welcome
WELCOME TO
MELBOURNE
FESTIVAL 2015
Then, placing an examining lense
on some burning issues of today,
we welcome Peter Sellars, two
of the new generation of hot New
York theatre makers, and the UK’s
Headlong with their adaptation of
Orwell’s 1984.
Melbourne Festival’s role as an
instigator and an enabler for local
artists to realise their dreams is
perfectly epitomised this year by
the coupling of Flight Facilities
and the Melbourne Symphony
Orchestra.
It is a special honour to be the
Artistic Director of Melbourne
Festival in its 30th year.
Milestones such as this present
the opportunity to reflect on
the traditions that make this
Festival great. They also give us
pause to think about the present
and our role as a contributor to
contemporary Melbourne life.
Melbourne Festival gratefully
acknowledges that Indigenous
Australians are the first people
of this land.
We pay our respects to all
Indigenous people, past and
present, and we recognise
their continuing spiritual and
cultural connection to the land.
2
The 2015 program includes three
anniversary forums featuring
former Artistic Directors and
others who have been vital to the
development of this Festival and to
Melbourne over the past 30 years.
One of our most sustained
traditions, the Quartets at Sunset at
the Collins Street Baptist Church,
returns for the conclusion of
the three year project, Haydn for
Everyone. And one of our newest
but vitally important traditions,
TANDERRUM, will open this 30th
program.
We also continue to mine the
depths of creativity with the many
partnerships with other artists
and organisations that make
the cultural life of this city so
extraordinarily rich.
The 2015 Festival is my last as
Artistic Director and I acknowledge
and thank the many colleagues,
Board members, government,
corporate and private supporters
who ensure that Melbourne Festival
remains one of the most significant
arts festivals in the world. To all
the artists who have participated
over the past three years, I extend
my deepest appreciation and
admiration.
Finally, to our audiences—without
you we would have no reason to
exist and your enthusiasm and
hunger for constant enrichment is
what sustains us.
Josephine Ridge
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR