Aleksandr Tsiboulski’s guitar playing has been praised for its ‘responsive virtuosity’ (The Age) and ‘sensuous intensity’ (Classical Guitar, UK). A former Fulbright Scholar, Tsiboulski is also first-prize winner in twelve international competitions, including the 2000 Australian Guitar Competition and the 2006 Tokyo International Guitar Competition.

His 2010 Naxos release, Australian Guitar Music, was nominated for a ‘Best Classical Album’ ARIA. Based in Australia, he regularly gives concerts and lectures internationally, is exploring the 19th century guitar, and continuing his lifelong passion for the works of JS Bach through a series of filmed performances of the Cello Suite arrangements.

Alex Henery studied double bass at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music (1985–1986) before moving to the US. In 1989, he returned to the UK where he began his professional career, working initially with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. He was offered the position of Co-Principal Bass in the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in 1990 and in 1992 took up the Co-Principal position with the Philharmonia Orchestra in London. On his return to Australia in 1998, he was appointed Principal Double Bass with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO). He performs regularly at various music festivals and has been featured as a soloist with the SSO several times, performing works such as Bottesini’s Concerto for two double basses, Bottesini’s Concerto No.2 and Tan Dun’s Wolf Totem concerto. He has also been a featured soloist with the Shanghai and Tasmanian symphony orchestras.

Alice Giles has been celebrated as one of the world’s leading harp soloists. The Australian-born musician first attracted international notice when she won First Prize in the 8th Israel International Harp Contest at the age of 21. Since then she has performed extensively internationally both in recital and with orchestra. She presented her first solo recital at the age of 13 at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, was awarded the coveted Churchill International Fellowship and an Australia Council Grant to study in the USA and made her New York debut recital at Merkin Hall in 1983.

She was awarded an AM (Member of the Order of Australia) in the 2017 Queen’s Birthday Honours for “significant service to the performing arts as a harpist, mentor and educator, and through contributions to Australia’s musical landscape.”

ANAM’s String Department is dedicated to inspiring Australia’s brightest talents which will enable them to discover the musicians that they are, become the best musicians they can be, and then make a significant contribution when they enter professional life. Each year our renowned in-house Faculty individually mentor musicians through regular lessons, performance classes, chamber music coaching, and orchestral experience and training. In addition to this, a steady stream of international guest artists give classes and devote their time to side-by-side performance opportunities for musicians.

ANAM performed at the 2019 Easter Festival.

Born of Czech parents, Andrea Keller grew up in Sydney, Australia.

Convinced from a young age that she would be a musician, she studied piano, flute and saxophone at the Sydney Conservatorium High School. Inspired by her older brother, she penned her first compositions at the age of 10, and received her A-mus-a with distinction on piano at age 14. It was around this time that she was introduced to jazz music and the art of improvisation. Continuing to explore classical, jazz and original musics throughout her teenage years, her musical path became more defined when she moved to Melbourne in 1993 to study improvisation at the Victorian College of the Arts.

Keller has led many projects as a pianist, whose focus has been on performing her original compositions and arrangements. She currently leads the working projects: Monday nights at the Jazzlab (curating & performing), Transients (a series of trios presented every Thursday night at Uptown Jazz Café), Five Below (quintet featuring Stephen Magnusson, Sam Anning, Mick Meagher, James McLean & Andrea Keller), Journey Home (solo piano collaboration with photographer/film-maker Hayley Miro), Piano Club (solo piano concerts featuring Australian pianists and Q&A’s), The Composers Circle (6-piece ensemble of composers/performers), Solo/Duo/Trio (new collaborations in various groupings), and Celebrating Voice (series featuring vocalists who perform original and Australian material).

Anthony Marwood is known worldwide as an artist of exceptional expressive force. His energetic and collaborative nature places him in great demand as soloist/director with orchestras worldwide. He is Principal Artistic Partner of the celebrated Canadian chamber orchestra, Les Violons du Roy, a post he took up in 2015. In the 16/17 season, he was Artist in Residence at the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra. His eminence as a soloist has brought him to work with conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Sir Andrew Davis, Thomas Søndergård, David Robertson, Gerard Korsten, Ilan Volkov, Jaime Martin, Bernard Labadie and Douglas Boyd. We are delighted to welcome Anthony to Four Winds.

Awarded a fellowship at the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) upon their formation in late 2013, Arcadia Winds became Musica Viva Australia’s inaugural FutureMakers musicians from 2015 – 17. They have brought their brand of energetic, joyful and spontaneous performance to festival stages in almost every state and territory in the country, to concert halls across mainland China and to listeners around the world through broadcasts of the BBC Proms Australia chamber music series.

They have revelled in musical partnerships with internationally renowned performers including the Australian String Quartet, piano virtuosi Lambert Orkis, Paavali Jumppanen and Anna Goldsworthy and woodwind masters Ole Kristian Dahl and Thorsten Johanns. Kate Proctor (flute), David Reichelt (oboe), Lloyd Van’t Hoff (clarinet), Rachel Shaw (horn), Matthew Kneale (bassoon).

Israel-born Ariel Zuckermann is now counted amongst the most sought after conductors of the younger generation.

Ariel Zuckermann has been Music Director of the Israel Chamber Orchestra since the 2015/16 season and is one of the most sought-after conductors of the younger generation. He studied conducting with Jorma Panula at the Royal Music Academy of Stockholm and later with Bruno Weil at Munich’s Musikhochschule. Until 2013 he held the position of Music Director with the renowned Georgian Chamber Orchestra. Ariel Zuckermann began his conducting career as Assistant Conductor to Iván Fischer at the Budapest Festival Orchestra, resulting in a number of critically acclaimed performances. He then made well-received debuts with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin at Berlin’s Philharmonie and with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Euskadi on tour in Spain.

Other recent engagements have included debuts with the MDR Sinfonieorchester, Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock and the Dalasinfoniettan, and an extended tour and CD recording with the Australian Youth Orchestra.

Aurelia Trio is a newly formed string trio comprising Laura Freier (violin), Beth Condon (viola) and Eliza Sdraulig (‘cello). The four met at the beginning of 2017 at ANAM (Australian National Academy of Music) where they are all students. Despite being freshly formed, they are all excited to explore and share in the musical treasure chest that is the string quartet.

The members of Aurelia have participated in numerous chamber music ensembles and festivals and have had extensive orchestral experiences both in Australia and abroad.

Formed in April 2012, this Quartet brings together four of Australia’s finest emerging musical talents including Kate Sullivan (violin), Francesca Hiew (violin), Matthew Laing (viola) and Jarrad Mathie (cello).

They made their debut at Quartetthaus as part of the 2013 Perth International Arts Festival, performing works by Bartók, Britten and Adès. They are currently the Associate Ensemble-in-Residence at the Australian National Academy of Music; and the 2013/2014 Visiting Ensemble‐in‐Residence at Four Winds; and are one of two aspiring quartets involved in the Australian String Quartet’s mentorship program, The Quartet Project.

The Australian Brass Quintet is comprised of some of Australia’s foremost brass musicians who have been playing together in different ensembles for over 15 years. The Australian Brass Quintet is a new ensemble that gave its’ first performance at the Melbourne International Festival of Brass 2008 to great acclaim.

Featuring Timo-Veikko ‘Tipi’ Valve (principal cello), Stefanie Farrands (principla viola), Maja Savnik (violin), Ike See (violin) and Nicole Divall (viola), together they make for a sound that’s completely transformative.

Four Winds had the pleasure of welcoming The Australian Chamber Orchestra’s String Quintet for a residency and concerts at Four Winds in October 2020. During their residency in the Windsong Pavilion, the ACO players spent time rehearsing, as well as filming and recording for the ACO HomeCasts series.

Dedicated to musical excellence with a distinctly Australian flavour, the Australian String Quartet (ASQ) creates unforgettable experiences for audiences worldwide. From its home base at the University of Adelaide’s Elder Conservatorium of Music, the Quartet reaches out across Australia and the world to engage people with an outstanding program of performances, workshops, commissions and education programs.

The ASQ is privileged to perform on a matched set of Guadagnini instruments. Hand crafted by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini between c.1743 – 1784 in Turin and Piacenza, Italy, these exquisite instruments were brought together through the vision of Ulrike Klein AO. The instruments are on loan to the ASQ for their exclusive use through the generosity of UKARIA. Dale Bartrop (violin 1), Franscesca Hiew (violin 2), Stephen King (viola), Blair Harris (guest cello).

Bandaluzia are celebrated for their powerful performances, unique sound and explosive displays of dazzling musicianship and virtuosity that has made Bandaluzia a great success at festivals and theatres across Australia.

Led by ARIA nominated Flamenco guitarist Damian Wright, Bandaluzia showcases contemporary flamenco dance and music whilst displaying the essential characteristics of the flamenco tradition – a journey through this unique and incredible artform by some Australia and Spain’s most revered flamenco artists.
In 2018 Damian performed in Jerez, Spain at La Conferencia de Jose Luis Balao as part of the Jerez International Guitar Festival and was invited to perform as a solo artist at The Rajasthan International Folk Festival, India as well as The Shanghai Fringe Festival, China.

Also featuring Dance Australia Magazine’s “Most Outstanding Dancer of 2013” and co- winner of “Best Dance Show” at The Adelaide Fringe 2014 Jessica Statham (flamenco dance), Rosalie Cocchiaro (flamenco dance) who, living in Madrid for 10 years, has performed in many of Madrid’s most premier Tablaos (flamenco venues), including Cafe de Chinitas and Torres Bermejas. On guitars & mandolin Freedman fellowship winner and National Jazz Awards finalist Ben Hauptmann (Katie Noonan, Gurrumul, Lior) & brilliant percussionist James Hauptmann (James Morrison, Vince Jones, Bluejuice) Bandaluzia are also highly revered for their ability to mix elements of other genres into their performances, whether being the rich harmonies of Jazz, the exotic melodies of the Orient or the infectious rhythms of South America. An experience that ignites the senses with the grace of Flamenco.

The Bega Valley Youth Choir are a Youth choir, based in the Bega Valley.

Tabla player Bobby Singh is one of the most sought-after musicians on the Australian world music circuit. He is the first choice for musicians from India touring Australia and New Zealand. Bobby has played with such luminaries as Pt Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Purbayan Chatterjee, Shashank Subramanium and Guru Karaikudimani, amongst many others. Outside the milieu of Indian classical music, Bobby has also formed many partnerships with some of Australia’s best-known musicians. Crossing many styles of music from drum and bass with The Bird, to Western Classical with Slava Grigoryan to blues and roots with John Butler and Jeff Lang.

Brenda is a Yuin woman, originally from Wreck Bay, south coast NSW. She is currently the Inaugural First Peoples Composer in Residence with Ensemble Offspring.

Her work Elements (Bagan, Miriwa, Ngadjung and Ganji) will be premiered at the 2020 Canberra International Music Festival. She is part of the 2020 Composing Women program at Sydney Conservatorium with Professor Liza Lim. Her original compositions for the CD Music for the Dreaming on the ABC label was nominated for an ARIA in 2019. Her composition Mungala had its world premiere in NY with Prof. Claire Chase performing it at National Sawdust in New York. She has twenty years’ extensive experience as a musician and is a composer, saxophonist and teacher.

Brenda was a member of the band Mixed Relations with Bart Willoughby from No Fixed Address. She toured extensively nationally to Aboriginal communities around Australia and internationally to Native American communities and the Pacific Islands. She has worked with Kev Carmody, on his album Eulogy (for a black person) playing saxophone on the track Blood Red Rose. She wrote the album sleeve notes for the reissued The Loner Album by Uncle Vic Simms. She has done over one hundred interviews and oral histories with Aboriginal musicians.

For their special appearance at the 2021 Four WInds Festival, the Candelo Musicians are Candelo singer/songwriter/storytellers: Heath Cullen (guitar), Pete Wild (piano), Rae Kennedy (spoken word), Tamlyn Magee (harp), Robyn Martin (double bass), Kate Burke (guitar/violin), Melanie Horsnell (guitar/banjo) and Sam Martin (guitar/double bass) plus special guest Yuin artists Kyarna Rose & Matty Walker and Gabadoo.

Cheryl Davison is a leading artist from the South Coast. Her mother’s family are Walbanga people from Eurobodalla and the Ngarigo people in the Snowy Mountains region. Her family is also connected to the Wallaga Lake Aboriginal community.

