaya Studios - Collage assembly courtesy of Jenny Reid from Berkojoey

Australias foremost Gypsy Duo and probably Australia's most exciting classical Duo for violin and guitar as well. Before regularly performing at Jenolan Caves the Duo did several national tours and Interstate tours. Their CD's are selling internationally.
In the July concert they will focus on the songs of their last CD: "An Hour in Heaven" plus newly arranged works of music from Spain and Latin America.
(see their web page at this website including free music samples)

Venues include: The Sydney Opera House, the Hilton Hotel, Hotel Intercontinental,c 100 more venues around Sydney and Blue Mountains, Westin Phillipine Plaza (Manila), "The Stockman's Hall of Fame" (Longreach), Art Galleries of Armidale, Bathurst, Warwick, Townsville, Rockhampton; Opera in the Wineyards, Port Stphens; Mudgee and Hunter Wine festivals.

Tickets: $ 25 / $ 20 con / $ 15 child
BOOKINGS 02 4782 3490

for listening to our CD's click here

to see our "Bilbao" free Improvisation live on Youtube click here

to see "Czardas" live on Youtube click here

Saturday 2 August 4.30 pm - Tango and Latin Rhythms with Alturas
(Gaye Thomas - flute / Rob Peters - violin / Jane Andino - piano / Kim Poole - Bass)

‘ALTURAS’

A quartet specializing in Argentinean Tango. This group plays a delightful mix of tango, vals & milongas. Expect to hear moving interpretations of Piazzolla and traditional tangos interspersed with modern Latin and Brazilian pieces. ‘Alturas’ have become known to residents of the Blue Mountains over the past year with their highly successful tango events. Drawing audiences from local residents, as well as Sydney, Brisbane and Newcastle, they have developed a large following. Separately and together, these musicians have performed around Australia and overseas at major music festivals and concerts.

Venues include: Sebel TownHouse, Bondi South American Festival, NSW State Conservatium of Music, Mackay Entertainment Centre, Brunswick Music Festival, Art Exhibitions, Lilianfels, The Grandview Hotel, The Carrington

Tickets: $ 25 / $ 20 con / $ 15 child
BOOKINGS 4782 3490

Saturday 6 September 4.30 pm - Traditional Celtic Music with Johnnie & Tinker Duffy
appearing with Rens van der Zalm

Photo courtesy of Graham McCarter,
website: http://www.grahammccarter.com/

Johnnie and Tinker Duffy live and breathe traditional music. They are a couple, of Irish-Romany descent, who are known as a pair of the finest Celto-folk performers in Australia. Johnny has found his way in life through his music. For him, music has become a concentration of life. It is philosophy, mythology, melancholy, pyramids, spirit-raising, alcohol, nuts, cheese and raisins all in a single melodic rhythm. When he draws the bow across the fiddle, he probably believes in Hippola - or someone rather like Her. However, you have to be careful with Tinker. She has her squeeze box spit fire and can be frightening. But her music is spot on - punchy, dance-insisting and capable of converting the disbelievers to try and solve all the problems of the world - all within a few bars. Whether they play combinations of Irish pipes, fiddle, box, guitar, harp or whistle, they make sounds that inspire. It is doubtful if they have ever stopped to appreciate just what they do to listeners.

Tickets: $ 25 / $ 20 con / $ 15 child
BOOKINGS 4782 3490

Saturday 4 October 4.30 pm
Original Modern Guitar with Aaron Hopper & Rob Shannon

Aaron Hopper is Guitarist/ Composer for Brisbanes internationally ranked duo, stringmansassy. Aaron toured Japan in 2007 with stringmansassy, and in 2005 and 2000 performed at the Australian pavilion at world expo Aichi, Japan, and Hanover, Germany. Aaron's music has taken him across the world throughout the last 12 years and he continues to try to expand the possibilities of the Guitar.

The world of stringmansassy is one in which George Harrison's phrase while my guitar gently weeps makes perfect sense,for Hopper is a master guitarist both in interpretation and composition. Andrew MacLean: music-culture.org.au 10/11/2003 Review of Brisbane Powerhouse 2/11/2003

Aaron Hopper shows sparing and disciplined guitar work on the ballads, but when performing a groove displays exuberant walking bass with counterpoint melodies, ever developing harmonies and wind like fill in. All contribute to his playing being a pearl of fingerstyle guitar. - Akustic Gitarre Magazine 2001, Germany.

Rob Shannon is one of Sydney's more colourful musicians; his musical palate encompasses many styles and traditions. Originally from central west NSW, Rob played drum kit in local rock bands, before moving to Sydney at age 16 to pursue a career as a professional musician.
As things evolved Rob eventually found himself on a plane to India, to study Tabla. This sparked a love affair with Hindustani classical music, and lead to regular trips to New Delhi to live and learn with his Guru Shree Gladwin Charles, studying in the tradional Gurukal (teacher/ student) system, a rare honour for a western student. These studies spanned the best part of a decade, wherein he trained in the Delhi Garanha (Style). At home he was taught by the late Pandit Ashok Roy, who took a keen interest, and helped greatly to develop Rob's accompaniment skills.
During this time he performed with local world ensembles NAC (New
Acoustic Collective), Trio Roshani, JuJu (Melbourne based Indo' fusion), Heval (Sydney based Kurdish/ indo fusion) Rob also plays various styles of Jazz, focusing on the music of Django Reinhardt, leading his band The Straight Back Fellows for 5 years. This band housed some of the great Australian jazz players, George Washingmachine, Ben Jones, John Morrison, Brad Childs, John Blenkhorn, Nigel and Ian Date just to name a few.
These days he can be found performing with Arabesk& 2swing on Guitar and D'rbukka, along side some of Sydney's finest World musicians. Rob also held the postion of Head Teacher for 7 years at Einstienz Music, a Sydney based company that runs music workshops for pre-school children.
He has recently moved to Bathurst NSW to take up a teaching position with the Mitchell Conservatorium teaching Guitar and Percussion.

Tickets: $ 25 / $ 20 con / $ 15 child
BOOKINGS 4782 3490

Saturday 1 November 4.30 pm - Latin Classical Guitar
with Eric Cathan & Giuseppe Zangari

Tickets: $ 25 / $ 20 con / $ 15 child
BOOKINGS 4782 3490

- Saturday 6 December 4.30 pm -
"Music for Grand Dining" with the Blue Mountains Trio
(Gustaw Szelski - violin / Georg Mertens - cello /
Gavin Tipping - piano)

The Blue Mountains Trio was founded in 1995 when all members were teachers of the Blue Mountains Conservatorium and Gavin Tipping the director.
In the following years they did local concerts and subsequent interstate tours and became in 1996 engaged to play regularly at Jenolan Caves House. During this time they recorded their CD "Music for Grand Dining" which turned out to be the most sold local CD ever (more than 1200 copies sold locally within 2 years).
The Trio performed - to mention a few - at The Sydney Opera House, The Gulgong Opera House, The Longreach Stockman's Hall of Fame, Manila Westin Phillipine Plaza, to the opening of the Carrington Hotel, Katoomba and the wine festivals of Mudgee, Leura and Blackheath.
In 1999 Gavin moved interstate, marking a long interruption to their activity, which lasted to his return to Australia a couple of years ago. The concert in December will feature the songs of their successful CD plus their not yet recorded favourites.
See also their web page on this website, including free music samples.

Tickets: $ 25 / $ 20 con / $ 15 child
BOOKINGS 4782 3490

For listening to our CD's "Music for Grand Dining" click here

Program coordinator / photos of artwork: Georg Mertens
email: georgcello@hotmail.com