Sydney Festival 2015 Annual Review

OUR CITYIN SUMMERANNUALREVIEW

Festival Village at Hyde Park, photo Prudence Upton.

“… A LIVELY CELEBRATION OF THE CITY’S CULTURAL LIFE; THE EMBODIMENT OF SYDNEY’S CREATIVE SPIRIT.”

RICHARD WATTS, ARTSHUB

“BEAUTIFUL MOVEMENT, A BEAUTIFUL GESTURE IN AN ODE TO FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION.”

JILL SYKES, THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

CONTENTS

Tabac Rouge, photo Prudence Upton.

01 SYDNEY FESTIVAL 2015 402 SNAPSHOT 603 AUDIENCE PROFILE 804 2015 ARTISTIC FOCUS 1005 FESTIVAL VILLAGE 2206 PARRAMATTA 2607 A FESTIVAL FOR EVERYONE 2808 ARTS & CULTURE INDUSTRY CONNECTIONS 3209 MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS 3410 DEVELOPMENT 4211 VOLUNTEERS 4812 THE FUTURE – 40TH ANNIVERSARY 5013 SUPPORTERS 5214 SPECIAL THANKS 54

PAGESECTION

SYDNEY FESTIVAL 2015 ANNUAL REVIEW 3

SYDNEY FESTIVAL 2015A MESSAGE FROM LIEVEN BERTELS, FESTIVAL DIRECTOR

BANKSTOWN:LIVE, photo Jamie Williams.

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our family friendly Parramatta Opening Party (POP) and the hugely popular circus theatre show Timber!

More free family fun came courtesy of our large-scale outdoor installations Higher Ground and Waterfall Swing at Darling Harbour, just two of our many visual arts projects across the city. A highlight for many is The Domain Concert Series, with three free concerts this year.

The Seymour Centre hosted our About an Hour series of bite-size theatre and dance discoveries, and the ABC’s Beat the Drum concert at The Domain attracted over 25,000 people to celebrate the 40th anniversary of triple j.

Sydney Festival 2015 was made possible through generous core and special funding from the NSW Government – supporting the Festival through Arts NSW and Destination NSW – alongside the City of Sydney and Parramatta City Council.

With its 39 year history, Sydney Festival plays a pivotal role in Australia’s arts landscape, and cements Sydney’s reputation for being a top destination for interstate and international visitors in January.

The Festival once again benefited from the support of principal partner The Star and leadership partner China Southern Airlines. Sydney Festival acknowledges the increased and ongoing support of many private donors including our own Director’s Circle.

Of course our Festival was the work of many people: the artists, bringing us their creativity and skills; our dedicated Festival team, working hard to make this Sydney Festival one of the best ever; and of course the hundreds of Festival volunteers, providing help and assistance to our artists and the audience during more than 1,600 volunteer shifts.

Our 2015 annual review brings back colourful memories and outlines our key achievements in facts and figures, while we look ahead to our next one, marking 40 years of Sydney Festival in January 2016.

LIEVEN BERTELS FESTIVAL DIRECTOR 2013–16

Sydney Festival is known as Australia’s most diverse and inclusive summer arts celebration; a true reflection of our beautiful city.

Front and centre in our 2015 program was the creation and premiering of new work, with 19 world premieres, a further 21 Australian exclusives and 15 Australian premieres.

With the return of our hugely popular Festival Village in Hyde Park and a varied arts program across 25 different venues, our Festival continues to appeal to both tourists and Sydneysiders in 2015.

Our exclusive centrepiece production Tabac Rouge by French choreographer James Thierrée was hugely popular with over 11,000 attendances, and was one of a record number of 27 productions to attract four- and five-star reviews this year.

Other artistic highlights included the first-ever visit to Australia of the Latvian Radio Choir: the ATOMIC BOMB! project celebrating the music of William Onyeabor with an A-list of international music talent, including Gotye and Money Mark; and the world premiere of Kate Champion’s final Force Majeure dance piece, Nothing to Lose.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stories embraced tradition and contemporary culture across a wide range of projects, including Symphony in The Domain with didgeridoo player William Barton and author Anita Heiss, the premieres of dance and theatre works Long Grass and Blak Cabaret, as well as concerts by Archie Roach and Roger Knox.

Our 2015 program included a strong Asian strand, with traditional temple dance from Sri Lanka, music theatre from South Korea and India, contemporary music from Japan and Indonesia, and visual arts from China.

Sydney Festival continued a strong commitment to investing a significant portion of our available programming budget on free offerings and accessible family programming. In the city centre we held a jam-packed Family Week in our Festival Village, while Parramatta hosted

Above: Lieven Bertels, photo Prudence Upton.


SNAPSHOT THE MOST WONDERFUL SUMMER FESTIVAL IN THE WORLD.

400PERFORMANCES

167 EVENTS

78 OF WHICH WERE

FREE

12,590 INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS

2014 | 8,0262014 | 48,451

77,506 TWITTER FOLLOWERS

INCREASE OF 36,174 INCREASE OF 29,055 INCREASE OF 4,564

95,060 FACEBOOK FANS 1.2M

VISITS TO THE WEBSITE(AUG 22 – JAN 26)

VENUES25(INCLUDES ALL OUTDOOR)

19

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERES

WORLD PREMIERES

AUSTRALIAN EXCLUSIVES

21

15

02

1,118ARTISTS

FROM

COUNTRIES

27

2014 | 58,886

6

TURNOVER $18M

TOTAL AUDIENCE

554,122

INCOME

EXPENDITURE

25%

25%

40%

40%

55%

60%

35%

35%

50%

20%

20%

30%

30%

45%

15%

15%

10%

10%

5%

5%

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FESTIVAL VILLAGE 203,840

ART INSTALLATIONS 114,259

THE DOMAIN CONCERT SERIES 57,791

FESTIVAL SPECIAL EVENTS 23,046

FESTIVAL ATTENDANCE

TOTAL FREE 398,936

FREE EVENTS

TOTAL TICKETED ATTENDANCE

155,186


AUDIENCE PROFILE

Clockwise from top left to lower right:

Spiegeltent late music, photo Jamie Williams; Spiegeltent audience, photo Camille Manley; Village audience, Village dancers, photos Jamie Williams; Summer Sounds in The Domain, photo Juan Pablo Reyes; Fire Garden, photo Jamie Williams; The Famous Spiegeltent, photo Camille Manley; festooning, photo Ken Leanfore.

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SYDNEY 81%

REGIONAL NSW 5%

INTERSTATE 5%

OVERSEAS 9%

HOUSEHOLD INCOME AGE BRACKET

81%

5%

9%

5%

VISITOR ORIGIN

Sydney Festival and Destination NSW conducted a visitor survey across a broad range of free and ticketed events, yielding more than 5,811 responses.

Sydney Festival continues to attract audiences of all ages and from all income brackets. Patrons aged 25–44 are most strongly represented, with 15–24 year olds following closely. 81% of attendees said they live in Sydney, with a high proportion living in the City and the Inner South. 19% of respondents came from further afield.

Event attendance numbers and the demographic skew are influenced by the breadth and quality of programming as well as weather conditions in January.

UNDER $20,000

$20,001–$40,000

$40,001–$60,000

$60,001–$80,000

$80,001–$100,000

$100,001–$125,000

$125,001–$150,000

$150,001–$175,000

$175,001–$200,000

$200,000+

15–24

25–34

35–44

45–54

55–64

65 +

0 0 5 2510 3015 352084 122 106 14 16

17.4%

33.5%

22.7%

12%

8.9%

5.5%8.7%

5.8%

6.9%

9.2%

13.2%

15.1%

13.4%

8.2%

11%

8.6%


042015 ARTISTICFOCUS

Masquerade, photo Brett Boardman.

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Sydney Festival presents a lively program of free and ticketed events by some of the world’s great artists. In 2015, the Festival continued its long-term practice of: • Introducing Sydney audiences to artists

unknown to most Australians: Korean star Jaram Lee’s UKCHUK-GA, a Pansori version of Brecht’s Mother Courage; Belgium’s Charleroi Danses whose Kiss & Cry was a surprise hit of the festival; and Canada’s Cirque Alfonse whose lumberjack circus Timber! delighted family audiences from across the city.

• Presenting well-established artists who have never been to Australia: Seu Jorge, Latvian Radio Choir, Alela Diane and Fez Hamadcha.

