Queensland Symphony Orchestra’s Season 2023 is a year of grand masterpieces and intimate chamber moments, world premieres, and experimental music experiences, anchored by some of Queensland’s biggest music names in Ray Chen, Piers Lane and William Barton, and featuring some of the greatest music in the world in Don Quixote, The Planets, Beethoven’s heroic Symphony No.9, and what will be one of the most spectacular productions of 2023, Wagner’s Ring Cycle.
TICKETS: qso.com.au or 07 3833 5044
Friday 10 February 7.30pm
Joy and Sorrow – Stravinsky, Montgomery and Strauss
QSO’s new Up Close series has been designed to celebrate music written for chamber orchestra. The first concert of 2023, features Chief Conductor Umberto Clerici’s handpicked selection featuring Stravinsky, and Strauss and
a brand-new composition by QSO’s very own Section Principal Percussion David Montgomery. At the QSO Studio South Bank, running time 75 mins.
Sunday 12 February 11.30am
Dance Around the World
The first Music on Sundays concert for 2023 stars Umberto Clerici and the rhythmic brilliance of Queensland Symphony Orchestra – from the refined world of Strauss waltzes to the energy of the Can-Can. At the Concert Hall at QPAC. Running time 80 mins.
February 17, 18, 19 – MAESTRO CONCERT
Ode to Joy – Barton Meets Beethoven
Friday 17 February 7.30pm AND Saturday 18 February 1.30pm AND Sunday 19 February 1.30pm
QSO’s famed Maestro Series opens with three performances of ODE TO JOY – a concert for the ages. Chief Conductor Umberto Clerici will lead the Orchestra, with internationally acclaimed didgeridoo virtuoso William Barton and powerhouse violinist Véronique Serret along with soprano Eleanor Lyons, mezzo soprano Deborah Humble, tenor Andrew Goodwin, baritone Michael Honeyman and the Brisbane Chamber Choir performing Beethoven’s magnificent Symphony No.9 (Choral) along with Sculthorpe’s celebrated Earth Cry. This incredible season opener “features the most important symphony in the history of music in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony,” said Maestro Clerici. “It celebrates the equality of all humankind. It is a universal celebration of love for humanity, and the apex of the classical period.” Barton and Serret will also perform, for the first time in the Concert Hall, their collaboration Kalkani, described as ‘a message of peace and love carried by the eagle spirit’.
March 17 and 18 – MAESTRO
Magnificent Piano – Grieg’s Iconic Masterpiece
Friday 17 March 11.30am AND Saturday 18 March 7.30pm
The Piano Concerto of Norwegian Composer Edvard Grieg, features a mix of thunderous piano and orchestra drama, side-by-side with moments of gorgeous beauty; it will be performed by returning Venezuelan-Argentine pianist Sergio Tiempo, whose effortless technique has won the hearts of QSO audiences every time. The Grieg Concerto will be paired with Brahms Symphony No.1. At the Concert Hall at QPAC. Running time 80 mins.
Tuesday 21 March 7.30pm – SPECIAL EVENT
Sergio In Recital – Scintillating Piano Excellence
Sergio Tiempo, a favourite with Queensland audiences and a musician described as ‘a colourist in love with the infinite variety a piano can produce’, presents a one-of-a-kind piano recital. In the first half, the music of Frédéric Chopin, and in the second, a collection of music written by South American masters, from Astor Piazzolla through to Heitor Villa-Lobos, completely different in their sound world, but no less evocative. At the QSO Studio South Bank, running time 90 mins.
*** This will be the first public piano recital using Queensland Symphony Orchestra’s brand-new Steinway piano purchased in 2022.
Sunday 2 April 11.30am
Hymn to Mother Earth – Breathtaking Musical Landscapes
Presented in association with the Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition.
Principal Guest Conductor Johannes Fritzsch brings Mother Earth to life with a span of music from across the globe and across history that has taken its inspiration from the natural world. Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe features with his evocative work From Uluru, with Smetana’s ever-popular The Moldau, following the course of a river from a tiny stream (the flute) through to its majestic outpouring into the ocean. Hosted by Guy Noble in the Concert Hall at QPAC.
