Trinitytoday 36 Trinitytoday 36 BADEN HITCHCOCK (TC 2013) Baden, a descendent of the Saibai people who inhabit an island in the Torres Strait, has had an amazing year. Early in 2017 he began training and performing with Bangarra, through the Russell Page Graduate Program. He performed in the national tour of Bennelong, premiering in Sydney and touring to Canberra, Brisbane and Melbourne. He then travelled to the Torres Strait Islands, with the company taking the work IBIS back to country, and also had the opportunity to tour internationally to Denmark and Germany with the programs, ‘Spirit’ and ‘Our Land People’s Stories’. He will also be performing later this year in ONE’S COUNTRY – The Spine of Our Stories, from 24 November at Carriageworks in Sydney. Baden is so grateful to be able to learn more about his culture and connect with family through song and dance. In his words, ‘Bangarra is such a unique company, being able to share the stories of this country intertwined with both traditional and contemporary knowledge.’ Baden completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance at the Victorian College of the Arts. During his time at the VCA he worked with choreographers, including, Antony Hamilton, Lee Serle, Maria Randall, Line Limosani, Rebecca Hilton, Jacob Boehme and Prue Lang. While in residence at College, he was very active in the orchestra, Outreach Committee, Cooking Club, and was a participant in and Assistant Choreographer of the 2013 musical A Chorus Line. In 2016, he was part of ‘Dance Massive’ performing in Antony Hamilton’s work Nex and was also offered a place in ‘Indigenous Dance Residency’ at Arts House. He was a part of the Time Place Space Laboratory 2016, discussing and workshopping sustainable art practises and was also a part of the Water Futures Conference (Asiatopa) Melbourne sharing and collaborating with scientists and artists on how dance and/or art can be used to share indigenous knowledge of sustainable water and land practises. He most recently choreographed a work for Yirramboi First Nations Festival supported by Public Art Melbourne called In the Absence of. Baden was also a member of Short Black Opera company working with Deborah Cheetham on regional workshops focused on Indigenous youth and the production of Pecan Summer 2014 in Adelaide. THE MIDDLETON FAMILY Congratulations to the Middleton family - David, Victoria, Sam, Claire and Hugh – for their winery, Mount Mary, being recently awarded ‘Winery of the Year 2018’ at the Halliday Wine Companion Awards. Mount Mary was started by the late Dr John Middleton (TC 1946) and his wife Marli (Janet Clarke Hall 1971), while John was practicing medicine in Lilydale. Introduced to fine wine by school friend, and later Seppelts Great Western senior winemaker, Colin Preece, John’s passion for wine was encouraged and fed by patients of his who were workers from the former Yarra Valley vineyards. To quote James Grant’s obituary for John in Trinity Today 2006, John planted his first vines in 1956, and began to experiment making wine ‘in plastic bins and glass demijohns’. The winery remains family-owned and operated, with John’s son David (TC 1970) CEO since 2006 (the year John passed away), and David’s children also involved in the daily operation and management of the estate. Claire Podsiadly (nee Middleton, TC 1999) is business manager, Sam (TC 2001) is head winemaker and Hugh (TC 2005) is responsible for Mount Mary’s web-based systems, in addition to his musical commitments and full-time role as a software engineer and web developer. Victoria (David’s wife and mother to Claire, Sam and Hugh) oversees the operations from behind the scenes. Mount Mary, one of the first vineyards planted in the resurgence of the Yarra Valley as a premium grape growing region, grows and produces premium quality table wines under two specific labels, Mount Mary Vineyard and Marli Russell by Mount Mary. The four Mount Mary Vineyard estate wines are comprised of two blends traditionally grown and made in Bordeaux, (Quintet and Triolet) and two varieties traditionally grown and made in Burgundy, (Pinot noir and Chardonnay). On accepting the Halliday award, David said, ‘To receive this commendation from such a renowned and well- respected wine expert as James Halliday, means a lot to us and gives us great confidence for the future’. ALUMNI NEWS Baden Hitchcock, photo by Tiffany Parker. Hugh, Claire, David, Victoria and Sam Middleton.