• Presenting newly commissioned works by artists in immediate dialogue with contemporary life: Kate Mulvany’s Masquerade, David Chisholm’s The Experiment, Kate Champion’s Nothing to Lose and Roysten Abel’s The Kitchen. All of these works represented new ambitions and changes in direction for the artists who were supported in realising their vision with co-commissioning investment and presentation.

• Continuing conversations with artists and companies over decades by showing their recent work: James Thierrée’s most ambitious work to date Tabac Rouge, Ed Kuepper doing a career retrospective with strings and Camille O’Sullivan performing Changeling with all her seductive intensity.

• Presenting works by contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists across artforms and contexts: Vicki Van Hout’s Long Grass as part of About an Hour, Malthouse Theatre’s Blak Cabaret at the Festival Village, Anita Heiss and William Barton performing with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the annual free Symphony in The Domain, plus Radical Son and Stiff Gins performing at Parramatta Opening Party.


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“IT’S PRETTY MEMORABLE WHEN A WORK INSPIRES YOU AND MAKES YOU FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE AT THE SAME TIME ...”

SIMONE WHETTON, ON NOTHING TO LOSE, VIA TWITTER

NEW WORK / NEW VOICESSydney Festival fosters the creation of new Australian and international work by commissioning and/or premiering works, thereby brokering new contexts and audiences for artists. We are in constant conversation with artists and producing companies about ambitious ideas and works in development.

Often, these opportunities enable artists and companies to make work on a bigger scale. Griffin Theatre Company and State Theatre Company of South Australia’s production for family audiences of Kate Mulvany’s Masquerade, was one such major work. Co-presented with Sydney Opera House at the Drama Theatre, this Major Festivals Initiative co-commission* enabled a small local company to create its most ambitious work to date. It will go on to second and third seasons in Adelaide and Melbourne enabling the work to mature with each outing.

Sydney Festival premiered two new dance works by established Sydney choreographers bringing rarely heard ‘outsider’ perspectives to our stages. Kate Champion’s Nothing to Lose, co-commissioned with Carriageworks, was an ambitious undertaking by Force Majeure exploring the movement and sculptural qualities of the fat dancing body in a “highly confrontational, yet very often playful, piece”, Kate Hennessy, The Guardian. Vicki Van Hout’s Long Grass was her first work to premiere in a major festival and was a powerful piece exploring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stories from the Top End.

The Sound / On Sound program at Carriageworks, a series of sonic adventures, featured four world premieres across installation and live performance. They included: Mira Calix’s Inside There Falls, a collaboration with Brett Clegg and Sydney Dance Company – a major maze-like sound installation with interventions by live performers; David Chisholm’s The Experiment**, an audiovisual journey to the dark end of ethics and Tamara Saulwick’s Endings, an electro-acoustic meditation on death, dying and the afterlife.

In Western Sydney, three new works engaged artists and audiences in transforming and reimagining space: Information and Cultural Exchange’s Disco Dome, a walking tour of sights and scenes from Parramatta’s disco history; Legs on the Wall and FORM’s PUNCTURE, an exploration of social dance with audiences and performers sharing the stage at Parramatta Riverside Theatre; and Urban Theatre Projects’ BANKSTOWN:LIVE with its series of suburban front/back yard performances of contemporary local stories.

Along with Auckland Festival and Holland Festival, Sydney Festival also co-commissioned The Kitchen, a new work by Indian director Roysten Abel – known to our audiences for his 2010 hit The Manganiyar Seduction. A show about the healing power of cooking, The Kitchen was a sumptuous, multi-sensory spectacle of vigorous drumming and wordless domestic drama.

“VISUALLY AND SONICALLY EXCITING ... THE KITCHEN LIGHTS UP ALL YOUR SENSES.”

JASON BLAKE, THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

*with Sydney Festival, Melbourne Festival, Griffin Theatre Company and State Theatre Company SA.

** also a Major Festivals Initiative commission with Adelaide and Melbourne Festivals.

“... FULL OF HUMOUR AND INSIGHT ... THEY BRING TO LIFE A COMMUNITY AND ENLIGHTEN US WITH STORIES OF LIVING ROUGH, OF LIVING ‘LONG GRASS’.”

JULIA COTTON, THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD


Nothing to Lose, photo Prudence Upton.

THE WORLD STAGESydney Festival becomes a microcosm for great contemporary theatre and dance, from intimate exchanges in small spaces to works of scale in our big theatres across the city.

In 2015, we were thrilled to bring back one of the world’s greatest physical theatre performers, James Thierrée, with his surreal and beautiful work Tabac Rouge. Sydney audiences flocked to the sell-out season of this work at Sydney Theatre over the length of the Festival.

Both first-time and exclusive appearances from Belgium and France respectively were: Charleroi Danses’ Kiss & Cry, a sweeping cinematic romance represented live and onscreen by a duo of dexterous, dancing hands moving through miniature landscapes; and the delightful one-act Chekhov come live classical concert, On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco by Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord starring octogenarian actor Michel Robin.

We presented Sri Lanka’s Chitrasena Dance Company with their new production of Dancing for the Gods, charting the evolution of the joyful ancient Kandyan dance and drumming tradition with the captivating dancer Thaji Dias who “dazzled on every level”, Deborah Jones, The Australian.

One of the 2015 Festival surprises was the extraordinary power of Jaram Lee’s UKCHUK-GA: Pansori Mother Courage in Pansori Project ZA’s first and exclusive visit to Australia. A unique blend of Korean traditional form, Brechtian theatre and contemporary music made for “... stunning, exhilarating theatre”, Ian Maxwell, The Conversation.

Our mini-festival within a festival, About an Hour, moved this year to the Seymour Centre and featured a range of national and international works at the low price of $35 and a series of well-attended Artists Forums. Some highlights from Dublin, London and New York were: the Brokentalkers Have I No Mouth, a raw and powerful work about an unnecessary death; Danny Braverman’s exquisite portrait of his family in Eastern London over 50 years Wot? No Fish!!; and Adrienne Truscott’s blistering piece exploring the politics of comedy Asking For It: A One-Lady Rape About Comedy Starring Her Pussy and Little Else!

“… AN INGENIOUS, INSIGHTFUL AND ACHINGLY TOUCHING SHOW THAT I SUSPECT WILL BE LOOKED BACK UPON AS THE STANDOUT HIT OF THIS YEAR’S SYDNEY FESTIVAL.”

MAXIM BOON, LIMELIGHT MAGAZINE

Kiss & Cry, photo Maarten Vanden Abeele; The Kitchen, photo Jamie Williams; Tabac Rouge, Have I No Mouth, photos Prudence Upton.


MUSIC This year’s live music program presented a mix of classical and contemporary performances by artists from all over the world.

The Latvian Radio Choir’s inaugural and exclusive visit to Australia was hailed as “a revelation in terms of what can be done with 24 fine singers, refined sensitivity to vocal sound, an ethos of quality and the sanctity of the musical experience, all combined, no doubt, with sheer hard work from the choir and conductor Sigvards Klava.”, Peter McCallum, The Sydney Morning Herald.

Also in our classical music program we presented: Alain Franco in a marathon performance of the 48 preludes and fugues of Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier, “a journey of breathtaking discovery” Maxim Boon, Limelight magazine; Czech violinists Iva Bittová and Hana Kotková performing Béla Bartók’s magnificent folk duos in Variations on Béla Bartók – 44 Duets; and The Artist Live in Concert with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in partnership with the Sydney Opera House.

The 2015 program highlighted unconventional uses of spaces and instruments. Belgian organist Bernard Foccroulle and Swedish artist, Anna von Hausswolff’s Australian premieres featured different but equally virtuosic use of Sydney Town Hall’s famous pipe organ, while Morocco’s Sufi Brotherhood, Fez Hamadcha, entranced a sold-out crowd in the Grand Lodge at the Sydney Masonic Centre.

On his first trip to Australia, Brazilian superstar, Seu Jorge played a masterful show at The Star Event Centre mixing MPB (Música Popular Brasileira), rock and disco-samba with a number of his sublime Portuguese-language Bowie covers. ATOMIC BOMB! The Music of William Onyeabor lit up the Enmore Theatre over two nights paying tribute to the mysterious Nigerian synth pioneer with performances ranging from Gotye to free jazz legend, Pharoah Sanders and the Mahotella Queens. Beat The Drum celebrated 40 years of triple j in The Domain with a stunning array of Australian bands and cameos. This year also saw the triumphant solo return of internationally acclaimed artist Ben Frost to his home country, co-headlining with Tim Hecker in a co-presentation with the Sydney Opera House.

