An Intuitive Appointment: Emma van Lierop celebrates 10 years with UKARIA
BY RACHEL BRUERVILLE & TAHLIA LAMEY
Emma van Lierop, our Business Manager & Artist Liaison, is uniquely placed to reflect on the evolution of UKARIA over her 10 years with us.
It was one of Emma’s friends who originally held the Executive Assistant role at UKARIA – supporting our founder, Ulrike Klein AO (which is still a key part of Emma’s role today).
Emma: My friend had to relocate interstate, and she told me that I just had to go in and meet Ulrike to talk about taking over the job – being part of a supportive team of women working on this amazing project to build the cultural centre. At that stage [March 2015], the venue was still under construction, and concerts were being held at the Mt Barker Waldorf school.
Present at Emma’s job interview were Ulrike, our CEO Alison Beare, and Ulrike’s son Erin Klein (co-founder of Ngeringa wines – with vineyards on the property next door to UKARIA).
Emma: Going into the interview, I was definitely nervous, but I remember that everyone was so friendly. I have a memory that on my CV, I had written something like, ‘as a quality, I’m intuitive’, and in the interview, Ulrike had circled it and asked, ‘What do you mean by that?’
I remember explaining, ‘I’m quite good at reading people – for example, when you’ve worked with someone for a long time, you can sort of pre-empt how they’re going to react, and you can understand their needs without them having to ask.’
I think I share that quality with Ulrike, and that piqued an interest for her.
The interview went well, and Emma was employed by UKARIA part-time – initially working three days per week out of a small office on East Terrace. This was quite an adjustment compared to her previous role in construction.
Emma: Before I came to UKARIA, I was working on a site down at Port Adelaide with 150 staff, so it was very different to when it was just Alison and myself in the office! It did take a little while to adjust to that – it felt small, and it felt quiet. When I first started, I had no idea how it was going to grow from just ten concerts per year to where we are now.
A special part of the job for Emma has been her introduction to music she would have never previously listened to, and artists she would have never specifically sought out to see live.
Emma: I’m not a musician, and I’d never listened to any classical music before – it just wasn’t my world. So UKARIA has really opened up my ears to different things.
Although I don’t have the musical background that a lot of our staff have, I am very particular about what I like, even when I can’t necessarily describe why that might be. I can’t describe it other than you just feel the music. I was never much of a concert goer, and I wouldn’t go out to live music because I don’t like crowds, but there is just something about experiencing live music at UKARIA – I’ve had tears in concerts before.
I remember hearing Arvo Pärt’s Spiegel im Spiegel performed by Harry Bennetts [violin] and Marshall McGuire [harp] at the opening concert, and I just went, ‘Wow. That is such a beautiful piece.’ I had also never heard the name Kate Miller-Heidke before she came to UKARIA the first time, and now I absolutely love her!
For Emma, thinking ahead to the next ten years and beyond brings up many questions.
Emma: In terms of the next ten years and what they may bring, I don’t think we could grow in the simple fact of presenting more concerts, because we’re pretty well hitting every weekend – but perhaps another genre of music? Ulrike thought at the beginning that UKARIA would be for classical chamber music only, but now we do contemporary, jazz, and we’ve got world music coming up soon, so I don’t know what could be next – country music?!
But it’s not only about the concerts we present – there have been weddings, conferences, retreats, and the use of Twin Peaks for accommodation and residencies. The Twin Peaks property was owned by someone else when I first started, and then when it was first purchased by Ulrike, it was my job to rent it out. It was only when the rental fell through that we realised it would be such a great opportunity for artists – and now, so many artists have been inspired there to create new music and new stories.
I think the fact that we’re such a unique venue has really contributed to the growth of the program – plus we have so many supportive patrons that have been there from the very beginning. It’s also wonderful to see that web expand: people talk about UKARIA, people bring their friends, and they love it so much that they bring their friends… word gets out organically.
I think there are always new and exciting opportunities on the horizon, with new relationships being made worldwide… it will be very interesting to see what comes next!
Pictured above L–R: Alison Beare (CEO) and Ulrike Klein AO (Founder) with Emma van Lierop (Business Manager & Artist Liaison). Photo: Randy Larcombe