BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
A memory.
I am 14 years old, and have entered into the local eisteddfod. I’ve been learning the piece for months — but when I meet with my accompanist the day before the event, things start to fall apart. Still, I get up there, and give it my best shot.
As things have it, my best shot feels like the absolute worst. I can’t gauge the rhythm of the piano against my melody. I lose confidence. I stop to ask that dreaded question: Can I start again?
I do start again. It isn’t much better the second time around, yet I still play my piece. I make it to the very end.
Oddly, nobody laughs at me. When I return to my seat afterwards, my friends and teacher still show me support, despite the fact that I’m flushed red with embarrassment. I don’t feel alone. And — to my absolute surprise — I am awarded second prize in my woodwind category.
This was a valuable experience for me. It taught me that an adjudicator’s role is to judge, but also to encourage. It taught me that nobody wants you to fail, and that you’re not alone if you do. It taught me to be better prepared! And it taught me that musicianship comes from the expression of what we love — our passion for music (even when our timing needs a bit of work).
I believe it’s essential for all young musicians to have such experiences. They must achieve both failure and success, experience mistakes and pride, and learn to feel and manage all those wonderful emotions that come along for the ride.
COVID has greatly compromised the ability for young people to put themselves out there and perform for a live audience. Concert cancellations over the past couple of years have meant they haven’t had the chance pursue those vital live performance opportunities that help shape their lives and future careers in music.
But things are starting to change. And in 2022, as the world is reopening, the Sydney Eisteddfod is one of the stand-out opportunities for burgeoning artists of many disciplines to have their moment on stage. It’s time for them to stand in the spotlight again, to fail and succeed, at long last.
Annette Brown — who performed in the Sydney Eisteddfod when she was 16 — has taken on the unusually challenging role of managing an arts organisation during a pandemic. Stepping into the position of general manager, Annette (pictured below) is working to make the Sydney Eisteddfod accessible to all.
Throughout 2022, the Sydney Eisteddfod Festival opens the door to stages for dance, opera, choirs, instrumental performances, and other forms of performance experience (with prizes, of course).
In this interview, we chat about how the eisteddfod can help its participants “dream, perform, achieve, inspire” — and how important those qualities are today.
Annette, this year is exciting for many reasons – one of which is that you have taken on the new role of GM. How would you describe this experience of entering an arts leadership role in the middle of the pandemic?
Exciting is definitely the right word! I have spent the past two years living and breathing arts management during COVID, and I am delighted to be leading the Sydney Eisteddfod team as we get back on stage and in person safely for 2022. I am fortunate to have a brilliant team of people who share my vision for Sydney Eisteddfod that have been working incredibly hard to make sure that the festival is a success!
The response so far has been overwhelming: we have had thousands of entries pouring in. The arts community is ready to be performing again, and I am incredibly excited to be helping them do just that with Sydney Eisteddfod — staying safe and performing live.
On a personal level, I admire the way Sydney Eisteddfod is cutting through these challenges and returning live performance opportunities to Australian artists. It sounds like so many artists are eager to return with as much enthusiasm as before.
It’s no secret that the arts have been suffering during COVID. Cancelled performances, rehearsals, and recitals have made it incredibly hard for people learning and working in creative industries to pursue their craft. Despite this, the passion and love for performance has remained.
Throughout this process, we have had to be very flexible, extending entry deadlines, holding heats online, and adapting to new health advice and government guidelines. Rebuilding and relaunching a program like Sydney Eisteddfod is a demanding but also incredibly rewarding process.
We have been taking the opportunity to ask ourselves, ‘What could we be doing better?’, to make the 2022 festival not just a return to normal, but part of a new and exciting post-COVID chapter in the arts.
Still, this is such a vulnerable time for many artists. What other directions are you taking – and I mean you specifically in your new role, as well as the direction of the Sydney Eisteddfod – to make this experience inclusive, accessible, and safe?