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With the help of Jessica Pratt and Olivia Chaney, Alela Diane headlined a Festival opening night show featuring three of the folk world’s foremost new female singer-songwriters. Australian legend Ed Kuepper collaborated with members of the Sydney Chamber Orchestra in a sold-out premiere performance with strings. The world’s greatest slide guitar player, Debashish Bhattacharya showcased his stellar fusion of Western and Indian music.

36 separate acts performed in The Aurora and Famous Spiegeltent venues, crossing a multitude of genres and continents. From Hawaiian slack key guitar masters, Led Kaapana and Mike Kaawa, to Brazilian hip-hop phenomenon Karol Conka, to the Byzantine folk of Xylouris White, Middle Eastern dance

music of Omar Souleyman and spaced out electro-pop of Argentina’s Frikstailers. There were also notable premieres from Australian artists including Perry Keyes launching his new Sunnyholt record while #1 Dads performed their first ever show and Firekites performed their new album, Closing Forever Sky in full for one night only. The Koori King of Country, Roger Knox rounded out the Festival with a set that drew heavily on largely overlooked songs written by his peers and predecessors that trace the history of Aboriginal country music.

“… ONE OF THE BEST PARTIES SYDNEY FESTIVAL HAS THROWN.”

DANIEL JEFFREY, DAILY REVIEW ON ATOMIC BOMB! THE MUSIC OF WILLIAM ONYEABOR

Left page:

Karol Conka, Seu Jorge, photos Prudence Upton; Latvian Radio Choir, photo Jamie Williams; Omar Souleyman, photo Prudence Upton.

Right page:

ATOMIC BOMB! The Music of William Onyeabor, Perry Keyes, photos Jamie Williams; #1 Dads, photo Prudence Upton; Olivia Chaney, photo Jamie Williams.


INSTALLATIONS / PUBLIC ART Sydney Festival proudly commissioned three major interactive installation works in 2015.

Bold and colourful, Higher Ground by Irish artist Maser quickly became the photo-playground of the Festival and provided the visual world for the Village. This striped beacon let all Sydneysiders know that the Festival was on, and represented one of the largest temporary public artwork commissions Sydney Festival has ever undertaken.

Waterfall Swing at Darling Harbour was the largest of its kind that New York based company Dash 7 Design have ever created, and was a true celebration of summertime in Sydney.

The public space at Carriageworks was transformed by Zhang Huan’s large-scale installation Sydney Buddha, created with 20 tonnes of incense ash that gently decays over time. Carriageworks was also home to the world premieres of Mira Calix’s large-scale installation Inside There Falls and Greg Barrett’s Spongebob Squaretimes.

The National Art School Gallery exhibited a series of Bill Culbert’s works, including Pacific Flotsam, curated into a fine exhibition of the artist’s exquisite illuminated environments.

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“HUAN HAS CRAFTED AN AWE-INSPIRING OBJECT OF MEDITATION AND VENERATION THAT TOUCHES ON THEMES OF MEMORY, SPIRITUALITY, RENEWAL, AND THE EPHEMERALITY OF LIFE.”

NICHOLAS FORREST, BLOUIN ARTINFO AUSTRALIA

DOMAIN CONCERTS Three free concerts and a special ticketed event attracted almost 83,000 people in 2015.

Kicking off the season with the sublime musicianship and infectious energy of Brazil’s hottest artists, the booming beats of hip-hopper Karol Conka and DJ Béco set the scene for the dance-ready rhythms of Seu Jorge.

Symphony in The Domain in 2015 was a collaboration between classical music and the sounds of contemporary Indigenous Australia. Conducted by Johannes Fritzsch with ARIA award-winning didgeridoo player William Barton joining the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, a series of works by Barton, Sculthorpe and Beethoven were contrasted with poetry readings by Anita Heiss.

Opera Australia returned to the Festival with their annual Opera in The Domain for Sydneysiders performing exhilarating overtures from Rossini and Saint-Saëns, popular arias from Carmen, The Barber of Seville, Turandot and Tosca, and the most loved of all opera duets from The Pearl Fishers.

The big addition to The Domain Concert Series was the ticketed concert Beat the Drum: Celebrating 40 Years of triple j. Honouring triple j’s passion for Australian culture and music, the line-up included: Hilltop Hoods, The Presets, Cat Empire, You Am I, Vance Joy and many others, resulting in the venue reaching its capacity of 25,000.

Summer Sounds in The Domain, photo James O’Connor.

Opposite: Sydney Buddha, photo Camille Manley.


This page left to right, top bottom:

A Simple Space on Higher Ground, Between the Cracks, Camille O’Sullivan: Changeling, photos Jamie Williams; Leon Vynehall, Blak Cabaret, photos Prudence Upton; Vintage Quartestra, photo Jamie Williams.

Opposite page:

The Long Pigs, photo Prudence Upton; Dancing for the Gods, photo Jamie Williams; Long Grass, photo Heidrun Lohr; UKCHUK-GA: Pansori Mother Courage, photo Prudence Upton; Adrienne Truscott’s Asking For It, Masquerade, photos Jamie Williams.

“… A SHOW WHICH PUTS THE ART IN ‘CIRCUS ARTS’ FRONT AND CENTRE, AND THE AUDIENCE IN THE THICK OF THINGS, TO UNFORGETTABLE EFFECT.”

RICHARD WATTS, ARTS HUB

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21SYDNEY FESTIVAL 2015 ANNUAL REVIEW

FESTIVAL VILLAGE

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“IN A DECK CHAIR, EATING A MESSINA BURGER AND WATCHING PETER BIBBY, ABOUT TO HEAD INTO CORNELIUS AND SALYU. THIS IS THE BEST. #SYDFEST”

ADAM LEWIS VIA TWITTER

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Sydney’s favourite summer playground just keeps getting better. Over 200,000 people experienced the enhanced Festival Village in 2015. With greater visibility and larger capacity, the Village has fast become a second home for many Sydneysiders. Two Spiegeltents showcased over 45 performances while new bars and an expanded food selection kept appetites satisfied. The Aurora Spiegeltent’s larger capacity bounced with full houses while the more intimate Famous Spiegeltent made a welcome return. A new DJ truck and bandstand hosted free performances day and night throughout the Festival for everyone to enjoy.

Visitors certainly could not miss the celebration of colour that the inaugural Artist in Residence added to the venue. Maser’s bold geometric pattern and colour choices

solidified the various areas of Hyde Park into one cohesive precinct. The success of Maser’s design grew to include Festival merchandise, shirts and marketing collateral.

Adult audiences were well catered for with a diverse program of contemporary music, circus and cabaret. This included: the return of audience favourite, the energetic and otherworldly LIMBO; a season of Changeling by Irish-French chanteuse Camille O’Sullivan; Between the Cracks by feather-ruffling rabble-rouser Yana Alana; and seasons of Malthouse’s Blak Cabaret hosted by the inimitable Constantina Bush and The Wau Wau Sisters are Naked as the Day They Were Born Again!

The Village also hosted an expanded free program with lunchtime concerts on the bandstand and extended Sunday Sessions with the Soul of Sydney DJ crew.

Festival Village, photo Jamie Williams.


FAMILY PROGRAM This year the Festival introduced a new Family Week in the Village, focusing on children aged 12 and younger.

Ali McGregor’s Jazzamatazz! made a spectacular return to The Aurora Spiegeltent while David Collins entranced crowds at The Luck Child in The Famous Spiegeltent.

Outdoors, families had a range of free activities including music on the bandstand with Vintage Quartestra and The Vegetable Plot, Maser-inspired fabric print workshop with Hotbed Designs and the enchanting Dear Hope Street by Maybe(_)Together. The City of Sydney Lawn Library returned and presented talks, story time, music lessons and craft workshops while the Australian Museum kept the youngest revellers entertained with the Animal House building blocks and for the older kids they curated a program of talks and workshops.

Beyond the Village, we presented a well-received family program in theatre venues across the city. Cirque Alfonse’s Timber! and Michael Sieders’ The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show played to almost 12,000 people in Parramatta. Kate Mulvany’s Masquerade played at the Sydney Opera House to 5,600 people and The Listies Make You LOL! played at the Seymour Centre to 2,700.

Upper left to lower right:

Ali McGregor’s Jazzamatazz!, photo Prudence Upton; The Luck Child, photo Jamie Williams; Family Week, The Vegetable Plot, photos Prudence Upton.

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PARRAMATTA

One Australian exclusive and five world premieres made Sydney Festival’s largest ticketed Parramatta program to date.

