The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is a

symphony orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...

based in

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, Australia. It is the smallest of the six orchestras established by the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

(ABC).

History

The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra was established in 1948, and gave its first concert on 25 May in the Hobart Town Hall, under the baton of Joseph Post. The soloist was the Tasmanian-born pianist

Eileen Joyce Eileen Alannah Joyce CMG (died 25 March 1991) was an Australian pianist whose career spanned more than 30 years. She lived in England in her adult years. Her recordings made her popular in the 1930s and 1940s, particularly during World War I ...

, who performed the

Piano Concerto in A minor The Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16, composed by Edvard Grieg in 1868, was the only concerto Grieg completed. It is one of his most popular works and is among the most popular of the genre. Structure The concerto is in three movements: ...

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the foremost Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of ...

. From 1973 to 1998 its home was the Odeon Theatre, a renovated former cinema built in 1916 as a replica of New York's Strand Theater. It has now moved to the

Federation Concert Hall The Hotel Grand Chancellor Hobart is a twelve-storey hotel located on the waterfront of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. History Originally part of a waterfront district called 'Wapping', the site where the Hotel Grand Chancellor is situated was ...

. In 1998, a 50th anniversary concert was held in the original venue, the Town Hall, under its then chief conductor David Porcelijn. The TSO was the first Australian orchestra to have its own radio program, "Journey into Melody", which was broadcast weekly from 1956 to 1969. By the late 1960s, there were far more subscribers per head of the state population (1 in 144) than in any of the other capital-city based ABC orchestras. In 1995, when funding cuts threatened to downsize the orchestra from 47 players, a petition was launched by the Friends of the TSO that gathered 35,000 signatures, the largest petition in Tasmanian history. In 1998, ''A Taste of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra'' was published. This was a cookbook that included recipes contributed by members of the orchestra, guest conductors and visiting artists. It sold far more than anticipated, including healthy sales on the Australian mainland. It receives government funding from both the

Tasmanian ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

and

Australian government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...

s. The Orchestra performs at a number of concert venues both in Tasmania and interstate, including Federation Concert Hall, Tolosa Park in Glenorchy, Princess Theatre and Albert Hall both in Launceston,

Burnie Burnie is a port city on the north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. When founded in 1827, it was named Emu Bay, being renamed after William Burnie, a director of the Van Diemen's Land Company, in the early 1840s. , Burnie had an urban popu ...

Town Hall, Devonport Entertainment Centre, Wrest Point Entertainment Centre in Sandy Bay and the City Recital Hall in Sydney. Major sponsors of the Orchestra include

Hydro Tasmania Hydro Tasmania, known for most of its history as the Hydro-Electric Commission (HEC) or The Hydro, is the trading name of the Hydro-Electric Corporation, a Tasmanian Government business enterprise which is the predominant electricity generator i ...

, Bass and Equitable Building Society and the Hobart

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

. Amongst the orchestra's recordings are the complete works of

Ignaz Moscheles Isaac Ignaz Moscheles (; 23 May 179410 March 1870) was a Bohemian piano virtuoso and composer. He was based initially in London and later at Leipzig, where he joined his friend and sometime pupil Felix Mendelssohn as professor of piano at the ...

for piano and orchestra, for which the soloist and conductor was

Howard Shelley Howard Gordon Shelley (born 9 March 1950) is a British pianist and conductor. He was educated at Highgate School and the Royal College of Music. He was married to fellow pianist Hilary Macnamara (her death), with whom he has performed and recor ...

. The TSO has toured to Israel, Greece,

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, United States, Canada, China and Japan as well as widely throughout Australia. It won the 1996 Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award, and a documentary on

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...

's ''

Mother Goose The figure of Mother Goose is the imaginary author of a collection of French fairy tales and later of English nursery rhymes. As a character, she appeared in a song, the first stanza of which often functions now as a nursery rhyme. This, howeve ...

'', which featured the TSO, won the Best Biography Profile at the New York Festival International Television Programming Awards. With Trisha Crowe, Michael Falzon (

We Will Rock You "We Will Rock You" is a song written by Brian May and recorded by British rock band Queen for their 1977 album ''News of the World''. ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it number 330 of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004, and it placed at numbe ...

Amanda Harrison Amanda Harrison is an Australian actress and singer, known for her roles in ''Wicked'' (Elphaba), ''We Will Rock You'' ("Meat" understudy in the UK, and “Oz" understudy in Australia), and for originating the role of Paula Pokrifki in the worl ...

(Wicked);

Lucy Maunder Lucy Maunder, is an Australian cabaret and theatre performer. She originated the role of Lara in the Australian premiere of ''Doctor Zhivago'' opposite Anthony Warlow, and has toured with her own cabaret ''Songs in the Key of Black'', releasing ...

