Andrea Lam performed at the launch of Four Winds’ 2026 program. Photo: Marion Williams.
Four Winds’ 2026 program is bold and eclectic, with a mix of contemporary and classical performances.
Four Winds executive director Leigh Small unveiled the jam-packed program at Windsong Pavilion, south of Bermagui, on 17 December.
Four Winds has already curated more than 20 events. Half are classical music, half are contemporary, several defy genre.
Following renowned pianist Andrea Lam’s series of concerts this Easter, classical guitarists Slava and Leonard Grigoryan will collaborate with longstanding friends to present five concerts over three days at Easter in 2026. Themes include jazz, tango nuevo, Bach and music from their own catalogue.
“It is almost impossible to get all these musicians together in the same place at the same time, so it will be impossible to recreate again,” the Grigoryan Brothers said.
Barragga Yangga, meaning Many Songs, is the vision of Four Winds First Nations creative director Cheryl Overton (nee Davison). Three years in the making, intergenerational Yuin choir Djinama Yilaga worked with local singer-songwriter Heath Cullen, Butchulla songman Fred Leone, Affinity Quartet and many more to produce the epic work.
“The songs are from our own experiences, our culture and Country,” Ms Overton said. “It will definitely bring tears and laughter.”
The Spring Youth Music Festival is another huge collaboration. Four Winds has commissioned Geoffrey Badger and Nick Keeling to write two very different pieces that will be performed by the Four Winds Community Orchestra, Luminescence Chamber Singers, Acacia Quartet and a massed community choir.
The Grigoryan Brothers. Photo: Supplied.
Another highlight is Andrea Lam Will Surprise, a program the ARIA winner will present over the King’s Birthday weekend. For now, the program and her collaborators are being kept under wraps.
The Necks will kick off the season in February. They are one of several artists returning to Four Winds after their sold-out performance earlier this year.
“Back at the very beginning when they were thinking about the vision for Four Winds, it was for artists like The Necks with their meditative and mesmerising sound,” Ms Small said.
Other contemporary acts are Melbourne’s art-rock super-group Bleak Squad, Sydney’s Queen Porter Stomp which blends jazz, Australian folk and Jamaican ska, and the very popular Dog Trumpet, led by Mental As Anything’s Reg Mombassa and Peter O’Doherty.
Fred Leone will team up with Hilltop Hoods drummer Leigh Roy Ryan for a live recorded performance with locals David Hewitt, Sam Martin, Benji and Heath Cullen, plus backing bands.
Another First Nations powerhouse who will be performing at Four Winds is Radical Son, renowned for his magnetic performances and spellbinding vocals.
Renowned pianist Andrea Lam. Photo: Lisa Marie Mazzucco.
The classical offerings start with violinist Doretta Balkizas and pianist Brieley Cutting with a stunning program of French and German classics that will take the audience into a world of glowing sound and radiant melodies.
They will be followed by the Gryphon Baryton Trio who play the baryton, viola and cello. “They perform Haydn how it should be heard, on the original instruments,” Ms Small said.
Also among the celebrated classical artists are chamber ensemble The Streeton Trio. Their concert will shine a light on four extraordinary female composers who defied convention and left a lasting mark on the classical world.
A quite different classical offering is The Iliad Out Loud. Written and performed by actor William Zappa, he first performed a version of it at Four Winds in 2021.
He will be accompanied by musicians Hamed Sadeghi and Sohrab Kolahdooz. The one-day, six-hour version of The Iliad Out Loud includes a Turkish lunch and Greek dinner.
Four Winds’ move from focusing on an Easter concert to year-round programming has been welcomed by locals and visitors.
“We have increased our audience by 40 per cent over the last year and a third of our performances are filled with people who have never previously been here,” Ms Small said. “This space has been fully inhabited throughout the year and most performances are sold out.”
Local artists use the venue to record their work and Four Winds also provides artist residencies, with Djinama Yilaga being its artists in residence for 2026.
The Four Winds website has a booklet with the full program.
