HOST of a venue known as nature’s concert hall, Four Winds has welcomed a new artistic leadership team to its helm.
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Paul Dean of Melbourne has taken over as artistic director from Paul Kildea, and he is joined by Yarmila Alfonzetti of Sydney as executive producer.
The two bring years of experience to their roles and are enthusiastic about performing Australian compositions as well as attracting a younger crowd to the venue.
Mr Dean said in 2012 only 4.7 per cent of music played by orchestras in Australia was Australian.
“How can we possibly develop our own voice in Australia if that is the attitude?” he said.
He has set a target of 25 per cent of Four Winds music to be Australian compositions.
“But it’s important for it to be played amongst a bit of American and European music as well, so we can get a sense of where we sit,” Mr Dean said.
When it came to attracting a younger crowd to experience Four Winds’ classical music, Mr Dean said “there’s only one way and that’s through education”.
“[Classical music] is something, I would expect, that most have never had the experience of and we’ve got to make it possible for them to experience it,” he said.
This would involve such activities as taking Four Winds’ artists in residence to schools, including primary and high institutions.
Mr Dean has been the artistic director of the Australian National Academy of Music for six years, played principal clarinet for 13 years with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, is the founder of the Southern Cross Soloists and the Bangalow Music Festival among other ventures.
While he couldn’t divulge the names of any performers at the 2016 Four Winds Festival, he had a couple of “stunning international artists pencilled in” including at least one who hasn’t been to Australia before.
He was also interested in hosting Indigenous Australian and Asian performers.
Of the venue itself, Mr Dean said the amphitheatre was unique and he couldn’t “under-express how extraordinary” the Windsong’s acoustics are.
The second half of the new team, Ms Alfonzetti, is the head of external relations for the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and has been the head of classical music at the Sydney Opera House.
“I’m pretty clear on what I need to do, which is to help artists realise their creative potential or their creative project,” Ms Alfonzetti said.
“I’m hoping I can solidify that for Four Winds, make things a little more clearer and a bit more focused.
“It’s difficult for this festival to be all things for all people.
“The exciting thing for me is there’s the rest of the year when we can do all the other stuff.”
On Friday Mr Dean and Ms Alfonzetti were welcomed into their new roles by supporters of the festival as well as board members at a meeting held in the Windsong.
After a Q&A session with attendees, Mr Dean performed a piece on clarinet for the crowd.
Four Winds chair Sheena Boughen said the organisers have developed a six-year plan as Four Winds moves from being just a biennial event to hosting shows all year round.
Word is spreading about the quality music at Four Winds, as Ms Boughen said at events held this year 30 per cent of attendees had never been to Four Winds or even the area before.
