The Harpsichord and (inset) Erin Helyard
The seventh annual Crossroads Festival will be held over the weekend of August 23 and 24 at two Central Coast locations with a wide range of classical musicians set to perform.
Each day will consist of two concerts, with the first day of performances to take place at Brentwood Retirement Village, Kincumber, and the second day at Greenway Chapel, Greenpoint.
Performers include international violinist and artistic director at the Australian Strings Academy Charmian Gadd, professional conductor Patrick Brennan, and Harry Ward, who at the age of 16 won the Australian National Youth Concerto Competition in 2012.
On each performance day, audience members will be given the chance to talk to and question performers.
Those who purchase the full festival subscriber package will also have the opportunity to have lunch with the orchestra members.
Full festival subscriber package holders will also receive A reserve seating for all four concerts.
After dedicating their previous annual performance to the search of a harpsichord, Central Coast local Mr Peter Adderley was able to supply the Australian String Academy with his own personal harpsichord.
The harpsichord was made by Mr Adderley’s father in 1964 purely out of Australian wood.
The majority of the harpsichord is made from King William Pine and Mr Adderley said that the pine itself was rare.
“There was a saying- ‘Australian timber no damn good, chop it up for firewood’-my dad wanted to change that,” Mr Adderley said.
“The harpsichord is able to sound more delicate because the strings are plucked, rather than hit like the piano.”
Mr Adderley reminisced on his youthful years when he would raise the mechanism that plucks the strings in order to mute the harpsichord, and play along to records, pretending the music was his own.
Mr Adderley admits that he had considered giving the harpsichord to the Powerhouse Museum but “I wanted it somewhere I could see it again”.
“I received an email about the Crossroads event last year and found out they were trying to find a harpsichord… I jumped in the car and drove straight to Somersby.”
Mr Adderley had the harpsichord restored before passing it onto the Australian String Academy.
“I’ve been told that it was generous of me, it just seemed like the natural thing to do,” he said. “Serendipity is the word.”
After receiving the phone call informing him that the restoration was complete, he listened to a chord being played and described it as a sound from heaven.
Since giving the harpsichord to the Australian String Academy, Mr Adderley attended last year’s Crossroads Festival to hear it being played.
After admitting that it was a strange feeling to watch someone else play his fathers’ harpsichord, he said that “the performance was breathtaking; I sat there with tears in my eyes”.
Performing with the harpsichord this year at the Crossroads Festival is Mr Erin Helyard.
Mr Helyard graduated from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music with first-class honours and the University Medal and was additionally awarded the commencement of the Lenore Buckle Scholarship for Music.
Mr Helyard said that he had been able to practice on other instruments such as the piano, however, “while they are similar, they do have their slight differences”.
Mr Helyard won’t be able to play Mr Adderleys’ harpsichord until just before the concert.
“There are definitely rehearsals, but nothing weekly,” he said.
Rehearsals commence a week before the concert weekend.
“We’re professionals, that’s what we do,” said Mr Helyard.
Victoria Power,
23 Jul 2013
Interviewees:
Peter Adderley, Ruth
Donnelly, Erin Helyard