00:00 It's the bane of parents' lives across Australia, but the recorder has found a welcome home
00:11 in Armidale in the Northern Tablelands.
00:14 It's a haven for those who've embraced the unsung hero of the Baroque world.
00:19 I always wanted to be a professional recorder player, so I was a small child with a dream
00:23 from Hay originally, and I said this is what I want to do.
00:27 The Australasian Recorder Festival is now in its fifth year.
00:31 For the 150 recorder players who've come to play here, this is their woodstock.
00:37 It brings together tutors from across Australia and the world.
00:41 Some even get to perform alongside some of the world's most prominent recorder players.
00:46 Teaching technical class and also ensemble playing, and so I'm conducting and teaching
00:53 and also playing a solo concert.
00:56 It's not the coolest instrument, but those who play it wouldn't have it any other way.
01:01 It was just me.
01:03 I was lonely.
01:05 And every time you start a new class, you go round and you say your instrument, your
01:09 name and your major, and I'd be like, "Kimberly, recorder, historically informed performance,"
01:15 and everyone would laugh and say, "Ha ha, what's your real instrument?"
01:19 Like, no, no, that is it.
01:21 Mum wanted me to learn descant for like six months and then go to a real instrument like
01:25 a clarinet.
01:26 And I remember I was 14 years old, I walked into the room, and I don't believe in true
01:30 love, but in that moment, I just knew what I was going to do for the rest of my life.
01:34 A deep respect for an instrument that's managed to strike a chord with this group of musicians.
01:39 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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