Yantra de Vilder: Avoca’s multi-talented composer, artist, performer and filmmaker

Our eclectic Avoca Beach community continues to amaze with its abundance of unique and talented people. Yantra de Vilder is a prime example.  A composer, artist, performer and filmmaker, she always seems to have at least one impressive project on the go. It was a great pleasure to sit down with her recently and have a chat to learn more about this musical maestro.

Yantra tells me she grew up in a home surrounded by the love of her parents, who instilled in her an appreciation of the wonders of this world and European sensibilities. Her parents had the most amazing array of friends from all walks of the artistic spectrum, entertaining the likes of Yehudi Menuhin. Yantra attended a Steiner School and then Abbotsleigh, both of which encourage the arts. Yantra’s mother, Faith, was also a great influence on her artistic path. It was Faith who brought Yantra to Avoca Beach in 2008. Yantra lives in a colourful house. It projects a calm, serene atmosphere and has her magnificent studio attached.

Yantra started playing the piano by ear at a very young age, before launching into rock ‘n roll bands, performing in many venues including the Belvoir Theatre. She is as eclectic as one can find, and grew up as a classically trained pianist, but also listening to Led Zeppelin and Mahavishnu Orchestra. She now has a Doctorate of Creative Arts, Masters of Research (Music) and a BA Contemporary Music. Yantra does not rest on her laurels and would like to create and encourage a great music and arts community, not only in Avoca Beach, but for the Central Coast, and she is certainly doing her bit to promote music in our area. She not only plays but creates music that will evoke deep emotions. 

Yantra is fascinated with ancient cultures from around the world, loves travelling and exploring the musical roots of these cultures and learning to play any instrument she can possibly find. She is a composer and sound artist specialising in film, TV, dance and theatre and has worked for the BBC as a composer and music consultant in London, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Burma. Yantra has also worked with SBS, National Geographic, Screenworks Northern Rivers, amongst others.

During lockdown, Yantra created “Pianos for the People”, an initiative that installs pianos in public spaces for the community to play.  This has brought real joy to so many communities. There are now fifteen pianos in the Northern Rivers, which has helped with the healing after the dreadful floods. They can be found in many public places such as under the Harbour Bridge in Sydney, at Pearl Beach and The Entrance, and in Avoca Beach, to name just a few.

Yantra has been the Artistic Director of the 5 Lands Walk, writing the music and directing the choir for the opening ceremony, as well as the Artist in Residency for “Credo”, her multi-arts performance manifesto.

This amazing lady has also been heavily involved in sixteen films, either directing, producing or writing the musical score. She has been nominated for 128 awards, winning many. Yantra feels strongly about the Central Coast and promoting the areas of the arts that she is so passionate about, and believes that this region is going through a renaissance of sorts, with so many talented people living here. She is constantly working with the Ephemera Choir and encourages anyone wanting to join, an inclusive choir which ranges in age from eight to eighty- five.

You can find out more about Yantra on her website. She is working on a big project at present, which, she assures me, is very exciting – so watch this space!