Tassie Tales: Tahnee van Herk
TSO principal bassoonist and passionate potter Tahnee van Herk has found her rhythm in Hobart – a city where creativity, community and wild places are never far away.
Moving to Tasmania was definitely a lifestyle choice. I was born in Melbourne, and I’d worked for Orchestra Victoria for 12 years before coming to Hobart. I was looking for a change when I did an audition for the job with the TSO, and I got it! That was in 2014.
I didn’t really know I wanted to be a musician until I got accepted into the Victorian College of the Arts after high school. It’s incredibly competitive, so when I got in, I thought, ‘Maybe I can do this! I’m going to give it a shot.’ Federation Concert Hall is the home of the TSO, but the orchestra travels a lot for shows. Woolmers Estate in Longford is an amazing place to perform. The property [now an Australian Convict Sites World Heritage Property and a UNESCO World Heritage Site] was built by convicts in 1817. There’s this lovely old rose garden, and two new gallery spaces [the Nigel Peck Long Gallery and the Frances Mary Archer Gallery]. It's an intimate space to perform in. With space for only 100 people or so, so it feels like you can get really close to the audience.
It's always an honour to play at Jessie Vonk's house, which is near Devonport. Her husband [the world-renowned Dutch conductor Hans Vonk], and she chose to settle in Tasmania after he passed away. Jessie, who used to be a ballerina, set up a performance space on her property and does a chamber music series once a month.
Credit: Brad Harris
When I’m not practising, performing or making bassoon reeds, you can find me up to my elbows in clay. I have a wheel at home and love working with porcelain. Each year the Australian Ceramics Association facilitates open pottery studios around the country, including Tasmania! This year, it’s on November 8 and 9. You can visit the potters in their space and glean all sorts of inspiration, sometimes even buy a treasure to take home.
I love making music but when I make pottery, I have something tangible at the end.
One thing I really love about Hobart is the access to really remote places. Within 15 minutes, you can be somewhere entirely different, where there’s no one else. You just feel like you’re the only person in the world.
If I only had one day to show someone around, we’d start at Little Missy Patisserie. It’s on Argyle Street and they make French-style pastries and cakes. Then we’d have to take a stroll to walk it off. My parents were visiting me just recently, and we did the Clarence Coastal Trail, which runs from Roches Beach to Seven Mile Beach. Along the way there’s beaches and sea cliffs, with beautiful views towards the Tasman Peninsula. It’s a really good-quality track, too, so anyone could go.
My dinner recommendation would be Ogee, in North Hobart. My husband works for the ABC as a producer, and we both really appreciate the sound quality of their Tasmanian-made Pitt & Giblin speakers. It’s definitely somewhere we go for the pasta and the wine service. You can always trust them to bring you something that works perfectly with the food.
We live in North Hobart, which is such a fascinating place. There are restaurants of course, and the magnificent State Cinema. For a quick, easy dinner, Annapurna does the job so nicely! There used to be a Malaysian restaurant we liked called Bite Me just across the road from Room for a Pony, but they’ve moving into the old Har We Yee site on Elizabeth Street at the moment. For pubs, I really do enjoy going to The Winston. It’s all about Tex-Mex and the pool table – oh, and the dog photos on the walls.
I really like walking around North Hobart, too. You’ve got all these old fruit trees growing in the back of people’s houses, or the amazing architecture and gardens around the Peacock Centre. A community-based mental health service today, it was built by a jam-factory owner in 1912 and donated to the state in the 1940s. Part of the centre was damaged by a fire about 10 years ago, but the site has been redeveloped to blend old and new.
If I had to choose one place that really sparks my creativity that’s Mortimer Bay, which is just past Lauderdale. You can walk along the beach in this big arc, then inland along a lovely trail that takes you back to where you started. If you like bird watching – and I do – there are the sea birds and the land birds to spot. When I need some peace and quiet to recharge, that’s where I go.
Tahnee’s Tasmanian top 10 must-visit spots
1. Favourite cafe: Raincheck Lounge
2. Favourite bakery: Little Missy Patisserie
3. Favourite restaurant: Trophy Room
4. Favourite music venue: Federation Concert Hall
5. Favourite place to shop: Fullers Bookshop
6. Favourite exercise spot: Friends Health & Fitness
7. Favourite market: Farm Gate Market
8. Favourite tourist spot: Battery Point
9. Favourite view: Out of my dining room window!
10. Favourite gallery/museum: Bett Gallery
