North of Perth Music Festival History
by Narelle Higson
It was another dry spell in 1957 that led to the creation of the North of Perth Music Festival.
For many years, the creative parishioners at the North Perth Methodist Church had held a Flower Festival, with proceeds aiding the church. A lack of flowers due to a difficult growing and dry season led to discussions as to what could replace the festival that year. Being also an avid group of music lovers, the unanimous decision led to the very first “North Perth Methodist Music Festival”.
Buoyed by their success, the “Festival’s Committee” organised the inaugural “North Perth Bird and Pet Show” which took place in 1960. Sadly, we have no record as to how long this particular festival endured, which was noted as being “a success both financially and socially”.
The Music Festival, however, lives on!!
The earliest music festivals were held over two nights in the Methodist hall in Angove Street, North Perth, with the “Grand Concert” for winners taking place at the North Perth Town Hall the following week. Unfortunately, it was not possible to advertise the Festival of 1959 on the Rosemount Theatre screen …”because of a new ruling. It would have been in opposition to their evening programme”.
It was not felt necessary at that stage to let competitors know what time they would be performing, only which night. By all accounts, the cool drinks and cake stall set up at the back of the hall did very well.
It has been recorded that early funds raised went to purchasing, among other things, an oven for the new hall kitchen, curtains for the stage, a globe of the world for the Mogumber Mission School, and, importantly, removing the kink in the stage floor to stabilise the piano.
In 1961, the inclusion of “The Art of Speech” extended the festival to four nights, with each session closing with the national anthem. The addition of the “State Brass Championships” in 1963 extended the programme to six nights, with audiences enjoying over 110 brass performances in 32 sections. Amazingly, there were no entrants for a new (and possibly daunting) speech section introduced that year titled “Sight Reading – adjudicator’s choice”, which was never seen again!
1966 saw the introduction of Sir Alexander and Lady Reid as patrons of the festival. In 1969, The Hon. Ray O’Connor MLA, former Police Minister and W.A. Premier, assumed this role, an association which continued until 1985.
While many of the sections offered to contestants have remained largely unchanged since the Festival began, fashion and popular trends have come and (sometimes for the best) gone. 1969 saw the introduction of a new instrument on the programme – the piano accordion.
Audiences were treated to 65 performances over 11 Sections. One can only wonder why only 3 of these sections were represented at the winner’s concert that year! The accordion section may not have endured, however one of the items was to have a significant impact on the future of the festival. A young hopeful listed as “Frank GLANNIAI” played “Courante” by Corelli as part of a trio. Unfortunately the spelling error of his name could not be addressed in the winners’ concert programme as they were not to make it that far. However, he has since had many opportunities to ensure there are less errors in the programme, as in 1976 Frank GIANNINI joined the festival committee and two years later took up the position of Secretary, the position he still holds today.
1972 saw the festival extend to 8 nights and two winners concerts, one each for juniors and seniors, a tradition which continues.
The mid seventies saw a “changing of the guard” of the committee. Following the sale of the Church Hall in Angove Street in 1977, a new permanent home for the festival was sought. Finding a suitable venue was a difficult task and in 1979, the “North of Perth” Music Festival found a new permanent home at the Tuart Hill Senior High School (now Tuart College) gymnasium. This venue, while not ideal due to its size and acoustics, continued as the festival’s home until 1986, when a change in the school terms, from three to four, meant that the hall could not be made available for the required three weeks. When many weeks of frantic phone calls to possible venues and councils yielded no results, it appeared that the 30th year of the festival may well be its last.
Trying to keep to the “North” of Perth tradition, a slightly desperate enquiry was made to Mr Stan Halbert at the City of Bayswater, where, as fate may have it, the idea of running a music festival was being discussed to complement their already successful dance festival. The difficulty was, nobody at the council knew exactly how to go about organising a music festival. Enter Frank and his team, and a ready made festival extending over 17 sessions with 105 sections and the rest, as they say, is history. On Australia Day in 1992, the Festival was awarded the City of Bayswater’s Community Event of the Year.
The Festival has now proudly been associated with the City of Bayswater for over 30 years. Winners’ Concerts have been held in the Morley Sport and Recreation Centre since 1994 with the Festival Sessions now being held at the The Rise in Maylands.
In the foreword to the Winners’ Concert Programme of 1966, Sir Alexander Reid states …
“In these troubled times when many people are worried and uncertain as to what the future holds for them, it is good that there are those who are prepared to give their energies to the encouragement of the arts. …the Festival provides a wonderful opportunity for budding artists to display their talents… talents which otherwise might blossom unseen and unheard.”
Many outstanding singers, actors and artists have come through this Festival in their early stage of development; two of them, Lisa McCune and the late Heath Ledger, performed at the Festival only a few years ago.
Today the North of Perth Music Festival, with its strong association and support from the City of Bayswater, is a valuable cultural asset that has serviced the community for over 60 years bringing people together in an organized, concentrated celebration of the Arts for the purpose of enjoyment, experience and entertainment.