The Far Side of Spain: Where the Waters Meet
Description
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.
Lineup
Allegra Giagu
Allegra Giagu is an Australian mezzo-soprano, archival researcher and artistic director whose work connects forgotten music with the places and histories that shaped it. She is Music Collections Curator at New Norcia and the creator and Artistic Director of On This Ground, a four-year place-based arts program culminating in 2029. Her doctoral research at the University of Melbourne explores eighteenth-century Iberian music-theatre and the journey from archive to performance. Allegra trained at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Royal College of Music and has performed internationally across opera, early music and interdisciplinary performance. Her recordings include Dario Marianelli’s Academy Award-nominated Anna Karenina soundtrack, the ARIA-nominated Curious Caledonians, and ¡Venga! with Mamás Bravas. For more than fifteen years, Wollombi and Laguna were central to Allegra’s musical life. She now returns as Music Collections Curator at New Norcia, bringing with her music preserved more than 3,000 kilometres away.
Owen Salomé
Owen Salomé is an Australian multi-instrumentalist and composer. An expert in the music of South America, especially of Argentina and the Andes Mountains, Owen is the first Australian bandoneonist to win a position to study in the 2-year Emilio Balcarce Tango Orchestra, a program run by the ministry of culture in Buenos Aires. Owen has toured around the world, including festival and concert performances in Australia, Argentina, Chile, Spain, France and Slovakia, and has composed music for numerous ensembles and performers.
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