Friday 14 April 11.30am AND Saturday 15 April 7.30pm – MAESTRO
The Planets – Music of the Spheres
Gustav Holst’s mighty masterpiece The Planets has taken on a life of its own, from being referenced in movie soundtracks to being converted to anthems, but there’s nothing like hearing it live and loud. South Korean conductor Shiyeon Sung will lend her unique touch to this work and the equally fascinating Three Songs for Soprano and Orchestra by Argentinian composer Osvaldo Golijov. These dreamy, cinematic songs, performed by the radiant soprano Sara Macliver will round out a concert not to be missed in the Concert Hall at QPAC.
Friday 5 May 7.30pm
Night Music – Mozart, Schoenberg and Telemann
The first two composers featured in this program use the word ‘night’ in the titles, but they could not be more different. Mozart’s famous Eine kleine Nachtmusik with one of the most recognisable opening tunes in history is a light and beautiful serenade. Schoenberg’s Transfigured Night then draws on the emotionalism of the late Romantic movement, unfolding slowly and powerfully. These masterpieces will be performed without conductor, alongside Telemann’s Don Quixote Suite, directed by Concertmaster Natsuko Yoshimoto. At the QSO Studio South Bank, running time 75 mins.
Friday 12 May 7.30pm AND Saturday 13 May 1.30pm – MAESTRO
Don Quixote – A Musical Quest
Presented in association with 4MBS FM Festival of Classics.
Featuring a mix of theatrical and visual elements, with the glorious music of Richard Strauss, Umberto Clerici and the QSO will conjure the famous story of Don Quixote, the nobleman who deludes himself into thinking he is a knight. This concert will also feature drama of a different kind when Queensland favourite and internationally acclaimed pianist Piers Lane performs Mozart’s 24th Piano Concerto – one of his most dramatic pieces for piano and orchestra; in the Concert Hall at QPAC.
**Five years ago, Maestro Clerici’s wife gifted him his first conductor’s baton, with a quote from Don Quixote she had had engraved on it.
Sunday 21 May 11.30am
Love and Passion – Ballet and Opera Fans Rejoice!
Under the baton of Johannes Fritzsch, and featuring the glorious voices of Rebecca Cassidy and Rosario La Spina, QSO will perform the greatest moments from opera and ballet. It will be melodic, dramatic, and as passionate as love itself. Hosted by Guy Noble in the Concert Hall at QPAC. Running time 80 mins.
Friday 26 May 7.30pm AND Saturday 27 May 1.30pm AND Saturday 27 May 7.30pm
Cinematic – Blockbusters and Beyond
Cinematic is back in 2023 with the biggest line-up ever of film music from the screen, as well as music from great movie moments. From sci-fi to fantasy, rom-coms to animation, Williams to Zimmer, the QSO will be joined by the Voices of Birralee, to perform spine-tingling choral highlights, including the mighty ‘Duel of the Fates’ from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace; under the baton of Nicholas Buc in the Concert Hall. Repertoire includes music from Up, Titanic, Star Wars, The Mandalorian, The Lord of the Rings, Love Actually and more…
Friday 2 June 7.30pm
A Baroque Tribute – Bach, Mozart, Haydn & Stravinsky
In the Baroque era, composers were experimenting with counterpoint – the art of having multiple melodies playing simultaneously, crafted with such precision that all the voices could be heard at once. The results were new forms of music, which feature in this Up Close concert led by Natsuko Yoshimoto in the QSO Studio.
Saturday 10 June 10am – FAMILY EVENT
QUEENSLAND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AND QPAC PRESENT The Lost Thing
An Orchestral Adventure
The much-loved children’s book The Lost Thing, by Australian illustrator and author Shaun Tan, has already been turned into an award-winning film. Now it becomes a magical concert experience, thanks to the music of acclaimed presenter and composer Paul Rissmann. This is a spellbinding tale of a boy who discovers a strange creature on the beach and tries to find a place where it belongs.
In the Concert Hall, QSO musicians will perform Rissmann’s Elfman-like music for The Lost Thing alongside great classical pieces to demonstrate how composers can use an orchestra to create different feelings and sounds.
