The Festival Bush Orchestra

The Festival Bush Orchestra was initiated by Graham McDonald as a way of exploring collected dance tunes through simple arrangements. He passed the baton on to Greg O'Leary who similarly arranged and taught some tunes. My son James and I took it on in 2012. We were allocated a 5 minute spot in the Budawang final concert and we managed to get 25 musicians on, perform and off in just over 6 minutes. From 2013 to the present I have done the arrangements and conducted the orchestra and our final concert has been a programmed event.

The Festival Bush Orchestra has become an important part of the participation side of the National Folk Festival. Truly, it is the participatory events of the NFF that distinguish it from other music festivals.

2024

Despite the long standing contribution to the Festival over many years the current Artistic Direction Triumvirate rejected the 2024 application.

To be able to calculate the value of the Bush Orchestra over my time running it, I have defined an entertainment hour as an hour of musical participation/ entertainment for a festival goer. Over the last 10 Nationals the Festival Bush Orchestra has contributed an hour of rehearsal each day for an average of 50 musicians plus a 45 minute concert with an audience of 100 which adds up to 1 x 4 x 10 x 50 + 0.75 x 50 + 0.75 x 100 = 2105 entertainment hours!

AND this without request for a fee!

SO rejected but not dejected I am hosting a camp on my property over Easter.

Info is here.

2025

I thank all of you who have participated over the years, some haven't missed even one year with me and others have dabbled and moved on.
Who knows what 2025 will bring?