A major anniversary is often a time to look back, to reflect, and to celebrate your past success. For Queensland Symphony Orchestra, turning 80 in 2027 offers the perfect opportunity to look forward as well.
‘The 80th anniversary season will honour not only the great masterpieces of the past but also the music of the future,’ says CEO Michael Sterzinger.
The anniversary season showcases major classical pieces alongside new Australian works, First Nations and Pasifika voices, film music, and collaborations that take the orchestra beyond the conventions of concert hall performance.
Director of Artistic Planning Matthew Wood says it will be ‘a year of celebration, reflection, and renewal’.
Queensland Symphony Orchestra – quick links
Eight decades of history
The QSO began in 1947 with 45 musicians and held its first concert at Brisbane City Hall. Eight decades later, it now has 81 full-time players and presents more than 50 programs each season from its base at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre on the banks of the Brisbane River.
While the major milestone inevitably invites reflection, the ambitious programming suggests QSO is not content to rest on its musical laurels.
The classical landmarks are certainly included: the monumental Symphony No. 2 – Resurrection by Gustav Mahler; Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 22 with the acclaimed French pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard; and all nine Beethoven symphonies showcased across the year. (There’s another anniversary here too, with 2027 marking 200 years since Ludwig van Beethoven’s death.)
Chief Conductor Umberto Clerici is readying for his fifth and final season with QSO. ‘I’m personally excited to open the season with an exceptional international soloist, violinst Ilya Gringolts, together with one of the most relevant works of the last 50 years, Harmonielehre by John Adams, who, like QSO, is also celebrating his 80th birthday,’ he says.
Ilya Gringolts will also join the orchestra to play Shostakovich’s popular Violin Concerto. And in another celebration, the QSO will mark the 70th birthday of Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin with Big Rhap, her 2017 orchestral composition.
New commissions and emerging stars
There is also plenty of new music to look forward to, with the QSO commissioning eight works by five Australian composers and programming music by 13 living composers across the season. These commissions and collaborations are an important theme for the anniversary year.
TThe 80th Anniversary Gala in August will see the QSO join forces with Brisbane’s Dead Puppet Society for a new interpretation of Stravinsky’s Petrushka with music and puppetry.
Aboriginal composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist, didgeridoo player and vocalist William Barton will also return to the stage as soloist for the Anniversary Gala.
Clerici describes him as ‘a dear friend of the QSO and a proud Queenslander’ and says Barton will appear in a work he co-wrote with Matthew Hindson, playing guitar and didgeridoo and singing in his native language.
Another highlight is Mana Moana, a concert that brings together New Zealand’s Signature Choir and the QSO in a joyous and uplifting celebration of gospel, classical and traditional Pasifika music. As Matthew Wood explains, this is especially significant as Queensland has the largest Pasifika population in Australia.
‘It’s a very powerful and fun show,’ Wood says. ‘Anyone who comes will be on their feet, singing at the top of their voices.’
Wood says QSO is also ‘thrilled to welcome the outstanding emerging soprano, Nina Korbe, to the orchestra in the role of Artist-in-Association’. Korbe will sing in numerous concerts including Handel’s Messiah and Holst’s The Mystic Trumpeter.
Building the audience for music
The season will continue QSO’s relationship with audiences who choose to encounter orchestral music through film with their beloved Cinematic concert (featuring Nina Korbe) and live-to-screen performances including Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope and How to Train Your Dragon 2.
Importantly, the QSO takes every opportunity to go beyond its base in Brisbane and take its music across the state. Its extensive calendar of regional touring and education projects will continue in 2027, along with its artistic collaborations with Queensland Ballet and Opera Queensland.
Clerici says the anniversary year is a chance for the orchestra and its audiences to embrace both the familiar and the adventurous. The Beethoven cycle and Mahler may represent the orchestra’s accumulated musical inheritance, while the new commissions, collaborations and local voices shine a light on the future.
After eight decades, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra is still in fine form and a vital part of the state’s arts ecosystem, nurturing new talent and showcasing the rising stars of classical music. As Sterzinger says proudly, ‘We’re celebrating 80 years of inspiring, connecting and enriching communities through the power of live orchestral music. That’s a remarkable milestone.’
