Award-winning festival and opera director, Lindy Hume will become the next Artistic Director of Tasmania’s biennial statewide arts festival, Ten Days on the Island.

Chairman of Ten Days on the Island, Saul Eslake said that the organisation is thrilled to secure Ms Hume’s involvement. “Her extensive experience of major Australian international arts Festivals and her passion for and commitment to the arts in regional Australia offers a perfect fit with the Ten Days on the Island’s vision for a new approach to creating a festival program”.

“Lindy has an impressive record of festival leadership, having directed the Sydney and Perth Festivals, and is an internationally renowned opera director. Her interest in reframing how we think about the work of artists in regional Australia aligns well with our vision for the future of Ten Days on the Island,” Mr Eslake said.

“Lindy also offers an extraordinary connection to, and network within, contemporary international arts practice, having directed productions in the UK, Germany, Belgium, the United States and New Zealand.”

Ms Hume is about to complete her term as Artistic Director of Opera Queensland. She has previously been Artistic Director of the West Australian Opera, OzOpera, and the Victorian State Opera. She’s also served as a member of the board of Festival of Voices and Regional Arts NSW.

Hume’s 2010 Sydney Festival won five Helpmann Awards including Best Major Event for Festival First Night and she was acknowledged with Helpmann and Green Room awards in 2002 for best director for Richard Mill’s Batavia.

Ms Hume said she is excited about the possibilities of working in Tasmania with Ten Days on the Island.

“I look forward enormously to joining the team at Ten Days on the Island in this exciting phase as the festival re-imagines its future from our new regional home. The creative life of Regional Australia and the development of new work are passions of mine, and vital themes in our national cultural discourse,” Ms Hume said.

“It’s exciting to anticipate the Tasmanian arts community’s response to this new direction. The concept of developing and curating local work as the heart and core of the festival, with international programming selected to complement, resonate with, and amplify the impact of locally made work, is a radical and welcome rethink of most current festival models.

“I applaud the Board’s foresight in moving the festival office to Burnie, a move which will reinforce conversations around the importance of building on the festival’s already strong regional ethos and heart,” she said.

She commences in January 2018 and will be on a part time basis for two Festivals in 2019 and 2021.