By Nathanael Cooper
The company behind the embattled Brisbane Baroque festival has been placed into voluntary liquidation bringing to an end a saga that has captivated the Australian arts landscape for months.
The festival first came under scrutiny when a parallel festival, Sydney Sings, was mysteriously cancelled and the director of the companies that run the festival, Jarrod Carland, was admitted to a psychiatric ward for care.
It then became apparent that a number of creditors were still owed money from Brisbane Baroque several months after the event had been held in 2016.
Mr Carland and his partner Shannon Pigram refused to respond to requests for comment for months.
Jarrod CarlandCredit: Louie Douvis
But early on Monday evening, Mr Carland released a lengthy statement outlining the fact the company was in liquidation and laying the blame squarely at the feet of funding bodies.
"Every effort has been made to raise money to cover the shortfall for the 2016 event, including approaches made to Senator Mitch Fifield and the Ministry for the Arts to state the case for federal government support for this critically acclaimed festival," the statement read.
"As reported in the media recently, it was our hope we could receive this support to pay all creditors and also ensure the future of the event. Unfortunately, our request has fallen on deaf ears with a response being received on 21 December 2016 confirming the Federal Ministry for the Arts would not provide any form of support."
Mr Carland also blamed Brisbane City Council for the high costs of renting City Hall for a concert as part of the reason the festival struggled financially.
Shannon Pigram poses with the award for Best Opera in the awards room at 16th Annual Helpmann Awards.Credit: Brendon Thorne
"It is worth noting Brisbane City Hall's rates and procedures make it extremely difficult to produce an accessible event of exceptional quality – the impact to the Brisbane Baroque budget was crippling," Mr Carland said in the statement.
"It is unfortunate that the Brisbane City Council has allowed such an iconic city landmark be managed in such a way that it makes live performance in this venue prohibitive in so many ways."
Mayfields Business Advisors have been appointed liquidator of Brisbane Baroque Pty Ltd, the company behind the Brisbane Baroque festival of which Mr Carland and his partner Shannon Pigram are both directors.
What financial assets may be available to distribute among creditors is unknown, but there are some reports that creditors could be owed as much as $1 million.
The festival, which was partially funded by state government money through Tourism and Events Queensland has been a thorn in the side of the government, with confidentiality clauses preventing them from revealing the full nature of the arrangement between them and festival organisers.
Both tourism minister Kate Jones and Tourism and Events Queensland boss Leanne Coddington faced a grilling from opposition leader Tim Nicholls over the government's ongoing silence around the event, which left about 40 creditors out of pocket.
The creditors ranged from large organisations like the Queensland Symphony Orchestra to small suppliers whose invoices remain unpaid.
In December, Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ) revealed they had not paid the final instalment of the festival's funding as organisers had failed to meet their obligations.
"Brisbane Baroque was unable to pay its debts as they fell due which is the primary reason why TEQ terminated its agreement," TEQ's Megan Saunders said.
"At the time of termination, Brisbane Baroque had not met the requirements to trigger post event payment relating to the 2016 event, despite numerous requests by TEQ to do so."
Ms Saunders said, at the time, TEQ would be prepared to make the final instalment available to Brisbane Baroque Pty Ltd if there were guarantees the money would be used to pay creditors. It remains unclear whether that arrangement has been made and if some creditors have been paid.
The festival, while a financial disaster, was a critical hit and scored multiple Helpmann Awards in 2016; including the award for best opera.
Many of those left out of pocket by the demise of the festival were artists and musicians engaged to perform at the 2016 festival.
In the closing line of his statement, Mr Carland thanked them for participating.
"To the incredible musicians, artists, personnel and festival partners involved in the 2016 festival – thank you for making it the one of the world's finest in such a short space of time."