When Catherine Farry heard that Create NSW was to fund a new independent organisation called Music in the Regions, which would tour top-notch musicians and small-to-medium ensembles to places not usually visited by classical musicians, her heart leaped.

Farry is the Executive Director of West Darling Arts, the Regional Arts Development Organisation for Far West NSW, based in Broken Hill.

Inventi Ensemble performing with First Nations dancers at Narrandera’s Koori Beach in 2023.

“I’ve known about Music in the Regions since it was first set up [in 2021] and have been counting down the days until they could organise something to come out this way because, as you can imagine, [with] Broken Hill being so far from Sydney, it is really difficult to tour anything here because of the costs and the time,” she says.

“We are 500 kilometres from Adelaide and 1,300 from Sydney, so it’s really hard to [attract] good quality musical experiences. So, when Ian [Whitney, the General Manager and Producer of Music in the Regions] said that he had the Heartland project in mind, it was wonderful news. We have an audience, not huge, but a very...