An interview with Janine Collins

As the inaugural Music in the Regions Executive Director, Janine Collins has a clear vision and big plans for bringing classical music to regional New South Wales audiences hungry for cultural experiences.

Q: You’ve certainly been busy since you were appointed executive director of Music in the Regions (MitR). As you talk to potential partners, audiences and participants, what are you hearing about the prospect for greater cultural development across the state? There must be a real hunger for the sort of projects you have in mind.

A: While the pandemic has limited our chance to experience arts, there hasn’t been a shortage of ideas floating around on how we can! It’s been both stimulating and fun to learn about the amount of individual, community and council led cultural activities in regional areas. While these have been on hold for a while, communities are keen to ramp up again making it an ideal time to collaborate. Other impacts of the pandemic have been population growth in regional areas and a rise in regional tourism. This provides regional arts with new audiences seeking fresh experiences. I’ve no doubt that the cultural experiences MitR is developing with partners will begin a connection of new audiences to quality classical music in a unique way.

Q: One of your guiding principles is about building community engagement and creating experiences. How do you plan to leave a lasting legacy around NSW? Obviously there will be no shortage of quality performances, but a fly-in, fly-out operation doesn’t appear to be in your sights.

A: Not at all! We plan to support musicians to build and strengthen relationships with local communities over time. We’ll do this in two ways.

Firstly, through meaningful discussion with regional communities, arts development officers, conservatoriums, Councils and community leaders, we’ll get to know what the local issues and the challenges are in the cultural area and how we can contribute to enhancing regional life. It may be through health, environmental or educational projects – there are a myriad of ways we can work together. I like to approach community engagement with an open mind and blank page. We’ll be guided by people from the region and the creative ideas of musicians.

Secondly, we will facilitate the regular return of musicians so we can continue to strengthen the relationship between musicians and the community. This way we can build on new initiatives, continue conversations and develop a deeper understanding of audience interests.

Q: Plans are still taking shape but can you give us an idea of what sort of performances and venues to expect? And what sort of talent have you encountered so far outside the city walls?

A: We plan to have tours made up of Ensembles and Chamber Orchestras with a mix of regional and metropolitan, and emerging and established, artists. The wonderful thing about a start-up is that it’s all about discovery – and that’s the path we’re on now. That discovery has led us to professional concert pianists, a harp player, harpsichord player and more in regional areas. Likewise, the types of venues available outside larger regional centres include town halls, heritage churches, theatres, cinemas – even woolsheds and railway platforms. People have created some wonderful venues and are so generous in terms of sharing the possibilities. We’ll be facilitating unique, memorable performances. People may choose to attend one performance or follow us around the region – as each performance will be a new experience.

Q: Communities can expect repeated visits under the Music in the Regions umbrella. How else can you hope to strengthen relationships among performers and audiences? 

A: We are having conversations with community leaders in every region to learn more about what is of concern to their region and how we can use classical music to support them. For some areas, it is the trauma of the recent fire bushfires; in others the high level of youth suicide or the needs of an ageing population. We will be working closely with conservatoriums and schools, but there is also scope to create experiences and relationships in other new and meaningful ways. The shape this takes will be driven by advice we get from community and cultural leaders. We are here to facilitate it.

Q: Assuming it all goes to plan, is this the sort of model that could work interstate as well as in NSW? No one else is really working in this space around Australia, or perhaps even around the world.

A: There are some organisations playing a really important role in touring the arts such as Musica Viva, Arts on Tour and Performing Lines. However, everyone has limited budgets. Our role is to extend the reach of current activities even further – and to take classical music to those areas that are “riskier” to visit in terms of the cost to perform and box office income. Assuming all goes to plan, we will have embedded music in the regions and in the process created new audiences, discovered new venues and developed regional musicians. This will then reduce the financial risk of touring and establish new touring circuits. I can’t see any barriers to using this model across different artforms, sectors, states and countries. 

Q: One of your great strengths in recent years has been advising cultural organisations of all stripes how to diversify their income and build revenue. While Music in the Regions is a State Government initiative, what role can private enterprise play in the growth of regional music opportunities? 

A: I’ve always been a strong advocate for creating a revenue mix as we can’t rely on government funding to support all of our cultural ambitions. Already, the private sector is playing a role by generously sharing their information on venues and artists. I’ve met groups of people who are passionate about growing arts in their region and support projects philanthropically. I’m sure corporate Australia also understands that their support of community-based projects creates a win-win for everyone. By establishing new touring circuits and audiences, the private sector will be contributing to growth by supporting the employment of artists through ticket sale revenue. There will also be the flow on economic effect through increased tourism.

Q: How will you define the long-term success of Music in the Regions?

A: Our vision is that classical music is embedded in regions around New South Wales giving every person the opportunity to experience it. Success will be mean that touring circuits are in place with quality classical music programs regularly on offer, that classical musicians living in the regions are performing to their audiences, that emerging classical musicians have professional development, tickets are selling out, the health of community is being enhanced through their involvement with classical music and cultural tourism is thriving as others seek out the memorable experiences on offer.