Headlining Parramatta Opening Party (POP) in the newly refurbished Centenary Square, Australian music legend Paul Kelly presented the world premiere of his new collaborative project The Merri Soul Sessions, featuring Dan Sultan, Clairy Browne, Kira Puru and Vika & Linda Bull. The line-up was big on soulful sounds with Radical Son and Christine Salem also sharing the main stage.

POP’s new urban location gave rise to new performance precincts. United Lane hosted the Soul of Sydney block party with special guest DJ $mall ¢hange from New York City. Street musicians “Uptown” Brown, Vintage Quartestra, Hi Tops Brass Band and the Waratah Drumcorps made

surprise appearances, and Civic Place was transformed into a relaxed piazza. People kicked back with a bite to eat while their host Tommy Franklin wove together an eclectic mix of music including the Stiff Gins, All Our Exes Live in Texas, Fez Hamadcha and Rattlin’ Bones Blackwood on the La Toosh rooftop.

As the sun set, Darcy Lane flickered to life with Mike Robert’s enchanting Fire Garden. Accompanied by a sweeping soundscape by the Aboriginal artists from the Spirit of Things Collective, people took time out from the bustling event to wander through this shimmering installation. While rain may have dampened the event somewhat, it certainly did not detract from this spectacular highlight.

Riverside Theatres was again the hub of Festival activities in Parramatta. This year Canada’s Cirque Alfonse presented a season

of their lumberjack family circus Timber! The stage was then transformed for the world premiere of an ambitious collaborative performance, PUNCTURE. The culmination of three years of work for Legs on the Wall, FORM Dance Projects and Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, PUNCTURE celebrated the evolution of social dance in an uplifting and intimate performance. For younger audiences an adaptation of Eric Carle’s storybook characters charmed with The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show.

Sydney Festival’s ongoing collaboration with Information and Cultural Exchange gave rise to Disco Dome: The Lost Discotheques of Parramatta – a walking tour around Parramatta’s lost discotheques and cinemas. Disco Dome was the curatorial provocation of seven of Australia’s most exciting video and performance artists who responded with

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a series of new works. Justene Williams, Khaled Sabsabi, Liam Benson, David Capra, Heath Franco, Fadia Abboud and Jerome Pearce under the careful curatorial hand of John Kirkman came together for this intimate series of uniquely Parramatta experiences.

The sell-out hit of 2015 was Far From Folsom. Over 7,000 people snapped up tickets to this unique experience. The recently decommissioned Parramatta Correctional Centre was the perfect location to celebrate one of the greatest live albums of all time – At Folsom Prison. Tex Perkins gave life to Johnny Cash’s legendary album backed by his band, The Tennessee Four, and Rachael Tidd, who reprised the vocals of June Carter. Perkins’ gravelly baritone and charismatic performance inside the razor wire walls of Parramatta Gaol will be remembered by many as an all-time Sydney Festival highlight.

“... NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD GO TO GAOL, SO GLAD I DID #SYDFEST.”

MATILDA HALLIDAY, VIA TWITTER

Far From Folsom, photo Prudence Upton.


A FESTIVAL FOR EVERYONE

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ACCESSIBILITY We welcome all visitors to Sydney Festival events and make every effort to ensure that the program is accessible and inclusive to all. This principle is predicated on the recognition that Sydney Festival is for everyone, regardless of their individual accessibility requirements. Sydney Festival’s Disability Action Plan (DAP) is available via our website and the Human Rights Commission website.

New in 2015, Sydney Festival offered an Auslan interpreted performance of Kiss & Cry, wheelchair access to the Waterfall Swing at Darling Harbour and a special relaxed performance of The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show for children on the autism spectrum.

Other access services included tactile tours of Masquerade and Inside There Falls, an audio-described performance of Masquerade, and a captioned performance of Nothing to Lose as well as braille brochures, audio brochures and a team of staff who are available to assist with individual requirements.

Sydney Festival aspires to improve access services each year, in consultation with members of our audience and our many stakeholders.

FREE EVENTS & AFFORDABLE OPTIONSTo ensure Festival events are accessible to people of all income brackets, the Festival offers a range of free and lower-cost events.

Of the 167 events Sydney Festival presented in 2015, 78 were offered for free. 398,936 people attended free events and reinforced the importance the Festival’s ethos of making high-quality arts events accessible. From Western Sydney to the CBD, the Festival offered a wide range of free events including street celebrations, public installations, music, visual arts and the iconic summer concert series in The Domain.

Tix for Next to Nix continues to be an important cornerstone of the Festival’s commitment to ticket affordability. Every day, for every show, tickets are available from the Village box office for that day’s events, for $25. A total of 1,574 tickets were sold as part of the program.

Sydney Festival is also committed to delivering affordable options in a range of other ways. Events in the About an Hour program continued to be priced at $35, while many of the music concerts in the Festival Village were also priced at $30 or less. Promotions such as Festival Happy Hour and Daily Deals offered a broad range of tickets at half price. Reduced ticket prices were also offered to arts industry workers and community contacts.

Inside There Falls, photo Prudence Upton; the box office at the Festival Village, photo Camille Manley; Waterfall Swing, photo Julie Jones; Eileen Kramer at Inside There Falls, pages of the Sydney Festival braille brochure, photos Camille Manley.

“FROM ART INSTALLATIONS TO MUSIC AND POP-UPS, PLENTY OF ATTRACTIONS WILL COST YOU PRECISELY NOTHING AT SYDNEY FESTIVAL.”

ELISSA BLAKE, THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

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SUSTAINABILITYSydney Festival’s vision is to be the most sustainable major performing arts festival in Australia.

For some years we have been working towards making Sydney Festival a more sustainable event. The 2015 Festival saw us take a much more serious step to achieve this. We have made a commitment towards fully understanding our impact and identifying ways to minimise the negative and maximise the positive environmental, social and economic legacies of Sydney Festival. The Festival has set long-term targets to progress towards meeting sustainability goals.

ACTIONS IN 2015 INCLUDED:• Promotion of more sustainable transport

options to Sydney Festival patrons through the provision of bike racks, and encouraging the use of public transport, cycling and carpooling.

• Introduction of the Closed Loop Turnstile to ensure that 80% of the waste from our major outdoor events is diverted from landfill (Closed Loop Turnstiles are a mobile on-site waste sorting facility).

• Waste reduction through the use of recycled materials, including the compulsory use of compostable and recyclable food service

ware by Festival caterers, provision of reusable cups at Festival bars, use of recycled paper at the Festival office, refillable water bottles and water stations.

• Recycling of materials including Festival signage, cooking oil from Festival venues, and harvesting of rainwater from The Domain stage canopy for use in the Royal Botanic Gardens.

• Printing on sustainably sourced paper stock with printers that meet independently assessed performance measures.

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RECONCILIATION ACTION PLAN (RAP)The Sydney Festival Reconciliation Action Plan outlines our commitment to ensure that we keep moving forward on this vital issue for our nation.

We are committed to closing the gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians and their fellow Australians by creating and fostering an organisational environment that cherishes respect, creates opportunity and builds cultural awareness.

We set ourselves specific goals in 2013/14 and we are pleased to report the vast majority were achieved, but there is still so much more we can do. We’ve learnt a lot in the first 12-month

period, and both our successes and mistakes have informed our strategy for the next stage of the plan.

We have set ourselves new measurable goals, at the same time as maintaining ongoing initiatives and we look forward to the successes of our second RAP as part of the ongoing journey for this organisation and our communities.

Smoking Ceremony, BANKSTOWN:LIVE, photo Jamie Williams.


ARTS & CULTURE INDUSTRY CONNECTIONS

08

Seymour Centre, photo Jamie Willams.

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HOSTING NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL DELEGATES Every year, Sydney Festival hosts a mix of invited and self-selected national and international guest presenters and colleagues – offering opportunities to see work and engage with Festival artists and companies. In 2015, we hosted two events that intensified the level of engagement with our national colleagues.

We hosted the fourth Australian Theatre Forum: MAKING IT at the Seymour Centre, an event that brought together professional artists, presenters, producers, managers and policy-makers from around the country. Produced by Theatre Network Victoria, and curated by practitioner David Williams, it was a four-day forum, with 62 events, that engaged 400 industry delegates, speakers and guests. Most attendees came to the Festival Village and other events building the discursive and networking context around the arts program.

We also produced the Major Festivals Initiative Development Site – a two-day event of the Confederation of International Arts Festivals’ programmers and CEOs. Nine producing companies from around Australia pitched works of scale to potential co-commissioning partners. The 70 attendees included: Australian Festival delegates, potential commissioning partners from regional and city venues, and international delegates from New Zealand, Canada and Hong Kong.

