Leeuwin Estate Concert Series


The Leeuwin Estate Concert Series are annual open-air events featuring international and Australian performers at Leeuwin Estate Winery.

History

The first concert was a performance from the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1985, with the Australian tour underwritten by Leeuwin Estate owners Denis and Tricia Horgan on the condition that the orchestra play at Leeuwin Estate. Hosting the concert was considered a risk due to the physically remote location of the Margaret River, being 260 kilometres from the state capital of Perth. Friends tried to talk the Horgans out of the idea, but they went ahead and the concert was a great success, with 5000 people attending and the event attracting international coverage.
The next two concerts also featured orchestras, with the Berlin Staatskapelle performing in 1986 and the Royal Danish Orchestra in 1987. In 1988 the series featured its first individual star, when the Chicago Symphony Orchestra could not attend and instead Ray Charles was brought in to perform with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. The West Australian Symphony Orchestra has featured eight further times since accompanying other musicians.
In 1990 Leeuwin Estate hosted Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, with other stars Diana Ross and Tom Jones performing in 1992 and 1993 respectively. 1993 also saw the first iteration of the "Australian Family Concert" series featuring Australian performers at a separate event each year.
In February 2005, a concert was performed by Sting that drew an audience of 6,000 and raised over $4 million for the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami relief efforts after Sting had to cancel a scheduled concert in Sri Lanka due to the disaster.
The 26th year of the series in 2010 saw Boz Scaggs & Michael McDonald perform in front of a sold-out crowd of 6500 people.
The concert has become a major tourism draw for the Margaret River and Western Australia. Denis Horgan was awarded with a Centenary Medal and both he and Tricia Horgan were inducted as Members of the Order of Australia in 2001 for services to tourism in Western Australia.

Leeuwin Concert Series

The following is a list of the performers and the year of the concert.
YearPerformer
1985The London Philharmonic Orchestra
1986The Berlin Staatskapelle
1987The Royal Danish Orchestra
1988Ray Charles and The West Australian Symphony Orchestra
1989Dionne Warwick and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra
1990Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, James Galway and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra
1991The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
1992Diana Ross
1993Tom Jones
1994Julia Migenes, Perrin Allen and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra
1995George Benson
1996Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra
1997Shirley Bassey and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
1998Julio Iglesias
1999Bryn Terfel, Yvonne Kenny and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra
2000Michael Crawford and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra
2001Roberta Flack
2002John Farnham
2003k.d. lang
2003Picnic in the Vineyard with James Taylor
2004Lesley Garrett & Anthony Warlow with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra
2005Sting
2005Jack Johnson
2006Amici Forever & Jane Rutter
2007Simply Red
2008Yvonne Kenny, David Hobson & The West Australian Symphony Orchestra
2009Chris Isaak
2010Boz Scaggs & Michael McDonald
2011Roxy Music
2012Marina Prior, David Hobson and The Perth Symphony Orchestra
2013Carole King
2014Diana Krall and The Perth Symphony Orchestra
2015Bryn Terfel, Rachelle Durkin with special guest Lisa McCune & The Perth Symphony Orchestra
2016Chris Isaak
2017James Taylor & His All Star Band
2018Jackson Browne
2019Paul Kelly
2020No concert

Australian Family Concerts

The following is a list of performers and years as part of the annual Australian Family Concerts.
YearPerformer
1993Kate Ceberano and friends
1994Yothu Yindi
1995Black Sorrows and Vika and Linda Bull
1996Paul Kelly and Joan Armatrading
1997Yothu Yindi
1999The Whitlams
2000Paul Kelly, Uncle Bill and Kasey Chambers
2001Tex Perkins and Jimmy Little
2002The Waifs and Oh Susanna
2003Mahotella Queens
2004The Waifs
2005The Waifs
2006The John Butler Trio
2006Alex Lloyd
2007Kate Ceberano
2008The John Butler Trio & The Waifs
2009The Waifs
2010The John Butler Trio
2011Pete Murray and Passenger
2012N/A
2013The John Butler Trio
2014Pete Murray
2015Bernard Fanning
2016John Butler Trio & The Waifs
2017Bernard Fanning
2018
2019John Butler & Missy Higgins