Monthly Archives: September 2014

Newcastle: community members and local Ausgrid workers concerned by impact of electricity network sale

Stop the Sell Off campaigners are in Newcastle today (Thursday) to discuss the impacts of Premier Mike Baird’s electricity privatisation plan, which will see the sale of Ausgrid and TransGrid, the publicly-owned poles and wires companies that delivers electricity in the Hunter.

Members of the campaign are meeting with local workers and concerned residents who fear job losses, service reductions and price rises if Premier Mike Baird presses ahead with privatisation.

Stop the Sell Off campaign director Adam Kerslake, said potential job losses would be devastating for the region, with Ausgrid employing more than 1,300 people in the Hunter while TransGrid has 160 staff in Newcastle.

Mr Kerslake said voters in Charlestown and Newcastle, who will next month vote in byelections following the resignations of local Liberal MPs during an Independent Commission Against Corruption investigation, had a unique opportunity to express their opposition to the sale.

“Premier Mike Baird is willing to leave future generations poorer by selling off the State’s largest income generating asset, all to build a war-chest to fund election promises,” he said.

“Every state that has sold their electricity poles and wires has seen higher prices for consumers, poorer service standards, and cuts to jobs – especially in regional areas.

“The experience in Victoria following privatisation was massive job losses due to the new private owners cutting back on major investment and maintenance.

“If the Baird Government are re-elected in March 2015 they will condemn the Hunter community to local job losses and a higher electricity prices.”

Mr Kerslake said that while the Premier publicly committed to taking electricity privatisation to the March 2015 election, he had already locked in lucrative contracts worth millions of dollars with investment banks, lawyers, and accountancy firms to start the sale process.

“Our electricity network – made up of Ausgrid, Endeavour Energy, Essential Energy and TransGrid – is the state’s most valuable income generating asset,” he said.

“The profits from these four companies currently deliver billions of dollars every year to help pay for schools, hospitals and transport – income that will be lost forever following privatisation.

“Under Premier Baird’s plan, the people of Charlestown, Newcastle, and the rest of the Hunter region will be left paying higher electricity bills as private owners cut back on spending and increase prices to maximise returns for shareholders.

“Price regulations and job protections may provide temporary measure to get the Liberal Party past the next election, but once they expire we will see a repeat of the experiences of South Australia – which has the highest power bills in the country – and Victoria – where poor maintenance by the private owner sparked several of the deadly Black Saturday bushfires.

“I challenge anyone to provide an example of anywhere privatisation has led to lower prices.

“The NSW Government needs to cut back on the political spin and be truthful with the people of NSW that the privatisation of the poles and wires will not be a good thing for power consumers.

“This is a short sighted policy that will deliver a one off budget sugar hit while leaving electricity consumers worse off in the long run.

“The only way to ensure the people of NSW will have reliable, affordable and well-maintained electricity services in the decades ahead is to ensure this essential service is owned by the public and operated by the government to benefit all NSW residents.”

“The general public need to understand that a vote for the Liberal Party is a vote for electricity privatisation.”

 

City Recital Hall BORODIN QUARTET MUSICA VIVA

Monday 29 September, 7pm Saturday 11 October, 2pm

Musica Viva presents the Borodin Quartet

The legendary Borodin Quartet is living history. The printed music used by the group bears markings in Shostakovich’s own hand. Just as importantly, the Quartet’s unwritten traditions carry a unique impact that makes every concert glow with the authenticity of experience and knowledge.

Approaching their 70th concert season, the Borodins return to Australia with music of great depth and emotional resonance. Shostakovich, of course: his powerful Quartet no 8 and its dark sister, no 11, contrast sharply with the Classical beauty of cornerstone repertoire from Beethoven. These lend balance to the evocative drama of Schubert’s great ‘Death and the Maiden’, and to the emotive Russian sensibility that underpins every work by Tchaikovsky.