Davison has inherited deep cultural knowledge from her family and is a recognised artist and cultural leader for the South Coast region, exhibiting nationally and internationally.

Christina Leonard is one of Australia’s leading Saxophonists, performing both nationally and internationally. Touring with the SSO to Europe in 2018, she has been a featured player with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Opera Australia Orchestra (OAO), Australia Chamber Orchestra (ACO) and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra (TSO). Christina is Artistic Director of the Australian World Orchestra’s Chamber Music Festival in the Southern Highlands. She has made many recordings and live broadcasts and has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician at many national music festivals. Christina is the first Australian to be endorsed as an International Artist with Japanese instrument maker Yanagisawa.

Renowned for their extraordinary song-writing, skin-tight vocal harmonies and stunning live performances, Coco’s Lunch have long been recognised as award-winning pioneers in the composition of innovative Australian vocal music. Coco’s Lunch features Melbourne singers and percussionists Gabrielle MacGregor, Lisa Young, Nicola Eveleigh, Jacqueline Gawler and Emma Gilmartin.

The group has spent over 20 years winning the hearts of audiences across Australia, China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Laos, Taiwan, Germany, Austria, France, New Zealand, Canada and India.

Combining the diverse paths of two pairs of saxophone players, Compass Quartet – Christina Leonard, Jeremy Rose, Matthew Ottignon, Luke Gilmour – forms one of the most interesting and dynamic groups to emerge in Australia’s music scene.

Inspired by the idea of breaking down barriers between classical music and improvised jazz, Compass Quartet takes an innovative and flexible approach to concert programming, combining influences as that are distinct, new and unusual. Their three released albums include Abrazo Tango, Ode to an Auto Rickshaw and Oneirology.

Australian singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Corinne Gibbons has been singing all of her life. Her work is infused with a joyful energy borne from the ancient art of storytelling in song.

She has recorded an album, ‘Melt’, and has written three musicals that have been performed to over 100,000 people to date. Having worked across four continents and over 15 countries, engaging multicultural teams to come together and write songs and perform, Corinne is deeply committed to uniting more people of all walks of life in collaborative efforts through the creation of music.

In her work with Phil Collin’s Charity “Little Dreams Foundation”, Corinne conducted the Global Social Responsibility team to record and perform a song written to support Phil’s charity for children. The song was then performed by a 200-piece choir from over 20 different countries and included children from the charity at a performance in the main square of Montreux.

As an expansion of her vocal coaching Corinne developed Singing Immersions for participants to discover and deepen the freedom and joy of vocal expression.

Damian Barbeler’s award-winning compositions have been performed and broadcast around the world, sung and played by leading Australian and international soloists and ensembles. He is widely recognised for his highly idiosyncratic compositional style and especially his lush, emotional sound worlds inspired by textures and patterns from nature. An enthusiastic collaborator, he often works with those working in architecture, software design, media arts and dance and his wide-ranging career has taken him to a diverse range of places from famous concert halls to biscuit factories, boardrooms and far-flung parts of regional Australia.

This commission has been supported by private donors who are interested in new music and the environment.

David Hewitt, composer and percussionist, has been involved in new music and performance making for over 20 years. A founding member of Taikoz, a member of Synergy Percussion and part of the internationally acclaimed outfit The Spaghetti Western Orchestra (SWO). As a musical director, David has worked with many remote, regional and indigenous communities developing new site-specific theatre works such as The Old Van Theatre Company, Musica Viva Australia fLinG Physical Theatre, big hART and most recently with Lee Pemberton and the Bedrock Collective. David is the founder of Stonewave Taiko, which has performed at the National Folk Festival and created the productions Thunder and Waves and Bega Big Groove. Previous Four Winds performances have included- Four Winds Cinematic Orchestra, A Song About Fish, Windsong Community Event, Bermagui Powertool Orchestra, The Resonant Village, Coming Home Olga Masters Festival and the 2018 Welcome to Country with Stonewave Taiko and Djaadjawan Dancers.

We were very excited to have David Hewitt and Jed Silver, Sound Designer, here in residence in May 2018 to finalise the recording of their ONDES Project – The Ghosts Between Us – for a sound installation at the 2018 DARK MOFO | NIGHT MASS event.

David Rowden was born in Sydney and studied clarinet from a young age. He was later awarded a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music, London, where he won the Geoffrey Hawkes Prize for clarinet performance in 2004. Whilst overseas, David studied in Italy with Anthony Pay at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana, Siena, in France at the Academie de Villecroze with French clarinetist Paul Meyer, and also at the Pacific Music Festival in Japan.

Deborah Cheetham, Yorta Yorta woman, soprano, composer and educator has been a leader and pioneer in the Australian arts landscape for more than 25 years. In the 2014 Queen’s Birthday Honours List, Cheetham was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), for “distinguished service to the performing arts as an opera singer, composer and artistic director, to the development of Indigenous artists, and to innovation in performance”.

In 2009, Deborah Cheetham established Short Black Opera as a national not-for-profit opera company devoted to the development of Indigenous singers. The following year she produced the premiere of her first opera Pecan Summer. This landmark work was Australia’s first Indigenous opera and has been a vehicle for the development of a new generation of Indigenous opera singers.

In March 2015 she was inducted onto the Honour Roll of Women in Victoria and in April 2018 received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of South Australia for her pioneering work and achievements in the music.

D
ejan Lazić’s fresh interpretations of the repertoire have established him as one of the most unique and unusual soloists of his generation. Dejan Lazić regularly plays with orchestras such as the Atlanta Symphony, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Basel Chamber Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Danish National Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra Hamburg, Netherlands Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Yuin woman Sharon Mason founded the Djaadjawan Dancers after attending an Aboriginal women’s camp in Narooma NSW, sponsored by Katungal Aboriginal Medical Service and Wagonga Local Aboriginal Land Council. The aim of the camp was to have local Aboriginal women and children teach and share their traditional knowledge.

Djinama Yilaga is made up of local Aboriginal people to showcase Koori culture through music and song. The next generation of Aboriginal children at Bermagui Primary School are now the caretakers of Dhurga language songs. Following the gifting of the song to the school children, Four Winds will provide a singing tutor to help the children become familiar with the song so that they can then share the song with the broader school community.

Supported by the National Museum of Australia’s Cultural Connections Initiative, Four Winds’ first Aboriginal Creative Producer Cheryl Davison facilitated a community led project to revitalise and strengthen the cultural practices undertaken by Yuin people at the time of Cook’s Voyage, 250 years ago.
 
As part of this project the Djinama Yilaga Choir was born. Choir members have worked with composer and Indigenous Language Scholar Dr. Lou Bennett to write new works in Dhurga language and an arrangement for choir member Shakeela Williams’ song, Walawaani for performance at the 2020 Festival. When that festival was cancelled due to COVID-19, the performance project evolved to become the film project we share with you at the 2021 Festival, with the long awaited festival performances of these beautiful songs in language. The choir also perform at many events along the coast.

Doctor Stovepipe are purveyors of hot jazz, gypsy swing, Appalachian folk music and ragtime. Purveyors of Medicinal Euphony, Doctor Stovepipe’s 51st Mounted Rhythm Brigade comprises Dr. Jim Sharrock, Dr. Gillian Cosgrove & Dr. Edward Radclyffe. Doctor Stovepipe draws from the pharmacopoeia of Appalachian string-band music, Gypsy Swing, Cowboy-Western combos & Popular Ragtime.

Based on the South East Coast of Australia and founded by Bobby McLeod in the early nineties, the Doonooch Dancers are an exciting Dance group promoting traditional Aboriginal culture through song and dance.

Yorta Yorta Dja Dja Wurrung, Dr Lou Bennett AM is a former member of the internationally acclaimed trio Tiddas, and during her ten years with the band, Lou wrote a number of the group’s signature songs.

Lou’s versatile work within the Arts industry over the past thirty years includes various roles as Performer, Songwriter, Musical and Artistic Director, Composer, Actor, Soundscape Designer and Academic.

Lou was a member of the Black Arm Band and was an instrumental force in the company’s transformative journey from being a one-off ‘special project’, into becoming an Indigenous performing Arts company. Lou completed her PhD in October 2015 and her dissertation discusses the importance and relevance of Indigenous language retrieval, reclamation and regeneration through the medium of the Arts to enhance community health and wellbeing.

In 2017, Lou was accepted as the McKenzie Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne and was inducted onto the Victorian Women’s Honour Roll in 2017. In 2019, Lou accepted the appointment as a member (AM) of the Order of Australia for her significant service to the performing arts, particularly to music, and the Indigenous community. In 2020 Lou was chosen as a Westpac Research Fellow continuing her research program Sovereign Language Rematriation Through Song Pedagogy in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Melbourne.

Elena Kats-Chernin is an Australian composer, resident in Sydney. Her vibrant and uplifting music has been performed and recorded by several symphony, opera and ballet companies and featured at the opening ceremonies of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games (Deep Sea Dreaming) and the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Eliza’s Aria from Meryl Tankard’s ballet Wild Swans and the Russian Rag, have become Elena’s most recognisable pieces. She has received many prestigious prizes such as the Helpmann, Limelight, Sounds Australian, Sydney Theatre Award and the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award. In 2017 ABC Classics released a comprehensive 10 CD Boxset Collection of her music.

Her Piano Concerto no. 3 “Lebewohl”, premiered at QPAC in September 2018 by Tamara-Anna Cislowska and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra (QSO), received a rapturous reception.

Eliza Hull is known for her stirring lyrics and haunting vocals, and after a recent shift to Castlemaine, her music has developed into a rich soundscape of indie and folk tinged tracks, which showcase her development as a songwriter. Previous releases, including Eliza’s debut album ‘The Bones Of Us’, have been strongly supported by Australian radio stations such as triple j, triple j Unearthed, FBi, Double J, ABC, PBS and 3RRR. Eliza has a strong live following, selling out headline shows, and along the way sharing stages with Felix Riebl, SAFIA, Katie Noonan, Husky and Mia Dyson. Eliza has written for American TV, Australian feature film ‘Swallow’ and Theatre.

Elizabeth Jones was awarded a QEII Silver Jubilee Trust scholarship to study with David Takeno at the Guildhall School of Music in London. She was a core member of the Australian Chamber Orchestra from 1993-2005.

From 2005-2010 she was a member of the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Guest 2nd Concertmaster of Musica Vitae Chamber Orchestra in Sweden.

Since 2010 she has been on contract with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and guests occasionally with ACO. She has also been guest concertmaster of Victorian Opera. A passionate educator she has been invited to teach at the AYO’s chamber and national music camps.

Emma Jezek is the Assistant Principal 2nd Violin in the Sydney Symphony, a position she has held since 1997. She was born in Adelaide and studied with Beryl Kimber and Ron Woodcock at the Elder Conservatorium. She furthered her studies in the US at Indiana University Bloomington with Franco Gulli and SUNY Purchase with Isaac Malkin.  

Emma was previously in the Melbourne Symphony and has been Acting Principal in the Adelaide Symphony and Tasmanian Symphony. She has played with the Vienna Symphony, Vienna Chamber Orchestra and Klangforum Wien as well as the Australian World Orchestra.  

Emma has recently played in the SSO’s Utzon Room series as well as the Melbourne Digital Concert Hall series. Emma loves teaching and has tutored at AYO and National Music Camp.  

Dame Emma Kirkby’s singing career came as a surprise. As a student of Classics at Oxford, she seized any chance to sing, especially Renaissance polyphony. Briefly a teacher of Classics, she was fortunate to meet pioneer groups with expressive voices and period instruments – lutes, baroque wind and strings – that she has loved over the decades. She also had the opportunity to sing in beautiful acoustics. In 2018 she worked in five summer schools in four countries, seeing again these magical inspirations at work with the singers and players who will be tomorrow’s masters. These days, teaching nearly as much as she performs, Emma still enjoys the occasional recital with special colleagues. Four Winds warmly welcomes the return of Dame Emma and Lutenist Jakob Lindberg to Bermagui.

Emma Pearson was principal artist at the Hessisches Staatstheater, Wiesbaden, in Germany from 2005 until 2014. During this time she performed over 30 roles for the company, including the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor, Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos), Woglinde, Gerhilde and Waldvogel in Wagner’s Ring Cycle, Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier), Adele (Die Fledermaus) and Norina (Don Pasquale) to critical acclaim.

