ANATOMY OF AN ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Just how does someone become an Artistic Director, and only the fifth person to hold that title in the history of the ABCI?

Around Melbourne in the late 1980s, you might have heard a three-year-old Nicholas Dinopoulos singing enthusiastically in the back of the family Kingswood. A decade later it was clear that music would become a vocation. By the age of 12, the future ABCI artistic director was already studying and transcribing different musical styles and playing multiple instruments. The die was cast.

Playing viola seemed a likely career path, but singing and conducting would ultimately take hold. With a vacancy on the music staff ahead of the 2007 Summer Music School, Nick joined the teaching cohort of the ABCI.

On being a choir director he says, ‘My main prerogative is to be unfailingly positive and always seek to encourage. I try to cultivate a sense of curiosity about the music. I think when students take responsibility for their own work, they learn more effectively.’

His commitment to choirs is tied to an understanding of the benefits of studying music. ‘Science tells us that singing releases endorphins. Choir teaches children to synthesise complex information and cultivates a strong sense of independence, self-discipline, and achievement.’

Despite bravura performances and a charismatic stage presence, Nick confesses to being quite shy. Nevertheless, he enjoys the opportunity to connect with audiences and the unique energy that comes with each concert. Career highlights include performing as a soloist with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia, Victorian Opera, and Sydney's Pinchgut Opera.

His enduring love of Bach contributed to another memorable moment during the choir's 2018 European tour. ‘I directed the choir in a performance of J.S. Bach's immortal Jesu, meine Freude in the Leipzig church where Bach is buried. It certainly had the heart racing!’

In being interviewed for this article, Nick expressed pride in overseeing the launch of the Early Learners’ Program in the 80th anniversary year. ‘These classes, available to boys and girls, have made the choir's training program accessible to the youngest musicians in our long and distinguished existence.’

More broadly, Nick Dinopoulos believes in music as a means of building community. The ability of music, and choral music in particular, to connect and transport, has been a boon in a year marked by social isolation. He reflects, ‘music definitely makes us more receptive to the world in which we live.’

Author: Belinda Scerri