Arts Directory Profile

Australian Chamber Orchestra

Australian Chamber Orchestra

Australia's national orchestra is a product of the country's vibrant, adventurous and inquiring spirit. Under the visionary leadership of violinist Richard Tognetti, the Australian Chamber Orchestra is an ensemble of virtuosos engaged with music at the highest level: seventeen minds thinking and breathing as one. In performances around Australia, around the world and on many recordings, the ACO moves hearts and stimulates minds with repertoire spanning four centuries and a vitality and energy unmatched by other ensembles.

The Australian Chamber Orchestra was founded by John Painter in 1975. Every year, this ensemble presents performances of the highest standard to audiences around the world, including 10,000 subscribers across Australia. The ACO's unique artistic style encompasses not only the masterworks of the classical repertoire, but innovative cross-artform projects and a vigorous commissioning program.

The outstanding Australian musician Richard Tognetti was appointed Artistic Director and Lead Violin in 1989. Under his inspiring leadership, the ACO has performed as a flexible and versatile 'ensemble of soloists', on modern and period instruments, as a small chamber group, a small symphony orchestra, and as an electro-acoustic collective. In a nod to past traditions, only the cellists are seated - the resulting sense of energy and individuality is one of the most commented-upon elements of an ACO concert experience.

Several of the ACO's principal musicians perform with spectacularly fine instruments. Tognetti performs on a priceless 1743 Guarneri del Gesu, made available exclusively to him by an anonymous Australian benefactor. Principal cello Timo-Veikko Valve plays on a 1729 Giuseppe Guarneri Filius Andreae cello, also made available by an anonymous benefactor, and Principal Second Violin Helena Rathbone plays a 1759 J.B. Guadagnini violin on loan from the Commonwealth Bank Group.

Regular international tours to Asia, Europe and the USA have drawn outstanding reviews for the ACO's performances at many of the world's prestigious concert halls, including Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, London's Wigmore Hall, New York's Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, Vienna's Musikverein, Birmingham's Symphony Hall and Washington D.C.'s Kennedy Center.

The ACO has made acclaimed recordings for labels including BIS, ABC Classics, Sony, Channel Classics, Hyperion, EMI, Chandos and Orfeo. Richard Tognetti and the ACO won three consecutive ARIA awards in 2006-8. The ACO features in the second season of the television series Classical Destinations and in the award-winning film Musica Surfica.

In 2005, the ACO inaugurated an ambitious national education program, which includes outreach activities and mentoring of outstanding young musicians, including the formation of ACO2, an elite training orchestra which tours regional centres.

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