Queensland Symphony Orchestra has launched their 2019 season, promising ‘Orchestra for Everyone’ with a wide variety of performances for every age and stage. In their commitment to showcasing Australian artists and works, the exciting line-up includes six Australian conductors, thirteen Australian soloists, three Australian choirs, eight Australian composers, and ten Australian compositions, as well as an Australian Premiere and a World Premiere.
QSO were at their best during the launch proceedings under Music Director Alondra de la Parra’s conductorship as they performed excerpts from the upcoming programme, including Dvorak’s New World Symphony and Copland’s Appalachian Spring (The New World Maestro Concert), Kats-Chernin’s Wild Swans Suite (Animal Kingdom ‘Music on Sundays’ Concert), Beethoven’s String Quartet No.14 in C sharp minor (Moonlit Revolution Chamber Players) and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.5 in E minor (Timeless Maestro Concert).
It was wonderful to hear Alondra de la Parra, breathless after her passionate conducting of the first piece, address the audience to unveil the new season, and speak about the musical choices and the emotion and meaning behind them: works to please and challenge audiences in equal measure; voices of then and voices of today, a heightened focus on Australian artists and works. “Whoever you are, this is your orchestra,” she said.
QSO’s 2019 Artist in Residence was also announced as British pianist and Beethoven specialist Paul Lewis, who will perform three times with the orchestra in 2019 as well as in an intimate, in-studio recital.
2019’s Maestro and Morning Masterworks concerts will feature conductors and guest soloists from around the world, as well as homegrown stars like Piers Morgan and Morgan England-Jones. 2019 will also see a colourful and diverse array of instrumental soloists take the stage alongside QSO including harp, clarinet, cello, viola, percussion, piano, guitar, and trombone:
1. Heavenly, featuring the music of Mozart and Mahler with Artist-in-Residence Paul Lewis and soprano Morgan England-Jones under the baton of Alondra de la Parra.
2. Romeo & Juliet, featuring Rossini’s William Tell Overture, before Ginastera’s Concert for Harp, and then Prokofiev’s sweeping Romeo and Juliet Suite, led by conductor Diego Matheuz, with French harpist Marie-Pierre Langlamet.
3. Dreamscapes, featuring the work of celebrated Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin, followed by Copland’s Concerto for Clarinet performed by Italian Alessandro Carbonare and Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique, led by Spanish conductor, Jaime Martin.
4. Cathedral of Sound, with Queensland Symphony Orchestra’s Conductor Laureate Johannes Fritzsch joined by internationally acclaimed pianist Piers Lane performing Mozart’s powerful Piano Concerto No.23 in A, K488 and Bruckner’s powerful Symphony No.7.
5. Soulful Journeys will open with Spiritus, the work of Australian composer Lachlan Skipworth, before Nocturnesby Debussy and Dvořák’s Concerto in B minor for Cello and Orchestra. This mysterious and mellow Maestro will be led by Swedish conductor Daniel Blendulf with Spanish cellist, Pablo Ferrandez, as soloist.
6. The Great Symphony heralds the return of the great Australian conductor Simone Young for the Australian premiere of Australian composer Brett Dean’s work Notturno inquieto. Bartok’s Viola Concerto will be performed by German violist Nils Mӧnkemeyer with Schubert’s Symphony No.9 in C (Great C Major) the finale.
7. The New World will see Alondra de la Parra returning to take up the baton for majestic music inspired by America, celebrating the works of Copland, Dorman and Dvorakwith with superstar Austrian percussionist
Martin Grubinger.
Martin Grubinger.
8. Romance And Revolution, with Alondra de la Parra conducting and starring Artist-in-Residence Paul Lewis with Queensland Symphony Orchestra performing Australian composer Paul Vine’s V-An Orchestral Fanfare, with Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.4 in Gand Prokofiev’s Symphony No.5 in B flat.
9. Ray Chen Returns will feature music from Bach, Handel and Mendelssohn when internationally acclaimed, Brisbane-born violin superstar Ray Chen returns with Australian conductor Erin Helyard.
10. Tchaikovsky And Beethovenis a music-lover’s dream, with Alondra de la Parra conducting, and exciting Serbian violinist Nemanja Radulovic to solo.
The 2019 season will also feature the fun and thematic Music on Sundays, with five concerts:
· Festival of Folk
· Kings and Queens (featuring QSO trombonist Jason Redman as soloist)
· Animal Kingdom
· Sounds of the Deep (featuring classical guitarist Karin Schaupp)
· Toys and Puppets (conducted by Alondra de la Parra with QSO double bassist Phoebe Russell as soloist)
The Chamber Players Series is performed at QSO’s home studio in South Bank, and the pieces are curated and chosen by the orchestra players themselves:
· Trumpeter’s Trapeze
· Haunting Vistas
· Two Treasures
· Moonlit Revolution
· Compelling Themes
In 2019, two events will be staged in the Choral Program. The Opera Gala in June will feature Verdi and Puccini under Italian-born conductor Giovanni Reggioli with soloists Natalie Aroyan (soprano) and Kang Wang (tenor), and the Brisbane Chorale. Then, in December, Stephen Layton will conduct Handel’s enduring masterpiece, Messiah, with Sara Macliver (soprano), Helen Charleston (mezzo soprano), Gwilym Bowen (tenor) and Laurence Williams (bass-baritone), and the Brisbane Chamber Choir.
WAVE Festival will return in 2019 with more new, unexpected, and boundary-blurring music morphing modern sounds, technology, and the talent of contemporary Australian acts with the classical heritage and strength of the Orchestra. The 2019 season will also introduce audiences to EXCITE – a programme for children and families, a mix of new and familiar family works, and a perfect introduction to classical music.
Special Events of the 2019 season will include the next instalment in QSO’s movie music series with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in February; The Last Night of the Proms (with a distinctly Australian flavour) in May; and the Latin America Gala in August, with symphonic music from Mexico and Brazil, including a symphony based on the 1999 FIFA football final between the two countries, from which Alondra de la Parra’s home country of Mexico emerged victorious. In November, de la Parra and Artist in Residence Paul Lewis will perform together again for Timeless, the closing gala.
Subscriptions are now open, and individual tickets will open for public sale from 9am on October 29. For more information about the individual concerts and ticketing, visit QSO’s website.
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