Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
Encyclopedia
| Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra | |
| Established | 1948 |
| Ensemble Type | Symphony orchestra Orchestra An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus... |
| Chief Conductor | Sebastian Lang-Lessing |
| Concert Master | Jun Yi Ma |
| Location | Hobart Hobart Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as... , Tasmania Tasmania Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart... , 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... |
| Homepage | http://www.tso.com.au/ |
The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Hobart
Hobart
Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
, Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
, 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...
. It is the smallest of the six orchestras established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
(ABC).
Activities
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 PostJoseph Post
Joseph Mozart Post OBE was an Australian conductor and music administrator. He made an unrivalled contribution to the development of opera-conducting in Australia and was, in Roger Covell's words, the 'first Australian-born musician to excel in this genre'...
. The soloist was the Tasmanian-born pianist Eileen Joyce
Eileen Joyce
Eileen Alannah Joyce CMG was an Australian pianist whose career spanned more than 30 years. She lived in England in her adult years....
, who performed the Piano Concerto in A minor
Piano Concerto (Grieg)
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 among the most popular of all piano concerti.-Structure :The concerto is in three movements:...
by Edvard Grieg
Edvard Grieg
Edvard Hagerup Grieg was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is best known for his Piano Concerto in A minor, for his incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt , and for his collection of piano miniatures Lyric Pieces.-Biography:Edvard Hagerup Grieg was born in...
.
From 1973 to 1998 its home was the ABC Odeon, a renovated former cinema built in 1916 as a replica of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
's Strand Theater. It has now moved to the Federation Concert Hall
Hotel Grand Chancellor, Hobart
The Hotel Grand Chancellor is a twelve-storey hotel located on the waterfront of Hobart, Tasmania. The hotel opened in 1987 as the Sheraton and has since been taken over by the Grand Hotels International group. The Sheraton opened with 2 restaurants and 2 bars, however only 1 restaurant and 1 bar...
. In 1998, a 50th anniversary concert was held in the original venue, the Town Hall, under its then chief conductor David Porcelijn
David Porcelijn
David Porcelijn is a Dutch composer and conductor.David Porcelijn studied flute, composition and conducting at the Royal Conservatoire of Music in The Hague...
.
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.
It receives government funding from both the Tasmanian
Government of Tasmania
The form of the Government of Tasmania is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1856, although it has been amended many times since then...
and Australian government
Government of Australia
The Commonwealth of Australia is a federal constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 as a result of an agreement among six self-governing British colonies, which became the six states...
s. The Orchestra performs at a number of concert venues both in Tasmania and interstate, including Federation Concert Hall, Tolosa Park in Glenorchy
Glenorchy, Tasmania
Glenorchy is a business district and suburb in the northern part of greater Hobart, capital of the state of Tasmania, Australia. The land was originally used for agriculture but is now a largely suburban, working-class area...
, Princess Theatre and Albert Hall both in Launceston
Launceston, Tasmania
Launceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...
, Burnie
Burnie, Tasmania
- Sport :Australian rules football is popular in Burnie. The city's team is the Burnie Dockers Football Club in the Tasmanian State League.Rugby union is also played in Burnie. The local club is the Burnie Rugby Union Club. They are the current Tasmanian Rugby Union Statewide Division Two Premiers...
Town Hall, Devonport
Devonport, Tasmania
-Sport:The Devonport Football Club is an Australian Rules team competing in the Tasmanian Statewide League. The Devonport Rugby Club is a Rugby Union team competing in the Tasmanian Rugby Union Statewide League...
Entertainment Centre, Wrest Point Entertainment Centre in Sandy Bay
Sandy Bay, Tasmania
Sandy Bay is a suburb of the city of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, located immediately south of the central business district.The suburb is home to many large homes, and adjoins the waterfront Salamanca area and Battery Point. The suburb is known as one of the city's prestigious areas...
and the City Recital Hall in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. Major sponsors of the Orchestra include Hydro Tasmania
Hydro Tasmania
Hydro Tasmania, known for most of its history as The HEC, is the government owned enterprise which is the predominant electricity generator in the state of Tasmania, Australia...
, Bass and Equitable Building Society and the Hobart City Council
City council
A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...
.
Amongst the orchestra's recordings are the complete works of Ignaz Moscheles
Ignaz Moscheles
Ignaz Moscheles was a Bohemian composer and piano virtuoso, whose career after his early years was based initially in London, and later at Leipzig, where he succeeded his friend and sometime pupil Felix Mendelssohn as head of the Conservatoire.-Sources:Much of what we know about Moscheles's life...
for piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and orchestra, for which the soloist and conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
was Howard Shelley
Howard Shelley
Howard Gordon Shelley OBE is a British pianist and conductor. He was educated at Highgate School and the Royal College of Music...
.
