Steve Allen's new CD "About Time"
Steve Allen is a Canberra-based guitarist. He completed a Bachelor of Music at the Australian National University with Tim Kain. Steve has performed as the support act for artists such as Tommy Emmanuel, illness James Morrison and Victor Borge, rx and has shared the stage with many, including: Grace Knight, Yothu Yindi, Sirocco, Margaret Urlich, Marina Prior, Rick Price, Rhonda Burchmore and Bruce Rowland (Man from Snowy River).
Steve teaches music at The Canberra Grammar School and runs 3 Guitar Orchestras there. He lives in Canberra with his wife and 2 children.
Steve Allen’s first CD About Time – is “a collection of pieces that represent some of the musicians who have inspired me to love making music. Tommy Emmanuel, Sting, Bach, Paco Peña and Django Reinhardt.
It covers many styles, including classical, jazz, flamenco, folk, popular music and gypsy Jazz. I envisaged this CD to be enjoyed with a glass of wine as the listener exhales at the end of the day – I hope you enjoy!” he said.
You can purchase Steve Allen’s CD from his website:
http://www.saguitar.com.au/home
Australian International Music Festival
Sydney 25th June – 2nd July 2012
Cooma Music Observation Tour
Do you have a love of music? Are you learning an instrument? Are you interested in learning more about playing in an ensemble? Do you play or perform in an Orchestra, order Concert Band, sovaldi
Jazz Band or in a Choir? This tour is for you.
Australian International Music Festival (AIMF) hosts choirs, implant
bands and orchestras from Australia and around the world. For performing groups that pay to participate in this yearly event they would receive world class workshops and perform in landmark venues across Sydney. Luckily we have been offered access to observe these international groups & clinicians work and perform. If you are interested in observing workshops, performances and listening to international groups then please sign up and come to Sydney.
10 spots are available for interested people to come and meet musicians, clinicians, and watch performances in Sydney Opera House, Angel Place Recital Hall, St Andrews Cathedral and Sydney Town Hall. The only costs are for the tour is to pay for your own transport, accommodation (you can organise your own and staying with a family friend to reduce costs is completely up to you) and food. Entry to the concerts, workshops, adjudicated performances and rehearsals are all free, yes, free. If you are 18 years old or younger you will need to also come with a guardian or parent. For more information on the AIMF 2012 please go to www.worldprojects.com.au and click on the Australian International Music Festival page.
While at the festival you will watch clinicians from Australia, USA and many other parts of the world run highly advanced workshops with some music groups from Australia, New Zealand, China, Singapore, Japan, USA and other parts of the world. Some of the groups will be beginners but the majority will be very advanced or semi-professional world-class groups. There will also be a combined Orchestra and Choir work performed at the command performance at the end of the festival. Nearly every day is completely full of organised music of one sort or another. Choir workshop then a jazz band, then a joint exchange rehearsal, then concert bands for rest of day, next day might be massed choir rehearsals with George Torbay (One of Australia’s best Choir clinicians), then Orchestra workshop, with concert band exchange rehearsal in evening. This is just an example of what could happen for you to watch over a two day and night at the festival. A more in-depth description of what could happen at the festival is available on the website above so have a look at that too. If you allow from 9am to 10pm every day for learning and listening then you are close to the amount of music that you can observe in the time there. There is also an occasional moment of free time for shopping or your own site seeing but it might be only one morning in the whole week.
To participate in this wonderful experience at the AIMF all you need to do is to send an email to wotney@hotmail.com and instructions will be sent to you. You will have to look after your own accommodation, transport and food requirements for the time in Sydney but assistance can be offered in organising that for you. The suggestion for accommodation is the YHA Sydney Central located just next to Central Railway Station as it is cheaper and closer to all the venues for the festival at around $47.00 per night per person. Transport from the YHA to the venues are all walkable but can take up to ¾ hour – Opera House is the furthest away so perhaps a train from Central to Circular Quay with a walk from the Quay to the Opera House. Please budget for these little incidentals.
Small example budget for someone who does not stay at a friends’ house is;
- Accommodation – YHA Central – $47.00 x 7 $329.00
- Train travel where required $ 40.00
- Total $369.00
Please also keep in mind you will have to pay for your food too. Entry to the venues for all festival organised events is free for us and us only. Most participants that come to participate in the festival as musicians in a group pay over $400 each just to join, they also then have to get there, pay for accommodation and food all on top of that participation fee. As you can see we are very lucky to be observers at this event which would otherwise have cost several hundred dollars more.
