Co-Directors

Lindy Hume

Lindy Hume PhD AM is an award-winning director whose accomplishments include terms as Festival Director of Sydney Festival (2010-2012) and Perth International Arts Festival (2004-2007). Lindy has been artistic director of several of Australasia’s major performing arts institutions including West Australian Opera, Victoria State Opera, OzOpera, Opera Queensland, Four Winds Festival (2021-22) and most recently Tasmania’s international arts festival, Ten Days on the Island (2019-2023) and Creative Director for Opera Australia’s Sydney Summer Season 2024.

She has created over 50 major productions around Australia, and internationally, she has directed productions for major companies including Deutsche Staatsoper in Berlin, Leipzig Opera and Opernhaus Halle (Germany), Opera Theatre St Gallen (Switzerland), Musiektheater Transparant (Belgium), the Swedish Royal Opera House (2017), Aldeburgh Festival (UK) and New Zealand Opera; and in the USA, for Houston Grand Opera, Seattle Opera and San Diego Opera. Recent productions include Marriage of Figaro for New Zealand Opera and Madama Butterfly at Welsh National Opera and (2021) and Winter Journey for Musica Viva around Australia and the Barbican, London.

In 2021 she received her PhD from QUT following the award in 2007 of the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters at University of Western Australia in recognition of her contribution to the cultural life of Western Australia. Her deep interest in creative practice outside metropolitan centres informed her Currency House Platform Paper (2017) Restless Giant: Changing Cultural Values in Regional Australia and her recent PhD thesis A Bigger Picture: Toward a Landscape Oriented Creative Practice. Hume is recognised as one of Australia’s leading thinkers and writers on creative life in regional Australia.
Since 2005 Hume has chosen to live in regional Australia, and now travels between Tathra on the Far South Coast of NSW and Port Sorell in the north of Tasmania.

Andrew Gray

Andrew has decades of experience in the creative and cultural industries, including as the Executive Director for South East Arts, one of the 15 regional arts development organisations in NSW. He has worked in education and public programs for institutions such as the National Film and Sound Archive, Museum of Australian Democracy and the Australian War Memorial. Andrew also works as a creative industries advisor for NSW Business Connect providing advice and assistance to clients across a wide variety of creative practices.

Andrew has considerable experience as a creative producer and director in theatre, music and visual arts and has worked with a diverse range of companies including Erth Visual and Physical, Big hArt, Canberra Theatre Centre, Canberra Youth Theatre and Company Skylark. He has toured theatre and music performances throughout the south east region of NSW, building partnerships with local venues and touring organisations. Andrew has a long term commitment to regional arts having helped to establish the Candelo Arts Society in the mid-1980s, directing youth theatre in the Bega area and through numerous creative projects with South East Arts.

Board of Directors

Leland Kean – Chair

Leland is the Artistic Development Manager for Merrigong Theatre Company. He has over twenty years professional experience as a Director, Producer, Designer, Dramaturg, Curator and Arts Manager. Prior to joining Merrigong in 2015 Leland was the Artistic Director of the Tamarama Rock Surfers Theatre Company. During his decade-long tenure with the Rock Surfers, he programmed and produced over 100 new Australian works and established both the Old Fitzroy and Bondi Pavilion Theatres. Since graduating from the NIDA director’s course in 1997 his career has been committed to the development and production of new Australian work and artists. He has directed premieres and productions of the work of many of Australia’s most prominent writers.

Leanne Barnes

Leanne Barnes PSM OAM, was the General Manager of Bega Valley Shire Council until July 2021 a position she held for the past eight years, leading the Council’s work with community and the region in interagency prevention, planning, response and recovery. Leanne has worked in local government and state government agencies since 1978, including with the Canberra Regional Joint Organisation where she is currently supporting work on the development of a South East Resilience Blueprint. Leanne also supports LGNSW in rolling out their induction and governance programs for Councils and is working on the Regional Circularity Co-operative’s National Circularity Centre to be constructed in Bega NSW.

She has held positions on a number of Boards, where her focus has been on corporate governance, forward planning and culture. A previous National team player and Board member with Water Polo Australia (WPA) , Leanne also has a key role working with their elite programs having lead the successful inclusion of the women’s program into the Olympic Games culminating in the 2000 Olympic Gold.

Warwick Anderson

Warwick has had a wide range of occupations, owning and running several businesses including one specialising in theatre and opera design. He received a Churchill Fellowship in 1997 to work alongside some of the best stage designers benefitting from experiences with the major companies in the United Kingdom and the United States. He brings a broad set of practical and commercial skills in communication and relationship building.

His qualifications include a Bachelor of Science (Marine Biology/Zoology), a Diploma of Fine Art and he is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Following his time owning and running Kingfisher Oysters (2012 to 2021) he is now a non executive director of Australia’s Oyster Coast and also sits on the board of Oysters Australia and on the NSW Aquaculture Research Advisory Committee overseeing research and development in the oyster industry.