The Bonfire & Big Sing. Image courtesy Festival of Voices.
Unlike other arts events across the country, Festival of Voices (FOV) CEO Paul Kooperman said his vision for the popular Hobart festival embodies a forward focused vision of engaging a community for ten days straight through voice and song.
‘There’s an engagement and interaction during the Festival of Voices that no other festival delivers in terms of the effect on community – it’s completely interactive,’ he told ArtsHub.
‘Last year, we ran a finale concert, and at the end of the concert, the conductor [Charlie Beale] from the New York Gay Men’s Chorus led a song with the audience that got them singing.
‘Without a bow, without any applause, he got the audience walking out of the venue singing – and they kept singing – into the car parks, into the streets. People kept singing and that doesn’t happen anywhere at any other festival,’ he said.
Opening 4 July, the 2014 Festival of Voices features over 80 events including choral concerts, popup street performances across all corners of the city, the best local Tassie talent, cabaret, and popular contemporary music.
Leading artists coming to entertain and delight audiences include Ben Lee with his one night only performance on 5 July; the ARIA-award winning Clare Bowditch, who launches her Winter Secrets Tour on 11 July; US vocal powerhouse The Exchange, fresh from their European tour on 12 July; USA gospel great Eric Dozier; and UK choral conductor David Lawrence.
‘Something that we’re about to announce hot off the press is the Singing Booth. It’s a phone booth where you walk in and you sing a message to an artist or a loved one. You can leave a singing dedication and that will be a feature of the festival,’ said Kooperman.
Another special feature of this year’s festival is the extensive workshop program, where some 500 participants have the opportunity to participate in hands-on masterclasses with all of the headlining artists.
‘We made a decision this year that any artist that we bring must have a participatory component – so Ben Lee can’t come unless he is running a workshop. Clare [Bowditch] will work with a local choir,’ Kooperman explained.
Under the watch of festival founder Neil Cameron, the free, family friendly centrepiece event on 11 July is the Bonfire & Big Sing at Salamanca Square. With the help of The Exchange and Spooky Men’s Chorale, Kooperman said the magical evening has been an annual opportunity to unite the crowd in a large scale sing-a-long. This year’s rendition will be popular Birds of Tokyo anthem ‘Lanterns’.
‘It will be spectacular and fun to be a part of. We light a massive bonfire in the middle of the city and that’s unlike any other festival in the world that we know of – no one lights a bonfire in the middle of a city and we’re expecting 10,000 people at the event.’
In addition to Salamanca Place, a number of venues across Hobart are to form festival hubs, including Hobart City Hall, where cabaret sensation Kim Smith has curated late night program Voicebox with local and international talent. ‘You can go in there, have a glass of champagne and basically have a great night of watching world-class cabaret with artists from New York who are coming out,’ Kooperman enthused.
Another highlight is The Singers’ Lounge, running from Wednesday to Saturday during the Festival; a relaxed late night Festival Club for choirs and ensemble singers.
Kooperman said the Festival’s economic and cultural impact on the city of Hobart was huge, and continues to grow each year. ‘Hotels pack out, we get 25,000 people through the doors, and a large amount of people visiting. You really do notice, it really transforms Hobart for those ten days that we have.
‘We worked out there was roughly a $12 million economic impact from last year’s Festival. That’s a significant impact to Hobart, that’s an economy that Tourism Tasmania is very aware of,’ he said.
Somewhat surprisingly, Festival of Voices was not first conceived of as an arts festival. ‘It was a tourism initiative to increase visitation in winter, that was its core purpose,’ Kooperman said. ‘The way we were going to do that right from the start is to invite choirs to come down. That’s been the core focus of what the festival is, but the evolution of it is that it’s growing far more significantly nationally and internationally.’
Taking the reigns from former festival CEO Kris Stewart, Kooperman said that the partnerships he has facilitated for the Festival form the most exciting aspect of his work.
‘Developing new ideas and partnerships is the most satisfying aspect of my role. We’re in a year of transition. Components like VoiceBox, our partnership with Rosny Farm, Handmade will be showing new works, our relationships with UTAS – our workshop program and choir program – that has been in place for quite a few years and I haven’t tampered with that at all.
‘I guess my input largely is about collaboration, breaking out and doing things quite laterally with non-arts organisations, trying to bring in partnerships that we haven’t had before and to bring in audiences and revenue and really growing the festival,’ he said.
The Festival of Voices runs from 4 to 13 July in venues across Hobart.
For tickets and further information visit the Festival of Voices website.
