|
April 1999 - Colin Hardcastle (violin) and Gareth Orley (trumpet) decided to start an orchestra of their own. They were fast outgrowing the youth orchestras at 23 and 20 years of age respectively. The first rehearsal the orchestra comprised of 18 musicians.
2000 - The orchestra changed its name to the Brisbane Philharmonic Orchestra and gave its debut concert at the Gerhmann Theatre at Brisbane Girls Grammar. The program comprised Capriccio Espagnol (Rimsky-Korsakov), Peer Gynt Suite No.1 (Grieg), Symphony No.8 (Dvorak) and was performed by 35 players.
2001 - The existing Musical Director, Lee Norrell, left to pursue further studies. Andrew Bell successfully auditioned to become the Musical Director and held the position until 2002.
2002 - Current BPO Musical Director Philip Davis successfully auditioned and was welcomed to the role. Renowned violinist Melinda Stocker performed with the BPO at the orchestra's debut in the 4MBS Festival of Classics and during Cathedrals' Week. The BPO also accompanied the Queensland University Musical Society (QUMS) in a performance of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana for the Society's 90th birthday celebrations. The BPO had grown to 55 musicians by the end of 2002.
2003 - The BPO's first concert in 2003 was a Korean Cultural Exchange concert, where the orchestra performed concertos with traditional Korean instruments and classical concertos on piano and flute, as well as vocal arias. The BPO performed the Classical Top Ten at the 4MBS Festival of Classics. The orchestra followed this with its first sole-produced concert at Brisbane City Hall which featured Beethoven’s Triple Concerto and Symphony No.4 by Tchaikovsky. The BPO now had 60 musicians.
2004 - BPO began to demonstrate its true strength and capability with performances held at St John's Cathedral, QPAC Concert Hall, St Stephen's Cathedral, and Brisbane City Hall. BPO partnered with Queensland Wind and Brass for a fun performance which included highlights from Bizet's Carmen and Leopold Mozart's Toy Symphony at St John's Cathedral. In April, the Brisbane Philharmonic became the first community orchestra in more than 15 years to perform in the QPAC Concert Hall - more than 85 musicians performed in this concert.
2005 - The orchestra started the year performing the Violin Concerto by Sibelius and Symphony No.4 by Brahms with guest conductor Andrew Robinson and violinist Melinda Stocker at Brisbane City Hall. Composer Dr Eric Ewazen from the Juilliard School of Music in New York visited for the Australian premiere of his work Shadowcatcher, a concerto for brass quintet and orchestra. The Brisbane Philharmonic performed as part of the Queensland Music Festival's Opera at Jimbour to more than 6,000 people and covered by the ABC’s Landline program. BPO combined with local actor Tama Matheson for Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf and the world concert premiere (orchestral version) of Brisbane composer Sean O'Boyle's Concerto for Didgeridoo with international Didgeridoo player William Barton. The BPO grew to 95 musicians to finish the concert with the epic Symphony No.1 Titan by Gustav Mahler.
2006 – The Brisbane Philharmonic expanded its year to include performances on the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast with the Best of British Proms with The Queensland Choir and Verdi’s Requiem with Noosa Chorale. In addition, there were performances at the Brisbane Powerhouse for the 4MBS Festival, Opera at Brookfield as part of the Brisbane Festival for 6000 audience-members, as well as performances at St Andrew’s Church, the City Tabernacle Baptist Church, and a memorable performance of Mozart’s Requiem at St John’s Cathedral with the touring Freiburg Cathedral Choir from Germany.
2007 - The BPO combined with Brisbane Chorale for momentous performances of Mendelssohn’s Elijah at Brisbane City Hall with nearly 200 performers on stage. The Orchestra also returned to Jimbour House for the immensely popular Opera at Jimbour as part of the Queensland Music Festival in July, which backed up to a fabulous performance of the Brahms Double Concerto in August with father and daughter duo, Markus and Melinda Stocker. The orchestra now had a regular membership of over 70 players.
2008 – The Inspire 2008 concert season will provide a new and exciting orchestral experience with the creation of the Brisbane Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra. |
