There is something about the city that one grows up in. Each city has its own language and, like a childhood friend, one develops an intuitive understanding of its nature.
This is something that ordinarily we don’t think much about but, as I prepared to return to Melbourne after a 10 year absence, I found myself increasingly reflecting on the qualities of my home town.
I had been living in Sydney for the past decade and, while I returned frequently to Melbourne to visit family, friends and for my work, I knew it would be a different thing to live in, rather than visit a place. What had changed? And, as the Creative Director of Melbourne Festival, how could I respond to those changes as well as reflect the fundamental aspects of this city that I love. It has been a dream opportunity.
I think I have attended every Melbourne Festival at least in part since its inception in 1986 when, in the guise of the Spoleto Melbourne–Festival of Three Worlds, the first program was presented.
I am honoured to follow nine eminent artistic leaders whose tenures were marked by vital programming and also by the extraordinary contribution of many of Melbourne’s most generous and influential leaders and benefactors–a tradition that continues to the present day. Each Director has made an indelible contribution to the story of the Festival and, in doing so, to the city itself.
I have been keen to revisit some of the successful past chapters which added to the distinctively Melbourne nature of this Festival’s identity. One clear example is the return of the sunset chamber music series. This series was presented across the festival programs of no less than seven Artistic Directors, and more specifically between 1992 and 2004, in the Collins Street Baptist Church, which we revisit again this year.
Now called Quartets at Sunset, in 2013, 2014 and 2015, we will be exploring the genre of the string quartet via the performance of all 68 of Haydn’s defining works as part of a series of concerts that takes us through the 18th Century right up to the present day.
Over this and the next two years, the spine to our Haydn for Everyone program, these concerts, will include performances by top international, Australian and local quartets, students and amateurs, which will increasingly explore through free and ticketed events how we can continue to put a surprising and accessible face to classical music.
When looking at the reasons why this series was so popular in the past, I made a huge, but I believe justifiable, generalisation. Melbourne audiences love music. They love music in all its forms from classical to contemporary, across the full range of styles and genres. The love for chamber music can be linked back to the waves of European migrants who settled here in the middle of last century, whilst Musica Viva cultivated a sophisticated and enthusiastic audience. Melbourne Festival created a special place within its program to add extra richness to that offering.
As time has moved on, audiences have had the opportunity to enjoy an ever broadening selection of international and local music as well as theatre, dance and other arts. So now, in this wonderfully colourful and full cultural landscape, we find ourselves at Melbourne Festival asking ourselves what is it that we add? How do we make a difference? What is the lasting contribution that we make to the culture of this city, to our audiences and to our artists?
In doing this we touch on another aspect of our role as a festival. We are a meeting place, between local and international artists, diverse art forms and diverse audiences. We bring people together and offer experiences that are not only entertaining but also enriching, and which, through our inclusion of students, our juxtaposition of local and international companies, our commissioning and support for new work and our role as an enabler of the dreams and ambitions of our local artists, enable us to leave a footprint – a valuable contribution to the cultural landscape of Melbourne.
I have chosen to focus on music, but evidence of this thinking can be found throughout the 2013 Melbourne Festival program. There are new traditions being created such as the return of the Foxtel Festival Hub after its successful debut in 2012 as part of Brett Sheehy’s final program. The Hub is making a large commitment to contemporary music in all its exciting diversity with more than 30 acts performing there across the Festival. Audiences can expect to see this established as a fixture for years to come. There are other initiatives such as the Kids Weekend at Federation Square, the Annual China Southern Concert in the Sidney Myer Music Bowl and Tanderrum, our Welcome to Country that will remain central over the coming years.
Another area of interest sees us acknowledge the leading place that Melbourne occupies in the creative disciplines of design and architecture. Melbourne is a city defined by its built and designed landscape that includes not only its magnificent heritage buildings but also its beautiful parks. It is also the most contemporary of our Australian cities and this is no better reflected than in the striking and intelligent new public buildings and private homes that grace our city skyline and our suburban streets.
Melbourne has changed a lot over the past decade, it feels more vibrant, more cosmopolitan, more outward looking. We are enjoying our streets, laneways, our river and the Bay as well as our revitalised inner suburbs. We are somehow living out more, engaging with each other more and engaging with our rich cultural diversity more. There is cohesiveness to Melbourne, and its many layers intertwine to weave a wonderfully interesting fabric unlike any other place.
Melbourne is looking great and feeling great, and has the mark of a city that has both the confidence of its past and everything ahead of it. A lot like Melbourne Festival.
Image: Melbourne company The Daniel Schlusser Ensemble’s M+M.