INVITING INDUSTRY PARTICIPATION – ARTS CARDSydney Festival Arts Industry Program returned in 2015. Introduced in 2014 as a means of providing artists and arts workers with the opportunity to participate in the Festival and its surrounding conversations, in 2015, we made the benefits of the program simpler to access over an extended period.

273 artists and arts workers were admitted into the Arts Industry Program and offered access to reduced price tickets and priority access to the Festival Village and forums.

Sydney Festival is both a leader and a participant in a rich landscape of cross-artform festivals, presenters, producers and artists. We foster connectivity and dialogue across and between these sectors and participate in networks both locally and internationally wherever possible.

“FORCE MAJEURE IS LIVING PROOF OF THE FESTIVAL’S PROUD AND ONGOING SUCCESSFUL SUPPORT OF SYDNEY-BASED ARTISTS.”

KATE CHAMPION, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF FORCE MAJEURE


MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

09

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BRANDINGThe 2015 Festival visual branding was an evolution on the established ‘This is our city in summer’ tagline and brought Sydney Festival artists to the front and centre of the campaign. James Thierrée of Tabac Rouge, and dancers Kathryn Puie of PUNCTURE and Ally Garrett of Nothing to Lose graced the cover of the 2015 brochure, city flags, digital advertising, and featured on outdoor advertising and signage throughout the city.

THE CAMPAIGNThe 2015 Festival’s integrated marketing campaign ran for over five months with an early announcement, in collaboration with Destination NSW, of James Thierrée’s Tabac Rouge on 22 August 2014. Sydney Festival’s Parramatta program was announced on 22 October and the full Festival program was launched on 23 October.

WEBSITEThe Festival website was redesigned for 2015. New filters allowed events to be searched by date, venue, time, price and genre, while dynamic ordering allowed popular events to be easily found. Increased investment in the mobile site also contributed to a rise in mobile web traffic, now accounting for 44% of all Festival web traffic.

The My Festival tool saw 1,931 people create their own highlights lists and share them with friends, resulting in 92,454 views. The My Festival tool was also used to feature highlights from Festival advocates including Zan Rowe (triple j), Elissa Blake (The Sydney Morning Herald), Amanda Palmer (Sydney Festival 2014) and Sarah Wilson (I Quit Sugar).

1.8M EMAILS SENT TO A DATABASE OF

78,727 EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS

3.6M CUMULATIVE OUTDOOR ADVERTISING REACH*

1.2M VISITS TO THE WEBSITE WITH

7.7M PAGE VIEWS (AUG 22 – JAN 26)

44 BLOG POSTS READ 33,425 TIMES

9.6M IMPRESSIONS OF 6,894 #SYDFEST INSTAGRAMS IN JANUARY

316 DIGITAL ADS WITH 25.5M REACH

90 PRINT ADS WITH 21M READERSHIP

5,836 MEDIA ARTICLES

*Total reach data via APN and Adshel.


CONTENT & EMAIL MARKETINGSydney Festival invested strongly in content marketing across its platforms, with 44 blog posts being read 33,425 times. Original imagery from events and sponsor activations formed a large part of the Festival’s social media content, complementing Festival-goers thirst for documenting and sharing their #sydfest experiences.

Email marketing is an area of growth for the Festival with 1.8 million emails sent resulting in 97,825 visits to Festival and sponsor properties online. A new email layout also allowed for greater flexibility in the stories told.

CONTENT DISTRIBUTION & BROADCASTSydney Festival performances were recorded live by broadcast media partners for audiences to enjoy after the experience.

ABC Classic FM: Variations on Béla Bartók – 44 Duets, the Latvian Radio Choir and Bach and the Italian Style.

ABC Jazz: Maria Schneider, Jef Neve and the Jazzgroove Mothership Orchestra.

ABC Radio National: Fez Hamadcha, Alela Diane, ATOMIC BOMB! The Music of William Onyeabor, Camille O’Sullivan: Changeling, Far From Folsom and Xylouris White.

FBi Radio: Wye Oak, Dan Deacon, #1 Dads, Tiny Ruins, Blank Realm, Firekites and Zammuto.

Opposite page:

POP, photo Jamie Williams; Festival Village What’s On boards; Seymour Centre steps; Festival-goers on Higher Ground, photo Nadia Al-Munir; Parramatta Launch; Festival Village entry.

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OUTDOOR ADVERTISING & SIGNAGEAdshel Audience 1,352,000Large-format digital billboards and street furniture in Sydney, Western Sydney and Canberra.

APN Audience 2,615,000Large-format digital billboards, roadside posters, and bus backs across Sydney, Parramatta, Canberra and Melbourne.

Cross Trak TV billboards screening Sydney Festival TVCs throughout Sydney’s CBD and metropolitan railway interchanges.

Rova Media Advertising on the back of taxis across Sydney, Western Sydney and Melbourne. There were 33,600,648 opportunities to see this advertising on the streets throughout the campaign.

Executive Channel Audience 1,878,466Digital advertising in foyers across Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.

Sydney Airport Audience 703,279Supersites, digital displays and welcome banners at Sydney Airport.

In addition to the above: 739 street flags and banners in the Sydney CBD, Darling Harbour, Bondi Beach and Parramatta.

41 information columns in Sydney CBD, The Rocks and Parramatta.

PRINTED COLLATERAL & DISTRIBUTIONA broad range of Sydney Festival marketing collateral was distributed through the following channels: direct mail through Sydney Festival’s customer database, household distribution to targeted postcodes, distribution to arts audiences through seat drops and mail-outs, peer-to-peer promotional activity at commuter hubs, various displays (including Avant Cards) at cafes, arts and leisure hotspots.

Fairfax Media continued their support for Sydney Festival and produced a dedicated Festival supplement which was inserted into The Sydney Morning Herald (readership of 863,000) the week Festival tickets went on sale.

PRESS ADVERTISINGNational newspaper: The Australian.

Major metropolitan newspapers: The Sydney Morning Herald, The Sun Herald, The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph, mX.

Local newspapers: Inner West Courier, Canterbury Bankstown Express, Parramatta Advertiser, Blacktown Advocate, Hills News.

Specialty street press: The Music, The Brag, Cult, SX Weekly, Blaze, Gay Summer Guide, Queensland Pride, Indian Link.

Magazines: Gourmet Traveller, Limelight Magazine, The Monthly, RealTime, FilmInk.

TV, RADIO, CINEMA ADVERTISING & PROMOTIONSTV: Channel 7, 7mate, Channel V, MAX, STUDIO TV.

Radio: ABC 702, ABC Radio National, ABC Classic FM, ABC Jazz, FBi Radio, WSFM, 2SER, Fine Music, Indian Link.

Cinema: Palace Cinemas, Dendy Cinemas, Event Cinemas.

ONLINE ADVERTISING ArtsHub, Concrete Playground, The Daily Telegraph, Facebook, Faster Louder, FilmInk, Fine Music, Gay News Network, Google Adwords, Indian Link, Junkee, The Monthly (Shortlist), The Music, Saturday Paper, The Sydney Morning Herald, Time Out, Twitter.

“… SYDNEY FESTIVAL 2015 IS TRULY KALEIDOSCOPIC IN ITS DIVERSITY.”

GARRETT BITHELL, CULT MAGAZINE

Top to bottom, left to right: Sydney Festival flags on George St, photo Jamie Wiliams; Sydney Opera House digital screen, photo Nikola Keavy; APN Outdoor Melbourne, photo APN; Festival-goer reading The Sydney Morning Herald pullout guide, photo James O’Connor; triffid at Circular Quay, Adshel screens at Martin Place Station, photos Camille Manley.

Following page: LIMBO media call on Higher Ground, photo Prudence Upton.

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The most considerable web traffic was driven by ABC.net.au, Time Out Sydney, The Guardian, Broadsheet Sydney, and Concrete Playground. The Sydney Morning Herald was reported as the leading online publication with 150 articles (equating to an advertising space rate value of $9,187,992), followed by The Canberra Times and The Guardian Australia.

In collaboration with Destination NSW, The Guardian Australia covered the Festival extensively online and through its Culture hub with 32 major features reaching a potential viewership of 4,686,994,615. The Guardian Australia also dedicated their January podcast to a special Sydney Festival edition.

PRINT431 articles National and local print media demonstrated very high levels of interest in Sydney Festival, with cover stories and extensive coverage in major daily newspapers, monthly magazines, free street press, regional and local newspapers, and specialist publications.

