“Thank you so much Camerata team for working so hard to get to so many regional places and venues!! Your joy, warmth and generosity is so much of what music truly is!!” Alison Vercoe 

“Feeling so grateful for what can only be described as an incredibly rewarding Camerata tour 2024. Thankful to play and work with such wonderful people! Grateful to have performed for such warm and welcoming audiences and worked with such wonderful kids and communities! Heart is so full.” Clare Cooney, Camerata violinist 

“Thanks Camerata, it was lovely to have you again in Bundy. Fabulous work you do for the students in our regions, and the audiences are lucky enough to enjoy your work while you are on the road too…” Delwyn Ainsworth 

Camerata’s 2024 regional tour was a huge success. Thank you to all the locals and communities for making our 15th year of touring so memorable! 

From 29 May to 8 June, 15 Camerata musicians travelled a total of 1648 kilometres to Gayndah, Mundubbera, Monto, Bundaberg, Biloela and Theodore, performing, educating, and sharing the joy of music. 

Touring regional Queensland has a huge and lasting impact on communities which we are reminded of year after year. While there were many special moments, some of our 2024 highlights include: 

• Reaching 2435 audience members  
• Visiting 10 residencies (towns) 
• Performing 5 evening concerts to over 970 people in 11 days 
• Performing at 12 aged cares, kindys & schools 
• First community jam session in Biloela 
• First-time collaboration with Bella Canna, professional string quartet in Bundaberg 

We were also delighted that Camerata’s 2024 Emerging Composer-in-Residence Alexandra Mison joined us on our regional tour this year. Alexandra was commissioned to write a brand-new piece of music as part of the tour, which was inspired by the areas of Theodore and Biloela. Alexandra was able to present her piece, Spirit of the Banana Shire, in front of our audiences in Biloela and Theodore.  

She says, “Being able to meet the audience and see their reactions to my piece, especially in Biloela and Theodore, was such a special and fantastic experience, and I feel very lucky to have been able to do so. It was also lovely to touch base again with the wonderful people we met on pre-tour…” 

With her composition, Alex wanted to capture the generous spirit of its residents, their warmth and creativity, as well as their resilience. Spirit of the Banana Shire was a great success amongst our audience and a delight to play for Camerata’s musicians. 

“Thank you Camerata for visiting our region to perform and bring joy to both old and young music lovers, and amateur musicians. Your performance in Bundaberg was wonderful, Spirit of Banana Shire was my favourite!” Michelle Haase, audience member.

Find out more about Spirit of the Banana Shire.