Now in its fourth year, the Blackheath Chamber Music Festival is back, bigger and better than ever – and without a cent of arts funding from the government.

Thank goodness for Bendigo Bank, which has decided to sponsor this vital event in the Blue Mountains’ arts calendar.

The first day of the festival got underway with Louise Johnson’s incredibly entertaining and informative The Harp’s Journey, before coming to a close with the Goldner String Quartet’s 30th-anniversary concert, heralding its farewell.

Both performances are reviewed separately below.

Louise Johnson at the Blackheath Chamber Music Festival 2024. Photo © Keith Saunders

Louise Johnson: The Harp’s Journey ★★★★

Some musicians have the gift of the gab, and Louise Johnson has it in spades. Watching the former Sydney Symphony Orchestra Principal Harpist take the audience on a musical journey spanning more than three millennia, it’s hard not to wish you were back at school with Johnson as your music teacher.

Not only does she know how to impart her encyclopaedic knowledge of the harp’s history, she’s funny too. Very, very funny.

Taking to a harp with a selection of kitchen utensils and Blu Tack, Johnson gives an improvised demonstration of the...