23 cover stories This included: The Weekend Australian Review, The Sydney Morning Herald’s “Spectrum”, “Shortlist” and “S”, Where Sydney and mX.

The Sydney Morning Herald was again the leading publication with 127 articles printed from August to January, with additional multimedia coverage and extended reviews hosted on their website and syndicated nationally across Fairfax mastheads. Sydney Festival and The Sydney Morning Herald jointly produced a Festival guide which was inserted into “Spectrum” to coincide with the main program announcement in late October.

Time Out Sydney was a major supporter of Sydney Festival, with 19 major features and significant mentions in its December–February issue alongside further interviews, event listings and reviews online.

PUBLICITYSydney Festival 2015 attracted extensive local, national and international media coverage. A total of 5,836 Festival-related reports ran across print, online, television and radio.

5,836 FESTIVAL-RELATED ARTICLES10,524,000,000 ACCUMULATED AUDIENCE/CIRCULATION

$91,131,250 IN AUSTRALIAN ADVERTISING SPACE RATE VALUE

Sydney Festival used a new media monitoring company in 2015, The meltwater group. All reported data is based on media coverage received from 22 August 2014–9 February 2015.

ONLINEOnline media produced the most coverage of Sydney Festival with a total of 4,376 reports captured by media monitors. Coverage of Festival events, news and reviews online drove 60,718 click-throughs to the Festival’s website between August 2014 and February 2015. While the majority of online coverage was generated by traditional media outlets, there was increased engagement from additional online and blog websites.

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Local street press titles The Brag and The Music each printed special Sydney Festival editions with exclusive covers and considerable coverage both in print and online, as well as reviewing and listing events during the Festival.

RADIORadio continues to be a vital element of Sydney Festival’s promotional campaign. 721 reports were captured by media monitoring, along with a significant number of interviews and mentions on community radio stations which are not included in these figures.

702 ABC Sydney was again the top performer, with 50 interviews including 14 live in-studio performances. In 2015, the number of on-air mentions increased significantly with 302 mentions reported across the station to a potential audience of 195,394,000.

Interviews, live performances, guest present segments, reviews and mentions were spread across Radio National, ABC Classic FM, Double J, triple j, ABC Jazz, ABC Dig Radio, 2UE Sydney, 2GB Radio, SBS Languages, Koori Radio, 2SER Radio, FBi Radio, Eastside Radio and other community stations.

TELEVISION In 2015, television coverage was greater than in previous years, with 30 weather crosses to Sydney Festival sites and 12 in-depth television interviews and/or performances with Sydney Festival artists. 308 national and local syndicated reports on commercial stations were picked up through media monitoring (with many more reports outside of this).

ABC News and commercial television stations again responded well to the Festival Village and the diverse program of Festival events, with national coverage broadcasted on ABC, Channel Seven, Channel Nine, Channel Ten and SBS stations. Three significant ABC 730 report stories on ATOMIC BOMB! The Music of William Onyeabor, Far From Folsom and Nothing to Lose promoted the events to a national audience.

Studio TV’s Festival TV continued to have a valuable impact, filming 20 Festival shows and installations which were shared as mini-episodes online and aired on Foxtel throughout January. Independent online syndication through Upworthy and Bild.de quickly took the Nothing to Lose Festival TV episode to 150,000 hits on YouTube.

INTERNATIONAL COVERAGEIn 2015, international coverage exceeded that of previous years with 972 online reports. International coverage was received in The Independent (UK), The Huffington Post (US), Harper’s BAZAAR (UK), The Guardian (US), The Guardian (UK), Pitchfork (US), Time Out (US) and many more international publications with individual stories driving up to 1,450 click-throughs to the Festival website.

Sydney Festival worked with Destination NSW to host interstate and international journalists to cover this year’s program of events. Journalists from target media outlets in New Zealand, United States, United Kingdom, Belgium and across Australia were invited to cover the Festival in 2015.

Sydney Festival again used PR Newswire, an international online distribution service, to target media outlets in the USA, UK and Asia. The video news releases created for Sydney Festival allowed international media to gain access to releases, pictures and videos driving traffic directly to the Festival website. In 2015, there were a total of 3,358 views of the VNR releases issued to a potential audience of 71,090,000.


DEVELOPMENT10

Sydney Festival earns almost half its revenue directly through its operations which include ticket sales and catering. The remaining income is earned through partnerships in both the public and the private sector.

Waterfall Swing at Darling Harbour, photo James O’Connor.

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PARTNERSHIP HIGHLIGHTSSydney Festival would like to thank our many highly valued partners. Each partnership is tailored to the brand’s key business and communication objectives. Our partners have the opportunity to create unique campaigns that connect with the Festival’s loyal and engaged audience members.

THE STARWe welcomed The Star Sydney as Principal Corporate Sponsor for the second year. This partnership demonstrates The Star Sydney’s commitment to Sydney and provides the opportunity to showcase their range of services, from restaurants to bars, clubs and retail to Festival patrons.

The Star Sydney’s partnership included the return of the Sky Terrace, a venue offering sweeping views toward the Sydney Harbour Bridge with an entertainment program of renowned international and local DJs programmed by Sydney Festival.

The Brazilian superstar Seu Jorge filled the Event Centre at The Star Sydney with thousands eager to celebrate his first Australian performances. In addition, The Star Sydney hosted a number of major events from the Festival launch party to networking drinks, as well as continuing to provide hospitality at The Domain Concert Series.

NEW PARTNERSThe 2015 Festival welcomed a number of important new partners including Lion, Santos and Laurent Perrier.

PRINCIPAL PARTNERSNSW GOVERNMENT – ARTS NSWThe continued investment from Arts NSW (one of the founding partners of Sydney Festival in 1977) has been instrumental in the Festival’s ongoing success. Additionally, Arts NSW’s investment in many performing arts companies and venues is also of great benefit to the Festival.

CITY OF SYDNEY Along with Arts NSW, the City of Sydney was a founding partner of the Festival in 1977. In 2015, the City of Sydney’s investment included access to city venues including Sydney Town Hall and Hyde Park, home of the Festival Village.


LEADERSHIP PARTNERS CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINESChina Southern Airlines celebrated its fourth year as the Festival’s Official Airline Partner. The partnership involved a very successful alignment with The Domain Concert Series, and a special screening of the Academy® Award-winning movie The Artist Live in Concert with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House.

PARRAMATTA COUNCILThis was the fourth year of the Sydney Festival Parramatta program, providing diverse and high-quality programming in Sydney’s West. The investment is matched by the NSW Government with the aim to enhance Parramatta’s position as the demographic centre of Sydney and the third biggest economic zone in Australia.

The 2015 program included the big free open-air street celebration POP (Parramatta Opening Party), a popular circus production Timber! at Riverside Theatres and three sold-out performances of Far From Folsom, featuring Tex Perkins at Parramatta Gaol. The program successfully drew large audiences to Parramatta – from across the Sydney region and surrounds.

DESTINATION NSWDestination NSW has been a long-term investor in Sydney Festival. Through the support of productions that were “Only in Sydney”, Destination NSW aims to attract visitation to Sydney for Festival productions. These productions included Tabac Rouge, Masquerade, The Kitchen, Timber!, Far From Folsom and Seu Jorge.

Destination NSW’s extensive “Sydney in Summer” marketing campaign also provides support to Sydney Festival, boosting visitation numbers from interstate and overseas markets.

FAST FESTIVAL FEASTSNow in its 15th year, Fast Festival Feasts saw thousands of Festival-goers take advantage of Festival offers at our partner restaurants. The program engaged 30 restaurants in Sydney’s CBD, the Inner West and Parramatta. Supported by an extensive marketing campaign across print and digital platforms, the Fast Festival Feasts program, supported by Gourmet Traveller, continues to be a huge success.

Pictured left to right, top to bottom: Channel 7 at The Domain, The Star, China Southern at The Domain, Accor Hotels, Sydney Airport, photos James O’Connor; Laurant Perrier at the Festival Village, photo Tim Levy; yellow tail glow bar, Festival Village, photo Jamie Williams; Ferrython, photo James O’Connor; The Sydney Morning Herald Festival Guide; Lululemon yoga in Hyde Park, Kirin Bit.fall at the Festival Village, photos James O’Connor.

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ASSOCIATE PRODUCERSSupporters of the Festival’s Associate Producers program are aligned with one or two Sydney Festival highlight productions each year which require additional financial support in order to be realised. In 2012, I Am Eora was made possible by the commitment of our inaugural Associate Producers followed by the ground-breaking work Black Diggers for the 2014 Festival. This year the Associate Producers supported Long Grass, a new dance work by Indigenous choreographer Vicki Van Hout, and a new Australian theatre work, Masquerade, by Australian actor and playwright Kate Mulvany.

