Jazz it up in Victoria

Jazz fans will want to be at the Wangaratta Festival of Jazz from November 2 – 5, an event that will see leading Australian and international jazz performers take the stage.

Included in the international line-up at what is one of Australia's premier jazz festivals are the Dave Holland Quintet from the United States; American jazz guitarist, Kurt Rosenwinkel; Nils Wogram’s Root 70, one of Germany’s hottest young bands; Belgium’s Pascal Schumacher Quartet; and Danish jazz saxophonist, Jakob Dinesen.

Among the Australian line-up are the saxophone icon, Don Burrows; New Zealand-born and Sydney-based pianist Mike Nock; and jazz singer, Vince Jones.

The Wangaratta Festival of Jazz will also boast a blues programme, with performers from the United States and Australia.

The festival, which dates back to 1990 and has built a reputation for uncompromising artistic excellence, takes place among the fine wine and food districts of sunny Wangaratta, just two and a half hours from Melbourne,

The atmosphere is relaxed and casual and you can stroll from one venue to another. Typically, several venues are playing at any one time including a tented blues stage , hotels, the town hall and the cathedral. In between, you can wander through Reid Street and check out the local food and wine.

Victoria for music fans

The annual Sidney Myer Free Concerts – a popular event presented by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in association with the University of Melbourne, will take place on February 14, 17, 21 and 24 at the city’s Sidney Myer Music Bowl.

The 2007 Bowl season opens on February 14 with an exhilarating all-Russian programme, featuring soloist Caroline Almonte in Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 1.

On February 17, the tempo changes to a powerful programme of Verdi arias, ensembles and choruses -- four young Australian soloists joined by the voices of the Melbourne Chorale.

Mendelssohn's violin concerto features one of Australia's most accomplished violinists, Sophie Rowell, as soloist on February 21 – and at this concert, you'll also experience the timeless power of Beethoven's Symphony No. 7.

Rachmaninov's Symphony No. 2 comes to the Bowl to wind up this year’s Sidney Myer Free Concerts on February 24 -- fresh from the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra performances of this work with Maestro Caetani on the Orchestra's 2007 European tour of Spain, Paris, Berlin and Milan.

Gates open at 16.00 and shows start at 19.00

Meanwhile, if you enjoy jazz, you will want to head out to Halls Gap in the Grampians National Park on February 9 –11 for the Grampians Jazz Festival.

And there is also the annual Echuca-Moama Riverboats, Jazz, Food and Wine Festival taking place from February 16-18. Highlights of this three-day festival along the banks of the mighty Murray River include the Riverboat Ramble – with jazz on board paddlesteamers, a jazz concert and a jazz picnic in the park.

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