In the late 1980s, writer, philanthropist and Barragga Bay resident Neilma Gantner gathered friends and neighbours in her library to talk about an idea – how to bring high quality music, performed in the open air, to the local, coastal community of Bermagui.
From this idea grew a vision that has been realised over three decades through the generosity and collaboration of volunteers, donors, audiences and artists. The natural bush site was conceived by architect Hans Hallen, and transformed in 2014 with the expertise and vision of architects Phillip Cox and Clinton Murray.
Since the very first concert on the natural amphitheatre in April 1991, Four Winds has captured the hearts and minds of composers, musicians and audiences near and far. In its first year the festival attracted 200 enthusiastic music lovers to experience music in nature. The festival and year-round program now attracts thousands of people to Barragga Bay on the pristine Sapphire Coast of NSW each year
Saturday, April 8th, 2023
11:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Sound Shell, Four Winds festival site
Bermagui, NSW (Djiringanj/Yuin)
David Yipininy Wilfred – Yidaki
Daniel Wilfred – Voice and Bilma
Sunny Kim – Vocals and Electronics
Peter Knight – Trumpet and Electronics
Aviva Endean – Clarinet and Electronics
Hand to Earth is a call to open ears: eluding genre, traversing continents and fusing the ancient and contemporary. At its heart are yolŋu manikay (song cycles), a 40,000+ year-old oral tradition from south east Arnhem land, northern Australia. These songs exist to cross vast time and space, to continuously make the continuous – known as raki, the spirit that pulls all together, all performers all listeners.
Hand to Earth was developed during an Australia Art Orchestra residency in the remote highlands of Tasmania. Through the residency, Yolŋu songman, Daniel Yipininy Wilfred, and Korean vocalist, Sunny Kim, formed an effortless rapport that spans continents and cultures and expresses a deeply human commonality. In Hand to Earth their vocal approaches are melded into the atmospheres created by trumpeter/composer Peter Knight, David Yipininy Wilfred on yidaki and Aviva Endean on clarinets, woven into minimalist soundscapes reminiscent of Brian Eno and Jon Hassell.
“Daniel Wilfred shares one of the oldest song traditions in the world with us, it’s an extraordinary gift. He has one of those unforgettable voices that feels like it emanates from the earth and changes your body. He has taught us all to listen in new ways.”
PETER KNIGHT
“In our performances, you’re going to experience friendship. And you’ll hear us share ancient ideas and stories, but told in a way that’s quite contemporary.”
SUNNY KIM