Brisbane Music Festival 2023

Image: Alex Raineri (Nick Morrissey Photography).

A preview of this year’s Brisbane Music Festival, coming soon to FourthWall Arts, Brisbane City, from 23 October 2023

The sixth Brisbane Music Festival is currently preparing to open in a brand new, independent and intimate performing space in Brisbane – with Part 1 from 23 to 29 October and Part 2 from 4 to 10 December. Beth Keehn spoke to the festival’s Artistic Director, Alex Raineri, to find out what audiences can expect this year.

Beth Keehn (BK): Alex, please tell us more about this year’s festival and why it will be performed in two parts.

Alex Raineri (AR): Part of the joy of the Brisbane Music Festival is its diversity – and this year I’ve been playing around with the scope, and also creating more of a festival feel – with shows happening back-to-back on the weekends. That way, patrons can maybe attend a whole day of shows and create their own festival experience. For the artists, I think the two parts of tightly packed shows adds a different flavour and creates a buzz and excitement.

BK: Will you be performing as well?  

AR: Over the past five festivals, I have typically played in a large percentage of the festival output, and that will be similar this year. From a piano-playing perspective, it is pretty intense: there are a lot of notes to play, but that’s kind of my style anyway, and fits in with my normal touring life! As are many of our featured artists, a lot of our lives are spent on the road, and so the festival fits in with that. For audiences, it’s a great opportunity to catch some of these wonderful artists who are usually overseas or interstate.

Image: Lisa Moore @ Nat.Sawdust> Photographer: Jill Steinberg.

BK: This year, you are introducing an exciting new venue to the Brisbane scene. Tell us more!

AR: We have a brand new venue – a space I found last year. It’s always been my dream to have my own independent performing space, especially one that is inner-city, accessible and good for acoustic music. So, over the last year I’ve been renovating it into a small black box theatre, which is now the home of Brisbane Music Festival – it’s called FourthWall Arts and, as the name suggests, it breaks down the fourth wall in the theatre so the audience feels in among the music. It’s very intimate, with just 50 seats so the audience can see the musicians up very close. I’m still setting it up and keen to move in! I hope it will be a positive contribution to the Brisbane Arts scene.

BK: For audiences who have not been to the Brisbane Music Festival before, what would be your top reasons to come along in 2023?

AR: This year there will be lots of music and sounds that you simply will not have heard before – so I think this will capture your curiosity. On the flipside, there will be pieces that are familiar to classical and music-loving audiences, but with cross-over appeal – for example, our closing show ‘Exit Music’ will feature Radiohead songs that have been arranged for classical music ensembles. And also ‘Both Sides Now’ will feature contemporary pop and rock. As ever, the festival’s ethos is to celebrate the artists and composers who are based in Brisbane but also to bring visiting and international artists to Brisbane City to celebrate what we have and to explore what we don’t have (yet) on our doorstep! We have a mix of artists – including Australian artists who are usually based in New York, and award-winning performers from across Australia as well as Brisbane-based talent and new young artists. You will also hear fabulous opera voices.

Image: Radiohead.

Something that’s new to the festival is a featured classical composer – we have a mini-celebration of French composer, Poulenc – very beautiful music that is not performed very often, by a composer who offers some respite from the sometimes heavy side to classical music. Poulenc’s work includes duets for piano and other instruments, and so offers an opportunity to program collaborative works with guest artists.

I think the 2023 festival has something for everyone – with a mix of composers, from Rachmaninoff to Radiohead across 34 events, including three Festival Galas, nine world premieres and seven Australian premieres. There’s our new venue and accessible ticket prices at just $25. I definitely feel that the Brisbane Music Festival is a home for music that doesn’t have a voice in other areas in the Brisbane music scene, and to be able to introduce audiences to new music, new sounds and new composers is very exciting!

Find out more: www.brismusicfestival.com