Scottish classical accordionist James Crabb’s first major event as Four Winds artistic director brought an exploration of Latin rhythm and musicianship to Bermagui over the Easter weekend.
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The Four Winds Latin Spirit festival brought together the passionate essence of tango and flamenco with spontaneous, improvised music making.
“It was an amazing journey through the genres,” Four Winds executive director David Francis said this week.
“It is so exciting for our audience to hear music from different countries, traditions and cultures, and the quality of the music was outstanding.
“James [Crabb] loves to collaborate so we will see much more of this in the future.”
One of the highlights was a performance by Rasa Duende, bringing together an improvised meeting of Hindustani and Spanish cultures.
Featuring tabla player Bobby Singh, sarod player Adrian McNeil and flamenco guitarist Damian Wright, the performance saw a standing ovation.
”It was one of those performances performances that looked unusual on paper, but because they use improvisation it was like they were having a conversation with each other,” Mr Francis said.
“A creative conversation was at the heart of the performance, it showed a precision of rhythm and was just breathtaking.”
The festival brought many first-time visitors to the venue over the weekend, and one of the many new faces was Argentinian Ambassador Dr Hugo Javier, who was visiting the Far South Coast for the very first time.
“We always get people from Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne, but this time we’ve reached out to people who can make a day trip,” Mr Francis said.
The festival saw events held in Bermagui for the first time, with a Latin Fiesta inside the Bermagui Community Centre bringing the event to a vibrant close on Sunday night.
“It was great to connect to the town in that way,” Mr Francis said.
With next year’s biennial Four Winds classical music festival approaching, Mr Francis said Easter 2019 will see the team explore new avenues.
“In 2019 we will do something a little different and explore some different music,” he said.
“We are certainly going to continue with a festival each year.”