A performance from the legendary Archie Roach and a presentation of Jessie Lloyd's Mission Songs Project mark the start of the 2019 Queensland Music Festival, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.
Attending the Brisbane opening event at The Tivoli theatre tonight, Arts Minister Leeanne Enoch said the show was a fitting way to celebrate a milestone year for an iconic festival that tells our stories through music.
"This is the International Year of Indigenous Languages and I can't think of a better way to kick off the 2019 Queensland Music Festival main program than with performances by leading First Nations' artists," Ms Enoch said.
"Archie Roach is a voice of change and reason and we are honoured to have him in Queensland for his Let Love Rule concert, with Jessie Lloyd's opening act featuring songs from Indigenous missions in the 1900s."
Ms Enoch said regional Queenslanders had been treated to an early festival experience, with a number of shows touring regional communities in the past fortnight.
"The Mission Songs Project has visited Longreach, Palm Island and Gympie ahead of tonight's Brisbane show while the communities of St George, Roma and Goondiwindi have experienced the delightful music and dance production The Little Green Road to Fairyland before it opens at QPAC's Playhouse on 11 July," Ms Enoch said.
"Queensland Music Festival 2019 is continuing a fine tradition of bringing diverse and vibrant performances and experiences to all corners of the state."
Queensland Music Festival Executive Director Joel Edmondson said the biennial event provided opportunities for communities statewide to come together to access and participate in world-class performing arts experiences.
"From today, people can experience the full festival program, including the musical treasure hunt of Play Me I'm Yours, with 20 brilliantly painted street pianos hidden across Brisbane for people to discover," Mr Edmondson said.
"The free boutique hotel room concert series, Immersion, also begins today, featuring artists such as Asha Jeffries, Ben Ely, Jack Carty and Sahara Beck.
"Over the next few weeks, the festival will bring Queensland audiences such diverse experiences as the world premiere of The Night Parrot by Australian composer Jessica Wells, with performances in Winton and Brisbane; the uplifting and inclusive Help is On its Way, starring Glenn Shorrock and community choirs, in Brisbane and eight regional centres. Another absolute highlight will be The Genius of John Rodgers, telling the incredible story of one of the state's most renowned and visionary musicians and featuring Kate Miller-Heidke, Katie Noonan, Paul Grabowsky, Scott Tinkler, Pearly Black, Erkki Veltheim and many more, with our own Queensland Symphony Orchestra."
Other festival highlights include:
- The Mount Isa Blast –25 to 27 July
- Opera at Jimbour – 27 July
- Women of Woodstock – 19 to 21 July
- Frank and Fearless with Sigrid and Merle Thornton – 26 and 27 July
- Twilight in the Red Box, intimate twilight concerts showcasing new classical music – 7, 14 and 21 July
