TIME: Doors/bar open 7:30 pm, Music from 8:00 pm
TICKETS: Pre-sale tickets: $35, Members: $30
At door on night $40
VENUE: Wauchope Community Arts Hall Oxley Lane (opp Bain Park)
DURATION: Approx 2.5 hours
CATERING: Bar open selling beer, wine, tea, coffee, cold drinks, icecreams and Baba Lila chocs (cash preferred)
'The Listening Sessions’ invite the audience into the collective musical mind of a group of musicians to experience an extended improvisation. This process focuses on really listening, an essential element of creating music in the moment. The audience is invited to listen in the same way and experience this creative journey that the musicians are making together. The musicians will create 90 minutes of new music by listening deeply to each other while improvising over a drone. Nothing will have been written or rehearsed beforehand. Nothing will have been discussed about the unfolding music except to choose the pitch of the drone that will be the foundation upon which the musicians build their music. It is this ‘Process' of creating the music rather than the ‘Product of the completed composition that is given precedence. In this way 'The Listening Sessions’ redefine music as a process rather than a commodity.
Greg Sheehan - is one of the leading figures in Australian Percussion. As a performer, teacher and recording artist, he is significantly represented in Australian music for over 50 years. He has been a major influence on generations of musicians and has literally reshaped the map of RHYTHM… A passionate visionary who has created a unique system of maths music called ‘Rhythm Diamonds’ which is now being taught in Music Colleges around the country.
Linsey Pollak - is well known all around Australia as a musician, instrument maker, composer, musical director and community music facilitator. He has toured his solo shows extensively in Europe, Nth America and Asia since 1996. He established The Multicultural Arts Centre of WA and has co-ordinated five Cross-cultural Music Ensembles in three different States. He has also performed at most major Festivals around Australia and recorded over 40 albums (solo & with various groups).
Shenzo Gregorio - dazzles audiences with his world-class performances. He has been performing professionally for almost 20 years, his career highlights include performing at New York’s world famous Carnegie Hall with FourPlay String Quartet and author Neil Gaiman. He’s a leader in his field of jazz and world styles having performed in Russia, Brazil, Asia, India, parts of Europe and all over Australia at various festivals.
Tunji Beier - at the age of ten Tunji was studying Yoruba drumming in Nigeria. Six years later he travelled to Bangalore in South India to study percussion for three years at the Karnakata College of Percussion under the mentorship of Mr TAS Mani. This intense period of study enables Tunji to bring his mastery of the mridangam, kanjira, ghatam and morsing to a huge variety of projects with musicians such as with greats such as: Charlie Mariano, Bill Cobham, T.A.S.Mani, R.A.Ramamani, Trilok Gurtu, and Zakir Hussain.
TIME: Doors/bar open 7:30 pm, Music from 8:00 pm
TICKETS: Pre-sale tickets: $35, Members: $30
At door on night $40
VENUE: Wauchope Community Arts Hall Oxley Lane (opp Bain Park)
DURATION: Approx 2.5 hours
CATERING: Bar open selling beer, wine, tea, coffee, cold drinks, icecreams and Baba Lila chocs (cash preferred)
Stiff Gins, featuring Wiradjuri/Yorta Yorta woman Kaleena Briggs and Yuwaalaraay woman Nardi Simpson, form a powerful musical duo.
Their fourth studio album, Crossroads, marks the 25-year career point for Australia’s longest-performing all-female First Nations band. It also reaffirms the band’s status as matriarchal pioneers in the Australian Blak music scene. Produced by Syd Green (Casey Chambers, 19Twenty), Crossroads combines Stiff Gins’ signature blend of folk, roots, and First Nations language and culture with newfound depths of lyrical storytelling, intricate harmony, and rich layers of instrumentation. The result is a sonic landscape resonating with both introspection and resilience, forged against a political backdrop advocating for greater representation and recognition of First Nations people in Australia.
Crossroads not only delves into the emotional landscapes of transformation but also sings up profound belonging amidst change. As Stiff Gins navigate these crossroads, they craft a musical tapestry that resonates with themes of resilience, self-discovery, and letting go. The album reflects personal and collective evolution, bearing testament to Nardi Simpson and Kaleena Briggs’ enduring spirit and sisterhood.
Crossroads is a celebration of Stiff Gins’ role as cultural custodians of the Australian musical environment—one that invites the past into the present, merges tradition with innovation, and seeks to sing a future overflowing with strength and grace.
TIME: Doors/bar open 7:30 pm, Music from 8:00 pm
TICKETS: Pre-sale tickets: $35, Members: $30
At door on night $40
VENUE: Wauchope Community Arts Hall Oxley Lane (opp Bain Park)
DURATION: Approx 2.5 hours
CATERING: Bar open selling beer, wine, tea, coffee, cold drinks, icecreams and Baba Lila chocs (cash preferred)
The Maes are celebrating the release of their fourth studio album, ‘Abreast’, with a national headline tour encompassing their favourite cities and small towns in Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia! Already in 2025 so far they have toured the UK opening for Grace Petrie and played the Shetland and Orkney Folk Festivals. They celebrated the album’s release day with a sold-out folk-festival-style event, ‘Abreastival’ in their home town of Castlemaine, Central Victoria. The band's previous albums, 2019's self-titled record and 2017's Take Care, Take Cover won the Music Victoria, Folk/Roots Album of the Year among a host of other accolades.
The Maes bring modern folk to life with lush harmonies and acoustic mastery on guitar, mandolin, fiddle and banjo. Born in Central Victoria, the sisters grew up immersed in a melting pot of music from around the world washed up on stolen land. The Maes are outstanding live, with engaging storytelling and spine-tingling harmonies. The sisters draw their audience in like your sweetest and scariest friend. With echoes of Gillian Welch and The Waifs, there is a timeless luminescence and simplicity to the songwriting and sound of Maggie and Elsie Rigby.
As well as selling out headline shows around the country and overseas, their international festival appearances include the Telluride Bluegrass Festival (USA) Edmonton Folk Festival (Canada) Orkney Folk Festival (UK) and Woodford Folk Festival (Aus).
‘The Maes folk/pop sensibility is alluring. I'm a sucker for harmonies and these girls cover this ground with such bluegrass perfection, it makes me realise so many styles of our music grow from the same old tree - we are merely branches away from each other.’ – Troy Cassar-Daley
I’ve always had such love for The Maes! Their timeless sound is always sung with such sincerity and emotion straight from the heart. – Josh Teskey
Where to find us, facilities and venue hire
Join a thriving community with member benefits
Learn about our philosophy and rich history
Sign up for the Wauchope Arts mailing list to hear about the latest events and opportunities.
Wauchope Community Arts Council acknowledges the Birpai peoples as the traditional owners of country and pays its respect to Elders past and present.