Brisbane Philharmonic Orchestra
Encyclopedia
The Brisbane Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO) is a community orchestra based in Brisbane
, Australia
which performs a wide variety of orchestral and chamber music works.
The BPO performs several concerts each year at venues including the Brisbane City Hall
, the Queensland Performing Arts Centre
, St John's Cathedral
, St Stephen's Cathedral, and the Old Museum Building, Brisbane
. The orchestra also tours regionally throughout Queensland.
It is administered by an executive committee elected by the members each year. The members are involved voluntarily in all facets of the organisation such as concert production, marketing and promotion, auditions, and social events.
In addition to performing in its own right, the orchestra has also appeared in many popular music festivals. The orchestra is a regular participant in the Brisbane Festival
and the Queensland Music Festival
, and is a long-standing contributor to the 4MBS
Festival of Classics, Australia's largest classical music festival.
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
which performs a wide variety of orchestral and chamber music works.
The BPO performs several concerts each year at venues including the Brisbane City Hall
Brisbane City Hall
Brisbane City Hall, in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, is the seat of the Brisbane City Council. It is located adjacent to King George Square, where the rectangular City Hall has its main entrance. The City Hall also has frontages and entrances in both Ann Street and Adelaide Street...
, the Queensland Performing Arts Centre
Queensland Performing Arts Centre
The Queensland Performing Arts Centre is part of the Queensland Cultural Centre and is located on the corner of Melbourne Street and Grey Street in Brisbane's South Bank precinct....
, St John's Cathedral
St John's Cathedral, Brisbane
St John's Cathedral is the Anglican cathedral of Brisbane and the metropolitan cathedral of the ecclesiastical province of Queensland, Australia...
, St Stephen's Cathedral, and the Old Museum Building, Brisbane
Old Museum Building, Brisbane
The Old Museum Building is a performance venue in Bowen Hills, Brisbane, Australia.-History:The Old Museum was originally called the Exhibition Building and Concert Hall. It was built in 1891 for the Queensland National Agricultural and Industrial Association after Brisbane's first exhibition...
. The orchestra also tours regionally throughout Queensland.
It is administered by an executive committee elected by the members each year. The members are involved voluntarily in all facets of the organisation such as concert production, marketing and promotion, auditions, and social events.
History
The orchestra was formed in 1999 with only 18 musicians. In 2000, the orchestra changed its name to the Brisbane Philharmonic Orchestra. The BPO started presenting annual subscription seasons from 2001. In 2005, the orchestra received an honourable recognition at the National Orchestral Awards, the first Queensland community orchestra to have received such a mention. The orchestra presented its tenth annual subscription season in 2010.In addition to performing in its own right, the orchestra has also appeared in many popular music festivals. The orchestra is a regular participant in the Brisbane Festival
Brisbane Festival
Brisbane Festival is an annual arts festival held in Brisbane, Australia.-History:Brisbane Festival was developed by the Queensland Government and Brisbane City Council in 1996 as an initiative to foster the arts....
and the Queensland Music Festival
Queensland Music Festival
The Queensland Music Festival is a series of musical events staged in a number of locations in Queensland, Australia usually around late July, every second year. It is financially supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland and a wide range of other partners...
, and is a long-standing contributor to the 4MBS
4MBS
4MBS Classic FM is a Brisbane community radio station that broadcasts classical music, jazz and nostalgia throughout South East Queensland. It is broadcast at a frequency of 103.7 MHz....
Festival of Classics, Australia's largest classical music festival.
Conductors
- John CurroJohn CurroJohn Curro AM MBE is an Australian based violist, conductor, and music director.He is the founder and Director of Music of the Queensland Youth Orchestras with whom he established the National Youth Concerto Competition . John Curro was awarded the Don Banks Music Award in 2002...
AM MBE - Philip Davis
- Sean O'Boyle (composer)Sean O'Boyle (composer)Sean O'Boyle is an Australian composer and conductor.His River Symphony was performed by the Queensland Orchestra and released on ABC Classics in 2007 on a CD that also included Concerto for Didgeridoo composed with and recorded by William Barton...
- Warwick Potter
- Gwyn Roberts
Musicians
- William BartonWilliam Barton (musician)William Barton is an Australian Aboriginal didgeridoo player. He was born in Mount Isa, Queensland on 4 June 1981. and learned to play from his uncle, an elder of the Wannyi, Lardil and Kalkadunga tribes of Western Queensland...
(didgeridooDidgeridooThe didgeridoo is a wind instrument developed by Indigenous Australians of northern Australia around 1,500 years ago and still in widespread usage today both in Australia and around the world. It is sometimes described as a natural wooden trumpet or "drone pipe"...
) - James Cuddeford (violin)
- Deborah Humble (mezzo-sopranoMezzo-sopranoA mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...
) - Rosario La SpinaRosario La SpinaRosario La Spina is an Australian operatic tenor who has had an active international career since the early 2000s. He has worked with many leading opera houses and orchestras, singing under such conductors as Renato Palumbo, Bruno Bartoletti, Gary Bertini, Daniele Callegari and Richard Hickox...
(tenorTenorThe tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
) - Sara MacliverSara MacliverSara Macliver is an Australian soprano singer, born and raised in Perth, Western Australia.Sara is one of Australia’s most popular and versatile artists, appearing in operas, concert and recital performances and on numerous recordings...
(sopranoSopranoA soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
) - Katie NoonanKatie NoonanKatie Anne Noonan is an Australian singer-songwriter. In addition to a successful solo career encompassing opera, jazz, pop, rock and dance, she sings in the groups george and Elixir, duets with her mother, Maggie Noonan and is currently playing with support from the group The...
(singer-songwriterSinger-songwriterSinger-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
) - Markus Stocker (celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
) - Melinda Stocker (violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
)