Category: News

On Sunday 30th March at 2:00pm, the 3BBR-FM Concert Hall presented the recent Gippsland Symphony Orchestra concert under the direction of David Williams OAM.  The program included one the most famous and beloved orchestral works, plus a bit of fun and storytelling.

Beethoven – Coriolan Overture Op.62

Tchaikovsky – Nutcracker Suite

Joseph Haydn — Toy Symphony



Prokofiev – Peter and the Wolf

 with narrator Kate McCulley Watson

This performance was recorded on the 16th March 2025 at the West Gippsland Arts Centre, Warragul by a 3BBR volunteer.

Missed the broadcast? Listen back via our radio-on-demand service before 25 May 2025.

3BBR FM… proudly supporting local fine music.

3BBR-FM was there for the 22nd multi-award winning Boolarra Folk Festival, recording every concert for Gippsland Live.

Gippsland Live (heard 8:00pm Wed & 2:00pm Fri) is our weekly showcase of local live performances and on Wed March 19 begins its broadcast season of the 2025 festival which will continue on alternate weeks.

Visit the Gippsland Live program page for our full broadcast schedule.

Again, thousands of people flocked to Boolarra in early March for the festival with Saturday remaining completely free and unticketed with the support of sponsors.

The festival began with a launch event with four performances held at Boolarra’s Memorial Hall on the Friday night, which this year introduced a cover charge to raise funds towards repurposing the old Boolarra Post Office for the community.

Launching 3BBR’s 2025 broadcast season on Wed March 19th @8:00pm will be the soulful John Flanagan with his 4-piece band. Flanagan brings a genre-blending mix of folk, blues and soul to the stage drawing on the glory days of 70s songwriting. Praised as “one of Australia’s finest lyricist” Flanagan’s storytelling is at the forefront. Also we’ll hear songwriter/guitarist Chris Cavill with his 10yo son Jesse on ukelele.

“Once again there was a really high standard of performances, and we appreciate the help of the Festival and performers in allowing us to share the musicianship and community spirit,” said producer/engineer Garry Havrillay, “We’re also thrilled to be able to give these under-represented and emerging artists a chance to be heard more widely via Community Radio.”

Tune in to 103.1FM on Wednesday nights at 8.00pm or Friday afternoons at 2:00pm, stream online via 3bbrfm.org.au or the Community Radio Plus App, or listen later via our audio-on-demand  service at https://3bbrfm.org.au/programs/gippsland-live.

3BBR was at the 2025 Warragul Show and we broadcast live on Friday night 28th February. At 6:00pm Paul Strickland presented West Gippsland Week engaging with members of our community, and David Gilbert followed with his C120 Mixtape from 8:00pm until 10. You can listen back via their respective program pages.

Thanks to those of you who dropped in to say hello and support your genuine community voice in West Gippsland while we were at the Show.

Some exciting new programs arrive in 2025, and we’ve shuffled some others to make way!

• Wed 9pm / Sounds of the Underground with Marni — Bringing you little heard music from Melbourne, Sydney, the “Granite Belt”, Portland and all around the world. Featuring interviews and live performances, bringing the underground music scene to Gippsland.
• Wed 1pm / Gavin’s Feel Good Mix — Gavin is back to brighten up your Wednesday with a range of popular music from the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s right through to today.
• Sat 3pm / The AU Eclectic — Ash Sambrooks presents a new Australian music show featuring interviews with emerging artists while genre-hopping across indie, post-punk, electronic, ambient, experimental, and all the in-betweens.
• Tues 10:30am / The Wire Weekly — A digest of independent news and current affairs produced for Australia’s Community Radio Network.
• Tues night @midnight / Ultima Thule — Late night chill; ambient and electronic music with George Cruikshank.
• Wed night @midnight / Live from Studio 3 — Studio performances from Three D Radio in Adelaide.

Programs changing timeslot:

• BLUES, ROOTS & BOOTS, moves from 5pm Tues to 9am Tues.
• IT’S TIME, moves from 9am Tues to 5pm Tues (swapped with Blue Roots ‘n’ Boots).
• MUSIC FOR BEACHES, moves from 6pm Thurs to 10pm Wed.
• SMOOTH & COOL, RARE & SPICY (replay) moves from Wed 9-11pm to Thurs 9-11pm
• HOT, SWEET & JAZZY, moves earlier from Thurs 10pm to 6pm.
• A JAZZ HOUR, moves one hour earlier to 8pm Thur.
• JAZZ JUST FOR YOU (replay) on Sunday night moves one hour earlier to 10pm.
• THE BREEZE, moves from 8pm Thurs to 11pm Sun.
• 45RPM (replay) moves earlier to 12 noon Sat
• THRU-TRAFFIC moves to 2pm Sat

Our full schedule is at https://3bbrfm.org.au/guide
Download a PDF copy of the new schedule to keep or print.

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As always, if you have feedback about our schedule, please get in touch.  Visit our contact page for the many ways you can do that. 

Guitarist and composer Robbie Melville with cellist Zoe Knighton recently presented an unusual and original mix of music performance and storytelling.