( Dr Zhivago), Andy Conaghan (Oklahoma!),

Jacqui Dark Jacqueline Lisa Dark (also Jacqueline Moran) is an Australian operatic mezzo-soprano. She was born in Ballarat and attended the Federation University Australia, University of Ballarat from 1986 to 1988, receiving a Bachelor of Science (Physics) ...

and

Toni Lamond Patricia Lamond Lawman AM (born 29 March 1932), professionally known as Toni Lamond, is an Australian vaudevillian, cabaret performer, singer, actress, dancer, and comedian. She has had a successful career spanning some 80 years, both locally ...

, the TSO recorded ''I Dreamed A Dream: The Hit Songs Of Broadway'' for

ABC Classics ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

, which was released on 21 June 2013. Falzon and Crowe joined TSO and conductor Guy Noble for ''TSO goes to Broadway'' on 20 (Hobart) and 22 (Launceston) June 2013. to coincide with the launch of the album.

Chief conductors

* Kenneth Murison Bourn (1962) * Thomas Matthews (1962–1968) * Thomas Mayer (1970–1974) *

Vanco Cavdarski Vanco may refer to: People * Marcel Vanco (:fr:Marcel Vanco, fr, :de:Marcel Vanco, de, :it:Marcel Vanco, it), French football player * Marek Vančo (born 1989), Czech handball player * Mark Vanco (born 1968), American designer and artist * Vančo M ...

(1974–1980) *

Barry Tuckwell Barry Emmanuel Tuckwell, (5 March 1931 – 16 January 2020) was an Australian French horn player who spent most of his professional life in the UK and the United States. He is generally considered to have been one of the world's leading horn p ...

(1980–1983)Live Performance Australia
/ref> *

Geoffrey Lancaster Geoffrey Lancaster (born 20 August 1954) is an Australian classical pianist and conductor. Born in Sydney, he was raised in Dubbo, New South Wales before moving to Canberra. He attended the Canberra School of Music where he studied piano with ...

Nicholas Braithwaite Nicholas Paul Dallon Braithwaite (born 26 August 1939, London)''International Who's Who In Classical Music'', 2003 Edition, p. 94 (Europa Publications Ltd., London, England) is an English conductor. He is the son of the conductor Warwick Brait ...

* Dobbs Franks (1989–1991) * David Porcelijn * Ola Rudner (2001–2003) *

Sebastian Lang-Lessing Sebastian Lang-Lessing (born 1966) is a German conductor. Career Lang-Lessing received the Ferenc Fricsay Award at age 24. He started his career at the Hamburg State Opera as an assistant conductor. He subsequently became resident conductor at ...

(2004–2011) *

Marko Letonja Marko Letonja (born 12 August 1961) is a Slovenian conductor. Biography Letonja studied piano and conducting at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, where his conducting teachers included Anton Nanut. He continued his conducting studies at the ...

(2012–2020) *

Eivind Aadland Eivind Aadland (born 19 September 1956) is a Norwegian conductor and violinist. He has been concert master of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. Aadland was Chief Conductor and Artistic Leader of the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra between 2004– ...

(2020–present)

Concertmasters

* Lionel Hickey (1948–1962) * Leon La Gruta * Wilfred Jones * William Hennessy

Barbara Jane Gilby
* Jun Yi Ma * Emma McGrath

Discography

Charting albums

Awards and nominations

APRA-AMC Classical Music Awards

The APRA-AMC Classical Music Awards are presented annually by

Australasian Performing Right Association APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwr ...

(APRA) and

Australian Music Centre The Australian Music Centre (AMC), formerly known briefly as Sounds Australian, is a national organisation promoting and supporting art music in Australia, founded in 1974. It co-hosts the Art Music Awards along with APRA AMCOS, and publishes '' ...

(AMC). , - , rowspan="2",

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, , ''Concerto for Guitar and Strings'' (

Ross Edwards Ross Edwards (born 1 December 1942) is a former Australian cricketer. Edwards played in 20 Test matches for Australia, playing against England, West Indies and Pakistan. He also played in nine One Day Internationals including the 1975 Crick ...

) –

Karin Schaupp Karin Schaupp (born 1972) is a German-born Australian classical guitarist. She has won APRA Music Awards and ARIA Music Awards. Early life Karin Schaupp was born in Hofheim am Taunus, Germany, in 1972. Her mother, Isolde Schaupp, was a teacher ...

, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Richard Mills (conductor) , , Orchestral Work of the Year , , , - , Australian Music Program 2004 – Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra , , Outstanding Contribution by an Organisation , , , - , rowspan="3",

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, , ''Blue Rags'' ( Ian Munro) – Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra , , Orchestral Work of the Year , , , - , ''Cello Dreaming Orchestral Version'' (

Peter Sculthorpe Peter Joshua Sculthorpe (29 April 1929 – 8 August 2014) was an Australian composer. Much of his music resulted from an interest in the music of countries neighboring Australia as well as from the impulse to bring together aspects of Aborigin ...

) – Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra , , Orchestral Work of the Year , , , - , ''Quamby'' (Peter Sculthorpe) – Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra , , Orchestral Work of the Year , , , - , rowspan="2",

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, , ''Tivoli Dances'' (

Graeme Koehne Graeme John Koehne (born 3 August 1956), is an Australian composer and music educator. He is best known for his orchestral and ballet scores, which are characterised by direct communicative style and embrace of tertian harmony. His orchestral t ...

) – Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Arvo Volmer (conductor) , , Orchestral Work of the Year , , , - , Australian Composers' School – Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra , , Outstanding Contribution to Australian Music in Education , , , - ,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, , ''Cantilena Pacifica'' (Richard Meale) – Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Erica Kennedy (violin), Richard Mills (conductor) , , Orchestral Work of the Year , , , - , rowspan="3",

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, , ''Tivoli Dances'' (Graeme Koehne) – Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Richard Mills (conductor) , , Orchestral Work of the Year , , , - , ''Palm Court Suite'' (Graeme Koehne) – Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Richard Mills (conductor) , , Orchestral Work of the Year , , , - , TSO Australian Composers' School – Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra , , Outstanding Contribution to Australian Music in Education , ,

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions of ...

. They commenced in 1987. ! , - ,

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, ''Vivaldi: The Four Seasons'' , rowspan="7" ,

Best Classical Album The Grammy Award for Best Classical Album was awarded from 1962 to 2011. The award had several minor name changes: *From 1962 to 1963, 1965 to 1972 and 1974 to 1976 the award was known as Album of the Year – Classical *In 1964 and 1977 it wa ...

, , rowspan="7" , ARIA Award previous winners. , - ,

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

, ''Peter Sculthorpe: The Fifth Continent'' (with David Porcelijn) , , - ,

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, ''Mozart Arias'' (with Niki Vasilakis &

Teddy Tahu Rhodes Teddy Tahu Rhodes (born 30 August 1966) is a New Zealand operatic baritone. Early life Rhodes was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, on 30 August 1966, to a British mother, Joyce, and a New Zealand father, Terrence Tahu Gravenor Rhodes. The Mao ...

) , , - ,

, ''Mendelssohn, Bruch, Ravel'' (with Niki Vasilakis &

) , , - ,

, ''Baroque Guitar Concertos'' (with

Slava Grigoryan Slava Grigoryan (born 1976) is an Australian classical guitarist and recording artist. He frequently collaborates and performs with his younger brother, fellow guitarist Leonard Grigoryan, performing as the Grigoryan Brothers. Early life He was ...

Benjamin Northey Benjamin Northey is an Australian conductor, musician and arranger. He has been Chief Conductor of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra in New Zealand, since 2015.2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, ''Mozart Arias'' (with

Emma Matthews Emma Matthews (née Lysons; born 1970) is an English-born Australian lyric coloratura soprano, noted for operatic roles, but also popular on the concert stage. A Principal Artist with Opera Australia, Matthews has received more Helpmann Awards ...

) , , - ,

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, ''Into Silence: Part, Vasks, Gorecki, Pelecis'' (with

Tamara Anna Cislowska Tamara-Anna Cislowska is an Australian concert pianist. She has performed across many countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, South America, Italy, Japan, Germany, Switzerland, Greece, The Netherlands and Poland, and has played w ...

Johannes Fritzsch Johannes Fritzsch (born Meissen, Germany, 1960) is a German conductor. Biography Fritzsch's father, a cantor and organist, was his first music teacher, in piano and organ. His brother Georg Fritzsch (born 1963) is also a conductor. His other br ...

) , , -

Notes

Other sources

*Catherine Hocking, Feature on the TSO, ABC Radio 24 Hours magazine, April 1998

External links

Tasmanian Symphony OrchestraSebastian Lang-Lessing
{{Authority control 1948 establishments in Australia APRA Award winners Australian orchestras Musical groups established in 1948 Organisations based in Tasmania Symphony orchestras Tourist attractions in Hobart

History

Chief conductors

Concertmasters

Discography

Charting albums

Awards and nominations

APRA-AMC Classical Music Awards

ARIA Music Awards

See also

Notes

Other sources

External links