In this joyful site-specific music and dance work, directed by the “formidable” Emma Saunders, ENCOUNTER SOUTH explores the everyday extraordinariness and power of young people, from the Bega Valley, on the NSW South Coast to Parramatta, Western Sydney.

In collaboration with a group of award-winning Australian artists, including Felicity Castagna (writer), composers Amanda Brown (The Go-Betweens) and Jodi Phillis (The Clouds), ENCOUNTER SOUTH celebrates young people living in urban and regional communities.

Creatively developed with a cast of 16 young dancers (8 from Western Sydney and 8 from FLING Physical Theatre), Associate Artist, Rob McCredie, slam poet, Pola Fanous and the Western Sydney Youth Orchestra with regional players, conducted by James Pensini. ENCOUNTER SOUTH, explores the indomitable spirit of young people and the world they find themselves in.

From its humble origins as four music students busking on the streets of Sydney in 2006, the last decade has seen the Enigma Quartet carve a reputation on the Australian music scene as one of the brightest and most versatile string quartets. They continue to garner acclaim and win over audiences with their vibrant style and eclectic programming.

Holding coveted positions in a number of Australia’s leading orchestras, this intrepid foursome of Marianne Broadfoot (violin), Kerry Martin (violin), Elizabeth Woolnough (viola) and Rowena Macneish (cello) are united by friendship and a shared passion for chamber music, contemporary music and live performance.

Eugene Ughetti is the founding artistic director of Speak Percussion and is known for tackling complex and ambitious art music projects whether as director, composer, performer or conductor. His artistic output is an exploration of the materiality of percussion and engages with ideas like drum aged rum, supersonic performance and the percussive military. Eugene won the inaugural Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship (2012), MCA/Freedman Fellowship for Classical Music (2011), an Australia Council Creative Music Fellowship has given solo performances at MaerzMusik (Berlin), Roulette (New York), Lucerne Festival (Switzerland), SIPFest (Jakarta), National Museum (Singapore) among others.

FLING PHYSICAL THEATRE is a youth dance organisation based in the Bega Valley, on the far South Coast of NSW, Australia. ​Founded in 2001, FLING provides opportunities for young people to work with local and visiting professional artists to create original contemporary performance projects.

Our core program is the FLING Company with performers aged 14-18, who are involved in the creation and presentation of major projects, which have toured within our region and beyond. FLING also provides two younger company programs YFLING and FLUX Creators for ages 7-14, and delivers broad reaching Community Engagement, Outreach and Education programs.

At FLING we create space for young people to explore and express their creativity while developing skills in movement and performance, creative thinking, problem solving and teamwork. These experiences build confidence, commitment and resilience. They also support physical health, mental health and wellbeing, and can provide pathways to professional careers in the arts.

FLING projects are diverse in content and style, providing a broad range of high quality arts experiences, inspiring and engaging our community as performers, makers and audience. We give voice to regional perspectives, creating culturally ambitious work that is relevant beyond our regional context.

Gabadu is a Djirringanj man from the Yuin Nation, born and raised in Bermagui NSW. He has been creating hip hop, R & B and urban funk music for over ten years, and is known for producing soul– infused beats and clear, dynamic vocals.

For Gabadu, music is a way to express his feelings about his life, family and experiences. Making music has helped Gabadu overcome some anxiety in the past, providing a creative outlet and a way to escape the challenges of everyday life.

A father of five, Gabadu loves spending time with his young family. Gabadu started listening to hip hop artist Easy E from N.W.A when he was a kid, and that inspired him to try making his own music. He loves the old school hip hop vibe and is also a reggae rapper/singer, inspired by his idol, Bob Marley.

Gabadu has been performing up and down the NSW east coast since 2016, and hopes to carve out a successful career as a performer, earn respect for making great music and make his family proud.

Australian artist Genevieve Lacey creates sanctuaries in sound.

Using found and environmental sounds as well as newly composed material, Genevieve creates poetic, sensual worlds in which it is possible to be deeply attentive. The practice of listening is central to her works, which are always created collaboratively. Recurring preoccupations include flight and birdsong; tracing passages of time and light in sound; reframing old rituals for contemporary times.

Genevieve’s creations combine her skills as performer, composer and curator. Always seeking to connect people and ideas, her works are experienced in a huge variety of contexts. Current collaborators include filmmakers Amos Gebhardt and Sophie Raymond, writers Alexis Wright and Chloe Hooper, choreographers Gideon Obarzanek and Stephanie Lake, ornithologist/composer Hollis Taylor and Antarctic scientist Steven Chown.

Geoffrey Badger has been involved in choral music all his life through singing, conducting and composing for a variety of adult and children’s choirs. Geoffrey studied cello and piano and became interested in music pedagogy while working in the Kodaly-based Music Education Program at the Canberra School of Music.

An experienced teacher of music in both primary and secondary schools, privately and in other community-based music programs, he is the director and founder of the Heartsong sacred music choir, and conductor of the Bega Chamber Orchestra, the Friday Choir and Bega Valley Youth Choir.

Gerard Brophy began his studies in the classical guitar at the age of 22 and in the late 1970s he worked with Brazilian guitarist Turibio Santos and the Argentine composer Mauricio Kagel before studying composition at the NSW State Conservatorium of Music. Over his long career, he has been commissioned and performed by some of the world’s leading ensembles and orchestras and has developed an express interest in collaborating with artists from other disciplines (dance and theatre) and other cultures, among them the great Senegalese master drummers, the N’Diaye Rose family, timbila virtuoso Venancio Mbande from Mozambique and Balinese gamelan players.

Formed in 2017 at the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM), Golden Gate Brass is an ensemble dedicated to providing high quality performances of brass repertoire. Its members are Michael Olsen & Fletcher Cox (trumpets), Aidan Gabriels (horn), Jackson Bankovic (trombone), and Jason Catchpowle (tuba).

Golden Gate Brass have appeared in concert at ANAM, Four Winds, The Savage Club, The Brunswick Green and at the National Gallery of Victoria and have collaborated with Ad Lib Collective and the Corelia Quintet. Each member of the ensemble maintains an impressive career in their own right, having collectively appeared in every full-time professional orchestra in the country as well as in numerous other performances, festivals and competitions across Australia.

“One only had to hear the opening bars to realise this is a very fine quartet indeed.” 

The Telegraph, UK – City of London Festival review 2011 

“The Goldners give the most sublimely articulate and raptly communicative reading of Elgar’s elusive String Quartet that it’s been my privilege to encounter.” 

Gramophone 

Celebrating their 25th Season in 2020, the Goldner String Quartet has longstanding recognition, as not only Australia’s pre-eminent string quartet but as an ensemble of international significance, favourably compared with the best in the world. The Quartet is named after Richard Goldner, founder of Musica Viva Australia. 

 Launched in 1995 and still retaining all founding members, the musicians are well known to Australian and international audiences through their performances and recordings and for their concurrent membership of the Australia Ensemble @UNSW. All members have occupied principal positions in organisations such as the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Australian Chamber Orchestra. Unanimous audience and critical acclaim following their Wigmore Hall debut in 1997 ensured the Goldner Quartet’s invitations to prestigious UK and European festivals. 

Performances in the USA and throughout Asia have followed, in addition to several tours of New Zealand. 

The Quartet regularly appears at many of Australia’s leading music festivals including Musica Viva’s Sydney Festival, Music in the Hunter, and at Huntington Estate among others, in addition to being Quartet in Residence at the annual Australian Festival of Chamber Music, in Townsville, North Queensland. The Goldners also enjoyed outstanding success at the 2017 Adam Chamber Music Festival, in Nelson, NZ. More recently the Goldners have toured the UK, including London’s Wigmore Hall, and performed in Italy for the opening of the 2019 Biennale Arte in Venice. 

 Special projects have included a major 20th-Century retrospective, and the complete Beethoven String Quartet Cycle. The Quartet’s appearances in the 2011 City of London Festival drew capacity audiences and unanimous praise from UK critics, and were broadcast on the BBC. Other Goldner projects have included The Quartets – a live DVD documentary with Peter Sculthorpe, and an international project in celebration of Sydney’s Sister Cities. In 2015 the Quartet undertook a nationwide tour for Musica Viva’s International Series and in 2017 presented the complete series of Coffee Concerts for Musica Viva Sydney audiences. 

The Goldner’s live recordings of the complete Beethoven String Quartet cycle released on ABC Classics, won the 2009 Limelight Award for Best Classical Recording. The Quartet has numerous recordings for the prestigious UK label, Hyperion; each disc highlights string quartets and piano quintets of a different composer (Bloch, Bridge, Dvořák, Elgar, Harty, Taneyev, Arensky, Vierne, Pierné, Bruch, Borodin, Korngold and Bartok to date) with pianist Piers Lane. Universal rave reviews have followed, including Diapason D’Or, Editor’s Choice in Gramophone magazine and BBC Music Magazine, as well as finalist for the BBC Music Magazine’s Chamber Music Award in 2009. Also released are the complete quartets of Szymanowski and Stravinsky on Naxos, and the complete quartets of Carl Vine on ABC Classics. The Goldners had a close working relationship with Peter Sculthorpe; 3 volumes of his Quartets are recorded on the Tall Poppies label and the Goldners own DVD documentary, The Quartets, recorded with Peter Sculthorpe is released by ABC Classics. 

Strongly committed to teaching the next generation of string quartets, the Goldners have mentored young ensembles through programs of the Australian Youth Orchestra, Musica Viva Australia and the Sydney Conservatorium. New works have been regularly commissioned for the Goldners from many of Australia’s leading composers. 

Goldner String Quartet : 

Dene Olding  (violin) 

Dimity Hall (violin) 

Irina Morozova (viola) 

Julian Smiles (cello) 

As a composer, recent works by Gordon Hamilton subvert expectations of the orchestra by introducing foreign elements. He presented his 2015 concerto for beatboxer and orchestra ‘Thum Prints’ at the 2016 BBC Proms AU with star beatboxer Tom Thum – a work which has since been taken up by numerous orchestras world-wide. In 2018 Gordon traveled to Antarctica to compose ‘Far South’, a symphony – premiered Iii 2020 by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra – in which field recordings of ice, ocean and whales interact with the orchestra. In his ‘482 Variations on a Very Short Theme’ (2016) a brief Beatles recording plays; the orchestra latches onto three notes, spinning them out into 482 micro variations. In ‘Action Hero’ (commissioned by WDR Funkhausorchester Cologne) a the voice of Arnold Schwarzenegger plays through a speaker while the orchestra joins in. In 2018 he won accolades for ‘Macquarie’, an orchestral-hiphop collaboration with rapper-poet Luka Lesson which interrogates the legacy of the famous Scottish Major General Lachlan Macquarie.

Gordon has composed and conducted many crossover projects, including ‘Danzón Cubano’ with Cuban pianist Marialy Pacheco. In 2019 he conducted the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra at Dark Mofo Festival for ‘Riceboy Sleeps’ by Jónsi (of Sigur Rós) and Alex Sommers. Arts Hub has described him as “one of the QSO’s secret weapons … with bonafide in the territories of Hip Hop and Classical music.”

Also known for his work as in choral music, Gordon took over in 2009 as Artistic Director of one of Australia’s foremost vocal ensembles, The Australian Voices (TAV). Gordon has led TAV in its mission of commissioning innovative music by Australian composers. Of their 2013 concert in New York City, the New York Times wrote “… it was as if the gates of heaven had opened.” They have released albums with Warner Classics (2013) and ABC Classics (2016). Gordon’s choral opera ‘MOON’ (2011) toured with TAV to Australia, Germany and to the Edinburgh Fringe and was named by The Herald Scotland as “one of the outstanding musical surprises of Fringe 2012.” In 2014 TAV made international headlines with their video of Rob Davidson’s ‘Not Now, Not Ever!’ – a musicalisation of former PM Julia Gillard’s famous ‘misogyny’ speech. TAV’s most recent album is ‘Elsewhere’. In 2020, in response to arts shutdowns, TAV commissioned 22 composers, including Nico Muhly on the theme ‘Far and Near’.

Originally from Newcastle, Gordon studied at the University of Newcastle Conservatorium (2000-4) under esteemed composer Nigel Butterley. He is a represented composer at the Australian Music Centre.

Graham Abbott has been Conductor-in-Residence at the Elder Conservatorium of Music Adelaide, Musical Director of Adelaide Philharmonia Chorus, Associate Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Musical Director of Melbourne Chorale, and Guest Chorus Master for the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.