We especially thank Peter and Lou Freedman who made a six figure donation which will contribute to Sydney Festival 2016. Peter Freedman said “I am really proud to be supporting Sydney Festival because it brings together two of my passions: the joy of Sydney

PHILANTHROPY& DONATIONS

YOU MAKE IT POSSIBLEPhilanthropy continues to be an increasingly important income source for the Festival and we are very grateful to all those who came on board to support Sydney Festival 2015.

Over the past four years the Festival has been building a philanthropic program which offers our supporters the opportunity to get closer to the Festival and its artists. It enables us to create a Festival with artists from all over the world, providing great experiences – free and ticketed – to the people of Sydney and beyond. The program offers various levels of support with a variety of benefits including priority booking, VIP access and exclusive events.

Our donors provide great feedback on the Festival program and other insights that help our Board and Festival Management continue to improve its offering.

Pictured from left to right, top to bottom: Peter Freedman, Marita Supplee and John Kaldor; Ros Hunyor, Nell Schofield, Judith Casson, Jonathan Casson and Gil Appleton, photo James O’Connor; Malcolm Moir, Judy Garb, Kate Champion and Claire Edwardes; Ros Hunyor, Gil Appleton, Vicki Van Hout and Kathryn Hunyor; Kate Mulvany and Mary Read; Carolyn Lowry OAM and Peter Lowry OAM; Di Jorgensen, Chris Tooher and Kathryn Lovric.

in summer and exciting performances from local and international artists. Sydney has been fantastic to me and my family, and at RØDE we are always inspired by the performers who use our products. This is an opportunity to give back to my city, and support Sydney Festival as it reaches new heights.”

GET INVOLVED AND JOIN THE FUN IN 2016Learn about the various giving levels and the difference you can make. Visit sydneyfestival.org.au/support or contact Marita Supplee on 02 8248 6510 or [email protected] for further details.

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“THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE BACK TO MY CITY AND SUPPORT SYDNEY FESTIVAL AS IT REACHES NEW HEIGHTS.”

PETER FREEDMAN, MAJOR DONOR

The Artist Live in Concert opening night fuction, photo James O’Connor.


“YOU GUYS HAVE AMAZING VOLUNTEERS – SO CHEERFUL IN YESTERDAY’S HEAT, SO WELCOMING AT EVERY VENUE. LOVE THEM AND THANK THEM @ SYDNEY_FESTIVAL.”

VIRGINA GORDON, VIA TWITTER

VOLUNTEERS11

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VOLUNTEERSSydney Festival’s army of dedicated volunteers made this year’s event possible.

Eventeamwork returned for a third year to manage the Festival’s volunteer program. This year’s Team Leader program saw 18 Event Management and Creative Industry students gain valuable industry experience through managing small teams of volunteers.

In total, 356 volunteers worked 2017 shifts from December and through to Australia Day in roles ranging from creating artist packs to collecting donations at our big free events and managing queues at major public artworks.

INTERNS Our internship program saw tertiary students observe and work alongside managers and coordinators in production, marketing, programming and development departments.

Intern roles varied greatly, ranging from event research to assisting with production schedules, offering real-life contexts to apply theoretical studies.

We thank this year’s interns and wish them every success for their future.

“SYDNEY FESTIVAL HAS PROVIDED ME WITH THE OPPORTUNITY TO GAIN HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE, WORKING ALONGSIDE SOME OF THE MOST INSPIRING MARKETING LEADERS WHO ARE ALWAYS WILLING TO HELP YOU LEARN AND GROW.”

NATALIE ZAGALIA, MARKETING INTERN

Pictured left and upper right:

Festival major donors, the Martin-Weber Family, enjoyed an extra level of participation this year with a volunteer shift at this year’s Waterfall Swing installation. The cousins aged from 11–30 joined forces to give back in this very special way. Photos James O’Connor.

Pictured right:

Festival volunteers at Higher Ground, photo EvenTeamwork; Festival Village, photo James O’Connor.


THE FUTURE

SYDNEY FESTIVAL 40

12

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The Festival’s newly adopted governance structure ensures that it is best positioned to optimise its future success. A refreshed Board of Independent Directors brings together a diverse group of business and community leaders, all of whom are experts in their field with a passion for the Festival and its role in the broader cultural landscape. Their leadership will drive Sydney Festival’s vision and strategy to ensure the Festival remains a major iconic Australian event.

The Festival will also soon welcome its next Festival Director, who will start with the delivery of our 41st Festival in January 2017. Following a world-wide search, the announcement is expected mid-2015.

This is an exciting time for the Festival – an opportunity to ensure it continues to evolve and grow with the vibrant community that makes up this great city. The Festival will continue to engage, surprise and delight our audiences as it continues to exceed the expectations of our many varied stakeholders.

Thank you for joining us on the journey to date, the Festival is only made possible through the support and advocacy of our stakeholders. We look forward to celebrating 2016 and to paving the way for many years to come.

In 2016, Sydney Festival turns 40 and whilst there will be much to celebrate with 40 years of great success, it is also an important time to lay the groundwork for the Festival’s next 40 years of success.

Pictured top to bottom, left to right:

Semele Walk, Sydney Festival 2013, Dido & Aeneas, Sydney Festival 2014, photos Jamie Williams; Assembly, Sydney Festival 2012, Grace Jones, Sydney Festival 2009, photos Prudence Upton.


SUPPORTERS

PRINCIPAL SUPPORTERS

LEADERSHIP PARTNERS

MAJOR SUPPORTER

STAR PARTNERS

GOVERNMENT AND COMMUNITY PARTNERS

DISTINGUISHED PARTNERS

SPECIAL DISTINGUISHED PARTNER

STRATEGIC PARTNER

PRINCIPAL GOVERNMENT PARTNER

13FOUNDATIONSSydney Festival wishes to acknowledge the following Foundations who have supported us over the last 12 months:

Anthony and Sharon Lee FoundationThe Martin-Weber Family

DONORSSydney Festival wishes to thank the following individuals for their generous donations over the last 12 months:

MAJOR DONORPeter and Lou Freedman

DIRECTOR’S CIRCLE President:Michael Crouch AO

Members:Anonymous (1)Antoinette AlbertPeter Hunt AMRebel Penfold-Russell OAM

FESTIVAL HEROES Anonymous (1)Robert Albert AO and Libby AlbertAndrew Cameron AM and Cathy CameronBrett Clegg and Annabel HepworthThe Hon. Ashley Dawson-Damer AMDr Kathryn Lovric and Dr Roger AllanDavid Mathlin and Camilla Drover

ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS The Arcadia GroupGillian AppletonJonathan Blakeman and Dr Heather WorthAngela Bowne SCJonathan and Judith CassonRos and Alex HunyorDianne JorgensenJohn Kaldor AM and Naomi Milgrom Kaldor AODr Carolyn Lowry OAM and Peter Lowry OAMPenelope Seidler AMKim Williams AM and Catherine Dovey

FESTIVAL LOVERS Aliza Bartfield and Bill UpdegraffLieven BertelsAnne Blau Sharon CowinCarolyn CrawfordJennifer HoleSuzanne Maple-BrownAdam MaxJulianne MaxwellDr Ann McFarlaneLyndall McNallyMary ReadDr Jennifer SolomonChristopher TooherSam and Judy WeissMargaret Whealy

CORPORATE PARTNERSPRINCIPAL PARTNER

LEADERSHIP PARTNER

SPECIAL DISTINGUISHED PARTNERS

MAJOR SUPPORTER

STAR PARTNERS

T A X I M E D I A

MEDIA PARTNERS

360 Bar and DiningARIA BallaBLACK by ezardCafe SydneyChefs GalleryChiswick at The GalleryChophouse

AesopAlphabet StudioArtbank Australia Bar CocoClifton Productions Closed LoopCoates Hire EPS

The Dining Room at Park Hyatt Sydney

El-Phoenician The EmporiumFat NoodleFood Societyglass brasserieGowings Bar & Grill

STAR PARTNERS

MAJOR SUPPORTER

DISTINGUISHED PARTNERS

SPECIAL DISTINGUISHED PARTNERS

Hapag LloydLipton Ice TeaMotorola Solutions AustraliaThe NestPureprofileQT SydneyRDA ResearchSecure ParkingTFE

