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$20,000 grant to promote Opera in the Paddock

4th of Nov, 2011 04:00 am

ARTISTIC director for Opera In the Paddock, Peta Blyth, has welcomed state Regional Flagship funding of $20,000 a year over three years to promote and market the annual concert.

“It is welcome to see the state government support for local initiatives,” Mrs Blyth said.

“Opera in the Paddock comes as a result of many years hard work not only for Bill and me but the team, the artists, technical operators and the many volunteers to develop the overall professionalism of the event over the years.

“We were one of only four in the State to receive this triennial funding and it will allow for more long term planning, and it’s good for the town,” she said.

Mrs Blyth said Opera In the Paddock is a different echelon to something like The Big Day Out or Day On the Green.

“We now have a large, permanent stage on our property, we have miking because it’s all outdoors and we have an expert technical team,” Mrs Blyth said.

“To be quite honest I think singing in the outdoors is quite hard because the elements provide an unknown quantity.

“We have people coming from the city to here to experience something different, music amongst the gum trees, if you like – it’s amazing the number of people who come and who are blown away,” she said

The funding was welcomed by the Member for Northern Tablelands, Richard Torbay, who said that over the last 10 years the annual opera concert had maintained a consistently high professional standard and had become a signature event for regional NSW.

“Bill and Peta Blyth have made an enormous contribution to presenting fine singing and music in our region,” Mr Torbay said.

“Not only does the concert present some of the best professional opera singers performing in Australia and overseas, it also gives local musicians and singers an opportunity to appear. They also assemble a great team of professional technicians and crew from the local area.

“For Inverell and surrounding towns it creates a full house for accommodation. Local retail outlets regard it as one of the best weekends of the year and visitors attending the concert pumps hundreds of thousands of dollars into the area each year,” he said.

Mr Torbay said Opera North West, which runs the Paddock concert, had recently branched out through funding from Arts NSW and Essential Energy to present a series of concerts in northern NSW using local professional artists.

“This series of ten concerts has just finished and has been a great success, attracting good audiences and a higher profile for some of our outstanding local musicians and singers,” Mr Torbay said.