"Bathurst - A foretaste of heaven in twenty-eleven"

Introduction to Bathurst

Bathurst is the cathedral city in the Central West of New South Wales, about 200 km or three hours easy drive from Sydney. Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth found a way over the Blue Mpuntains in May 1813, but hte Great Dividing Range was conquered later in the same year by George Evans; it was Evans who, on 9 December 1813, camped on the site of the city-to-be and named the area "The Bathurst Plains". Sheep were introduced and wheat was grown in the area by 1816.

Charles Darwin visited Bathurst in 1836. The town came to world attention with the discovery of gold in 1851. Cobb and Co. moved out of Victoria in 1862 and set up their New South Wales headquarters in Bathurst.

These days, Bathurst has a population of about 26,000. It is the centre of very fertile farming and grazing lands. There are secondary and tertiary educational institutions, manufacturing industry and fine cultural and sporting facilities. It also boasts a very well-known motor-racing circuit.

The Bathurst Summer School will be centred on the campus of Charles Sturt University (CSU) which lies at the foot of Mount Panorama and within walking distance of the city centre.

Bathurst is well served by planes, trains and buses, but perhaps the best way to reach it will be by car. The CSU campus has acres of unrestricted parking.

The university has a range of accommodation. For the young-at-heart and budget conscious there are the student apartments with single bedrooms and shared bathrooms. For those who look for a little more comfort and are prepared to pay for it, the Centre for Professional Development where most of the Summer School activities will take place has its own motel rooms with en suite bathrooms and air conditioning.

A word about the weather in Bathurst in January: the daily average maximum temperature is 28°C, and the overnight average minimum is 13°. The average number of January days over 30°C is 12; over 35° two; over 40° none.

The musical theme of the Bathurst Summer School will be “A Taste of Heaven”. Our musical chef will be Matthew Owens, Organist and Master of the Choristers at Wells Cathedral in the UK. Our sous chef will be accompanist Peter Jewkes, organist at Christ Church St Laurence in Sydney.

While the adult course is running at CSU, there will be a summer school for high school and early tertiary students running at All Saints' College in Bathurst under the musical tutorship of David Russell.

Some advance warning about dress codes: as usual at summer schools, there will be a number of church services during the week. Choir robes may be worn at each and every one. But some choirs no longer wear robes, and even if they do, robes can be difficult to manage when you are travelling. The very acceptable alternative to choir robes at church services in Bathurst will be black bottoms (shoes, socks, skirts, trousers) and bright single colour – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo or violet – tops (shirts, blouses). If you don’t currently have such a top, how about putting a couple of different colours on your next birthday/Christmas wish list?