One of our main focuses for the festival this year has been accessibility. Sydney Eisteddfod provides opportunities to people all over Australia, but often those who live interstate and out of Sydney are underrepresented in our events. In order to assist these performers, we have partnered with Ibis Budget hotels offering discounted accommodation to participants and their families who travel to the festival.
We have also begun a very exciting new partnership with the Western Sydney Philharmonic, a new initiative in Western Sydney providing performance opportunities to young people out west.
Running a festival in the time of COVID is no small matter, and we take the safety of our performers, audience members, and volunteers very seriously. From distributing Sydney Eisteddfod masks to following government and venue policies, we have been reacting and responding.
These are just a few of the ways we are working overtime behind the scenes to make sure the festival is safe, whilst also providing the same incredible stage for the next generation to get back to doing what they love.
I’m interested in the way you frame the Sydney Eisteddfod as a ‘festival’ with more than 350 events; though, participating in the events comes with scholarship opportunities, and prizes to the combined value of $400,000. How do you feel the ‘festival’ atmosphere contributes to a celebration of live performance in addition to – or even instead of – a pure ‘competition’ to participants?
One of the most important things about Sydney Eisteddfod is what it is not: an intimidating, silent, and empty room where terrified students perform the same etude or choreography for the sake of winning a prize. Instead, it is a celebration of performance, a showcase of passion and dedication, and a festival of creativity and excellence.
In my experience, performance without an audience isn’t really performance. We can’t wait to hear the wonderful sound of applause after a performance, and we know that our entrants can’t either! A prize or scholarship is just an added bonus.
There are many reasons to take part in an eisteddfod opportunity, and it may appeal to those who are looking to explore their skills, and gain professional experience in live performance. So when you think about what this eisteddfod can bring to its participants, what do you see as the strongest reason to enter?
My first experience with Sydney Eisteddfod was actually as an entrant. At 16 years old, I was given the opportunity to have my moment on the stage, to dream and to achieve. It is an experience that I have kept with me throughout my career. Despite moving house several times, to this day the adjudicators’ notes from that performance are a treasured possession of mine, which speaks to the impact that an event like Sydney Eisteddfod can have on a young person, regardless of their career path.
At the end of the day, the eisteddfod offers different things to people at different stages of their performance journey. The thrill and rush of your first-ever performance in front of a crowd, the resilience that comes with your first-ever stuff-up on stage, the satisfaction of winning a prestigious competition after months of work; wherever you are, and whatever step of the path you are on, Sydney Eisteddfod has something to offer you.
Yes — there are so many ways it can impact a young person. One of my own warm memories of an eisteddfod was rehearsing and performing with one of my best friends, who played piano accompaniment on stage with me. What advice would you give to those looking to find joy in their eisteddfod experiences too, from the preparation to performance?
My favourite events at the eisteddfod have always been collaborative. The joy of a dance group nailing a routine as a team, the connection of an opera singer leading a symphony orchestra; regardless of discipline, collaboration is at the heart of what it means to perform. Having worked with ensembles throughout my career, your experience is one I am very familiar with.
In terms of advice, I would say this: Sydney Eisteddfod is, at its core, an opportunity. It’s up to you to make the most of it. Prepare, practice, and refine so that when you step onto that stage, you do so knowing that you have given it your all. To me, doing that is succeeding regardless of results.
So how can family and friends support eisteddfod entrants?
There are so many ways that friends and supporters of the arts can help us to do what we do! We wouldn’t be able to hold the festival without both our volunteer family and our generous donors. Apart from those avenues, the best thing that family and friends can do is spread the word, attend concerts, and help get the Australian arts community back on track for 2022 safely.
Any final words ahead of the festival?
Come along and watch an event and see what the festival is all about. Share the joy of performance, celebrate everything we all love about the arts, and become a part of the Sydney Eisteddfod family!
I hope to see you at the festival!
Visit the Sydney Eisteddfod website for full details about the festival and its many events throughout 2022, or to learn about volunteering with the festival.
Images of Sydney Eisteddfod supplied.
