COTA archive for events 2005-2007

luminesca	7.30pm friday 25 may 2007 7.00pm doors open for wine and canapes 7.30pm concert commences no late entry trish o’brien cello ~ gareth koch guitar Their dynamic performances have been received by audiences across Australia with standing ovations and unparalleled enthusiasm. The combination of cello and guitar is a uniquely satisfying and beautiful experience, enhanced by the duo’s own arrangements of a broad range of music. Canapes and wine will be served prior to the performance and is included in the ticket price. tickets $30.00 non members $25.00 members
azadoota friday 15 december 2006 7.00pm Azadoota means freedom A musical infusion with latin percussion bringing together Arabic, Assyrian and Kurdish songs. Expect to see high-energy performances fuelled by Azadootas cross-cultural roots. Come and see why this band were first discovered through the Triple J Unearthed program.
david malouf friday 1 december 2006 6.00 - 8.00pm speak and listen to one of australia's finest authors. admission is FREE all welcome
shot in maitland 20 October – 3 December 2006 With financial assistance from MCC and Arts NSW, MRAG commissioned Sydney based artist/photographer Michel Brouet to take a series of images of Maitland, a sort of 'day in the life of’. The outcome of the project was to have an exhibition and a book published featuring Brouet's selected images of Maitland that has come to be known as Shot in Maitland. To accompany and compliment this initiative, a series of postcards of Brouet's images was also produced that further promote the city of Maitland. The project mutated somewhat when Australia's own mystery crime writer and Maitland resident Barry Maitland was commissioned to write accompanying fictional text for the book. In typical Barry Maitland style he wrote six short stories which in the final chapter all come together with his usual twists and turns. Together, the text and images evoke a somewhat surreal mysterious feel and therefore the book will provide a unique lasting document for the city of Maitland.
Christine Mcmillan, Maitland Town Hall	building sites taking shape launched 29 september 2006 6pm at Reading Cinema, Maitland 'Building Sites Taking Place' is about the transformation of well known Maitland public buildings which are perceived in a very specific way having only utilitarian purposes. The buildings are most likely to be the last place where art may be expected to be created or placed on show to be viewed. 'Building Sites Taking Place' has invited four installation artists, each creating a piece of contemporary art. The artists and sites include, Mini Graff (street based art) Maitland Regional Art Gallery, Fiona Davies (Textiles and Mixed Media) Maitland Hospital, Michelle Maartensz (Digital Media) Reading Cinema and Christine McMillan (Found Objects/Mixed Media) Maitland Town Hall. Their artworks will challenge any preconceived views of what is art. The works of art will be in situ for four weeks but the creation will be part of the experience in which the public will be able to partake in watching the transformation take shape. This transformation can be viewed throughout three Installation Tours, Friday 15 September, Tuesday 26 September and Monday 9 October. Click on an artist below to learn more about their project. | Fiona Davies | Mini Graff | | Michelle Maartensz | Christine McMillan
Rhythm Hunters friday 27 october 7.00pm workshop and concert package $50.00 members $60.00 non-members concert only $25.00 members $30.00 non members the Rhythm Hunters fuse the thunder of Japanese taiko drumming with indigenous Islamic music from West Sumatra • taiko frame drums • kettle gongs • bamboo flutes • didgeridoo • bagpipes • log drums
Jane Rutter and Peter Cousens friday 22 september 7.00pm performing popular, classical and romantic songs by • Gershwin • Berstein • Ravel • Lehar • Lerner and Loewe • Andrew Lloyd Webber A witty repartie written by Tony Sheldon brings comic intimacy between the couple. Jane performs her famous interpretation of Ravel’s Bolero and other dazzling works featured on her smash hit CDs. Peter Cousens takes us on a romantic journey with the best love songs from his starring roles in West Side Story, Camelot, Showboat, Aspects of Love, Phantom of the Opera, and Les Miserables.