“The Village Square” tells of love and loss, misfortune and mirth, the graceful and grotesque; evocative, enchanting and above all human.

3BBR was there to record their recent intimate performance at Yarragon Studio, and it was heard in the 3BBR-FM Concert Hall on Sunday 2nd February from 2:00pm.

Missed the live broadcast?  3BBR Concert Hall programs are available on our website as audio-on-demand for 8 weeks after broadcast.

West Gippsland Community Radio 3BBR-FM, supporting local live performance.

During January the 3BBR-FM Concert Hall is revisiting highlights of local concerts recorded during 2024, from the Yarragon Studio and Wesley of Warragul.

On Sunday 26 January at 2pm highlights include;

• a piano recital by Georgina Lewis with guest saxophonist, Niels Bijl
• the inaugural concert by the Reeds Bending wind ensemble at the Yarragon Studio ‘Winter Feast’
• the Invictus String Quartet in a selection of Tangos from Argentina
• members of the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, premiering a new work, ‘Quintettsatz’ by pianist/composer, Stefan Cassomenos, plus a movement from the Hummel Piano Quintet

On Sunday 19 January at 2pm highlights included performances from;

• the first Yarragon Studio Festival at St Jarleth’s Church, with Niels Bijl – saxophone, Kyla Matsura-Miller – violin, Eliza Shepherd – flute and Stephen Cuttriss playing bandoneon,
• The Contra Guitar Duo,
• Pianist Joshua Hooke,
• Brian Chapman and Friends in the Mendelssohn Piano Trio in D.

Relive the amazing talents of Australia’s finest musicians in these exclusive 3BBR-FM local concert recordings, broadcast in the 3BBR-FM Concert Hall in 2024. Listen live on 103.1FM or streaming, or later on-demand.

3BBR-FM proudly supporting Local Fine Music Concerts.

In a highly anticipated concert by one of Australia’s finest symphony orchestras, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Chorus with the West Gippsland Chorale, performed Handel’s greatest oratorio, ‘Messiah’ at the West Gippsland Arts Centre on Friday 6th December.

In this sold-out performance, music lovers in Warragul witnessed an inspirational performance, one worthy of any major world concert hall.

3BBR-FM was there to record this major concert event, and the first of a series of performances of Messiah in regional Victorian centres prior to the Hamer Hall concerts in Melbourne. It was broadcast in the 3BBR FM Concert Hall at 2pm on Sunday 22nd December.

The highly acclaimed Australian conductor, MSO Artist-in-Residence, and baroque music specialist Erin Helyard conducted from the harpsichord with an energy and spirit rarely witnessed in the annual Messiah performances, creating a truly memorable start to the Christmas Season.

It was heart-warming and a joy to see our own West Gippsland Chorale sharing the stage with the MSO Chorus, capping off a special 40th anniversary year for the Chorale.  What an honour for the Chorale to have this opportunity.  The smiling faces of the choristers made this palpable, with choral singing of the highest order.

An impressive cast of equally matched soloists, delivered their arias with perfect diction full of meaning, with ringing quality notes in every aria.  They are young Australian-based singers establishing domestic and international careers; Melbourne-based soprano Stacey Alleaume and tenor Michael Petrucelli, along with Sydney-based mezzo-soprano Helen Sherman and baritone David Greco.

The trumpet soloists in the final aria, ‘The trumpet shall sound’ was one of the most thrilling.

Conductor Erin Helyard said of this iconic work, which features one of the most famous pieces of Baroque choral music in the Hallelujah Chorus, “a wonderful evocation of Christmas”.

Messiah is a true masterpiece written more than 280 years ago yet still inspiring joy and wonder to all, from first-time listeners to the many who make the work a Christmas tradition.

This performance was produced and recorded by Garry Havrillay for 3BBR as a proud supporter of local fine music concerts.

A sublime jazz vocalist, with the golden touch of a legend at the piano features on Gippsland Live on Dec 11th & 13th.  This gorgeous and intimate concert was recorded exclusively by 3BBR at the Yarragon Studio on 17 November 2024.

Pianist and composer Tony Gould is one of Australia’s most respected musicians.  His career has embraced many styles of music, not least jazz and other improvisatory musics in addition to traditional and contemporary classical musics.  He gives many concerts each year and for many years he has been involved in an extraordinary number of recording projects both as pianist and composer and has been at the forefront of music education in Australia via various educational institutions in Melbourne and throughout Australia.

Born in Melbourne, Emma Gilmartin is fast gaining a reputation as one of ,Australia’s most talented jazz vocalists.  While her skill and training lies predominantly in Jazz and Latin styles, Emma Gilmartin is passionate about, and experienced in a variety of styles including Soul, Popular, and Celtic.  She has spent much of her musical life writing her own music in Melbourne.

Listen back to Gippsland Live from Wednesday 11th & Friday 13th December.

Missed the broadcast?  Gippsland Live programs are available on our website as audio-on-demand for 8 weeks after broadcast.

West Gippsland Community Radio 3BBR-FM, supporting local live performance.