John Kotzas AM is leaving Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) after 30 years, 20 of them at the helm it was announced as a leadership transition . Kotzas, born in North Queensland, is the grandson of Greek migrants from Kastellorizo—his paternal grandfather arriving in 1900, followed closely by his maternal grandfather.

Kotzas had “five different jobs” in the Centre, starting in 1989 as an education officer, he rose to Artistic Director in 2004, and five years later as CEO and Artistic Director.

To get to the top of an institution like QPAC and in doing so also transform the space “you just have to be bloody determined” he says.

The Centre under Kotzas’s stewardship was intrinsic to the Brisbane’s cultural flowering post the Joh Bjelke-Petersen era in Queensland, the state’s longest-serving premier.

Joh’s government became synonymous with uncontrolled development, gerrymanders (to keep him in power), and graft, which ultimately led to the Fitzgerald Inquiry into deep-rooted political and police corruption.

The change in government made things better says Kotzas, adding, “what was interesting though, at the time, was that the conservative regime built the cultural centre, they established the infrastructure”.

“You must steer the organisation neutrally from a government point of view, but also give everyone the opportunity to make a comment. Every bit of art is political.”

From white shoe brigade to cultural hotspot

His work for QPAC from 1989 onwards, played a major role in shaking off Brisbane’s reputation as provincial –particularly by the snootier lot on the eastern seaboard.

“If you came from Brisbane, we were treated as a bit low. Melbourne was first, then Adelaide and Sydney, and Brisbane came third.

“Our preoccupation was to reverse that, to make people see what Brisbane can do, and we did that by going hard and focusing on programming and commercial success,” Kotzas says.

Under Kotzas, the Centre emerged a leading national presenter, producer, investor, arts educator, and public space.

“I don’t have a problem with being a populist; popular shows help pay for everything else we wanted to do in education, contemporary works, and First Nations programming.

“You must respect audiences,” says the arts boss.

Kotzas explains that it’s a “formula” he drove, and “inclusion was part of it.”

“‘What do the Italians like?’ we asked. We had to bring to Australia the big companies that people respect, so if you want to bring Italians in, let’s go and get La Scala, and we did.”

Bringing the world to Brisbane

Kotzas snared La Scala – one of the world’s premier opera and ballet institutions – as the first major international company to perform at QPAC.

La Scala hosts the venerated La Scala Theatre Chorus, Ballet, Orchestra, and the Filarmonica della Scala.

“They were asking, ‘Where’s Brisbane? We want to go to the Opera House, Sydney.'”

Kotzas enticed them by offering them an advance tour, “six to eight months” before they signed the contract.

“We said, ‘Go to the Opera House first, but then come and see us.’ They’d go to the Opera House and then see our facilities and say, ‘Oh my God, we’re coming.'”

The La Scala coup sparked the nationally recognised QPAC International Series, that presented, exclusive seasons by the Paris Opera Ballet, Ballet Nacional de Cuba, Hamburg Ballet, Hamburg Orchestra, Bolshoi Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Ballet Preljocaj, and The Royal Ballet.

“When you have 160 dancers travelling such long distances, you need to make them feel safe and valued,” he says.

Kotzas was awarded the prestigious Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia (Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy) in 2016 for his commitment to Italian arts, culture, and community.

Kotzas is as committed to cultural diversity in audiences, as he in diversity in performance. The nexus between performances and audiences is all “about the context” and “making sure that the act is good,” he says.

“You have to make sure that the audience is prepared for what they’re going to see, because when the two meet, the art happens in the middle, live in your time and in the space.”

Connection and belonging

Kotzas says that the two important things that the arts do is “give you a sense of connection and a sense of belonging”.

“Connection and belonging is what I’ve always felt growing up in an extended Greek family so if we can bring communities together where they feel like they’re together, that’s our job done right.

He’s made a life out of his “two passions, the performing arts and education”. That gives me a great sense of fulfilment,” Kotzas says.

Growing up Greek in North Queensland was a filament in his love of performance.

“I was born in 1955, and there were still a lot of labourers from Greece and Italy coming to North Queensland to cut sugarcane, so there’d be big community gatherings full of music and dance.

“I grew up with it, and it was part of me, so the whole notion of inclusion was embedded in me; that was my sense.”

Growing up next door to his grandparents meant “there was lots of music on all the time”.

At 14, Kotzas joined a theatre group where he remained until he was 27, “like an apprenticeship”.

It was also when the Australia Council for the Arts, now Creative Australia, was born. Under his “mentor,” he learnt that instead of “writing arts applications”, they should “put the energy into winning the audience over”.

“If the audience come and pay our wages, it’s better than getting a government grant,” says Kotzas.

The career watersheds – he kids and the whole family

As Artistic Director, Kotzas’s Out of the Box festival was his first major program. An arts festival dedicated to children up to eight years old the festival is now a leading event in Australia and has grown.

“It was the first time I was given major trust by the then director and I had the support of a great team.”

“The great thing about the performing arts is it’s about teamwork, about collaboration. You surround yourself with like-minded people, and if they’re smarter than you, all the better.”

Another program dear to him the Clancestry festival, an annual celebration of First Nations arts and culture.

Kotzas’s commitment to First Nations arts is deep and anchored in his view of his own Greek heritage, and its emphasis on extended family—values he likens to those of First Nations peoples.

“My four grandparents come from Kastellorizo, and they are my roots, my community, the extended family.

That connection to heritage, language, and culture, is what gave him the needed resilience and deep empathy for the struggles faced by our First Nations people since colonialism.

“If you’ve had that taken away from you, and you don’t know who your parents are or where they come from, how do you know where you’re going?”

He was inspired by “strong figures” also such as Doug Hall, Queensland Art Gallery director from 1987 to 2007.

“He did this amazing thing called Balance 1990, where several artists, non-curators, and First Nations people were invited and told to ‘Go and curate; find as much contemporary art as you can.’

“All these amazing artists came out who were doing political art, and you go, ‘Oh my God! Look at the potential of this country.'”

“Being creative is not just for artists; everybody can be creative –we in the arts don’t have a monopoly on creativity.

As far as John Kotzas’s intimidating career in the arts, he had no idea where it would all lead.

“Careers only make sense when you look backwards. When you look back, you go, ‘I did that, then I did that,’ and it makes sense.”

No doubt Kotzas will continue to be a major force in augmenting the nation’s cultural wealth.