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05 August 2026
Horsham’s Wimmera Music Eisteddfod has this year announced Ebony Hart and Joseph Shepherd its two major winners.
Hart won the Alex Rathgeber Vocal Championship while Shepherd won the Ann Adler Memorial piano event.
Zara Nichols and Moo Soe Pearl were awarded the most promising students in the respective categories.
The event was staged across three days and two venues last week, with the largest number of entries in recent years.
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Eisteddfod patron Alex Rathgeber said it was an honour to be at the eisteddfod.
“It’s always so special to come back to this event – which is so well put together – to see everyone fully committing to their music and their performances,” he said.
“We had a couple of monologues, which was great, there was the championship vocal section where the competitors had to do three different songs in contrasting styles, and everyone was so fully committed, and the crowd was right with them.
“It’s always great to see people enjoying themselves on stage – you want to get up there and feel like you are entertaining the crowd, after all, it is entertainment.”
Rathgeber said eisteddfods were ‘critical’ in fostering talent.
“It’s invaluable experience for people to get up in front of a crowd and to have something to aim for, a reason to practise, so that by the time you get here, you’ve done weeks, probably months of practise, and to get up there and have that opportunity to perform in front of people and to feel the support,” he said.
“Everyone in the crowd is sitting out there, wishing the best for whoever’s up there.
“It brings out the best in people, and if you make a little mistake or
something, that’s all part of the learning.”
Rathgeber said it would be fantastic to celebrate the eisteddfod’s 80th event next year.
“It has been running for 79 years now owing to the efforts of some amazing locals who have put in a huge amount of work to keep it running,” he said.
“It’ll be fantastic to celebrate the 80th birthday next year – I will be back for that one, pending availability, of course.”
The entire July 29, 2026 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!
