AitV-The Last Violin

Arts in the Valley invite you - a free event for members and donors only - to this special gala evening to honour and thank you!

Join us for an afternoon of Film (The Last Violin), Live Performance & Q&A.

Preceded and followed by canapés and refreshments.

With Carla Thackrah, Filmmaker, Romano Crivici, Composer & Alexandra Osborne, Violinist.

Sunday 27 July 2025 from 4pm

Upper Kangaroo River Community Hall  , Upper Kangaroo River

Numbers are strictly limited.  RSVPs are necessary by obtaining a free ticket – for Arts in the Valley donors and members – on a first-come, first-served basis. If you RSVP and later realise you are unable to attend, please cancel your ticket so others may attend.

We look forward to seeing you and thanking you for making Arts in the Valley possible! 

Gary Moore, President

Peter Butler AM, Vice-President & President-Elect

Our Guests – the Director, Composer and Soloist

The film director and the composer – Carla Thackrah and Romano Crivici – both well-established classical musicians (former members of the SSO, Australian Opera & Ballet Orchestra, New England String Quartet and Elektra String Quartet), will introduce the film and offer a brief Q&A at the end of the evening.  Carla is an award-winning cinematographer.  Romano is an established Australian art music composer, violinist and pianist.

Alexandra Osborne – the violinist featured in the film and Associate Concertmaster of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (previously Assistant Concertmaster, National Symphony Orchestra, Washington DC, Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony and the New York Philharmonic) will offer a short live performance on the actual last violin following the screening. She will be accompanied by the composer, Romano Crivici, on piano. 

The Film – a true story

The multi-award-winning film was completed in January 2023.  It has had an incredibly positive reception from reviewers and those lucky enough to have seen it at its world premiere at the Bangalow Film Festival in the Northern Rivers of NSW in January 2023.  More recently it was chosen to be screened at the Cyprus International Film Festival and the Bridges International Film Festival in Corinth, Greece. It won Best Documentary at both festivals.

"This enchanting film ... it's a love story. It's a love story about music, a love story about the violin, it's a love story about you and this extraordinary instrument maker. But it's also a love story about Harry and Maria.”  Philip Adams, ABC Radio National Late Night Live 28/11/22

"Two old friends, one final mission – it's the stuff of movie legend."  ABC Classic FM 11/01/2023

"There is tranquil beauty in the distinctive quality of the analogue age, one which Thackrah manages to preserve throughout the film ... and the culminating performance with musicians playing on Harry's instruments in the closing scenes is one filled with great emotional tenderness."  Limelight Magazine 4/11/22

The Film

Master violin maker, Charalambos Vatiliotis, known as Harry, is 85 and has retired. When Romano Crivici, a violinist, composer and close friend for 48 years persuades him to make one final violin, a heart-warming story unfolds. 

Harry is considered Australia's greatest living violin maker. He and his wife Maria came from Cyprus in the 1950s.  Together they share the making of Romano's last violin which also threatens to be Harry's last, as the ravages of old age take their toll on each of them.

Shot in the one location – the Sydney suburbs home that Harry and Maria have shared and barely left for over 60 years – the director spent a year charting the making of Harry and Romano's last violin within the context of the love, friendship and humour that each of the three protagonists shares.  The director has been hands-off and observational, capturing the intimate and meditative process of hand-making a fine violin from a rough piece of wood together with the sometimes hilarious interactions between Harry, his wife who is now increasingly showing signs of dementia, and Romano their friend of many years.

Music composed by Romano Crivici and played entirely on instruments made by Harry.  Solo violinist Allie Osborne playing Harry’s last violin