What inspired you to start Van Diemen’s Band? (And how did you come up with the fantastic name?)

After two amazing years of Hobart Baroque, and the subsequent departure of that festival, I found it increasingly frustrating that I had absolutely no opportunity to perform in my home state, despite an obvious enthusiasm for period performance. Hobart Baroque had proved that there was a real appetite for baroque music here, but there seemed to be a big gap in the market. So one day I was driving along Sandy Bay Road and suddenly the name ‘Van Diemen’s Band’ popped into my head, like some kind of epiphany, and I thought to myself, ‘It’s a sign! I have to do this!’

Van Diemen’s Band Artistic Director Julia Fredersdorff

There are a number of different period instrument ensembles operating in Australia now. How do you see Van Diemen’s band as fitting in to the overall landscape?

Well, apart from nourishing Tasmania with this wonderful and varied style of music, I feel that the exotic location and the frontier-like landscape are the perfect backdrop for an orchestra such as this. I am taking inspiration from this incredibly...