Episode 29: Claire Edwardes OAM - Percussion virtuoso and artistic director of Ensemble Offspring on leading a thriving arts organisation

Decoding Cultural Leadership

In this episode, Sam speaks with Claire Edwardes OAM, percussionist and artistic director of Ensemble Offspring, about:

• Claire's journey with Ensemble Offspring from its student beginnings to becoming a leading new music organisation
• The challenges and rewards of running a small arts organisation, including managing staff and juggling multiple projects
• Ensemble Offspring's focus on championing new music, female composers, and First Nations artists
• The difficulties of marketing and touring new music compared to traditional classical repertoire
• Claire's role in advocating for gender equity in classical music programming through initiatives like Keychange
• Her thoughts on the potential for innovation in orchestras post-COVID and why change has been limited
• The importance of long-term, meaningful collaborations with First Nations artists rather than tokenistic programming
• Balancing artistic goals with the practical realities of funding and audience development
• Claire's approach to cultural leadership and using music as a vehicle for social change

Key quotes:

"I love my role as an artistic director...because it gives me that flexibility and freedom in my life."

"If you don't have that consciousness [about diversity], then nothing will ever change."

"It's not flash in the pan programming...It's like you get to know [artists] over a period of years. You work with them...and you commit to that, like, for a lifetime."

"We can keep pushing the envelope a bit without being kind of, you know, yucky about it, but just doing things that make people think about why and what and also just have fun."

Links

Ensemble Offspring

Claire Edwardes

Keychange

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Presenter and research: Sam Cairnduff

Creative Director: Niloofar Pashmforoosh

Presented in association with Limelight

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