Germany’s Chamber Philharmonia Cologne will perform at St George’s Church, Queenscliff, and St Mary of the Angels Basilica, Geelong as part of its Australian 2023 tour.
The lauded chamber group returns to Australia after a series of successful European tours to present a program of well-known and much-loved works from classical masters, including Antonio Vivaldi, W.A. Mozart, Camille Saint-Saëns and Niccolo Paganini.
A spokesperson for the ensemble said their motto was “classical music around the world”.
“It is irrelevant for our musicians whether they are playing in a little village church, open air, in a cathedral, big theatre, in their hometown Cologne or in Sydney,” the spokesperson said.
“Their enthusiasm to bring music to the people’s life stays the same every time. The objective is simple – we want to inspire as many people as possible through all generations to enjoy classical music.
“The popularity of our ensemble is reflected in the fact of giving 300 concerts a year around the globe and listeners throughout the world look forward to a musical encounter with our talented musicians.”
Jeannette Johnston, secretary of volunteer group Music at the Basilica, said she was excited to see the ensemble return to St Mary’s.
“It’s an amazing group and they play a lovely range of orchestral music,” Mrs Johnston said.
“They’ve been coming to St Mary’s for around 10 years, but they’ve been coming to Queenscliff for perhaps 25 years.
“They play popular music that people would know, it’s always a very good concert.”
Mrs Johnston said tickets were now only available at the door for the St Mary’s concert.
“They’re very popular and they always draw a large audience of several hundred people,” she said.
“Working with Music at the Basilica, we think we’re doing well if we get 200 at a concert and they always get 200-plus. People really look forward to it, I’ve already had a couple of calls asking where people can get tickets.
“At this stage tickets are only available at the door, but people will have no trouble getting a ticket. There’s plenty of room at the Basilica.”
Chamber Philharmonia Cologne will perform at St George’s Church, Queenscliff on Sunday, January 22 and St Mary’s Basilica, Geelong on Tuesday, February 21.
