Early Baroque Fusion Music Enthralls Gunning Audience

Late on Saturday afternoon, 15 November, an audience comprising locals and visitors from Canberra and the wider region was filled with wonder and delight by a joyful and captivating performance of early Baroque music in the Gunning Courtroom.  Led by Robyn Mellor, the BlockSounds recorder ensemble was augmented to great effect by Rachel Walker (viola da gamba), Ariana Odermat (harpsichord), Frank den Hartog (tenor), Maartje Sevester (mezzo soprano) and Greta Claringbould (soprano).  The nine musicians and singers are pictured below as they rehearsed before the concert doors opened.

The ensemble’s show, titled “The False Prophet, the Wicked Servant and Divine Comfort,” featured sacred and secular music from 17th-century Germanic Europe.  Robyn’s extensive program notes explained how the influence of the showier and more flamboyant early Italian opera led to a flowering of new musical approaches and practices.  These were to be built upon in the next generation by JS Bach and others, to the great benefit of us all.

Some in the audience were already very knowledgeable fine music followers, well-equipped to identify and appreciate how the performers created the sounds and effects they did.  Others, much less in the know, like me, could only close their eyes and soar along in their minds with the music created by the singers and players.

People’s body language and comments offered as they departed clearly showed they had enjoyed the performance immensely.  This included one person, who had not seen or heard a harpsichord before, who described the experience as wonderful, marvelling at how well the performers combined so superbly to play as one, – “a really tight unit” if they were a pop band.

It was not only the music that came in for praise.  The performers really enjoyed playing in our excellent chamber music venue.  The acoustics and atmosphere are well suited for this type of music.  Also, BlockSounds later Facebook post told the world that their Gunning audience was “really lovely”.

Yet more praise came from one of our regular patrons who uses a walker for ease of mobility.  For the first time, this person can now enter through the front door using the new entry ramp, which is almost fully completed courtesy of a NSW State Government grant provided to our Council.  She described the ramp as “wonderful.” What’s more, for the first time ever, we were also able to get a harpsichord in through the front door.  No more need we rely on the very helpful Gunning Community Care to use their premises as a side entrance.

This was Gunning Focus Group’s last concert for the year.  But we have an excellent program to offer for 2026.  Details will be on the GFG website https://gunningfocusgroup.com soon.   However, we recommend emailing us at mailto:gunningfocusgroup@gmail.com so we can keep you informed about upcoming music events via our newsletter.

This report appeared in the Upper Lachlan Gazette on 20 November 2025