Keys of Gold - Grand Organ Gala

Bendigo’s Keys of Gold Classical Music Festival is so called as the festival not only features keyboard instruments at every concert, but also features the rich heritage of glorious buildings, grand public spaces and elegant streetscapes all made possible through the discovery of gold in 1851. 

Inspired by the vision of the great Victorian architect William Vahland to make Bendigo the ‘Vienna of the South’, the festival will bring Bendigo and surrounds’ multi-million dollar unique heritage of spectacular pipe organs to life, together with the Steinway concert grand piano selected by Vladimir Ashkenazy himself for the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall and much more. There are 16 concerts across Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays in July 2025 - in 11 venues in Bendigo, Castlemaine, Inglewood and Maldon, with 27 instruments and 45 performers.

THOMAS HEYWOOD, organ

PROGRAM

Sir Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900), transcribed by Thomas Heywood (b.1974)
Overture to The Pirates of Penzance. For the 125th anniversary of Sullivan’s death

Théodore Dubois (1837-1924) 
Fiat lux [Let there be light] from 12 Pièces Nouvelles pour Orgue [1893]

Franz Schubert (1797-1828), trans. J. Stuart Archer (1866-1954)
Allegro moderato [1st mvt] from Symphony No. 8 in B minor – The ‘Unfinished’, D. 759

César Franck (1822-1890)
Choral No. 3 in A minor from Trois Chorals, FWV 40

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), trans. William Thomas Best (1826-1897)
Siciliano from Flute Sonata No. 2 in E-flat major, BWV 1031

Charles Gounod (1818-1893), trans. Thomas Heywood (b.1974), from the transcription for piano by Henry Brinley Richards (1817-1885)
‘The Celebrated Waltz’ from the Opera Roméo et Juliette,  [Juliette’s Valse-Arietta ‘Je veux vivre’ – Act I, No. 3]

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957), trans. Herbert Austin Fricker (1868-1943)
Finlandia, Op. 26 No. 7

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MORE ABOUT THE ARTIST
THOMAS HEYWOOD

Keys of Gold is presented by Bendigo Fine Music. BFM is a registered charity led by a team of people living in and around this beautiful city, aspiring to enrich lives for the good of the wider community through world-class fine music experiences in Bendigo’s unique performance spaces, unparalleled in regional Australia.