Artists
Ruben Aharonian – violin
Sergei Lomovsky – violin
Igor Naidin – viola
Vladimir Balshin – cello

7pm Program
BEETHOVEN String Quartet in F major, Op.18 No.1
SHOSTAKOVICH String Quartet No.11 in
F minor, Op.122
SCHUBERT String Quartet No.14 in
D minor, D810 ‘Death and the Maiden’

2pm Program
BEETHOVEN String Quartet in G major, Op.18 No.2
SHOSTAKOVICH String Quartet No.8 in
C minor, Op.110
TCHAIKOVSKY String Quartet No.2 in
F major, Op.22

purchase tickets
online at cityrecitalhall.com
by phone (02) 8256 2222
in person at City Recital Hall Angel Place
tickets $42 – $107, concession available
(additional fees may apply)

“Impressive was the seamlessness with which the four players shared musical ideas… Most remarkable was the oneness and the inner fire of each interpretation”
Musical Toronto

Joshua Bell and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields Cadogan Hall 7 October 2014

Often referred to as the “poet of the violin”, JOSHUA BELL is one of the world’s most celebrated violinists. Now in his fourth season as Music Director of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, he joins the orchestra for an outstanding concert at Cadogan Hall.

Watch Joshua’s introduction to the Academy’s season of concerts here

‘Dark Destinations’
Tuesday 7 October, 7.30pm

Mendelssohn The Hebrides, Op.26 ‘Fingal’s Cave’
Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor Op. 64
Schubert String Quartet No.14, D180 ‘Death and the Maiden’
Arranged by Mahler for string orchestra

Inspired by a visit to Scotland, and completed upon his return to Germany, Mendelssohn’s ‘Fingal’s Cave’ brilliantly evokes the power and wild beauty of the sea. His final large-scale orchestral work, the Violin Concerto in E minor, is a cornerstone of the classical repertoire and is regarded as one of the greatest and most popular. The concert concludes with Schubert’s Quartet in D minor which is based in part on his earlier song with words by German poet Matthias Claudius and gives this piece its common title, Death and the Maiden.

Tickets: £40 / £33 / £27 / £15
Booking fees may apply

Booking now from Cadogan Hall’s Box Office on 0207 730 4500 or online from their website.

 

Diynamic Showcase Amsterdam Dance Event 2014 Edition

Diynamic Music will return to Amsterdam on October 16th for another special Diynamic thisoneShowcase: The Amsterdam Dance Event 2014 Edition with the whole Diynamic Family, including Solomun, H.O.S.H., Adriatique, David August, Stimming, UNER, Kollektiv Turmstrasse, Karmon, NTFO, Ost & Kjex, DJ Phono, Thyladomid and Magdalena, will take place at Mediahaven, a film studio complex with three rooms and near perfect acoustics.

The Diynamic Showcase events during Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) can already be seen as a perennial tradition, with sold out shows weeks before the event since several years. This anual party is always a very special date, to which all artists look forward throughout the whole year: a family reunion, where everyone prepares special sets to showcase the very best they have to offer. Every party so far has been an exceptional success and it looks like 2014 will be no different.

On ADE Thursday, October 16th, Diynamic will be the very first to inaugurate “Mediahaven” as a party event venue. It is usually a super modern film studio located at waterfront with a beautiful view of the harbour. Mediahaven is a three-room-connected location with first-class facilities. Two modern studios with up to 12-metre high ceilings plus an underground car park in the basement with a very old school warehouse feel to it. And best of all, it has brilliant acoustics and there are no sound restrictions whatsoever!

Mediahaven is easy to reach, located nearby the city centre and just ten minutes by bike from Amsterdam central station.

The finest of Diynamic Music will return to Amsterdam:
–      Solomun, who just finished his 20 event lasting “Solomun +1” residency at Pacha Ibiza
–      Kollektiv Turmstrasse
–      H.O.S.H., who threw his own Ibiza boat parties this season
–      Adriatique, who were the residents at the Diynamic Outdoor residency on Ibiza and are about to release the next big EP on Diynamic called “Rollox”
–      David August, who just made a huge impact with his “Diynamic Revisited EP”
–      Stimming, who’s “Southern Sun EP” on DJ Koze’s label Pampa Records is all over the place right now
–      UNER
–      Karmon
–      NTFO
–      Ost & Kjex, who are currently finishing up on their next album
–      DJ Phono
–      Thyladomid, who’s highly-acclaimed “The Real Thing EP” raised hands on dancefloors all over the world this summer
–      and Magdalena, the latest addition to the DIY artist roster.

Music Wave Festival at Bondi Beach Postponed

Music Wave 2014 at Bondi Beach Park on 20 September 2014 will be postponed to 28 Marchkimberley chen 2015.  Organizers have cited the reasons as predicted bad weather and “Limited time on coordination with various stakeholders”

Special arrangements have been made for the refund of tickets. Watch this space for more news as March 2015 approaches!

 

Waggafest Celebrates Winter!

Waggafest Celebrates Winter!