La Rosa The StrandThe MalayaThe Morrison Bar & Oyster

RoomOpera KitchenThe PavilionPizzAperta ManfrediPuntino Trattoria

Red Lantern on RileyRiley St GarageRubyosSokyoSteel Bar and GrillVentuno Pizzeria e

Ristorante

CONTRIBUTORSRESTAURANT PARTNERS


SPECIAL THANKS

The following companies and productions acknowledge the support of:

Australian Theatre ForumClaire EdwardesDavid Chisholm Force Majeure Griffin Theatre Company Information and Cultural

ExchangeInsite Arts Legs on the WallLong GrassMalthouse Theatre Maria Schneider, Jef Neve and

the Jazzgroove Mothership Orchestra

Performance SpacePunctureState Theatre Company SA Sydney Philharmonia ChoirsTamara Saulwick Urban Theatre Projects

Australian Theatre ForumCarriageworks Force Majeure FORM Dance ProjectsGriffin Theatre Company Information and Cultural

ExchangeLegs on the WallLong GrassPerformance SpacePunctureSydney Philharmonia ChoirsUrban Theatre Projects

AUSTRALIAN THEATRE FORUM Business Events Sydney Destination NSW Theatre Network VictoriaSeymour CentreBANKSTOWN:LIVE Bankstown City CouncilBankstown Sports ClubBankstown Arts CentreCommunity Relations

CommissionMetro ScreenOffice for AgeingVA Digital HireUniversity of Western SydneyBLAK CABARET Vic HealthDEAR HOPE STREETArts VictoriaDISCO DOME Screen NSWENDINGS Arts VictoriaArts House THE EXPERIMENT Arts VictoriaBundanon TrustCentre IntermondesInstitut FrançaisFALLING THROUGH CLOUDSThe Department of Culture and

the Arts of Western Australia Malthouse TheatreFAR FROM FOLSOMGovernment Property NSWJeff SteinFESTIVAL VILLAGEAustralian MuseumMark HammerHAVE I NO MOUTH Culture IrelandDublin CityQuaternaireThe Arts CouncilProject Arts CentreI GUESS IF THE STAGE EXPLODED ...In Between TimeSPILL FestivalBarbicanArts Council EnglandICIA Bath

KISS & CRYProducers: Charleroi Danses,

Centre chorégraphique de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles and le manège.mons, Centre Dramatique

Co-producer: Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, with the support of the Fédération Wallonie Bruxelles and Wallonie Bruxelles International

Acknowledgements: Daniel Cordova, Frank Feitler, Anne Lenoir

THE KITCHEN Auckland Festival Holland FestivalLONG GRASS Critical PathThe University of Sydney’s

Department of Performance Studies

Darwin Entertainment CentreMALTHOUSE THEATREArts VictoriaNOTHING TO LOSE City of SydneyON THE HARMFUL EFFECTS OF TOBACCO – CONCERT IN ONE ACT Emmanuelle Denavit-FellerInstitut FrançaisPUNCTURERiverside TheatresParramatta City CouncilBundanon TrustArs Musica Australis TIMBER!Canada Council for the ArtsConseil des arts et des lettres

du QuébecUKCHUK-GA: PANSORI MOTHER COURAGEKorea Tourism Organisation Korean Cultural OfficeWOT? NO FISH!!Arts Council EnglandBattersea Arts CentreJW3 (Jewish Community Centre

for London)

SYDNEY FESTIVAL PATRONHis Excellency General

The Honourable David Hurley AC DSC, Governor of New South Wales

BOARD OF DIRECTORSPRESIDENTThe Hon. Mike Baird MP, Premier

of New South Wales, Minister for Infrastructure and Minister for Western Sydney

CHAIRClover Moore, Lord Mayor

of SydneyDIRECTORSThe Hon. Troy Grant MP

Minister for Hospitality, Gaming and Racing, and Minister for the Arts

Monica BaroneSimon CorahMatthew MelhuishSam WeissALTERNATE DIRECTORSMary Darwell (for The Hon.

Troy Grant MP)The Hon. Ashley Dawson-Damer

(for The Hon. Mike Baird MP)Ann Hoban (for Monica Barone)Nell Schofield (for the Lord

Mayor, Clover Moore)

SYDNEY FESTIVAL STAFFFestival DirectorLieven BertelsExecutive DirectorChristopher TooherFINANCE AND OPERATIONSHead of Finance and Operations Tanya BushAccountantCaroline Brosnan PayrollCarina MisionExecutive AssistantCorey Zerna Executive Projects CoordinatorFiona JacksonAdministration OfficersJulie Crawford, Courtney LewisReceptionistMelissa McShane

PROGRAMMINGHead of ProgrammingFiona WinningProducer, Major Outdoor EventsVernon GuestProgram ManagersAdam McGowanStuart RogersProgramming AssociateRachel Grimes-CarmichaelProgramming CoordinatorIone DavisProgram CoordinatorsLaura BadertscherRita KhayatJanelle McKenzieMichelle O’BrienProject ManagerBeatrice Hendry Artist LiaisonsSally BlackwoodCraig GilliverMARKETING AND CUSTOMER SERVICESHead of Marketing and Customer Services Tina WalsbergerMarketing ManagerAinslie LenehanDigital Marketing ManagerJulia ThomasPublications EditorAimee HuxleyMarketing CoordinatorsChristine Petrou, Kate Williams, Chris ZajkoPublicity ManagerJessica Keirle PublicistsAnna Shapiro, Gabrielle WilsonPublicity CoordinatorStephanie LangridgeGraphic Design ManagerCamille ManleyGraphic DesignerNikola KeavySignage CoordinatorAlice LarmerTicketing ManagerTara Easlea-HardingTicketing Systems Coordinators Erin Garman, Sarah Toner Guest Ticketing CoordinatorCheryl HaynesTicketing AssistantsAlexina Coad, Jane Doutney, Allison StapletonMedia Ticketing AssistantCarina LamprechtDEVELOPMENTHead of DevelopmentMalcolm Moir Philanthropy ManagerMarita SuppleeSenior Sponsorship ManagerAnna MatthewsSponsorship ManagerBrooke RavensSponsorship ExecutiveJane YouSponsorship – Special ProjectsAmalina WhitakerSponsorship CoordinatorPaloma Gould

PRODUCTIONHead of ProductionJohn BayleyProduction ManagerMick JessopCatering & Sustainability ManagerFernando MottiProduction CoordinatorsElise Brokensha, Whitney EglingtonProject Coordinator – ParramattaNathalie TaylorTransport CoordinatorEmily WorkmanCrewing CoordinatorAlycia StanleyHospitality CoordinatorBlake SmithFestival Village Venue Manager Gordon RymerProduction AssistantKat Anastasiou-BellDOMAIN STAFFDomain ManagerAlycia BangmaSite ManagerDamon JonesDomain Construction Manager Damion Holling Domain CoordinatorGemma RoweElectriciansCraig Adamson, Iain GodfreyTHANK YOUMichael Abbott, Accessible Arts, Alberts Music, Alphabet Studio, Auslan Stage Left, Luke Banfield, Benchmark Design and Print, His Excellency Mr Aldis Birzulis, Chrissy Blackburn, Brett Boardman Photography, Rebecca Bourne-Jones, Loretta Busby, The Captioning Studio, Carriageworks, John Chase, City of Sydney Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Advisory Panel, Danni Colgan, Deirdre Corley, DENHAM The Jeanmaker, Cheryl Elvey, Uncle Max Eulo, Eventeamwork, Ally Garrett, Derek Gilchrist, Golden Age Cinema and Bar, Matt Jones, Darryn King, Alicia Kish, The Leading Edge, Rachael McNally, Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council, The Nest, Nikon Australia, Offset Alpine, Performance Space, Sydney Opera House, Tim Pack, Kathryn Puie, Mary Stielow, James Thierrée, Tonic, Prudence Upton, Katinka Van Ingen, Vision Australia, WikiSpectacle, Jamie Williams.

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PhotoHightops Brass Band performing at POP, photo Jamie Wiliams.

Symphony in The Domain, photo Prudence Upton.

“ANOTHER STUNNING NIGHT FOR #SYMPHONYINTHEDOMAIN. ITS BEEN A PLEASURE HOSTING @SYDSYMPH AND @SYDNEY_FESTIVAL.”

ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, VIA TWITTER

Level 5, 10 Hickson Road The Rocks NSW 2000 Australia

T +61 2 8248 6500 F +61 2 8248 6599 E [email protected] sydneyfestival.org.au

Sydney Festival 2015 Annual Review

Documents

Transcript of Sydney Festival 2015 Annual Review