Last night, our Artists, Host Families, and Training Ground team arrived at Sir Michael Hill’s Residence for a lovely welcome reception.

With opulent art on display all around, artistic souls and musical spirits felt at home together in celebration of all the festival goodness still to come.

Mixing and mingling as the excitement grew, beautiful platters of salmon and salads went down a treat with our hungry musicians!

A wonderful introduction by Festival Director, Anne Rodda, gave way to Sir Michael Hill’s talk on goal setting.

How lucky we all were to draw inspiration from his speech! Real emotion and passion came through as Sir Michael touched on the importance of attitude. Constructing a 30-year plan beyond our wildest dreams encourages us to strive further and puts us ahead of the pack. Practising Transcendental Meditation twice a day for 20 minutes allows us to focus on the bigger picture by setting aside our mind’s endless chatter. The courage to live as our authentic selves is where our true purpose begins to shine through.

Food for thought and a feast for the soul, last night gave just a taste of the delights on offer at the Whakatipu Music Festival 4-7 June. Make sure you’ve got your festival pass so you don’t miss a thing. Grab your tickets here.