Wagga Waggafest is a short film competition encouraging the community and visitors alike to share their unique Wagga Wagga stories using the medium of film.

This year, the Waggafest theme is Wagga in Winter. It’s a celebration of some of the things we love about winter: the bracing cold and the snuggly warmth, the roar of winter sports, campfires under clear skies and the beauty of fog and frost. For some of us, there are things to loathe about winter, too: scraping ice from our car windscreens in the morning, cleaning muddy bootprints out of the carpet and conjuring the motivation to emerge from under the doona for our morning run.

Enter Waggafest!

Enter before September 15 and be eligible to win from a prize pool worth $6000.

Watch the stories unfold!

Come along to the Special Awards Screening Night on October 15 at the Civic Theatre to watch the stories unfold and see who takes out the major prize!

SHINE HOPE AT LIGHT THE NIGHT NEWCASTLE

Hundreds will hold a lantern this spring to share their unwavering hope to cure blood cancer at lightLight the Night, an uplifting event taking place at Newcastle Foreshore Park, Wednesday 17 September, from 5:30pm.

Lanterns of hope will shine during the twilight walk to help the Leukaemia Foundation raise $1.25 million to invest in blood cancer research. Each colour lantern has a meaning; gold for remembrance, white for someone fighting blood cancer and blue to show support.

Sign up now to guarantee your free lantern and help to fundraise by visiting www.lightthenight.org.au or call 1800 500 088.

ONLY 25 DAYS UNTIL THE 16th ANNUAL DENI UTE MUSTER!!

With less than 4 weeks to go until every man, woman and their utes descend on Deniliquin for the 2014 instalment of the Deni Ute Muster, things are ramping up here at HQ and we are happy to announce a bunch of new attractions that are set to please the whole family!

Making their welcome return to Deni are crowd favourites, The Sunny Cowgirls. The effervescent sister act of Sophie and Celeste Clabburn will this year be taking the reigns as the official MC’s of the 2014 Deni Ute Muster. With numerous performances over the years, the girls are no strangers to the Deni Ute Muster stage and are the perfect candidates to share all their insider tips and tricks with the crowds to maximise the Ute Muster experience! The Sunny Cowgirls will also take to the main stage on Saturday afternoon for their own performance which will, as always, be one to watch!

In news that is set to send our youngest musterers into fits of frenzy reminiscent of the most indulgent of sugar highs, we are pleased to announce that joining the Muster this year will be two of the stars of the incredibly popular Disney-Pixar animated films Cars and Cars 2, none other than Mack the Transporter and Lightning McQueen!  Kids will be able to get up close and personal with these adored characters and immerse themselves in a world of Cars related activities bound to be the highlight of their Muster experience!

And not forgetting the more mature car enthusiasts among our musterers, it is with great pleasure that we reveal, leading the masses through the front gates on Friday morning, signifying the start of the 2014 Deni Ute Muster will be the hugely anticipated, record-breaking, supercharged Holden GTS Maloo which has officially been declared as the WORLD’s FASTEST UTE!!! This fine specimen of motoring excellence will be showcased throughout the weekend and is a definite must-see at this year’s event!

We are also very pleased to announce that the 2014 Deni Ute Muster “Charity of the Year” is a very worthy cause and one that is so essential to maintaining the rural way of life – it is of course the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS). The not-for-profit RFDS has been taking the finest care to the furthest corners of Australia since 1928. The Service not only provides 24 hour emergency cover to 90% of the Australian continent, via a modern fleet of specially equipped aircraft, but also delivers a wide range of primary healthcare to the Outback.  

The RFDS will also be on ground at the muster showcasing their aeromedical educational simulator. At 9.1m long, 2.4m wide and 3m high, it is a full-sized replica of the cockpit and fuselage of a RFDS King Air B200 aircraft, complete with flight deck and full aeromedical fit-out. Visitors will be able to experience what it’s like to be a pilot, flight nurse, or flying doctor. RFDS staff will be on hand to explain the aircraft’s capabilities, what the medical equipment in these ‘flying intensive care units’ does and share some real-life rescue stories of this Australian icon.

The Deni Ute Muster are also thrilled to welcome back AFL Legend Billy Brownless, Geelong Star Tom Hawkins, 5 time Olympic Medallist Melanie Schlanger and Olympic Swimmer Chris Wright as official Deni Ute Muster ambassadors who will all be attending this year’s festival.

