Special Performances during the Wollombi Valley Sculpture Festival

THE FAR SIDE OF SPAIN - WHERE THE WATERS MEET

What links a Spanish music archive in rural Western Australia, a tiny sandstone church in Wollombi and a century-old bandoneon?

The Far Side of Spain is an act of sonic archaeology—part concert, part historical mystery. Following a trail of letters, forgotten scores and rare instruments, it uncovers an extraordinary web of connections stretching from nineteenth-century Spain to two unlikely places in rural Australia.

At the heart of the story is the friendship between Archbishop John Bede Polding, who laid the foundation stone of St Michael’s Church in Wollombi, and Dom Rosendo Salvado, founder and first Abbot of New Norcia in Western Australia.

This story also has a contemporary chapter. Allegra Giagu, recently appointed Music Collections Curator at New Norcia, spent years immersed in the musical life of Wollombi and Laguna— a Spanish name for a body of still water, whose presence in the landscape has never been fully explained. Her parents ran Panino, a much-loved restaurant in the Wollombi Valley, for over a decade.

During her summers back from training in London, Allegra rehearsed regularly in St Michael’s Church, performed throughout the district—including memorable concerts at St John’s, Capers and Laguna Hall—and became part of the community’s artistic life.

Contact the host of The Far Side of Spain: Where the Waters Meet