Curtains for arts federation

Regional Australia’s richest opera award, the Dame Joan Sutherland Vocal Competition Award (DJSA), has taken its final breath as the Noosa Federation of Arts (NFA) closes its doors.
For nearly three decades, the NFA has hosted the finals of the prestigious national opera award held in Noosa.
The federation also aimed to promote the arts within the local community and elevate Noosa as a cultural destination, but will this month stop operations for good.
NFA founding chairman Meg Lawrence OAM said it was with deep regret the federation had to shut down due to a continuing lack of funding and a lack of interest by a younger generation.
“As a champion of the arts, we really were unique in Australia,” Meg said.
“We were a museum, art gallery, film club, dance organisation, music, theatre and more, all rolled into one. Anthony was instrumental in our being able to present, here in Noosa, the entire Queensland Philharmonic orchestra, conducted by Nicholas Braithwaite, and featuring Xong Dong Kong, the winner of the 5th Sydney International Piano Competition.”
Noosa high schools were enriched by the annual Year 12 graduate incentives, each receiving an award valued at $300; the $600 Rick Farbach jazz scholarship (awarded to an Immanuel College student for the past 14 years); and the Schools’ Instrument Bank, which loaned three cellos, a violin and the Hofmann pearl flute for talented school children to use.
Meg said she would like to express her heartfelt thanks to the Coast community because without their moral and financial support over the years NFA wouldn’t have existed.
“The most important people in the world are an audience, because without them there is no point in staging a performance,” she said.