Sophie Raymond and Genevieve Lacey met when Raymond was making the acclaimed 2011 documentary film Mrs Carey’s Concert with Bob Connolly. Lacey – the Australian recorder virtuoso – was an artist in residence at the school where they were filming. Both immediately recognised a kindred spirit.

“Mrs Carey is a recorder player herself and the prospect of Gen arriving had turned her into a nervous giggling school girl. It was intriguing. So was the large tin of Milo that seemed to be the requisite provision for this esteemed individual. Who was this chocolate fuelled recorder super star? I liked her before I even met her – or heard her play,” recalls Raymond.

“And when we did meet, I recognised in her someone who shared an almost wicked delight in surprising people with unexpected beauty. I’ll never forget seeing the faces of those school girls hearing her play the recorder so magnificently, showing them what it could do in virtuosic hands. Years of disdain for the instrument just dissolved in an instant.”

Genevieve Lacey in a still from Recorder Queen. Images supplied

Not long after that, Lacey was working as Artistic Director with Four Winds Festival...