About NEBF
The New England Bach Festival is a biennial music festival in Armidale, NSW.
The next festival will be held in 2027, Friday 30 April - Sunday 2 May.
The festival was founded in 2003 and brings together local and guest musicians in the heart of the New England Region. Across three days of concerts, workshops, and community events, audiences are invited to experience the brilliance, joy, and depth of Bach’s music, and its continuing power to inspire.
Held in the beautiful regional city of Armidale, the festival brings the community together in a unique spirit of music-making, hospitality, and discovery. Audiences can enjoy concerts in historic churches, contemporary venues, and intimate chamber settings—all surrounded by the autumn colours of New England.
Our Vision
to celebrate the music and continuing legacy of Johann Sebastian Bach, both grounded in history and alive in the present
to create spaces for shared discovery and musical exchange through concerts, workshops, masterclasses, and community events
to foster collaborations between local and visiting musicians
to stimulate cultural life and tourism in our region by connecting music, community, and place
Our Team
Sheila Guymer - Co-Director
A pianist, fortepianist, and harpsichordist, Sheila has presented concerts and conference papers in the USA, France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK, and around Australia. She has a BMus (Hons) from the University of Queensland, and Masters degrees in piano performance from Melbourne and Sydney Universities. Sheila has held teaching positions at the Universities of Melbourne, Sydney, Victoria, New England, and Cambridge (UK).
Now running a private piano teaching studio in Armidale, Sheila was Head of Keyboard at the New England Conservatorium of Music (NECOM), 2019 – 2025; and founding Program Manager of the Autumn Piano School, a collaboration between NECOM and Piano+ (organisers of the Sydney International Piano Competition). Since 1998, she has coordinated numerous concerts, concert series, and events in Melbourne, Sydney, Armidale, and Cambridge (UK), including a 3-day international conference at Emmanuel College, Cambridge; and 2 years’ Chair of Cambridge University’s Faculty of Music’s Colloquia Series.
Camilla Tafra - Co-Director
Baroque and modern cellist Camilla Tafra completed her undergraduate studies at the QLD and Melbourne Conservatoria. During this time she co-founded the Brisbane Baroque Players and managed this ensemble for its first four years. She studied baroque cello in Toronto with Christina Mahler of the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, also participating in the orchestra’s summer institutes in 2011 and 2016 and being selected as one of four cellists for their winter institute in 2019.
In recent years she has performed as a member of baroque ensemble Austral Harmony, Brisbane-based tango band La Vuelta, and the Gold Coast Chamber Orchestra, as well as numerous freelance solo and ensemble performances on baroque and modern cello in both Brisbane and Armidale.