These exciting new draw cards together with the already proven popular attractions such as Bull Ride Spectacular, The Australian National Circle Work Championships, Ute Museum, Holden Grunt Off, Holden Barrel Race, Show ‘n’ Shine, Carnivale Corner, helicopter rides, the mechanical bucking bull, woodchop demonstrations and Whip Cracking Championships are setting the scene for what will undoubtedly be one hell of a Muster!!

Not to mention our world class line-up of musicians set to rock the stage across the weekend, Gary Allan, Jimmy Barnes, The Mavericks, Troy Cassar-Daley, Adam Harvey, Spiderbait, Blackjack Billy, Sheppard, Morgan Evans and The Sunny Cowgirls. We are convinced this year’s “Sweet Sixteen” Deni Ute Muster will be the best yet!

The 2014 Deni Ute Muster is proudly supported by the NSW Government through its tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW.

Tickets are on sale now and available at www.deniutemuster.com.au

Deni Ute Muster

Conargo Road, Deniliquin, NSW

 

Friday, 3 October, 2014

 

6.00pm – 7.00pm Morgan Evans

7.00pm – 8.15pm Blackjack Billy

8.15pm – 9.30pm Troy Cassar-Daley & Adam Harvey

9.30pm – 11.00pm Gary Allan

Saturday, 4 October, 2014

 

1.15pm – 2.00pm Sunny Cowgirls

6.00pm – 7.00pm Sheppard

7.15pm –8.15pm Spiderbait

8.20pm – 9.30pm The Mavericks

9.30pm – 11.00pm Jimmy Barnes

SISTER TRIO DOZZI RELEASE NEW POWERHOUSE SINGLE

Brisbane’s musical juggernaut Dozzi are back with the release of their new single Weakness . Thedozzi trio are riding a wave of momentum on the back of their hugely successful I Need You Tonight which peaked at #1 on the Hot Country Network All Australian Top 20 and the Cool Country 2KA charts, along with entering the CMC Top 50. The sister trio – Andrea, Jesse & Nina – are rapidly earning a name for themselves for their breathtaking three part harmonies and their latest single just goes further to show their versatility.

Weakness is already a favourite at their live shows and showcases – it’s a high energy track set to be a country rock smash. “It was really the fans that picked our new single,” says Jesse. “We’ve always loved the song from the day we wrote it, but it wasn’t until we started playing it live that it really stood out. We always get requests to play the song at our live shows so when it came time to choose the new single, it had to be Weakness.”

The track was written in Nashville by Jesse, Jen Bostic and Chaise Flanders and is a fun take on the role of the ‘bad boy’. “We had been discussing some cool titles during our song writing trip to Nashville and the song idea called ‘He’s My Weakness’ was really strong,” says Jesse. “The song came together really quickly. It’s about that bad boy, the type of guy you know you shouldn’t be involved with but you can’t help being drawn to him… someone your mother wouldn’t want you to date.”

Originally written on acoustic guitar and keyboard, it quickly dawned on the trio that the production of the track could be massive. The finished product is a radio gem that will have music fans singing along at full voice. “We laid the track down in Nashville with some very talented session musicians and are really happy with the rock feel that came through in the end,” says Jesse. “For the recording we had to think about whose voice would suit what part the best and because we all love the song and knew it was strong, we took this very seriously. When we got behind the mic the parts felt right so we’re very happy with the end result.”

Dozzi have been honing their skills around the Southern Queensland music scene since they were young. Harking from a heavily musical family, it was always a natural direction for the three to take the next step into a professional music career. They’ve already been dubbed as an infusion of country superstars The Dixie Chicks and Alanis Morissette by industry heavy weights. Dozzi’s style really is too hard to pigeonhole and each new musical offering shows another side of their abilit8ies. They’ve quickly gathered a large fan base owing to their catchy melodies and high energy, charismatic performances. It’s been an action packed period for the trio which is set to continue with the release of this single and their upcoming national tour. Last year the sisters were crowned Australian Country Music People’s Choice Award for Best Video (for the track Love Away The Bad Days) and have also been invited to perform the national anthem at numerous events.

The girls are now currently working on the video clip for Weakness, which Jesse said showcases the band’s ‘crazy side!’’ “We have decided to do a live clip for this song,” she says. “We want to show everyone different sides of our personalities, and what better way to do that then with a live clip. It’s filled with a heap of our live performances as well as a lot of behind the scenes footage too.” Stay tuned for the clip in the coming weeks