Friday 16 June 11.30am AND Saturday 17 June 7.30pm – MAESTRO
Terrific Trumpet – Dynamic Young Musicmakers
In 2021, a young Finnish conductor named Tarmo Peltokoski conducted the Bremen Chamber Philharmonic orchestra in Germany and so wowed the orchestra that – at age 21! – they employed him as their Principal Guest Conductor. Around the same time, he was offered the role of Music and Artistic Director of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra. In an amazing coup, QSO welcomes this young rising star to Brisbane to conduct Sibelius’ Symphony No.2. Also in this concert QSO’s new Section Principal Trumpet Rainer Saville, will perform French composer Henri Tomasi’s spectacular Trumpet Concerto.
Saturday 24 June 1.30pm AND Saturday 24 June 7.30pm – SPECIAL EVENT
QSO Favourites – Your Favourites, Our Favourites
Every year QSO ask audiences to share their favourite pieces, and then performs them! This year our masterchef for the Favourites menu is Chief Conductor Umberto Clerici who has hand-selected some of his favourites, to play alongside yours in the Concert Hall. At the heart of this concert is the magnificent concerto for classical guitar and orchestra Concierto de Aranjuez, performed by one of Australia’s leading classical guitarists, Karin Schaupp. There’s also music from the world of opera (Carmen), ballet (Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet) and film (Morricone’s music from Cinema Paradiso). This is a great opportunity to enjoy music, hear something new, and bring a friend.
Friday 7 July 7.30pm AND Saturday 8 July 1.30pm – MAESTRO
Ray Plays Tchaikovsky – The Violin Virtuoso
QSO welcomes Taiwanese-Australian violinist Ray Chen back to his hometown of Brisbane! Ray’s energy and charisma need no introduction; he presents one of the greatest of all works for violin and orchestra – Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in the Concert Hall. His musical partner on the podium is Giancarlo Guerrero, who wowed audiences in 2018 with his rendition of Shostakovich’s 10th Symphony.
Friday 28 July 11.30am AND Saturday 29 July 7.30pm – MAESTRO
Beethoven and Elgar – Jayson Gillham Returns
Triple-threat conductor (violinist and composer) Joseph Swensen brings his deep musical knowledge to the rich challenge of Elgar’s Symphony No.2. Joining Swensen on stage at the Concert Hall will be acclaimed Australian pianist Jayson Gillham, recognised as one of the most refined and elegant pianists of his generation and famed for his outstanding performances of Beethoven’s piano concertos.
Friday 11 August 7.30pm AND Sunday 13 August 11.30am – SPECIAL EVENT
Reel Classics – The Golden Age of Movie Music
From the 1930s to the 1980s, symphonic orchestral music formed the emotional background of many of the great movies. Film composers such as Bernard Herrmann, Miklós Rózsa, Maurice Jarre and John Williams became household names, creating soundscapes that have thrilled cinemagoers for years. Conductor and film music specialist Nicholas Buc leads this tour of epic music in the Concert Hall.
Friday 25 August 7.30pm
Classical Connections – Mozart, Haydn and Bartók
“We combine here a youthful Mozart Divertimento for winds with Bartók’s neo-classical work, composed 165 years later, creating a parallel connection with Stravinsky’s Pulcinella from the first Up Close concert. Here with Bartók we will utilise all our 46 string players together.” – UMBERTO CLERICI
Meanwhile, Haydn’s ‘Farewell’ Symphony features a famous musical protest: Haydn and his orchestra had been away from home for a long time with their employer Prince Nicolas Esterházy. To hint they were ready to go home, Haydn wrote this symphony and in the last movement each musician gradually leaves the stage.
Sunday 17 September 11.30am
QUEENSLAND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AND BRISBANE FESTIVAL PRESENT
Guy Noble’s Great Tunes – A Morning of Favourites
Guy Noble has been hosting QSO’s Music on Sundays series for 18 years, and to celebrate this he has compiled some of his favourite melodies – and it’s a stunning list – from the mystical beauty of the finale of Sibelius’ Fifth Symphony through the sparkle of Nigel Westlake’s beloved soundtrack for the movie Babe. There’s even a special solo from QSO Section Principal Bassoonist Nicole Tait. In the Concert Hall.