He has conducted all the major Australian orchestras, opera companies and leading choral societies. A respected music educator, Graham was producer and presenter of the highly successful Keys To Music series on ABC Classic FM from 2003 – 2017 and is currently making a series of podcasts for Universal Music.

This year Graham returns to Adelaide and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras, State Opera South Australia (Barber of Seville), Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and Hobart Festival of Voices.

In Greg Sheehan is one of the leading figures in Australian Percussion. As a performer, teacher and recording artist, he is significantly represented in Australian music over nearly 50 years.

He has been a major influence on generations of musicians and has literally reshaped the map of RHYTHM. A passionate visionary who has created a unique system of mathsmusic called ‘Rhythm Diamonds’ which is now being taught in Music Colleges around the country.

Add to this Greg’s own Body Percussion style and reinvention of Tambourine technique! ‘Astounding Musicianship!’; Jonh Shand. SMH.

The Gulaga Dancers established and led by Warren Ngarrae Foster are a nationally recognised dance troupe that have continued the strong Djiringanj tradition of honouring the land and nature through dance and artistic connection.

The Gulaga Dancers have shared their culture at countless events over the past 20 years – celebrating and sustaining the practice of traditional dance across the generations.

Guy Noble is one of Australia’s most popular conductors and music presenters. He regularly conducts all the major Australian symphony orchestras, as well as the Auckland Philharmonic, the Malaysian Philharmonic and the Hong Kong Philharmonic. He is host and conductor for the Adelaide Symphony’s “Classics Unwrapped” series, host for the Queensland Symphony’s “Music on Sundays” and host and accompanist for Opera Australia’s “Great Opera Hits” at the Sydney Opera House.

Recent concerts include The Music of John Williams (WASO), Movie Masterpieces (ASO and Margaret Pomeranz), a national tour with The Whitlams, and The Last Night at the Proms (Sydney Symphony).

Born 1983 in Iran, Hamed Sadeghi is a world music specialist and tar, setar and oud player. A composer and producer now based in Sydney, he studied Persian classical music in Tehran and published a book ‘Ganjineye Tar’, a collection of pieces from maestro Ali Akbar Khan Shahnazi.

Hamed completed a master of sound engineering in Malaysia before he moved to Australia in 2013. He has toured throughout Australia with maestro Shahram Nazeri and Shahroz Aziz, he also tours with his band Eishan Ensemble in Australia, Taiwan and the Philippines.

His recent highlights in theatre include scoring and performing in productions at Belvoir Sydney Theatre, Kuala Lumpur Performing Art Centre, Sydney Festival and Adelaide festival . His collaborative score with Michael Askill for The Iliad (Out Loud) was nominated for the Best Original Score at the Sydney Theatre Awards 2019.

“While improvisation is central to the band’s conception, it’s the quality of the Sadeghi’s​ compositions and the opulence of the ensemble sound as much as any soloing​ that makes the music so enthralling. Despite its bright, metallic sound, the tar has a singular ability to soothe one into a state of quiet rapture, so you emerge from its spell feeling that perhaps you can survive another day, after all”

John Shand – Sydney Morning Herald

Hamed moved to Australia to pursue his career in a western country which led him to collaborate with well–known Australian jazz and classical musicians. Sadeghi was nominated in two categories at the Art Music Awards 2020 – Work of the Year and Luminary Award.

Heartsong is a community choir based in the Bega Valley dedicated to singing beautiful sacred choral music. Since their beginning in 2000, Heartsong has attracted an enthusiastic audience and has performed in churches and at music events on the Far South Coast of NSW and currently have over 40 members. 2018 is the latest in a long line of performances for Four Winds and the first with an especially commissioned work by their founder, Geoffrey Badger.

Heath Cullen is a singer, songwriter, performer, record producer and Independent recording artist, from the rural village of Candelo , New South Wales.
Over the past 10 years he has forged an international career: touring and recording in Australia and the US, while remaining based in the regional NSW town where he was raised.

He has released three self-produced albums, all through his own label, Five By Nine Recordings: A Storm Was Coming But I Didn’t Feel Nothing (2010); The Still And The Steep (2013, nominated for the Australian Music Prize); and Outsiders (2015), which was named “One of the finest, most inspired Australian rock albums in quite some time… the work of a man well on top of his game” by Rhythms magazine, and garnered rave reviews.

The album was recorded with Elvis Costello’s legendary band the Imposters – the only time in their 35 year career the band have collaborated with a singer other than Costello.

In January 2017 he was one of five Australian artists invited (alongside Bernard Fanning, Sarah Blasko, Chris Cheney and Paul Dempsey) to sing at the Sydney Opera House as part of the sold out international tour “Celebrating David Bowie”, featuring members of Bowie’s own band.
He is the recipient of the 2018/19 Create NSW Music Fellowship, and is currently working on his fourth full length album with three time Grammy winning producer Joe Henry.

Holly Harrison is a young Australian composer from Western Sydney. Holly’s music is driven by the nonsense literature of Lewis Carroll, embracing stylistic juxtapositions, the visceral energy of rock, and whimsical humour.

Holly’s Lobster Tales and Turtle Soup featured on Eighth Blackbird’s (USA) Australian tour as part of Musica Viva’s 2017 International Concert Season. The tour included performances by the four-time Grammy award-winning group at Perth International Arts Festival and Adelaide Festival. She is currently working on a sextet for Sydney new music champions, Ensemble Offspring, a bassoon and string quartet work for Matthew Kneale and Omega Ensemble, and the required work for the string quartet division in the 2018 Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition.

Ian Munro has emerged over recent years as one of Australia’s most distinguished and awarded musicians, with a career that has taken him to thirty countries in Europe, Asia, North America and Australasia. His award in 2003 of Premier Grand Prix at the Queen Elisabeth International Competition for composers (Belgium) is a unique achievement for an Australian and follows on from multiple prizes in international piano competitions in Spain (Maria Canals), Italy (Busoni), Portugal (Vianna da Motta) and the UK, where his second prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition in 1987 established his international profile. He has served as a jury member of international piano competitions in Sydney, Switzerland (Clara Haskil) and New Zealand, as well as the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition.

Possessing flawless technical mastery and a “beguiling silvery tone” (BBC Music Magazine), violinist Jack Liebeck’s playing embraces the worlds of elegant chamber-chic Mozart through to the impassioned mastery required to frame Brett Dean The Lost Art of Letter Writing. Jack’s fascination with all things scientific has included performing the world premiere of Dario Marianelli Voyager Violin Concerto and collaborations with Professor Brian Cox; he programmes his own annual festival Oxford May Music around the themes of music, science and the arts.

A professional photographer, he loves film and can be heard in the soundtracks of The Theory of Everything, Jane Eyre and Anna Karenina. Jack is a dedicated educator holding a professorship at the Royal Academy of Music – tips include “sing your way to string perfection” (The Strad). Jack is also a member of Trio Dali “virtuosic brio, this is a group to watch” (The Australian).

Jackson grew up in Orange, New South Wales, before achieving his Bachelor of Music at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Now, he’s about to wrap up his studies at the Australian National Academy of Music. Beyond academia, Jackson has also achieved some great industry experiences, and has performed with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria, and Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra.

Jakob Lindberg, from Djursholm in Sweden, was inspired first by the Beatles. After studying music at Stockholm University he went to London where he worked on lute repertoire with Diana Poulton at the Royal College of Music and succeeding her as Professor of Lute. Jakob has made numerous solo recordings but is also an active continuo player on the theorbo and arch lute, having worked with many well-known English soloists and ensembles. It is particularly through his live solo performances that he has become known as one of the finest lutenists in the world today, with concerts from Tokyo and Beijing in the East to San Francisco and Mexico City in the West.

Since his acclaimed London debut in 1992, Scottish-born James Crabb has been one of the world’s leading ambassadors for the classical accordion. He performs regularly with major orchestras and ensembles as soloist and chamber-musician.

James is also a highly regarded teacher having held two professorships in Denmark and Austria from 1995-2010. The Edinburgh Festival and BBC Proms are among his many festival appearances and he has premiered works by renowned composers including Ades, Beamish, Berio, Dean and Kats-Chernin.

James is recognised internationally as a leading interpreter of the music of Piazzolla, and has played numerous concerts with original members of Piazzolla’s legendary quintet.

Born in Sydney, Australia in 2000, Jason Henery commenced his musical education on the violin at age five, moving to a study of the double bass with his father in late 2010. Now at age eighteen, Jason has been principal double bass of the Australian Youth Orchestras (AYO) for several years. Additionally, he has played alongside other principal members in the AYO, performing such chamber works as “Mendelssohn Octet op. 20” and “Beethoven Septet op. 20”. As a soloist, Jason has recently been featured with Ensemble Nouveau, performing Bottesini’s Concerto in B minor. He has also been a finalist in the Alf and Pearl Pollard Award Competition.

Bega Valley born and bred, Jay McMahon revels in being part of the backline and keeping it steady. In his thirty-year journey as a musician, Jay has been part of many musical offerings such as supporting 90s Aussie grunge bands, hitting the tubs for consummate performers like Adam Levy (US) and basking in the joys and talents of local musicians he grew up with and admires. Jay has toured around the country in many incarnations, from country hall gigs to festivals like the Cobargo Folk Festival to the National Folk Festival. Jay consistently offers his versatile and sympathetic approach to many musicians who are both besotted and grounded by his ability to meld into the groove. He is always humbled by every musical interaction he has had, both intimate and grand.

Jed is a sound designer and self-proclaimed creator of dramaturgically organised noise. In 2018 he and David Hewitt finalised the recording of their ONDES Project as Artists in Residence at Four Winds – The Ghosts Between Us – which opened as a sound installation at the DARK MOFO | NIGHT MASS event.

Jeremy Rose is a jazz saxophonist, composer, band leader, label director and academic, regularly performing throughout Australia, the UK and Europe at jazz festivals, clubs and concert halls. He is a tireless advocate for music through his label Earshift Music.

His recent projects include the ARIA nominated and Australian Music Prize short-listed album The Vampires Meet Lionel Loueke, a European tour with his quartet ‘Within and Without’ featuring US guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, and his award winning Earshift Orchestra album ‘Iron in the Blood’. Rose also co-leads numerous projects including The Strides, Compass Sax Quartet and many others. Jeremy holds a Bachelor of Music in Jazz and a PhD in composition from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, where he currently teaches.

Jim Atkins’ designs and mixes sound environments for a host of live and recorded situations nationally and internationally.

Recent work includes Nixon in China (Auckland Festival), The Ring Cycle (Opera Australia), Sondheim Trilogy (Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd), Banquet of Secrets, The Riders, The Flying Dutchman, Maria de Buenos Aires and The Black Rider for Victorian Opera. Other highlights include: Chroma (The Australian Ballet); Songs From the Middle (Eddie Perfect/ANAM); Acoustic Life of Sheds, Namatjira (Big hART); Genevieve Lacey’s En Masse and Pleasure Garden sound installation (Sydney Festival), Armand Van Helden (Melbourne Symphony Orchestra) and Between 8&9 (Chamber Made).

After graduating from Sydney University John Bell spent five years in England with the Royal Shakespeare Company where he became an Associate Artist. Returning to Australia, he worked with all the major State theatre companies and co-founded the Nimrod Theatre where he spent fourteen years. In 1990 he founded Bell Shakespeare and was celebrated as their artistic director for many years. He has played most of the major roles in Shakespeare’s plays and directed most of them as well. He has also directed productions for Opera Australia and Victoria Opera. He has an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the Universities of Sydney, Newcastle and NSW. He is an Officer of the Order of Australia and the Order of the British Empire. In 1997 he was named by the National Trust as one of Australia’s National Living Treasures, and has won numerous awards as an actor and director.

Argentine-Australian baritone José Carbó is one of the most exciting operatic artists of his generation. Consistently praised for his smooth, rich, powerful voice, thrilling top notes and magnetic stage presence, José has performed in the leading houses of the world including Teatro alla Scala, Teatro Real Madrid, Los Angeles Opera, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Seattle Opera and Opera Australia. 2020 engagements include a return to his signature role of Germont La traviata for Opera Australia, a return to his critically acclaimed Scarpia Tosca and a Recital for Opera Queensland, Alfio/Tonio Cavalleria Rusticana & Pagliacci for Festival Opera New Zealand and Don Alfonso Così fan tutte for West Australian Opera.

