Each time, one of the most-anticipated elements of the Four Winds Festival is discovering which outstanding performers will be assembled in the sound shell at the open-air amphitheatre at Barragga Bay.

In this beautiful and intimate setting among the spotted gums, listeners can enjoy first-class music, some of which is deeply familiar and some entirely new and unknown – and, indeed, some of which has been commissioned and composed particularly for the occasion.

Four Winds this year has a new artistic director, Paul Kildea, who will put his stamp on the 2014 festival both through the performers he has attracted to play and the musical programming on offer.

 In what is a real coup for Four Winds, Mr Kildea has been able to attract three of the world’s leading virtuoso performers in Richard Tognetti (violin), Giovanni Sollima (cello) and Dejan Lazic (piano) to play at this year’s festival.

This is the only opportunity audience members will have to hear these three outstanding musicians playing together – they are not appearing together anywhere else in Australia and it is a tribute to both Mr Kildea and to the reputation of the Four Winds Festival and its glorious setting that they have all embraced the idea of performing there.

To see the full program and details of the many other performers playing at this year’s festival, to be held on April 17-20, visit the website, www.fourwinds.com.au.

 For anyone who would like to hear the any of these virtuoso performers playing in various combinations with each other, and with many other performers over the weekend, tickets can be bought either online at www.fourwinds.com.au, in person from the Four Winds office at the Bermagui Community Centre, Bunga St, Monday-Thursday between 10am and 4pm, or by phoning 6493 5686 during business hours.

Early-bird tickets (saving you between $15 and $30) are available if you book before January 31.