Classical musicians headed for Dubbo have been playing at various styles of venues

"Performing at edgy venues was one of the strong drawcards for getting the audience to come along and hear classical music," Winther, who has played for the Australian Chamber Orchestra, said.

Winther founded the Play On concert series in 2016 while playing with orchestras in Australia, New Zealand, and Europe to test the water with audiences' reactions to the classics his group performs.

His group performed concertos of Bach sonatas, Mendelssohns, Regers, and Brahms in the underground car park at Collingwood in Victoria and a nightclub in Berlin.

The violin he plays was crafted in 1859 by the French, Jean-Baptise Vuillaume, and loaned to him by the UKARIA Cultural Centre.

"Playing for any audience is wonderful but it was unique to see 300 plus crowd of people in their 20s and 30s," Winther said.

"The goal of Play On was to get young audiences to come and hear us. Exposure to classical music must be for all ages."

When his group of classical musicians returns to Dubbo on Saturday, April 29 for the conservatorium's concert series this year, they will be playing a repertoire of classics in a tribute to the Australian violinist Alma Moodie.

Winther, Anna Da Silva Chen, Dana Lee, and cellist Thomas Marlin are "bringing a fresh and fearless approach" in a tribute to Moodie and "to invigorate the classics while performing new works" as well, conservatorium director Vivienne Winther said.

The quartet dedicated their performance in memory of the talented Moodie who spent most of her time performing in Europe than other Australian musicians.

The State Library of Queensland (SLQ) has an extensive collection of the Rockhampton-born Moodie's private letters to her mentor Vienna's violinist Louis D'Hage who performed in Melbourne in 1880 and stayed.

Moodie also trained with the German composer Max Reger who described her "the biggest violin talent I have ever encountered."

IN OTHER NEWS: Double delight for Dubbo after two big Lucky Lotteries wins in the past week

IN OTHER NEWS: Why 'bringing home spirits' of Indigenous soldiers means so much to Joe Flick

Moodie's collections are contained in SLQ's John Oxley Library but Dubbo's classical music lovers can hear some of Moodie's collections when the quartet performs.

"There is a lot of classical music written in the last 100 years which is not often performed or in some cases never been performed in Australia," Winther said to reveal some of the repertoire they are preparing for the Dubbo performance.

"Moodie was a champion of several composers of her era wo have fallen off the radar such as Krenek, Reger, Busoni, Erdmann and to some extent Bartok.

"We're revisiting those composers and others who have been neglected since that time.

"I don't think popular music has stolen the classical audience, they're always growing and have only receded in popularity in terms of percentage of any given population who listen to it.

"I listen to all kinds of music, jazz, metal, bluegrass, pop but I won't play anything other than classical.

"We focus on playing the extraordinary works which are important to represent and doing that at the highest possible level."

Local string students will benefit from their expertise at a masterclass with these visiting artists on Friday, April 28 at Macquarie Conservatorium.

Tickets for the Alma Moodie Quartet concert from www.123tix.com.au

IN OTHER NEWS: 'Living the dream': Accessories side hustle turns full-time as bush business booms