Below are excerpts from some of the emails that the Music Festival Committee has been receiving. There are lots more, but space does not allow.
Browyn Feltham, Café Latte, Gold Coast
What a fabulous job you all did . The music certainly impressed me but I was also blown away by the sense of community and pulling together which came through strongly when you called for generators ...... you had a long line of them there in a very short time ... what an amazing sight..... on that last night. I will never forget the floodlit gums, the sparkling river and the good humour and the energy of the final concert. Thank you Margaret and your committee and community for giving we townsfolk an unforgettable experience.
Congratulations and thanks for making it all possible.
Barbara Stone, Principal MLC Sydney
Thank you for letting our girls be part of such an exciting adventure! Thank you, too, for demonstrating the "extraordinary" difference that "ordinary" people with a dream and the energy to pursue it can make.
Congratulations on the success of the Festival.
George Royter
What a Festival - well done. Rosemary and I had a great time and enjoyed making new friends at Mungindi.
I am working on a song about Mungindi and the One Ton Post will send you a copy when I am finished. If you have another festival please let me know
Mark Walton, Musical Director of the Festival, forwarded this on onto us.
Just for this email (below) alone all the work was worth it. Tamasin took the only just started band and is one of our most talented students. Mungindi will influence her life much more than she realises.
I just saw Jackie one of the other “Beautiful Bassoonists” in the corridor of the Con. She was so excited and she showed me her wrist band that she hadn’t taken off and said she was never going to leave it on until it fell off.
Tamasin, The Only Just Started Band
The fact that we were sharing music with people who would'nt usually have access to it was the most wonderful part of all. Thank you so soo much for the opportunity to take The Only Just Started Band. It was one of the most fantastic experiences of my life!! I really felt like my heart was racing faster and faster with joy, love and excitement and I don't think it has even stopped yet!
The fact that we were sharing music with people who would'nt usually have access to it was the most wonderful part of all. Thank you so soo much for the opportunity to take The Only Just Started Band. It was one of the most fantastic experiences of my life!! I really felt like my heart was racing faster and faster with joy, love and excitement and I don't think it has even stopped yet!!
Loretta from “Quadraphonic”, Wollongong
I just wanted to thank you for everything you put into the music festival. You invested so much of your time and creative energy, and it was very inspiring to meet you and hear what you had to say. It was fantastic also to have the opportunity to be welcomed into the community of Mungindi, I got to meet so many warm and generous people who took the time to talk about their
lives and experiences there. All in all it was unforgettable, thanks so much!
Brad Rueben, Brisbane State High School
To Mark Walton...
I feel tremendous gratitude to you and the organising committee for presenting such a unique event. It was a privilege to be involved. All of my musicians were over the moon after the concert on Sunday night and we had some wild scenes of jubilation for the first quarter of an hour on the bus. All the players who went are saying wonderful things to their friends and the flies and heat seem to be mostly forgotten.
To me and the more mature and alert members of the band the atmosphere and audience at the final concert were a graphic demonstration of the power and meaning of music.
Irish Tune by the river will live with me forever as will the visit I got straight after that performance from a local farmer who was in tears.
To the committee...
Thank you for your wonderful and inspiring effort with the festival. The concerts on Sunday were all outstanding events that I'm sure will live in the memory of all who were there. I have played in many venues and to many crowds as both a conductor and performer and your concerts were truly unique. The atmosphere at the final concert was amazing.
Kaylie Dunstan, Sydney Conservatorium
Hi Margaret, I was one of the percussionists on the trip to mungindi from the sydney
conservatorium. I just wanted to write to you and say what a fantastic time i had. thank you so
much for organising such an amazing event. it really did mean the world to me and so many other musicians who just had the time of their life. Mungindi is a really great place to visit and I can't tell you the last time I saw so many stars (being an astronomy lover myself). I had an excellent time meeting new people and playing in front of such an appreciative audience. Thank you once again and I can't wait to come back!!!
Rowena Watts, clarinettist, Sydney Conservatorium
I just wanted to write you a quick note to say THANK YOU SO MUCH for all of your hard work. We have all had an absolutely unforgettable experience, from meeting new people, to experiencing the amazing hospitality and warmth of the Mungindi locals, to the 2mile pub and the local authorities who chose to assist us with making our fabulous bonfire!
Personally, Mungindi will be an experience that I'll never forget, and I'm so thrilled that we will be able to share in the amazing experience again in a couple of years. When you have 300-odd musicians improvising Rock around the Clock in Queensland, underneath fireworks in New South Wales, you know you've done an incredible job!
So, thank you again, and I can't wait to see you all again in a couple of years' time!
Hamish, didge player from Brother
We said it many times...because it was the truth.
We had a wonderful time in Mungindi.
The humans
the hospitality
the settings.
Magic.