Craven Creek Music Festival

07/09/2026

The concert hall at Craven Creek is almost ready for the festival weekend.

04/09/2026

Meet the musicians (5).

In the lead up to Craven Creek 2026, we have been posting profiles of the wonderful and masterful players that will be joining us at Craven Creek this year. Just over a week to go.

Next up is Double Bass player Josef Bisits.

At the end of 2006 Josef won the Sydney Youth Orchestra’s concerto competition which led to a performance of Serge Koussevitzky’s Bass Concerto with the Sydney Youth Orchestra.

Josef completed his Bachelor of Music at the Sydney Conservatorium where he held the Corinna d’hage Mayer string scholarship.

Following the completion of his degree, Josef travelled to London to be part of the Southbank Sinfonia for 2011 with whom he appeared as a soloist as well performing at many of London’s main performance venues.

From 2014 till the present he has been a freelance double bass player working with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Opera Australia Orchestra. Some musical highlights from this period have been Beethoven’s fifth symphony with the Australina Chamber Orchestra, The Marriage of Figaro and Cosi fan tutti with Opera Australia and Beethoven’s sixth and ninth symphonies with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. In 2019 he was part of an adaption of the children’s book There is a Sea in my Bedroom where he even did some acting. He was given the chance to reprise this role in 2024 for a run of performances in the Nielsen theatre

While maintaining his involvement in music, in 2025 Joey was awarded a PhD in Maths majoring in physical oceanography at UNSW.

They do say of course that there's a connection between music and maths. Joey proves it!

02/09/2026

Have you got your tickets? Saturday afternoon is sold out with some space with the other three concerts. Some are close to being fully sold. Check here:

The 2026 Craven Creek Music Festival Don't miss it! Virtuosi Among the Gum Trees 12 & 13 September 2026 Join us for a captivating...

02/09/2026

Meet the musicians (4).

In the lead up to Craven Creek 2026, we have been posting profiles of the wonderful and masterful players that will be joining us at Craven Creek this year. Just over a week to go.

Next up is ACO's violinist and violist Liisa Pallandi.

Liisa performed regularly with the Australian Chamber Orchestra before becoming a permanent member of the violin section in 2014. This will be her third time at Cravcen Creek.

Liisa loves her ‘job’ for the huge variety of musical experiences and the incredible musicians and administrators she has the privilege of working alongside. Memorable ACO highlights for Liisa include the first regional tour of The R
eef back in 2012, meeting the first cohort of new violinists and cellists participating in the ACO Foundations instrumental learning program at St Mary’s North Public School in 2018, performing Beethoven’s Heiliger Dankgesang eines Genesenen an die Gottheit, in der Lydischen Tonart eight times in two days for the first ACO Total Immersion festival and – most recently – touring with the incomparable musician Abel Selaocoe.

Liisa is passionate about music education. She remains involved with the Emerging Artist program as a mentor and is a regular tutor with the ACO Academy program, directed by ACO violinist Aiko Goto. Liisa has also been a guest teacher at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, the University of New South Wales and the Australian National Academy of Music.

In addition to her work with the ACO, Liisa enjoys performing across a range of styles on violin and viola. Recent highlights include stints with Pinchgut Opera, the Penny Quartet, Ensemble Apex, the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra and Pekka Kuusisto, and co-directing a Sydney Youth Orchestra string orchestra with her double-bassist brother, Jaan Pallandi.

Liisa performs on a violin made in 1759 by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini owned by the ACO and a 2010 viola by Graham Caldersmith.

22/08/2026

Meet the musicians (3)

Over the next few weeks in the lead up to Craven Creek 2026, we'll be posting profiles of the wonderful and masterful players that will be joining us at Craven Creek this year. Three weeks to go.

Next up is Sydney Symphony Orchestra's Associate Concertmaster, violinist Harry Bennetts.

Harry Bennetts is one of Australia’s leading young violinists, acclaimed for his versatility as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral leader. As a soloist, Harry has appeared with the Sydney, Melbourne, West Australian, Tasmanian, and Canberra Symphony Orchestras. He is a two-time winner of the Australian National Academy of Music Concerto Competition, taking the prize in consecutive years, and was also awarded first prize in the 2015 Kendall National Violin Competition.

