With a resurgence of fine music festivals in regional areas comes the challenge for directors to broaden the cultural offerings and attract tourists and locals alike. So it is on the Mornington Peninsula, the number one summer go-to region for Victorian holiday makers.

Programming 19 exciting music performances across as many days for the annual Peninsula Summer Music Festival, in eight popular gardens and venues in the region, Festival Directors Ben Opie and Melissa Doecke have taken the event many steps forward in 2023. As members of the innovative ensemble Inventi, they are well experienced in searching for exciting new ways to involve audiences. This project, exploring the visual representation of music and musicians as the music happens, was one such event.

The prelude to the concert was a drawing workshop, in which 12 participants attended an open rehearsal by Inventi and were then encouraged to respond to the colours, shapes, harmonies and rhythms in the repertoire.

Some sketches were abstract, others were figurative. Some were by very excited and experienced concert goers who had never thought to respond in this way before. The process was further broadened with...