Chisholm St: Get Folked

Chisholm St is a live performance space on Wadawurrung country, Ballarat. We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land and recognise that their sovereignty was never ceded.

Hosted by Bronwyn Blaiklock, Chisholm St is an intimate foray into fascinating corners of classical music. The platform was launched in March 2021 and offers a diverse series of concerts by regional musicians and spoken word performers. The intimate space gives you a rare glimpse into creative music-making, up close and personal.

Chisholm St: Get Folked

A warming collection of Irish, English and Scottish folk favourites, along with some surprises. It's a cast of local performance treasures too, including Rick Chew (piano, composition), Sharon Turley (voice), Talia Barrett (double bass) and Martin Scuffins (fiddle) plus Bronwyn Blaiklock on piano and piano accordion. Be ready to hear a genuine hardanger fiddle, hand-made by Martin himself.

Stay for refreshments afterwards, meet the performers - it's included in the ticket - and enjoy the community at Chisholm St.

This performance is included in the annual Season Pass, a discounted package of seven concerts. For the details, head to Chisholm St: 2024 Season Pass.

The performers

Talia Barrett is a classically trained musician and multi-instrumentalist, an environmental educator, a linguist and academic advisor. A founding member of the Hardy's Hillbillies, Talia is also a highly regarded and experienced violist, but now thoroughly corrupted to the folk scene and the lure of the double bass, which she plays in the old-time and Celtic genres, often while simultaneously sculling a dram of fine Scots whiskey.

Director of the Chisholm St. concert series, Bronwyn Blaiklock, studied piano at the Elder Conservatorium of Music in Adelaide, alongside language and psychology studies. She has been active in the creative arts for over 30 years across three states, working as an artistic director, pianist, editor, poet, writer, academic advisor, adjudicator, and music teacher. She has released one chapbook of poetry with Melbourne Poets Union (2016) and had numerous poems published in Australian anthologies.

Rick Chew is presently Director of the Arts Academy in Ballarat, Federation University. He studied at the University of Birmingham and the Royal College of Music, where he was awarded the President’s Rose Bowl by HM The Queen Mother. He went on to study singing with Margreet Honig in Amsterdam and London and composition with Louis Andriessen and Peter Sculthorpe at Dartington. Richard has worked as a baritone, specialising in new music theatre and opera with the Royal Shakespeare Company, English National Opera, among many others. These notes are from Rick's website; read more: www.richardchewmusic.c...

Martin Scuffins is an artist, musician, environmental educator, and fiddle-maker. An accomplished fiddle player, Martin’s music contains a rare combination of tradition, improvisation, tenderness, and passion. Born and brought up near Ballarat, Martin has spent most of his life developing his unique musical voice which reflects both his Irish ancestry and the fiddle styles of Scandinavia and America. He has a particular fondness for the music of the Sliabh Luachra area of Ireland, the ‘Rushy Mountains’ of Cork and Kerry, his ancestral home. In addition, he has been a keen student of the Hardanger Fiddle Music of Norway for some years. Martin’s gentle handling of dynamics and ornamentation, in partnership with his strong sense of tone, give an evocative wildness to his music. Read more about Martin here: https://www.martinscuffins.com...

Sharon Turley is a classically trained coloratura soprano with a Bachelor in Music (Classical Voice Performance) from the Elder Conservatorium of Music, Adelaide University. Her grounding in music, performance and issues of social justice has seen her exploring the power of music and creativity in non-violent resistance through various community activation initiatives, busking in a family quartet around Europe as a child, touring the world with UK based street theatre company Bedlam OZ and performing with companies The State Opera of South Australian, Co-Opera, Various People, and The English Chamber Choir. Sharon currently teaches Vocal Technique and Anatomy at Federation University Arts Academy, Ballarat, and runs a private voice studio. Her work supports students to connect with and develop trust in their bodies and their breath as a means to opening and freeing their spoken and sung voice.

The venue

Seating
Bespoke reupholstered deck chairs and lounge suite awaits you, however, be sure to dress warmly as seating extends to an external covered deck and this is Ballarat, after all.

Children
Young children are welcome at Chisholm St, although paid ticket-holders have priority of seating. Children are welcome to enjoy the garden and cubby house during daytime performances.

Refreshments
You are invited to join the performers for refreshments afterwards. This includes wine, cheese, gluten-friendly snacks, light drinks, tea and coffee at no extra charge. You are welcome to bring a bottle of your favourite beverage.

Illness/Covid-19
Please do not attend if you are unwell. If you are unable to attend due to illness, we may be able to arrange a transfer of your ticket. Consider sending a friend in your place if you can't make it for any reason. Please use the hand-sanitiser supplied at the entrance and practice safe distancing where possible.