The Leeuwin Estate Concert Series are annual open-air events featuring international and Australian performers at
Leeuwin Estate Winery.
History
The first concert was a performance from the
London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1985, with the Australian tour underwritten by Leeuwin Estate owners Denis and Tricia Horgan on the condition that the orchestra play at Leeuwin Estate.
Hosting the concert was considered a risk due to the physically remote location of the
Margaret River
The Margaret River is a river in southwest Western Australia. In a small catchment, it is the eponym of the town and tourist region of Margaret River.
The river arises from a catchment of just 40 square kilometres in the Whicher Range.
...
, being 260 kilometres from the state capital of
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...
. Friends tried to talk the Horgans out of the idea,
but they went ahead and the concert was a great success, with 5000 people attending and the event attracting international coverage.
The next two concerts also featured orchestras, with the
Berlin Staatskapelle
The Staatskapelle Berlin () is a German orchestra and the resident orchestra of the Berlin State Opera, Unter den Linden. The orchestra is one of the oldest in the world. Until the fall of the German Empire in 1918 the orchestra's name was ''Kön ...
performing in 1986 and the
Royal Danish Orchestra in 1987.
In 1988 the series featured its first individual star, when the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenu ...
could not attend and instead
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...
was brought in to perform with the
West Australian Symphony Orchestra
The West Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO) is an Australian symphony orchestra based in Perth, Western Australia. Its principal concert venue is the Perth Concert Hall. WASO also gives concerts at the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre. , W ...
.
The West Australian Symphony Orchestra has featured eight further times since accompanying other musicians.
In 1990 Leeuwin Estate hosted
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa
Dame Kiri Jeanette Claire Te Kanawa , (; born Claire Mary Teresa Rawstron, 6 March 1944) is a retired New Zealand opera singer. She had a full lyric soprano voice, which has been described as "mellow yet vibrant, warm, ample and unforced". Te ...
, with other stars
Diana Ross and
Tom Jones performing in 1992 and 1993 respectively. 1993 also saw the first iteration of the "Australian Family Concert" series featuring Australian performers at a separate event each year.
In February 2005, a concert was performed by
Sting that drew an audience of 6,000 and raised over $4 million for the
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami relief efforts after Sting had to cancel a scheduled concert in Sri Lanka due to the disaster.
The 26th year of the series in 2010 saw
Boz Scaggs &
Michael McDonald perform in front of a sold-out crowd of 6500 people.
The concert has become a major tourism draw for the Margaret River and Western Australia.
Denis Horgan was awarded with a
Centenary Medal and both he and Tricia Horgan were inducted as
Members of the Order of Australia
Member may refer to:
* Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon
* Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set
* In object-oriented programming, a member of a class
** Field (computer science), entries in ...
in 2001 for services to tourism in Western Australia.
Leeuwin Concert Series
The following is a list of the performers and the year of the concert.
Australian Family Concerts
The following is a list of performers and years as part of the annual Australian Family Concerts.
References
{{reflist
External links
Leeuwin Estate – Concerts and Events
Concerts
Recurring events established in 1985