A group of musicians performing on stage with string and wind instruments, a grand piano, and a harp, in front of an audience in a concert hall.

Our Story

Mountain Productions is a non-profit organisation that presents the Blackheath Chamber Music Festival, an annual three-day chamber music festival held each April in the heart of the upper Blue Mountains.

The Festival was borne out of the town’s adversity: the 2019 bushfires and the pandemic; and a desire by founder, Catherine Harker, to restore, enrich and empower the vibrant community of Blackheath. Presenting its first festival in 2021, Blackheath Chamber Music Festival has since established itself as an enduring event in the Australian arts calendar.

BCMF presents music experiences that are artistically excellent, Innovative and vibrant, featuring Australia’s pre-eminent classical musicians. BCMF’s programming is intrepid and courageous, with a passion for creating multi-artform collaborations and championing new and established Australian composers.

In 2027, BCMF has entered a new era with the retirement of founder, Catherine Harker and the appointment of violinist, Lerida Delbridge as the new Festival Director, commencing with the 2027 Festival.

The singer Lior, singing passionately into a microphone on stage, with musicians playing string instruments next to him, during a live performance.
William Barton playing an acoustic guitar while Verronique Serret is in the background playing a violin on stage, with purple and blue lighting.
Close-up of John Bell, wearing a dark cable-knit sweater, holding a notes, sitting on stage with black curtains during a rehearsal.
Pianist Andrea Lam sitting at a piano, smiling on stage during a rehearsal, with purple and blue lighting.
Percussionist Rebecca Lagos seated on a red chair playing claves, with Bernadette Harvey playing the piano in the background.

Our People

Lerida Delbridge with short brown hair wearing a floral dress, sitting on a wooden chair, holding a violin and a bow.

Lerida Delbridge

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Lerida has carved out a rich career as a chamber musician, orchestral player and educator. In 2003, Lerida co-founded the Tinalley String Quartet, with whom she toured extensively over the next two decades, performing throughout Europe, America, Canada and Australia in the world’s finest concert halls and festivals. Winners of the 9th Banff International String Quartet Competition, the quartet’s career highlights included performances in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Vienna Musikverein, Bremen’s Die Glocke, Hamburg Laeiszhalle, Berlin Konzerthaus and the Frankfurt AlteOper, as well as in Paris, London and New York. The Quartet released numerous critically acclaimed recordings with ABC Classics and DECCA Australia.

Lerida was Assistant Concertmaster with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra from 2013 and in 2025, moved to the position of Principal 2nd. She has performed as guest Principal with the Tasmanian, Adelaide and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras and has toured with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and Australian World Orchestra.

Lerida commenced her tertiary studies aged 15 at The University of Melbourne and was awarded a Doctor of Musical Arts in 2003. Lerida has also studied at the International Menuhin Academy; International Holland Music Sessions; Banff Centre for the Arts, Canada; International Musicians Seminar Prussia Cove, UK; Yale Summer School of Music and Stanford University. Keen to give back to the arts community, in 2024 Lerida became Artistic Director of Hunters Hill Music.

  • A smiling Catherine Harker, founder of BCMF, wearing glasses and a colorful necklace, against a blurred background.

    Catherine Harker

    FOUNDER

  • Alice Coffey with long hair holding a microphone in speaking at a podium as MC before a performance or presentation on a stage, with an audience watching.

    Alice Coffey

    GENERAL MANAGER

  • Matthew Wilkie playing a bassoon on stage during a performance, with music sheets on a stand in front of him and a purple-lit screen in the background.

    Matthew Wilkie

    ARTISTIC ADVISOR

  • A stylized pink outline of a rhododendron flower with white line details on a white background.

    Hayati Kamarudin

    TREASURER

  • Louise Johnson playing a harp against a purple background.

    Louise Johnson

    COMMITTEE

  • A stylized pink outline of a rhododendron flower with white line details on a white background.

    Jillian Albrecht

    COMMITTEE

  • A stylized pink outline of a rhododendron flower with white line details on a white background.

    Katherine Downs

    COMMITTEE