An annual feast for the senses, the Huntington Estate Music Festival – which takes place in the Barrel Hall and grounds of the Huntington Estate Winery in Mudgee in November – is now in its 29th year. While picturesque setting, gourmet food and award-winning wines are all important draw cards, it’s the music – presented in association with Musica Viva – that audiences flock to taste, and Festival Artistic Director Carl Vine makes sure each vintage is completely unique.

“I try to make every Huntington Festival as different as possible from its predecessors, and this always begins with the choice of instruments, and choice of specific artists,” Vine tells Limelight. “A stellar violinist or singer one year, then harp, guitar or multiple winds another. Or, as we have in even years like 2018, the Chamber Orchestra of the Australian National Academy of Music.”

Huntington Music FestivalRay Chen, Dene Olding and musicians from the Australian National Academy of Music at the 2014 Huntington Estate Music Festival. Photo: supplied

“My next step is to find out what repertoire the artists would especially like to perform in this unusual forum, given the often strange ensembles and subsets that become available,”...