Julian Smiles has for 25 years been a central figure in cello performance and teaching in Australia. On graduating from the Canberra School of Music he was appointed principal cellist with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and rapidly gained prominence as a chamber musician in performances for Musica Viva, Kathryn Selby and Friends and at the Huntington Estate Music Festival.

In 1991 he was invited to join the Australia Ensemble@UNSW, and in 1995 formed the Goldner String Quartet with colleagues Dene Olding, Dimity Hall and Irina Morozova. With these two groups he has performed to critical acclaim at major venues and festivals throughout the world, made over 30 CDs on leading labels, and premiered many works by Australian and International composers.

Julian has appeared frequently as guest principal cello with orchestras including the Sydney Symphony, Tasmanian Symphony, Australian Opera and Ballet and Auckland Philharmonic Orchestras.

He is also active as a soloist with numerous concerto appearances. Recent artistic collaborations include such musicians as Piers Lane, Bernadette Harvey, Dimity Hall, Daniel de Borah and James Crabb.

Julieta Mateo, from Argentina, is a qualified Yoga Teacher with more than 18 years of experience in teaching Yoga around the world. She has a background in Improv Theatre and different styles of Physical Theatre. Based in Barcelona in 2005 Julieta created her first company called Improduccion and began performing around Spain and England.

In 2009 she became a mother and decided to open her own Yoga studio in Barcelona, called “EL Galpon” where theatre sports, physical theatre and Hatha yoga are still practised. Julieta has trained in Iyengar, Classical Yoga, Kundalini and VinyasaYoga. She is now based in Australia, studying the Feldenkrais Method and leading workshops that combine Yoga vivo with theatre.

Kate is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, composer and music producer with two decades’ experience on the international folk music circuit.
Kate has long collaborated with Ruth Hazleton and with the band Trouble in the Kitchen, and has recently joined forces with Luke Plumb to record arrangements of traditional songs inspired by the 1970’s folk revival.
Kate has recorded with many artists including Judy Small and David Ross McDonald (The Waifs), has twice toured Ireland with renowned Irish folk singer Andy Irvine, and has appeared as a vocal soloist at the Sydney Opera House for a season of Bush Babies’ Proms.
Two of Kate’s albums have been named as Folk Album of the Year by the National Film and Sound Archive, and her two latest releases with Trouble in the Kitchen and Luke Plumb & the Circuit were been nominated for the Age Music Victoria Award for Best Folk/Roots Album

Kenny Broberg is one of the top six prize winners of the 2016 Sydney International Piano Competition and most recent winner of the silver medal at the Fifteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
The first musician in his family, Kenneth started piano lessons at age 6, when he was first fascinated by his mother’s upright—a wedding gift from her parents. He studied for nine years with Dr. Joseph Zins before entering the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music, where he earned a Bachelor of Music degree with Nancy Weems in 2016. He currently resides in Parkville, Missouri, under the guidance of Stanislav Ioudenitch at Park University.

Kyarna Rose & Matty Walker are proud Yuin singer-songwriters from Wollongong. Best known for their beautiful harmonies and covers of classic songs, their repertoire infuses their honest chemistry into anything from country, to pop, to rock. Their first single, ‘Never Too Far Gone’ hit the Australian country charts and peaked at number 4 in its first week – a promising sign of the bright future before these talented artists.

Lee Pemberton’s early career focused on teaching having studied under acclaimed dance educationalist Helen Cameron at the VCA. Lee has created and performed numerous independent dance-works in Melbourne, around the Bega Valley region, Canberra and Sydney. Lee has worked with De Quincey Co. (Bodyweather), Legs on the Wall (Physical Theatre) and Merrigong Theatre Company (Mixed Ability).

Lee trained at the VCA School of Dance Melbourne and has worked as an independent dancer/choreographer and secondary schools teaching dance for many years. Since 1998 Lee has been living on the far South Coast of NSW where she runs the youth company fLiNG Physical Theatre in the Bega Valley. The company’s work has since created a solid interest in contemporary dance and physical theatre in the region, and has become the State’s first professionally funded youth dance company. Its program includes visiting professional artists, training for young people aged 10 to 24, workshops for the community and professional touring opportunities for fLiNG’s performance company.

In 2016 Lee was awarded a Create NSW Regional Artists Fellowship for her research project ‘Heritage, Lineage and Future’.

Liam Wooding is a pianist, performing music across a variety of forms and genres. His first commercial recording Play Pen was released on the atoll label in 2019 and spent several weeks at the top of the Radio New Zealand Classical Music Charts. You can find out more about Liam’s work in New Zealand music at SOUNZ: Centre for New Zealand Music.

In 2019 as a member of the Morton Trio, Liam was a touring artist with Chamber Music New Zealand and received the Pettman/ROSL Chamber Music scholarship. Alongside Molly Collier O-Boyle as a member of COW, Liam was an artist in residence at the Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity. They will present their debut show Forgetting Lessons at the Melbourne Recital Centre in 2021.

Liam was a prize winner in the National Concerto Competition where he performed with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and has featured as a soloist with the Auckland Chamber Orchestra, Wellington Chamber Orchestra, and on several occasions with Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra.

Liam is a graduate of the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) where he studied with Timothy Young, supported by a Creative New Zealand scholarship. He is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Waikato where he researches New Zealand piano music. His research is supported by a Waikato Doctoral Scholarship and the Shirtcliffe Fellowship.

Liisa Pallandi has been a permanent member of the Australian Chamber Orchestra since 2014. She first performed at the Four Winds Festival in 2012 as an ACO Emerging Artist and can’t wait to be back again in 2021.  

 Liisa enjoys performing with a range of performers in diverse styles on both violin and viola. Recent highlights include touring with the Sydney Dance Company, joining the Jousia Ensemble for their 10th anniversary concert in Helsinki, recording with contemporary music group Ensemble Offspring, improvising with jazz musician/composer Paul Cutlan and performing with rapper Ziggy Ramo. 

Lior is one of Australia’s most successful singer-songwriters, renowned for his beautiful voice and songs that radiate truth and sincerity.
He burst on to the Australian music scene in 2005 with his stunning debut album – ‘Autumn Flow’ – the album becoming one of the most successful independent debuts in Australian music history. Lior has since released a further four albums to wide critical acclaim.

He is a multi ARIA award winner and nominee, an APRA Screen Award winner and Triple J ‘J Award’ nominee for Australian Album of the Year.

In 2013, together with Nigel Westlake, Lior co-wrote and performed ‘Compassion’ – a song cycle for voice and orchestra set to ancient Hebrew and Arabic texts centred around the idea of compassion.  ‘Compassion’ won the ARIA for ‘Best Classical Album’ in 2014, and was awarded the Austin Critics’ Award for ‘Best Symphonic Performance of 2015-16’ following its US premiere.

Lisa Young is well known to choral, jazz and world music listeners as a creative vocal stylist, composer and improviser, incorporating Indian and African elements in her work. Her album ‘Grace”with her Quartet, won the 2007 BELL Award for Best Australian Vocal Album.

She is a founding member of all female vocal group Coco’s Lunch who has recorded 7 CDs of original music receiving 2 ARIA nominations, and toured extensively, performing to packed houses throughout the world. Renowned as a passionate and engaging workshop leader, her compositions have been performed by choirs worldwide. In 2015 she was awarded her PhD in Music Performance from Monash University.

Born in Darwin Australia, Lloyd Van’t Hoff boasts a career as a vibrant, young clarinettist, chamber musician, collaborator and educator. Based in Melbourne, Lloyd has shared, created and performed music all throughout the world. Performances at the Beijing International Festival of Modern Music (Beijing, China), Menhuin Festival (Gstaad, Switzerland), Young Euro Classic (Berlin, Germany), Grafenegg Summer Music Festival (Grafenegg, Austria) and the Banff Centre (Banff, Canada) have all showcased Lloyd’s versatility as a musician on a global scale.

Luke Plumb has established a reputation as a driving force in acoustic music on the global stage, through his work with Shooglenifty, Andy Irvine and his many collaborations in Australia.

Branching away from his classical piano and violin training in 1997, Luke Plumb began teaching himself the mandolin and swiftly became one of Australia’s most sought after session musicians. His albums Isfahan and Senan’s Haggart were comprised of bold music from right across Europe and demonstrated his keen awareness of both tradition and the possibilities for experimentation within it.

The Luminescence Chamber Singers is a virtuosic vocal consort based in Canberra, Australia. Since the ensemble’s earliest iteration in 2013, Luminescence has earned a reputation for presenting exciting and excellent singing. The Chamber Singers perform a wide range of repertoire from the Renaissance to the 21st century, and frequently premiere new music by Australian composers, including emerging composers from within their own ranks.

Maggie is an emerging pianist from Sydney who has a keen interest in chamber music, piano pedagogy and contemporary performance.

Maggie has participated in a number of music programs nationally and internationally. These include the 2012 and 2014 Icicle Creek Winter Piano Festival in Washington, US and the 2016 and 2017 AYO Chamber Players Program in partnership with the Musica Viva Festival. More recently, she was awarded a scholarship as one of the six pianists to participate in the 2017 Meadowmount School of Music in New York, a rigorous seven-week music program. During that period, she had the opportunity to intensively study and collaborate with students and teachers from some of America’s top institutions. Through these programs, Maggie had the privilege of receiving lessons and masterclasses from Gilbert Kalish, Xak Bjerken, Ann Schein, Lambert Orkis, Ivan Ženatý, the Goldner String Quartet and Plexus Ensemble.

Virtuosic, original and exciting, Malumba’s genre-defying music will take you on a sonic journey while making your toes tap and your heart soar. With hints of Klezmer melodies, gypsy jazz harmonies, Celtic instruments and African rhythms, Malumba’s sound is unique and hugely versatile. Blending together the sounds of Australia’s top folk and jazz musicians ensures performances are exciting and full of improvisation.

Since forming in 1997, Malumba have released 6 albums, toured the UK and performed at most of the major folk festivals throughout Australia. A world music ensemble based on the far south coast of NSW, Malumba performs original folk inspired instrumental music, full of intricate melodies and improvisations.

Maria Raspopova is an acclaimed and virtuosic chamber musician and solo recitalist. She is the resident pianist & co artistic director of one of Australia’s foremost chamber groups, Omega Ensemble, and has performed with acclaimed Australian and international celebrated musicians including Paul Meyer, Dimitri Ashkenazy and Emma Matthews.

Maria has received wide acclaim for her performances with Omega Ensemble, Cut Common Magazine wrote “Raspopova’s bass notes were booming and the upper register of the piano sparkled with a shimmering clarity. Raspopova played with confidence and zest. She shone like gold…here is a pianist who could play anything”.

Maria has performed solo recitals at The Utzon Room, Sydney Opera House as well as appearing with Omega Ensemble in City Recital Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Government House, Sydney and on regional and international tours.

Marianne is Associate Principal Second Violin with the Sydney Symphony. She gained her doctorate from Sydney University where she studied with Wanda Wilkomirska.

Marianne won the Kendall National Violin Competition and Australian National Concerto and Vocal Competition, and was awarded Second Prize at Gisborne International Music Competition. She studied with Barbara Gilby and Alice Waten at ANU and with Igor Ozim at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.

Marianne was a String Finalist in ABC Young Performers Award and recipient of the MSO Young Artist Award affording solo performance opportunities with Queensland and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras. She is first violinist with the Enigma Quartet.

Mark Robinson joined the Sydney Symphony Orchestra as Assistant Principal Timpanist in 2010. Born in Sydney, Mark obtained a Bachelor of Music from the Sydney Conservatorium and furthered his studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London where he graduated with a Post-Graduate Diploma.

He moved to Belfast in 2006 after being appointed Section Leader of Percussion with the Ulster Orchestra, a position that he held until his return to Sydney in 2010.

Based in Candelo in southern NSW, Melanie has recorded ten albums and EPs including her latest, ‘Song to Sing on a Saturday Night’. Melanie’s critically acclaimed album The Cloud Appreciation Society was long-listed for the 2013 Australian Music Prize, Quatre Chemins for the 2015 Australian Music Prize, and she was nominated for an APRA award in 2011.
She has toured with Glen Hansard and The Frames, Jason Mraz, Bernard Fanning, Lou Rhodes, Slaid Cleaves and Sarah Blasko among others, as well as touring extensively on her own in Australia and Europe.
Melanie recorded an album in French, which was funded by the highly successful Pozible campaign and gave Melanie a six month residency in France, writing songs with poet Alain Rivet and pop icon Helena Noguerra. Melanie has also written songs with Wendy Matthews and Catherine Britt, and for film and television.