Friday 22 September 7.30pm AND Saturday 23 September 1.30pm – MAESTRO
QUEENSLAND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AND BRISBANE FESTIVAL PRESENT
Clerici Conducts Mahler – A Musical Odyssey (and a Justin Williams world premiere)
Presented in association with QPAC.
“Every new Chief Conductor starts a Mahler cycle, but few make it beyond his Fourth or Fifth Symphony. So I decided to continue a cycle started by Alondra de la Parra in 2016: we will restart from Mahler’s Sixth Symphony, the Tragic, and continue this journey in years to come. We will also hear a new symphony by Justin Williams, a friend of mine, and colleague at Sydney Symphony Orchestra for years. In a parallel dimension, where the Second Viennese School and its 12- tone serialism didn’t exist, his music could be the natural continuation of Strauss and Mahler.” – UMBERTO CLERICI
The first thing you’ll notice about Mahler’s Sixth Symphony is the sheer size of the orchestra on stage! Across four huge movements Mahler deals with the idea of fate as something inescapable, from the relentless march that opens the music to the famous ‘hammer blows’ in the finale (which must be seen and heard to be believed!). Coupled with the world premiere of Justin Williams’ First Symphony, this will be one of the most epic concerts of 2023.
Friday 13 October 7.30pm AND Saturday 14 October 1.30pm – MAESTRO
Heartland Classics – Life-Affirming Music
Acclaimed Armenian violinist Sergey Khachatryan makes his debut with QSO performing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto – a piece which tests the calibre of all great violin soloists. Deceptively light and lyrical, this diabolically tricky piece has won the hearts of audiences everywhere. It is the perfect set-up for Dvořák’s Symphony No.7, conducted by inspiring Dutch conductor and Music Director of Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Otto Tausk. This glorious orchestral showcase is filled with tension and a spectacular finale.
Friday 17 November 11.30am AND Saturday 18 November 7.30pm – MAESTRO
Micro-Masterpieces
“With Mozart’s Symphony No.39, we are starting a mini-cycle of the last three Mozart Symphonies (rarely played by QSO) which will continue from 2023 to 2025. All the music in this concert gravitates around my programmatic theme of 2023: the Classical era. And with this concert, we farewell it. Every piece is an homage to Mozart’s art: Prokofiev with his classical symphony and Schubert with the Fifth, clearly inspired by Mozart who he admired deeply. ‘O Mozart, immortal Mozart, how many, oh how endlessly many such comforting perceptions of a brighter and better life hast thou brought to our souls!’ (F. Schubert). Finally, Rossini is considered by many to be the ‘Italian Mozart’ and he refused to adapt to Romanticism.” – UMBERTO CLERICI
For Umberto’s final performances of 2023, he has packed in as much symphonic goodness as possible, with a selection of shorter symphonies that demonstrate the power of focused creativity. Each is less than half an hour but contains a wealth of musical ideas. If that wasn’t enough, there’s also one of the most famous Italian compositions of all time – The Barber of Seville overture.
DECEMBER 2023 – PRESENTED IN ASSOCIATION WITH OPERA AUSTRALIA
The Ring Cycle – Wagner’s Magnum Opus
Cycle 1: 1 – 7 December
Cycle 2: 8 – 14 December
Cycle 3: 15 – 21 December
Opera Australia presents a new production of the legendary Ring Cycle in Brisbane in 2023, exclusive to QPAC. This is an exhilarating adventure with men and maidens, gods and giants, dragons and dwarves – Wagner’s Ring Cycle is the pinnacle of opera, a 15-hour epic performed over four nights. This spectacular new production by visionary Chinese director Chen Shi-Zheng explores Wagner’s legendary tale through a futuristic lens. Towering, moving digital panels create an immersive virtual world. Astonishing costumes and props imagine an unknown future.
For more media information, interviews, and additional imagery, please contact Kath Rose on 0416 291 493 or email kath@kathrose.com