View of Maitand from the riverbank (with apologies to Jan Vermeer and View of Delft) 1 July 2006 - 20 August 2006 Since February this year twelve visual artists of national and international standing have visited Maitland to paint a View of Maitland from the riverbank (with apologies to Jan Vermeer and View of Delft). The artists are, Suzanne Archer, Michael Fitzjames, Joe Frost, Emma Lohmann, Clare Martin, Alexander McKenzie, Leo Robba, Judith Ryrie, John R Walker, Judith White and Peter Pinson. Each artist has produced one final painting of the city of Maitland as seen from the northern river bank along the Hunter River.
dominant SEVEN saturday 24th june ‘A unique & exciting septet of sounds that represents fresh and versatile contemporary Australian chamber music’ dominant SEVEN consists of seven graduate and postgraduate musicians from the Australian National University School of Music in Canberra. Following its official launch at the National Library of Australia in 2004, the ensemble has successfully performed in Canberra, Sydney, Darwin, Orange, Albury, Wodonga, Wagga Wagga and Wollongong. Featured at the 2005 Darwin International Guitar Festival, the ensemble received overwhelming praise and enthusiasm from an audience of national and international performers, composers and students. A highlight of the festival being their outdoor sunset performance of Tropic by Peter Sculthorpe with Australian didgeridoo virtuoso William Barton. Our eclectic repertoire consists of works by Australian composers Nigel Westlake, Peter Sculthrope and Julian Day. The ensemble has also premiered new works by ANU School of Music composition students Tim Hansen, Helen Way and Michael Sollis. In addition to its new-Australia theme, dominant SEVEN will be performing virtuosic arrangements of fusion-tango music by Astor Piazzolla and orchestral works by Manuel de Falla and Pablo Sarasate.
kristina olsen saturday 8 april 2006 6.30pm tickets $20.00 gallery members $25.00 non members Kristina is one of the most entertaining and compelling performers on the international folk circuit. She is a fine instrumentalist, excellent vocalist, magnificent story teller and song writer.
Pink II 10 February - 26 March 2006 pink II was an exhibition by 8 Hunter based queer artists working in a diverse range of art practices. The exhibition is a collaborative event between the artists, Rainbow Visions Hunter (a group working to build community among gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer people in Newcastle and the Hunter) and Maitland Regional Art Gallery.
JAB 25 November 2005 - 15 january 2006 A project encompassing textile and fibre art involving 3 internationally recognised artists, Janis Jeffreies, Annika Ekdahl and Brett Alexander. The exhibition communicated each artist's individual and contemporary styles associated with their chosen medium and subject matter.
Floating World   concert at MRAG in October 2005 with Marshall McGuire and Riley Lee
Golden Threads 20 August 2005 - 2 October 2005 An interactive workshop encompassing slides, a speech from the artist Greg Leong and textile installations, all connected to the Chinese culture. As part of the program, a performance was conducted be Pak Hok Kung Fu International Dance Performance, as well as an educational component with the artists facilitating a lecture for local high school students visiting the art gallery.
Jane Rutter in concert at the art gallery in 24 June 2005
Steam in the Streets 'Tracks by Night' by Ian de Gruchy 15 - 17 April 2005 'Steam in the Streets' wil coincide with the award winning steamfest and will light up five buildings in the centre of Maitland during the annual Steamfest Weekend. The lighting, and making of colour stencil images at night is not a new art form. The innovative aspect of this project however is that it has rarely been available to residents of regional Australia in their home cities. Through 'Steam in the Streets' Maitland is ensuring that this omission is addressed while also offering the community an opportunity to look at heritage and historic buildings with a new vision. In past years, Steamfest has always been site specific. Through 'Steam in the Streets', this successful event will extend the large audiences to take in other parts of the city. The images will lead the public from the main venue of Steamfest through the streets of Maitland to the city centre, where in the Heritage Mall, night activities particularly responding to the needs of families and children and a mini festival in its own right, will centre again around engines and other like machinery. A professional artist who has created these effects, particularly in Melbourne, will be invited to visit Maitland and commissioned to make stencils which at night will light and show images on the side of buildings which are large and open to view from High Street, the main thoroughfare in Maitland. Although the images although may be abstract, they will nevertheless relate and pay homage literally or metaphorically to steam, engines and all things railway.