Mission Songs Project faithfully explores the musical journey of Indigenous Australian music as Jessie Lloyd connects the traditional with contemporary, revealing the continuation of cultural practice and song traditions into the 21st Century.

Mission Songs Project performance is inspired by Indigenous singing and song traditions. The vocal quartet is made up of some of Australia’s finest Indigenous vocalists, presenting a rarely public performance styles and narratives found in Indigenous communities, such as family gatherings, social events and yarns over a cuppa. Story-telling is a major component of the performance as it gives historical context and moving personal experiences into the tunes sung from the mission days, making the show warm, humorous and heartfelt.

Nigel’s career, spanning over 4 decades, began as a clarinettist. He started composing from 1980 for radio, theatre, circus, TV, film and the concert hall.

His film credits include Ali’s Wedding, Paper Planes, Miss Potter, Babe, Children of the Revolution and numerous IMAX films amongst others.

His work has been awarded 2 Arias, 15 APRA awards, [screen & classical categories] the Paul Lowin Orchestral Prize (2x), & Gold Medal for “Best Original Music” at the New York International Radio Festival.

He holds an honorary Doctorate in Music from UNSW and made his US conducting debut with the New York Philharmonic in 2016.

Patrick has been acting professionally since 1976, starting his career as AASM at the Theatre Royal in Stratford, East London. After a year he joined the Roundabout Theatre in Education Company in Nottingham and then, after another year at Stratford he emigrated to Australia.
Over the years Patrick has worked with many companies in Australia, most notably Thalia, Bell, Griffin, Ensemble, Studio and most State companies. He is also co-artisitic director and founding member of O’Punksky’s Theatre and he lives in the Bega Valley.

Born and raised in Canberra, Paul Kildea holds an honours degree in piano performance and a master’s degree in musicology from The University of Melbourne – where he is Honorary Principal Fellow and was in 2016 a Miegunyah Distinguished Visiting Fellow – and a doctorate from Oxford University.

As a conductor Paul has worked throughout Australia and Europe and has held artistic posts with the Aldeburgh and Perth festivals, in addition to being a former Artistic Director of the Four Winds Festival in coastal New South Wales. As Artistic Director of London’s Wigmore Hall he revitalized the artistic programme, commissioning numerous works from young composers and discovering and launching a number of brilliant young artists and careers.

In September 2017 Paul returned to live in Australia and in June 2019 was announced as successor to Carl Vine as Artistic Director of Musica Viva Australia.

Based in Melbourne, the Penny Quartet formed in early March 2014 at the Australian National Academy of Music. Making their public debut in a live national broadcast that same month, the group have since performed in high profile master classes with prominent artists such as the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Sitkovetsky Trio, as well as numerous concerts and festivals. Most recently, they have been nominated for the 2014 Freedman Fellowship award, are the proud recipients of the 2014 John and Rosemary Macleod Travelling Fellowship and winners of the 2014 ANAM Chamber Music Competition.

With diverse individual backgrounds and experiences across Australia, Europe, America and the UK, the group brings together their many years of knowledge and training to create a mature quartet sound. The Penny Quartet’s repertoire is wide and varied, spanning pre-Baroque to today’s best composers. A love for the core quartet repertoire is at the forefront of their programming, but is closely followed by an urge to explore less charted territory.

In March and April of 2015, the Penny Quartet came to Four Winds for a two-week residency. Their residency program included pop-up shows, workshops, visits to the local schools, and culminated in a recital at the Four Winds site.

Pete’s first piano was rescued from a bulldozer at a demolition site.
Highly regarded as a performer, composer, theatre director and songwriter, Pete’s debut album was album of the week on Radio National. His song Mars 1 won the 2018 APRA/AMCOS Cygnet Folk Festival song competition. He has composed for various theatre and film projects in the South East region, and his work has been recognised by the Canberra Area Theatre Awards.
He has worked closely with several highly regarded Australian musicians, performing and recording with Heath Cullen, Jackie Marshall, Sam Martin (Mikelangelo and the Black Sea Gentlemen), Eamon McNelis (Flap!), Mike Martin (The Strelley Project), Melanie Horsnell, and Kate Burke (Kate Burke & Ruth Hazleton, Trouble in the Kitchen).

Peter de Jager is one of Australia’s most exciting pianists. His repertoire is diverse, encompassing all periods of western classical music, which he often plays on period instruments, as well as musical theatre and cabaret. He is currently on faculty at the Australian National Academy of Music as an Associate Artist, and works regularly as a collaborative pianist.

Performance highlights include the demanding solo Piano part of Messiaen’s Turangalila-Symphonie with the Melbourne Youth Orchestra in 2011, and his critically acclaimed 2017 Melbourne Festival performance of all five major keyboard works of Iannis Xenakis.

Peter won the inaugural Australian International Chopin Competition in 2011, and in 2016 he was awarded second prize in the Australian National Piano Award, as well as Best Australian Competitor in the 2013 Southern Highlands International Piano Competition. In 2017 he was awarded ‘Performance of the Year’ at the Australian Music Centre’s Art Music Awards for the premiere of Chris Dench’s 100-minute Piano Sonata, which he commissioned. He has three times participated in the Lucerne Festival Academy, performing orchestral, chamber, and piano duo works by Pierre Boulez under the supervision of the composer.

Rachel Shaw is a true musical chameleon, who enjoys a prolific career across several ensembles and genres.

A passionate orchestral performer, Rachel currently holds the position of Tutti Horn with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Rachel’s extensive orchestral experience has also seen her undertake Tutti Horn contracts with the Orchestra Victoria and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Rachel performs casually with the Sydney, Melbourne, West Australian, Tasmanian and New Zealand Symphony Orchestras, and the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, and has been Associate Principal Horn of the Australian Youth Orchestra, and Principal Horn of the Tasmanian Discovery Orchestra.

Equally at home in a chamber music setting, Rachel is a founding member of Arcadia Winds—Australia’s leading young wind ensemble, and Musica Viva’s inaugural FutureMakers. With Arcadia Winds, Rachel has performed at festivals and venues across Australia.

Effortlessly crossing genres from soul to hip-hop and beyond, Radical Son, David Leha is a standout vocalist and songwriter. His music and stories are always guided by his Indigenous heritage from the Kamilaroi nation of Australia and Tonga. He is a unique and powerful Indigenous soul singer, rapper, and spoken word artist supported by a band of high-quality musicians in their own rights. Radical Son and his band supported Archie Roach during his 2014 tour, was awarded a 2012 Breakthrough grant, and has performed at many festivals and venues around the country.

Raechelle Kennedy is a story-collector, a poet, and a visual artist.

She is drawn to the tales that get shoved in pockets and rarely told; the poems that live in forgotten faces and quiet towns.

Hailing from Anishinaabeg land, some 9000 miles and a hemisphere away, Raechelle now finds herself weaving a new story of home here on Yuin Country, in the ever-surprising and story-thick village of Candelo.

“We can all communicate with our body. Whether it’s in a ballroom, the street, a disco, or whether it’s on stage, dance is a universal language which can bring everyone together.”

Rafael Bonachela was born in Barcelona where he began his early dance training before moving to London, and in 1992 joined the legendary Rambert Dance Company. 

He remained with Rambert as a dancer and Associate Choreographer until 2006 at which time he successfully set up the Bonachela Dance Company (BDC) to concentrate on the rapid rise of his choreographic career. As a choreographer, Rafael has been commissioned to make works for Candoco, George Piper Dances, ITDANSA Danza, Contemporanea de Cuba, Transitions Dance Company and Dance Works Rotterdam amongst others. 

In 2008, Rafael premiered his first full-length production 360° for Sydney Dance Company. Less than six months later, he was appointed Artistic Director making headlines around the dance world. His vision for the Company embraces a guiding principle that has seen the repertoire grow with the addition of commissioned dance works from Australian and visiting international guest choreographers. The premiere works are often programmed alongside Rafael’s own creations, ensuring diversity for audiences and providing much sought after opportunities for his remarkable ensemble of dancers to be exposed to the work of some of the most in-demand choreographers of our time. 

Rafael Bonachela’s internationally recognised talent has seen him work not only with contemporary dance at the highest level but also with artists from popular culture, such as Kylie Minogue, Tina Turner,  Sarah Blasko  and  Katie Noonan  as well as leading fashion designers  Dion Lee  and  Toni Maticevski. Such collaborative efforts reflect the inspiration he finds and utilises from culture today. 

Rebecca is Principal Percussionist with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra having previously held the positions of Assistant Timpanist/Tutti Percussionist with SSO and Principal Timpanist with the TSO. 

 She has performed with the MSO, WASO, ACO, Seymour Group, Sydney Alpha Ensemble, The Australia Ensemble and Taikoz.  

 Rebecca was a member of Synergy Percussion from 1987-1999 and has often returned as a guest artist. With Synergy she premiered and recorded works by numerous Australian composers. The group recorded concertos for percussion ensemble by Takemitsu and Carl Vine with the SSO.  

 In 2006 Rebecca premiered Nigel Westlake’s percussion concerto, When the Clock Strikes Me, with the SSO and was awarded “Best Performance of an Australian Composition” at the APRA 2007 Classical Music Awards. 

Richard Tognetti is Artistic Director of the Australian Chamber Orchestra and Lead Violin. He has established an international reputation for his compelling performances and artistic individualism.

Richard began his studies in his home town of Wollongong with William Primrose, then with Alice Waten at the Sydney Conservatorium, and Igor Ozim at the Bern Conservatory, where he was awarded the Tschumi Prize as the top graduate soloist in 1989.

Later that year he led several performances of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, and that November was appointed as the Orchestra’s Lead Violin and, subsequently, Artistic Director.

Richard performs on period, modern and electric instruments and his numerous arrangements, compositions and transcriptions have expanded the chamber orchestra repertoire and been performed throughout the world. Richard performed in the Four Winds 2014 Easter Festival.

Riley Lee began playing the shakuhachi in 1971. He is the recipient of two of the most venerated lineages of traditional shakuhachi, which can be traced back to the Zen Buddhist komusô, or “priests of nothingness” of the Edo Japan. In 1980, he became the first non-Japanese person to attain the rank of dai shihan (Grand Master). He was given the professional name K?ho, which is translated as “Perpetuating the Sublime”. He has a PhD in Ethnomusicology from Sydney University, and teaches regularly at Princeton (USA) and other universities. Each year, he performs and teaches in Europe, USA and Australia.

Robyn Martin grew up in remote coastal desert town of Ceduna. Like all her siblings, Robyn was called Spin by her teachers at Ceduna Area School after her father’s nickname.

She started playing bass at age 13 in family band Spineffex.

Robyn completed a Bachelor of Contemporary Music at Southern Cross University, majoring in composition and bass guitar. During her time at university, Robyn travelled to Central Australia working with Music Outback alongside musician Greg Sheehan, delivering regular week long workshops in remote communities Ampilatawatj and Utopia, north east of Alice Springs.

In 2005, Robyn first visited Candelo and was helpless against the lure and romance of monthly bush dances and a thriving hub of like-minded country bumpkin hippy musicians.

She has been involved with many varied local bands in the Bega Valley including quirky original outfit The Wild Martins, Rob n Sam and The Drift, rockabilly band The Hoops, rock steady group Rudy Raquetteers and funk soul reggae band The Pocket which is fronted by Robyn on bass and vocals. Robyn recently formed The New Graces with fellow Candelo musicians Kate Burke and Melanie Horsnell.

Rohan Dasika is a double bassist with a diverse musical life in Australia and abroad. He has worked on contracts in the Frankfurter Opern-und-Museumsorchester and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, as well as being engaged at festivals including the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, Four Winds Festival, and the Canberra International Music Festival. Passionate about new music, Rohan has performed at the Bendigo International Festival of Exploratory Music and Lucerne Festival Academy, and was subsequently invited back to Lucerne as part of the Orchestra of the Lucerne Festival Alumni. In 2019 Rohan was announced as the winner of the Freedman Classical Fellowship.

