Latest news with #LakesEntrance
ABC News
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
What the piano means to me: Jeremy Fernandez and Megan Burslem
Like many of us, ABC presenters Jeremy Fernandez's and Megan Burslem's first memories of the piano are from their childhood lessons. Fernandez started learning when he was seven and played until he was in his early twenties. He still plays from time to time, on the piano his parents bought when he started learning. It's served three generations in the family home. In the small town of Lakes Entrance, Victoria, Burslem had lessons from the wife of the local Anglican priest. Burslem's instrument of choice went on to be the viola, but the piano would remain an important companion during her music studies. As the pair get ready to host a celebration of one of Australia's favourite instruments in the Classic 100 in Concert, we asked them what the piano means to them. Jeremy Fernandez: …it arriving in the driveway of our home, and watching it being heaved off a truck by a group of men who prised it out of its wooden casing and positioned it in the lounge room where I would learn to play. I remember gazing up at the hulking mass of rosewood, and black and white keys, filled with excitement and trepidation at the thought of conquering this glimmering beast with my feet literally off the ground. Megan Burslem: ...Suzuki piano lessons from Mrs Lenthall, who was the local Anglican priest's wife. I used to go to the front room of their house and have piano lessons on their old upright piano. And I could never read a note. But I pretended that I could. Jeremy: ...I come from quite a musical family of people who played everything from the piano, guitar, ukelele, and violin, to spoons and buckets for family 'jam sessions' during which everyone would dance. It always struck me that the piano had such an enormous range, and it's still my favourite form of expression. Megan: ...It's an instrument that has guided me in the world of classical music in so many different iterations. We often play alongside the piano when we're learning our instruments as a viola player, and then I fell in love with piano music when it came to piano concertos. Jeremy: ...To me, the piano can mimic the sound of a teardrop, perfect stillness, or joyful exuberance. Like any relationship, there's frustration too, when your fingers and the keys are out of sync. I've banged on my piano keys out of annoyance many times, but we've always managed to work things out. Megan: ...I think [the piano] can bring us together because it's an instrument that we can gather around. I feel it's an instrument that says 'Come to me. You're going to have a great time.' Jeremy: ...hearing a piano in concert with a full orchestra, one of my favourite things. As we learned from the Classic 100: Piano, some of Australia's favourite pieces for piano wouldn't be the same without a soaring orchestral treatment. Megan: ...Australian music. There is something so special about hearing music that is created in the here and now and music that reflects who we are. I'm very excited to hear the music of Nat Bartsch, the newest composer in the Classic 100: Piano. I deeply relate to her style of composing. The Classic 100 in Concert premieres at 7.30pm on Saturday 21 June. Watch on ABC TV and ABC iview and listen on ABC Classic and the ABC listen app.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Yahoo
Excited tourists watch 'nature documentary' unfold as predator hunts off Aussie coast
Tourists have watched on with excitement as two unlikely Australian animals came together to perform a fascinating feeding display. Photos highlight the amazing cunningness of a seagull as it scavenges tiny pieces of fish strewn across the ocean by a hungry fur seal. 'When the seals are eating they whack it around to make it a bit smaller, and the birds follow,' Melinda Fredericks from Lonsdale Eco Cruises told Yahoo News. 'We'll often get around a dozen of them. If you watch the bird activity, they're a good indication of when there are seals or even dolphins around.' Related: Tourists stunned by 'lifetime moment' off the Aussie coast The spectacle happens regularly around the Victorian holiday town of Lakes Entrance. Tourists lucky enough to see it close-up often describe it as being like 'a nature documentary in real life'. 'Tourists are amazed to see something in the wild like that, animals actually hunting and feeding,' she said. A week ago, when the seal was smashing up its fish, she heard the familiar cries of 'My God, wow, and look at it,' she said. 😳 Shock moment kangaroo enters suburban home 📸 Carloads of Aussies flock to water's edge as 'exciting' ancient ritual begins 🌏 Farmers lead Aussie research team to 'unreal' discovery on island Out on the water several times a week, Melinda has been lucky enough to have seen the seal display before. The veteran guide has snapped images of seals attacking an unlikely array of prey, including puffer fish, eels and even an unfortunate octopus. The seals are familiar with her boat, so they continue on as if no one is watching. But she doesn't like to stay more than 10 minutes, so as not to disturb the animals as they display natural behaviour. 'This time of year we get up to 100 seals, but it goes in cycles. Towards the end of May we'll get heaps of them and their pups. But when November comes, a lot of them will disappear and go offshore,' she said. Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? 🐊🦘😳 Get our new newsletter showcasing the week's best stories.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Yahoo
Excited tourists watch incredible scene unfold as predator hunts off Aussie coast
Tourists have watched on with excitement as two unlikely Australian animals came together to perform a fascinating feeding display. Photos highlight the amazing cunningness of a seagull as it scavenges tiny pieces of fish strewn across the ocean by a hungry fur seal. 'When the seals are eating they whack it around to make it a bit smaller, and the birds follow,' Melinda Fredericks from Lonsdale Eco Cruises told Yahoo News. 'We'll often get around a dozen of them. If you watch the bird activity, they're a good indication of when there are seals or even dolphins around.' Related: Tourists stunned by 'lifetime moment' off the Aussie coast The spectacle happens regularly around the Victorian holiday town of Lakes Entrance. Tourists lucky enough to see it close-up often describe it as being like 'a nature documentary in real life'. 'Tourists are amazed to see something in the wild like that, animals actually hunting and feeding,' she said. A week ago, when the seal was smashing up its fish, she heard the familiar cries of 'My God, wow, and look at it,' she said. 😳 Shock moment kangaroo enters suburban home 📸 Carloads of Aussies flock to water's edge as 'exciting' ancient ritual begins 🌏 Farmers lead Aussie research team to 'unreal' discovery on island Out on the water several times a week, Melinda has been lucky enough to have seen the seal display before. The veteran guide has snapped images of seals attacking an unlikely array of prey, including puffer fish, eels and even an unfortunate octopus. The seals are familiar with her boat, so they continue on as if no one is watching. But she doesn't like to stay more than 10 minutes, so as not to disturb the animals as they display natural behaviour. 'This time of year we get up to 100 seals, but it goes in cycles. Towards the end of May we'll get heaps of them and their pups. But when November comes, a lot of them will disappear and go offshore,' she said. Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? 🐊🦘😳 Get our new newsletter showcasing the week's best stories.
ABC News
23-05-2025
- ABC News
Man arrested after pedestrian's body discovered on Morwell roadside
Police have interviewed a man following the discovery of a body on the side of a road in Morwell in eastern Victoria. Police say a 40-year-old father from Traralgon was walking along the base of the Princes Way overpass on the Princes Freeway when he was likely struck by a vehicle. His body was discovered at about 9am on Thursday by a commuter. Sergeant Mark Amos of the Major Collision Investigation Unit told the ABC the deceased man's body could have been lying in the grass for eight hours. "He's been found next to the barrier with injuries consistent with being hit by a vehicle," he said. Detectives searched the scene for evidence for most of Thursday. A 28-year-old Lakes Entrance man was arrested 128 kilometres away in Bairnsdale late on Thursday afternoon and has been interviewed by police. He has been released without charge pending further enquiries. Police are calling on people who were driving in the area between 1am and 9am on Thursday, May 22, to come forward with information that may be of interest. They are also asking anyone with road-facing CCTV to look through the footage.
