LAKE MACQUARIE MUSIC SOCIETY

Ms JODIE HARRISON (Charlestown)—2020 marked the fortieth anniversary of the Lake Macquarie Music Society, and while the pandemic might have marred those celebrations, the Society has been hitting the ground running in 2021. Established in 1980 when former Lake Macquarie mayor Geoff Pasterfield called a public meeting, the Society has been led president and Charlestown Electorate local Mercia Buck OAM ever since. On 1 May, Mercia joined with accomplished violinist Catherine Sheng-Cooper to perform Beethoven's Spring Sonata, Debussy's Violin Sonata, Kreisler's Prelude and Allegro and some Gershwin at the Adamstown Uniting Church. Catherine earned her Master of Music at the University of Newcastle, is the concert master of the Lake Macquarie Philharmonic Orchestra and Opera Hunter Orchestra, and runs a teaching practice in Charlestown. Mercia is a graduate of Sydney Conservatorium, has a Master's Degree from the University of New South Wales and an Arts Degree from the Open University in the UK. She has studied in Vienna and London, and has had a lifetime of performance, teaching, lecturing and arts administration experience. My thanks to Mercia for her leadership of the Lake Macquarie Music Society, and to both Mercia and Catherine for the music they share with us.

A Community Recognition Notice is an opportunity for an MP to submit a short statement praising the work of an individual or group in the local community. If you have any ideas about people I can recognise with a Community Recognition Notice, please email and let me know!