Meet The Couple Injecting Cultural Diversity Into The Darling Downs

It would be hard to find a couple as generous Lyndall and Mick McCormack. Living on a property located on the banks of the Condamine River in Killarney, the couple have a strong passion for live music, arts and culture.

Lyndall McCormack is a wife, mother, community member and lover of the arts. Being incredibly community minded is second nature, having been on the board of the Killarney Memorial Aged Care Centre in 2008 and promoted to Chairman since 2011. Qualified as an Occupational Therapist who has worked in community health and public health campaigning, she has also served on the Board of Warwick Shire Tourism.

Lyndall’s love of community is shared by her husband Mick, CEO of the APA Group. Through his leadership the APA Group has enhanced its focus on sustainable resources, implemented best-practice health and safety initiatives along with developing a broad range of corporate social responsibility programs.

Together they are a force within the community, sharing their passions and assisting wherever they can. Their latest venture sees the generous couple completely self-funding The Pop Up Jazz Bar which will be apart of the Warwick community’s Jumpers & Jazz in July Festival.

The couple saw potential to add an extra element to this year’s festival and have sponsored artists from Brisbane and interstate to join in on the festivities. Lyndall is proud to be a part of the community and is excited to bring these acts from ‘out of town’ to provide positive experiences for the local artists, while also showcasing the local talent to the wider community.

“We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the world, and we want to share it with as many people as we can, and live music is a great way to so it.” Mrs McCormack said.

The Pop Up Jazz Bar will be an exciting new addition to the the festival which is in its 15th year. The brainchild of Lyndall and Mick, will see the iconic Warwick Palace Hotel open its doors once again for the duration of the festival, after it had closed in 2015. The unique space will be transformed into a jazz lounge open from 5pm till late with acts David Mulliss, Jan Preston, Sleeping Dogs, Elly Hoyt, and Swing Magic performing.  

This is not the first time Lyndall and Mick have shared their love of music with their local community. They also have a friendly relationship with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra (ABO) and have once again funded them to come to town, to perform a free concert for their community. Lyndall’s passion for the arts and drive to bring them to her region, fulfills a demand within their community with attendees aged five through to 95 enjoying the cultural celebrations each year.

The ABO will be delivering their beautiful sounds of baroque at the Empire Church Theatre for the fourth year running on Wednesday the 8th of August. This free community performance is loved by all who attend and is in such high demand that tickets for the 2018 event were exhausted within an hour.

The ABO performance is always highlighly anticipated by Toowoomba resident, Karen Pellow and her two young daughters Gabby (11) and Mikayla (9). Having attended the performance over the past three years, the girls are excited to see the orchestra once again as they are Brandenburg inspired violinists.

“These world class musicians are their idols, their motivation and without the support of the McCormacks, our girls would not have the opportunity to experience artists of this calibre”, Mrs Pellow said.

Lyndall describes being involved with and actively campaigning to bring a range of live music genres to the Darling Downs as “an absolute joy” for herself and Mick. Their passion to showcase the region, local artists and bring arts to their community is inspiring and appreciated by those around them.

The Pop Up Jazz Bar is open from Thursday 19 July- Sunday 29 July at Warwick, so if you have the chance head on out and experience the community spirit proudly sported by Lyndall and Mick McCormack.