His recital performances have taken him to major venues including the Sydney Opera House Utzon Room, Melbourne Recital Centre, Ukaria Cultural Centre—where he performed at the venue’s Opening Gala in 2015—and the Chatswood Concourse. Harry is a founding member of the Chroma Quartet and a regular guest at festivals such as the Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville, Bendigo Chamber Music Festival, Martinborough Festival, and Blackheath Chamber Music Festival. His chamber music collaborations have also brought him to international stages including the Berlin Philharmonic Kammermusiksaal and the Cologne Philharmonie, and he frequently performs with Musica Viva Australia. Currently Associate Concertmaster of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Harry has also appeared as Guest Principal with the London Symphony Orchestra and as Guest Concertmaster with the Melbourne and Queensland Symphony Orchestras. He has additionally performed with both the Berlin Philharmonic and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Harry’s early training was with Philippa Paige, before continuing his studies at the Australian National Academy of Music with Dr. Robin Wilson and later at the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic. Harry performs on the 1716 “Hazelwood” Grancino violin, generously on loan from the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

06/08/2026

Meet the musicians (2)

Over the next few weeks in the lead up to Craven Creek 2026, we'll be posting profiles of the wonderful and masterful players that will be joining us at Craven Creek this year. Five weeks to go.

Next up is the wonderful Melbourne-based pianist Auro Go.

Aura is a performer, curator and educator. She performs internationally as concerto soloist in repertoire from J.S. Bach to Sofia Gubaidulina, as recitalist and chamber musician in imaginative programs that interweave old and new music, and as narrator and actor in cross-artform and educational projects.

Aura has performed as soloist with the Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Queensland Symphony Orchestras, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Melbourne Chamber Orchestra and Orchestra Victoria. Festival highlights include the Edinburgh Festival, PianoEspoo, Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival and the Australian Festival of Chamber Music. In 2023 Aura toured nationally for Musica Viva in a critically acclaimed performance as pianist-actor in the stage adaptation of Paul Kildea's Chopin's Piano.

Aura enjoys musical partnerships with Tomoe Kawabata as the KIAZMA Piano Duo, and with Timo-Veikko 'Tipi' Valve (Principal Cellist, Australian Chamber Orchestra). Her discography includes the complete Beethoven cello and piano sonatas with Valve (ABC Classics) and first recordings of works by Lisa Illean (NMC Records), Miriama Young (ABC Classics), Japanese piano duo repertoire (KIAZMA), and four-hand music by Ekaterina Komalkova (Tall Poppies).

Aura is Head of Piano at the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music, Monash University, where she leads a vibrant program that nurtures creativity, collaboration and artistic curiosity.

24/07/2026

Meet the musicians.

Over the next few weeks in the leadup to Craven Creek 2026, we'll be posting profiles of the wonderful and masterful players that will be joining us at Craven Creek this year.

First up is Timo-Veikko Valve, Principal cellist of the Australian Chamber Orchestra and Curator of this year's program

Timo-Veikko Valve, affectionately known by audiences far and wide as “Tipi”, grew up in Finland, surrounded by a family who are “musically orientated normal people”. Music lessons were a natural part of his upbringing, and at six years old, Tipi was encouraged to pick up the cello after a teacher at the local music school declared with considerable conviction that “he looks just like a cellist!”. To this day, Tipi remains somewhat puzzled about what that statement actually meant. Whatever the subtext, the teacher seems to have been correct.

Valve was appointed Principal Cello of the Australian Chamber Orchestra in 2006, and his leadership soon became an integral part of the ACO. Recognised for his natural, creative and generous musicianship, Tipi seeks to define the modern-day musician. Prior to his Australian adventure, Tipi studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki before continuing to the Edsberg Music Institute in Stockholm.

Tipi effortlessly transitions between modern and period instruments and describes the cello as a flexible and adaptive partner, both in its role in an ensemble and as a soloist, across all forms of music. He reflects this versatility and enjoys a diverse career as a musician, curator and director, directing from the cello and appearing as a soloist with many of the major orchestras across his two home countries, Finland, and Australia. Tipi is also a sought-after collaborator and frequently appears as a chamber musician. His active commitment to the music of our times through curating and commissioning has seen him deliver world-premiere performances of multiple concertos and other significant works written especially for him. Currently, Tipi plays on a Brothers Amati cello from 1616, kindly on loan from the ACO Instrument Fund.

Book here: https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1596118

11/07/2026

Do you have your tickets yet? Two months to go and two thirds sold. Go to www.cravencreekmusic.com to check the programs and make a booking.

02/07/2026

Craven Creek Music Festival 2026 tickets now on sale. 2026 program curated by ACO's Principal Cellist Timo-Veikko Timo-Veikko Valve known to us all as Tipi.

https://www.trybooking.com/DMVDE and programme details at https://www.cravencreekmusic.com/

30/06/2026

From today's News of the Area.

Share via: Facebook X (Twitter) EACH year some of Australia’s most outstanding classical musicians make the journey up the Bucketts Way to Gloucester and beyond to Rookhurst, before heading down a dirt track to perform in a near-century-old tin farm shed. It’s been happening since the Craven Cre...