Spirit Rising, Girgarre Junkestra, full show
‘Spirit Rising‘ – a Gala for Gargarro in Girgarre
composed and conducted by Graeme Leak
Saturday 28 April 2018
The players in the Girgarre Junkestra are mostly non-musicians. Many have never played music before they rehearsed and performed in this work. They range in age from 11 to 83.
They are performing on a range of bespoke percussion and ‘String Cans’ designed by Graeme – each can has one guitar string, so six played at once is like an open chord on a guitar. This allows non-musicians a way to play chords and harmonies and experience proper music making. It also lends the orchestra its unique sound.
This video is testament to the joy and transcendence that such an experience can provide.
The Gargarro Soundshell marks the completion of the fist stage of a long term, visionary development to transform a dusty field into a rich and varied Botanic Garden (girgarre.com.au/gargarro-botanic-garden). The soundshell and the fledgling garden are part of Girgarre (pop. 190) in rural Victoria, Australia, a town with a resilient and creative community that has worked together through some tough decades to improve their quality of life and keep having fun with regular music jam-sessions in their hall and a monthly Farmers Market, among many other things.
Girgarre was announced as one of six small towns to receive $350,000 to undertake the bold steps to transform the town through artistic vision and expression, made possible as part of the Victorian Government’s Small Towns Transformations initiative, delivered by Regional Arts Victoria.
PERFORMED BY:
The Girgarre Junkestra
WITH SPECIAL GUESTS:
The Jigarre Jammers
The Girgarre Line Dancers
Athol (Doc) MacDonald (Motor Bike Soloist)
The Girgarre Fire Brigade
The Rushworth and District Concert Band
JUNKESTRA PERFORMERS:
Andrea Fahey
Annette Cowan
Cherie Simpson
Chris Fredricksen
Cora Ashe
Des Crichton
Di Burgman
Hayley Hancock
Jan Smith
Jim Berry
John Warde
Kathy Connors
Kerry Gibson
Lambo Wever
Loraine Warde
Lyn Cosham
Maggie Smyth
Margaret Mangan
Maureen Shepherd
Patti Harrison
Pete Gibson
Richard Ashe
Rod Smyth
Sandra McDonald
Sue Bond
Sue Solty
Val Maudsley
JIG JAMMER PERFORMERS:
Andrea Fahey
Annette Cowan
Arnold Vaudenhurk
Chris Fredricksen
Cora Ashe
Dale Grey
Hayley Hancock
John Moran
Kathy Connor
Kerry Gibson
Kim Burns
Leonie Blythe
Lorraine McSween
Maggie Smyth
Marg Mangan
Maureen Shepherd
Mick Crawford
Patti Harrison
Pete Gibson
Richard Ashe
Rod Smyth
GIRGARRE LINE DANCERS:
Beth Oakley
Gloria Atkins
Helen Young
Jenny White
Mary Turpin
Theresa Biggs
DIRT BIKE SOLOIST:
Athol ‘Doc’ McDonald
GIRGARRE FIRE BRIGADE PERFORMERS:
Cody Palmer
George Di Battista
George Weeks
Joe Gadzinski
Maree Gadzinski
Melissa Palmer
Shaun Halls
Teena Harris
Trevor Turpin
PYROTECHNICS:
Shane Armstrong
RUSHWORTH and DISTRICT CONCERT BAND PERFORMERS:
Eric Sanders
Geoff Bray
Graeme Collard
Graham Wakefield
Kerrie Cox
Matthew Tatti
Maureen Shepherd
Mike Nowosad
Peter Weatherhead
Robert Arnold
Sharon Bray
Stewart Nurse
Tommy Tatti
Audience Backstage BBC Bells Boats Choir Community Music Concert Hall Drips Eco Opera Ensemble Ewe Tube Free Girgarre Installation Junkestra Musical Fence Radios Reel to Reel Retro Semaphore Solo Spaghetti Western Orchestra SWO Tape Delay Tape Loops Tin Cans Up-cycled Winton