Ruby Newell started learning violin at the age of 7, learning with local teacher Elizabeth Andalis as well as at her school. Five years ago Ruby found her passion for percussion, especially for Taiko, and now studies with David Hewitt and Stonewave Taiko. She is inspired by bands such as Queen and The Clash, Taiko groups Kodo, YuNiOn and TaikOz. Ruby is currently studying music for her HSC and will be performing Taiko for her major.

Sam Martin grew up in the Central West of NSW, Australia. Raised in the dance halls and bars of Bathurst he developed a love for entertainment and community.
Sam studied piano, clarinet and accordion as a boy and moved on to string bass in his late teens before studying jazz the Australian National University.
Sam worked as a sideman in the country, bluegrass and folk music circuit. His experience in these styles greatly influenced his musicality and understanding of the music industry.

Since 2006, Sam has worked as a bass player, singer and actor in the renowned theatre and festival ensemble Mikelangelo and the Black Sea Gentlemen.
Since 2007 Sam has worked as production manager for Mikelangelo and The Black Sea Gentlemen, as a freelance sound engineer and is currently the producer of the Candelo Village Festival.
Sam currently resides in Candelo on the South Coast of NSW with a young family, a part time teaching job and a full time commitment to the community around him.

Sam was born into a creative family and since moving from his childhood home in the Lake District UK, he has lived and worked in Leeds, Edinburgh, London and Barcelona. He is currently based in Australia.

Sam is a passionate physical theatre maker specialising in conceptualising and creating outdoor performances in public spaces. Concerned with all aspects of contemporary celebration, Sam is committed to the creative process and the necessity for art to connect people with their lives.

Sarangan is today appreciated both in the field of Fusion Music and in the world of Classical Music as an international phenomenon. A Classical Sitar virtuoso, Mesmerizing Singer and an excellent Keyboard player of the highest order, his consistently brilliant and exciting performances have not only established him as a national treasure in his own country, but also gained him fame all over the world for his many accomplishments. Sarangan has received widespread recognition as a composer as evidenced by the numerous grants and awards that he has received, including the SAMA Award (Best Sitar player), Bunka Award by the Japanese Government and the SLBC Award (Best Music Director).

Scott Kinmont – a graduate of the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, the Australian National University in Canberra and Northwestern University in Chicago Scott is the associate principle trombone of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and a Lecturer in Trombone Studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Scott has appeared as a soloist with a variety of ensembles including brass bands, jazz ensembles and orchestras, and has also appeared as a guest artist at many leading musical institutions and at many of Australia’s most important brass symposiums.

Shakeela Williams is a proud, Yuin woman from Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community located on the South Coast of NSW. She first started learning her traditional Dhurga language in school, performing the Welcome to Country at assemblies.

Since then, she has collaborated with William Barton to create a Welcome Song in Dhurga, which she has performed at several events. Shakeela is excited love to learn more about her culture, the dreaming stories and how to compose songs in Dhurga language.

Poignant, knowledgeable and full of humour, Shellie Morris’ illustrious career has balanced being one of Australia’s most celebrated singer-songwriters with her unwavering commitment to to healing through music within communities. Armed with personal experience of connection and disconnection, Shellie imparts the importance of having a voice, listening to one another and that every individual is important. Her uplifting new single Footsteps (released February 2019) connects people through language, song and spirit.
While she has been in the spotlight for many years with her involvement with Black Arm Band, Deadly awards, ARIA nominations, Music Australia award, NAIDOC Award, G.R. Burarrawanga Memorial Award and Australian of the Year award; by and large; she works on the ground reaffirming the identity of all those blessed to work with her.
Shellie creates music and sings in around 17 Aboriginal languages, many considered “sleeping”. Since discovering her Wardaman and Yanyuwa roots over 20 years ago, she has tirelessly worked to improve the lives of Indigenous Australians, especially in the Northern Territory.
She is the 2014 NT Australian of the Year, has won multiple awards personally and for her collaborations including the landmark album Ngambala Wiji li-Wunungu and the internationally award-winning musical documentary Prison Songs. The documentary has won film and humanitarian awards around the world and was nominated for five AACTA awards (including best sound and score), ATOM Awards – Best Indigenous Resource and a Walkley Documentary Award.
Through honesty, music and her trademark smile Shellie Morris gently effects change everywhere she goes.

In 2009, Deborah Cheetham established Short Black Opera as a national not-for-profit opera company devoted to the development of Indigenous opera singers. The following year she produced the premier of her first opera Pecan Summer. This landmark work is Australia’s first Indigenous opera and has been a vehicle for the development on a new generation of Indigenous opera singers.

Deborah Cheetham AO, Yorta Yorta woman, soprano, composer and educator has been a leader in the Australian arts landscape for more than 25 years.

In the 2014 Queen’s Birthday Honours List, Deborah was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), for distinguished service to the performing arts as an opera singer, composer and artistic director, to the development of Indigenous artists, and to innovation in performance.

Simon Lewis is the creative force behind Amanaska and Pravana and has released 9 albums between the projects since 2003. His music as been featured on numerous compilations around the globe and many soundtracks. For the last 30 years Simon has worked in the live music scene in Australia and internationally, with numerous bands, funky outfits, singers, cover bands, and the odd famous person.

Acclaimed by respected critics and peers as “True greatness” (Sydney Morning Herald), Simon Tedeschi performed his first Mozart piano concerto in the Sydney Opera House at age nine. A student of Neta Maughan, Noretta Conci and Peter Serkin, he has since been awarded numerous prizes, such as the Symphony Australia Young Performer of the Year Award, Queen’s Trust Overseas Study Award, and first prize in the Keyboard division of London’s Royal Overseas League Music Competition (2002).

He is also recipient of the prestigious Legacy Award from the Creativity Foundation (USA), and a Centenary of Federation Medal from the Prime Minister of Australia.

Dr. Sonya Lifschitz is an accomplished Ukrainian-Australian performer, educator, researcher, and collaborator of international repute, whose creative practice spans solo and chamber-music performance, curating, producing and presenting new work, directing cross-disciplinary and multi-media collaborations, and actively participating in current cultural debate and arts advocacy.

Praised by the New York Times and The Age for her “dynamic” and “powerful” performances, and by the Woodstock Times for her “miraculous keyboard technique and musicianship”, Sonya Lifschitz made her debut with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra at age 18 and is internationally recognised as one of Australia’s most innovative and fiercely creative musical voices. In 2016-2018 seasons, Sonya made a critically-acclaimed solo debut in one of New York’s most prestigious concert venues, the BargeMusic, with other highlights including performances at the Melbourne (MIAF), Adelaide (AF), Brisbane (BIAF), Canberra (CIMF), Darwin, Metropolis and MONAFOMA Festivals; and venues such as the Melbourne Recital Centre (Melbourne), City Recital Hall (Sydney), QPAC Concert Hall (Brisbane), National Gallery of Australia (Canberra), Elder Hall (Adelaide) and Detroit Institute of Art (Detroit, USA).

Sonya performed ‘Stalin’s Piano’ by Robert Davidson at Four Winds in November 2020.

Speak Percussion has shaped the sound of 21st century Australian percussion music through the creation and presentation of ambitious arts projects. Internationally recognised as a leader in the fields of experimental and contemporary classical music, Speak is constantly seeking to redefine the potential of percussion.

Ranging from solo concerts to massed sound events, Speak Percussion’s “breathtakingly impressive” (The West Australian) work is presented throughout the world in concert halls, theatres, galleries and site-specific locations.

Speak Percussion has been responsible for over 130 commissions and premieres of new percussion works, Speak Percussion has contributed new 21st Century masterworks to the global percussion repertoire.

Melbourne pianist and composer Stefan Cassomenos is one of Australia’s most vibrant and versatile musicians. As recipient of the Second Prize in the International Telekom Beethoven Competition Bonn 2013, Cassomenos has performed throughout Europe and Asia, and has performed concertos with several Australian symphony orchestras, as well as orchestras overseas. Cassomenos is a founding member of chamber ensemble PLEXUS, which has commissioned and premiered over 100 new works. Cassomenos’ compositions are regularly performed throughout Australia. Cassomenos is joint Artistic Director of Port Fairy Spring Music Festival, with violinist Monica Curro. Cassomenos is generously supported by Kawai Australia.

“Cassomenos is one of those now rare artists whose composure does not display the need for attention. Hardly has any pianist of our time played so calmly, soberly, absorbedly, and as unpretentiously as does Cassomenos.”

Tonhalle Magazine, 2015

“Cassomenos’s unique exploration of the requiem mass was jubilant and arresting. The work is a ‘no holds barred’ affair: its brazen narrative veers between the demonic and the revelatory, juxtaposing the Latin mass ordinary with passages from the Book of Revelations. A genre-hopping musical score engages epic film music tropes, contemporary classical, jazz, pop and at times what sounds like a rave. Think ‘requiem rock opera’, to borrow the words of an excited audience member, post-concert. Cassomenos has thrown everything into this work, creating a rapturous, hour-long musical orgy that disintegrates any line between what’s sacred and profane (both musically and religiously speaking). The requiem brought the audience to its feet in appreciation not just of the composer’s incredible efforts, but also the fantastic performances of all involved. With this visionary and eclectic concert, Plexus have continued to make their bold musical mark on Australia’s performing arts scene.”

Andrew Aronowicz, Limelight Magazine, 2015

Born in Vienna, Stefan Vladar is one of Austria’s most remarkable musical personalities. Stefan Vladar was a student of Hans Petermandl at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. In 1985 he won the 1st prize of the prestigious International Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna. He now regularly performs as a conductor and pianist in music centres throughout Europe, America and Asia.

In the 2018/2019 season he works together with orchestras such as de Chambre de Lausanne, Philharmonisches Orchester der Hansestadt Lübeck, Neue Philharmonie Westfalen, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra and Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra. Vladar’s discography includes more than 30 releases for labels such as harmonia mundi and Sony Classical, documenting his work as a pianist and as a conductor with works by Haydn, Schubert, Schumann, Chopin, Prokofiev and Scriabin.

Stonewave Taiko is a Japanese drumming group, practicing and performing the dynamic art form of wadaiko.

Regionally based in Bega on the beautiful wilderness coast of southeast NSW, Stonewave Taiko is a highly skilled group of community performers led by professional musician David Hewitt. Formed in 2013, Stonewave Taiko currently boasts over 40 members from a diversity of ages and walks of life .

Stonewave Taiko seeks to create a unique Australian expression of taiko with a rural heartbeat.

Reflecting the pristine natural beauty of our region and the character of it’s community, Stonewave Taiko blends ancient traditions with our contemporary Australian sensibility — creating a new chapter in the story of taiko in Australia

Stonewave Taiko has performed at regional festivals including Four Winds, Eden Whale Festival, Cobargo Folk Festival, Bega River Day, Tathra Enduro, The Bega Show, Tanja Market Day and opening the Bega Civic Centre on Australia Day 2016.

Dance changes you. More than simply witnessing something beautiful, or engaging with culture, to experience dance is to be positively altered. From performances at the Joyce Theatre in New York, to the Grand in Shanghai, the Stanislavsky in Moscow and the Sydney Opera House at home, Sydney Dance Company has proved that there are no passive observers in a contemporary dance audience. 
 
The reward of truly moving audiences, and the raw pride of sharing Australian art with the world has driven our ensemble of 17 dancers, led by Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela, to become one of the world’s strongest forces in contemporary dance. Alongside Bonachela’s original works, our programs have featured guest choreographers like Jacopo Godani, Alexander Ekman, Gideon Obarzanek and Cheng Tsung-lung, as well as collaborations with Sydney Festival, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, David Jones and composers Bryce Dessner, Nick Wales, 48nord and Ezio Bosso. 
 
Sydney Dance Company has a broad community beyond the practice and performance of our lead dancers. We believe in the universality of dance, and with the largest public dance class program in Australia, we help over 70,000 people a year connect with the grace, strength and creativity that lives within all of us. Our nation-wide education program offers a strategic curriculum targeting primary and secondary students through to career focused study for pre-professional dancers and university graduates. 

History 

Sydney Dance Company began as a group founded in 1969 by dancer Suzanne Musitz. Soon known as The Dance Company (NSW), from 1975-1976 the Company was directed by Dutch choreographer Jaap Flier, before the appointment of Australian choreographer Graeme Murphy in 1976. In 1979 Murphy and his partner Janet Vernon instituted the defining name change to Sydney Dance Company and proceeded to lead it for a remarkable 30 years. Murphy and his collaborators created work that enthralled audiences in Australia and in extensive international touring, including being the first western contemporary dance company to perform in the People’s Republic of China. 
 
Sydney Dance Company has been led since 2009 by Spanish-born Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela. Over the past eight years the Company has cemented its reputation as a creative powerhouse, with an acclaimed group of dancers presenting new work by Bonachela and other choreographers, designers, composers and musicians. The Company has expanded its reach into the towns and cities it visits with work for schools and local dancers. 
 
Since 1986 the Company has been a resident of the purpose-built studios at The Wharf in Sydney’s Walsh Bay, minutes from the city’s famed Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House. 

Artist Director, Roger Benedict 

At the Sydney Symphony Orchestra we are committed to championing the future of live symphonic music through supporting the next generation of rising stars. The Fellowship has been giving young pre-professional musicians the chance to springboard a career in music for over 20 years. The Fellows work in collaboration with our Sydney Symphony musicians performing in mainstage concerts and receiving world class coaching and mentorship from our musicians and guest artists. They join us on the journey with our community and education programs as we strive to inspire and move broader audiences through our music. 

Acknowledgements: 

The Sydney Symphony Orchestra is grateful for the support of our Fellowship patrons, the Australia Council for the Arts and Create NSW. 

2021 Sydney Symphony Fellows 

Brian Hong, violin ; Tim Yu, violin ; Dana Lee, viola; Miles Mullin-Chivers, cello; Callum Hogan, oboe; Richard Shaw, clarinet; Jordy Meulenbroeks, bassoon; Emily Newham, horn; Fletcher Cox, trumpet and Dale Vail, trombone. 

Tamara-Anna Cislowska is one of Australia’s most acclaimed and recognised pianists. Soloist, recitalist and chamber music specialist, she performs in Australia and worldwide in repertoire spanning four centuries, to critical and public acclaim, with a passion for bringing Australian music to the world. Tamara has won international prizes in London, Italy and Greece, including the Rovere d’Oro, and in Australia, awards such as ABC Young Performer of the Year, the Freedman Fellowship from the Music Council of Australia, the 2012 Art Music Award for ‘Performance of the Year’ (ACT) and the 2015 ARIA for ‘Best Classical Album’ with her landmark recording of the complete piano works of Peter Sculthorpe.

Tamlyn Magee (aka Anactoria) is a relative newcomer to Candelo, but since her arrival in 2017 she has engaged deeply with the vibrant arts community there, performing alongside locals of international acclaim, as well as taking on the role of President of Candelo Arts Society and working as a music educator in the area.

In 2020 she received a Creative Development Fellowship through CreateNSW, a huge opportunity which resulted in a body of work soon to be released as her debut album entitled Eupraxia. A multi-instrumentalist, bourgeoning producer and versatile songwriter, Tamlyn has a passion for collaboration and is a lifelong student of the creative process itself.

It is with high artistic energy that The Australian Voices (TAV) commission and perform the work of Australian composers. 2020 commissions include Nico Muhly, Katie Noonan, Lisa Young and Melody Eötvös.

Since 1993 the ensemble has championed a flourish of new Australian vocal music, having commissioned hundreds of new works. Gordon Hamilton has been Artistic Director since 2009.

In 2014 they made international headlines with commissioned works from Rob Davidson using musicalisation of political speeches. Not Now, Not Ever! – based on former PM Julia Gillard’s famous ‘misogyny’ speech – made waves as a YouTube video; and a treatment of Noel Pearson’s eulogy to Gough Whitlam was premiered on live TV on ABC’s Q&A program, in Pearson’s presence.

Recently the group has brought their distinctly Australian sound to audiences in Guatemala, Mexico, China, the UK, Germany, New Caledonia, USA, Palestine, Woodford Folk Festival and Hobart Festival of Voices.

The Muffat Collective are a classical music quartet with a difference! 4 incredible musicians, 4 best friends – they live, eat and breath ‘period music’ – that is the incredible music of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Each with an impressive solo career at the top of the classical music industry in Australia, Matthew, Rafael, Anthony and Anton join forces to take you back to a historical era full of passion, electrifying vitality and artistic excellence. 

The Collective was formed by the chance meeting of these 4 musicians studying at the same time in The Netherlands. Bonding over their love of ‘period music’ they vowed to return home to bring Australian audiences leading practises and their expertise forged in the most dynamic baroque orchestras of Europe. 

They offer a chance to hear the music of not just well-known composers but also lesser-known baroque musicians in a more dynamic, genuine, and emotionally engaging setting. With period instruments dating from nearly 300 years ago and talents from today, they instill a new vitality into historically informed music making – giving you a memorable and inspiring experience. 

Georg Muffat (c. 1653-1704) – The Muffat Collective namesake

Georg Muffat was a composer, a professor of rhetoric and a traveller. The self-proclaimed German sought to unite different styles and musical tastes not only to “Make perfection in music” but to promote peace amongst the quarrelling nations of Europe. In the spirit of Muffat, our goal is to bring together communities, lovers of music and also those who are new to this style. We believe that there is something in this music for everyone; it has the power to entertain and refresh the spirit! 

“Songs that feel like a walk along a dusty country road – evocative, warm, connected with the land and its people…”  

Melanie Horsnell, Kate Burke and Robyn Martin are all seasoned identities in the Australian music scene. Songwriters and multi-instrumentalists, their music is flavoured with guitar, double bass, mandolin, fiddle, banjo and three part harmonies plus a little desert heat-haze that could only be Australian.  

Between them, they weave tales of farmers, hippies, mothers, sea farers, history, lovers, the ordinary, and the mysterious. Their songs tell stories of their Australia:   desert country steeped in history, wild bush dances, snowy mountains and remote swimming holes, generations of family life on the land, waking up in a sunny Sydney bedroom, returning to favourite old pub to play music with friends. 

The Novellas are a 5-piece hailing from the Bega Valley, home of cheese, open skies and pristine beaches, a fertile backdrop in which to ferment our bittersweet songs inspired by contemporary works of fiction from Australia and beyond. Sparse & atmospheric, The Novellas paint in song the evocations of the printed word and celebrate the emotional power of storytelling.

The Novellas performed ‘HAŇT´A the Book Crusher’ in the Windsong Pavilion, November 2020.

The Paper Plane Trio are an ensemble from the Australian National Academy of Music. They were Four Winds Artists in Residence in 2016.

The Song Company has defined the sound of 21st century the song company of australia comprises the continent’s leading vocal ensemble, singing music of all times and places.

Renowned acoustic chamber-folk trio The String Contingent have toured extensively in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Scandinavia, with their unique sound that confidently walks the line between folk, classical, jazz and bluegrass. Australians, Chris Stone (violin) and Holly Downes (double bass), with Scotsman Graham McLeod (guitar) share a musical ethos that showcases the individuality of each musician and eclipses genre. Young stalwarts of the Australian acoustic music scene, TSC are equally comfortable rocking a festival stage or playing for an intimate crowd. In performance, their camaraderie and cheeky banter shines through, as does their passionate musicianship and instrumental skills; a joyful combination of precision, refinement and beauty, balanced with visceral energy and drive.

2017 sees the launch of their fifth album, Iterations, recorded in the beautiful acoustic of the Windsong Pavillion at Four Winds, Bermagui NSW. Holly, Chris and Graham embarked on a two-part residency at Four Winds to explore different creative approaches to music-making. The resultant album features music that they developed at and between the two sessions, and live free improvisation, which they collectively and spontaneously created in concert.

Thea Rossen is a dynamic percussionist composer and educator based in Melbourne. She is celebrated for her solo and chamber recitals and has attracted worldwide attention for her Music for our Changing Climate, a powerful performance exploring issues surrounding climate change developed with her ensemble the Ad Lib Collective throughout a residency at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Canada.

As a soloist and chamber musician, Thea was a fellow at the Bang on a Can Summer Festival and a finalist for the Freedman Classical Music Fellowship in 2018.

Timo-Veikko ‘Tipi’ Valve grew up in Helsinki, surrounded by a family who were “musical, but not musicians”, and who wanted music lessons to be a part of their children’s lives. 

Tipi was encouraged to pick up the cello because one of the teachers at the local music school, upon seeing him as a toddler, declared that he “looks like a cellist.” Tipi is still not sure what this actually means.

Valve is recognized as one of the most  versatile musicians of his generation performing as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral leader on both modern and period instruments. In 2006, Valve was appointed Principal Cello of the Australian Chamber Orchestra. 

 Tipi plays a Brothers Amati cello from 1616, kindly on loan from the ACO Instrument Fund. 

Timothy Geller was born in the USA and studied music (bassoon) at Colorado State and Canterbury Universities and composition at the Cleveland Institute and Southern Methodist University, prior to completing composition fellowships at Princeton University and Tanglewood Festival. Major works include Prayer for Mandela, performed for Nelson Mandela during his 1990 US tour, and To a Dancing God, which won the 1998 Alberto Ginastera International Composers Competition. Timothy’s other passion is creating sustainable and affordable housing communities in Western Massachusetts.

Tristram Williams – winner of a 2007 Symphony Australia Young Performer Award, 2008 Churchill Fellow, founding member of the Australian Brass Quintet and member of ELISION, Tristram maintains a busy international career as a leading soloist, ensemble musician, improvisor and educator. With a particular interest in new music and has worked with composers including Karlheinz Stockhausen, James Dillon, Richard Barrett, Liza Lim, James McMillan, Matthias Pinscher, Chris Dench, and John Rogers. He has had solo works composed for him by Liza Lim, James Dillon, Aaron Cassidy, David Chisholm, Evan Johnson and others.

VOX is at the forefront of contemporary choral music in Australia. Created for singers aged 18-30, VOX brings together Sydney’s most talented singers to perform in the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs’ concert season. VOX are led by acclaimed choral conductor and VOX Music Director, Elizabeth Scott. VOX regularly perform in Sydney Symphony programs and last year they featured in Last Night of the Proms, Britten’s Peter Grimes and Fauré Requiem. They starred in their own performances of Wonder in the Utzon Room at the Sydney Opera House. Outside of the season, VOX regularly appears at corporate events and in major cultural festivals such as VIVID Sydney, the Greek Music Festival and Four Winds.

Founder of the gulaga dancers a traditional dance group who perform at schools and festivals locally and internationally, a rapper who as released a cd in 2008 called dreamtime, an established musician who has worked with many big names in the indigenous music scene, an experienced tourguide with over twenty something years experience and is a proud Yuin/ Monaro man.

The Western Sydney Youth Orchestra is a thriving youth orchestra based in Parramatta, NSW. In addition to having weekly rehearsals and instrumental tutorials each term, WSYO frequently collaborates with dance companies and cultural groups, makes festival appearances, tours and takes the stage at special events around Western Sydney. Under the leadership of respected music educator and conductor, James Pensini, Western Sydney musicians focus on the essentials of orchestral playing and performance, tackling repertoire ranging from the Baroque to Romantic periods.

After 8 years of working on his adaptation for the stage, William Zappa’s The Iliad Out Loud was presented in sold out seasons at Sydney Festival 2019 and Adelaide International Arts Festival 2020. Zappa, Dignams Creek and Sydney based is recognized as one of Australia’s greatest stage actors, with a career spanning theatre, film and television; most recently appearing in ABC’s Operations Buffalo, and films Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears and The Dry. 

Born in Tokyo in 1963, Kano started playing the drums at age 13. In 1984 he moved to NYC to pursue his career in business, and in 1987 he returned to Japan to pursue his passion for music. He moved to Sado island to join the internationally renowned ‘Taiko’ drumming group,KODO. As a taiko drummer and bamboo flute player for KODO, Kano has performed in over a thousand venues worldwide including Carnegie Hall, Berlin Philharmonic Hall and Theatre de la Ville in Paris. In 1997, he left KODO to start his own career as a bamboo flute player.

Kano draws his musical inspiration from the beautiful nature of Sado Island. He can make the Japanese bamboo flute sing like the birds and sound like the ocean breeze and the forest wind. Kano’s melodies are simple and expressive, and his original compositions showcase the blend of traditional and modern, incorporating Japanese scales and rhythms, jazz improvisation, African rhythms and classical music. Kano is always eager to explore new possibilities in music, and welcomes opportunities to collaborate with artists across the musical spectrum.