The TSO has toured to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
and Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, as well as widely throughout Australia. It won the 1996 Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award, and a documentary on Maurice Ravel
Maurice Ravel
Joseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
's Mother Goose
Ma Mère l'Oye
Ma mère l'oye is a musical work by French composer Maurice Ravel.-Piano versions:Ravel originally wrote Ma mère l'oye as a piano duet for the Godebski children, Mimi and Jean, ages 6 and 7. Ravel dedicated this work for four hands to the children...
, which featured the TSO, won the Best Biography Profile at the New York Festival International Television Programming Awards.
Chief Conductors
- Kenneth Murison Bourn ( –1962)
- Thomas Matthews (1962–1968)
- Thomas MayerThomas MayerThomas Mayer is emeritus professor of economics at the University of California, Davis. He previously taught at West Virginia University, Notre Dame University, Michigan State University, and the University of California, Berkeley. He is known for his work in monetary policy and economic...
- Vanco Cavdarski (1974– )
- Barry TuckwellBarry TuckwellBarry Emmanuel Tuckwell AC, OBE , is an Australian horn player who has spent most of his professional life in the United Kingdom and the United States.- Early life and education :...
- Geoffrey LancasterGeoffrey LancasterGeoffrey Lancaster AM 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 Larry Sitsky...
- Nicholas BraithwaiteNicholas BraithwaiteNicholas Paul Dallon Braithwaite is an English conductor. He is the son of the conductor Warwick Braithwaite.Braithwaite studied at the Royal Academy of Music, at the Festival masterclasses in Bayreuth, and with Hans Swarowsky in Vienna. In the 1960s, Braithwaite was associate conductor of the...
- Dobbs Franks (1989–1991)
- David PorcelijnDavid PorcelijnDavid Porcelijn is a Dutch composer and conductor.David Porcelijn studied flute, composition and conducting at the Royal Conservatoire of Music in The Hague...
- Ola Rudner (2001–2003)
- Sebastian Lang-Lessing (2004–present)
- Marko Letonja (Starting 2012)
Concertmasters
- Lionel Hickey (1948–1962)
- Leon La Gruta
- Wilfred Jones
- William HennessyWilliam HennessyWilliam Hennessy is a violinist and concertmaster who has made hundreds of soloist appearances with Australian orchestras. In 2008, he became an Artist in Residence at the Australian National Academy of Music, with duties including performance, violin teaching, and the fostering and coaching of...
http://www.music.unimelb.edu.au/about/staff/hennessy.html - Barbara Jane Gilby
- Jun Yi Ma (Current concertmaster)
APRA-AMC Classical Music Awards
The APRA-AMC Classical Music AwardsAPRA Awards
The APRA Music Awards are several award ceremonies run in Australia and New Zealand by Australasian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually....
are presented annually by Australasian Performing Right Association
Australasian Performing Right Association
The Australasian Performing Right Association is a copyright collective representing New Zealand and Australian composers, lyricists and music publishers. The association's head offices located in Sydney Australia, and it has branch offices in Auckland, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth...
(APRA) and Australian Music Centre
Australian Music Centre
The Australian Music Centre fosters the development of an Australian music community by providing specialist support to its membership of performers, composers, sound artists, educators, students, and music specialists across Australia and throughout the world.The AMC is the Australian national...
(AMC).
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2005
APRA Awards of 2005
The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 2005 are a series of awards which include the APRA Music Awards, Classical Music Awards, and Screen Music Awards. The APRA Music Awards ceremony occurred on 30 May at the Sydney Four Seasons Hotel, they were presented by APRA and the...
|| Concerto for Guitar and Strings (Ross Edwards
Ross Edwards (composer)
Ross Edwards is an Australian composer of a wide variety of music including orchestral and chamber music, choral music, children's music, opera and film music. He is not to be confused with a British up and coming singer-songwriter of the same name.-Life:Ross Edwards was born in Sydney...
) – Karin Schaupp
Karin Schaupp
Karin Schaupp is a German-born Australian classical guitarist and actress.She was born in 1972 in Hofheim am Taunus, Germany, to a musical family. Her mother and principal teacher, Isolde Schaupp, was a teacher of guitar at the Conservatorium of Wiesbaden. Her father was an amateur pianist, and her...
, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Richard Mills
Richard Mills
Richard John Mills AM, DMus BA Qld, is an Australian conductor and composer. He currently works as Artistic Director of the West Australian Opera and Artistic Consultant with Orchestra Victoria...
(conductor) || Orchestral Work of the Year ||
|-
| Australian Music Program 2004 – Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra || Outstanding Contribution by an Organisation ||
|-
|rowspan="3"| 2006
APRA Awards of 2006
The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 2006 are a series of awards which include the APRA Music Awards, Classical Music Awards, and Screen Music Awards. The APRA Music Awards ceremony occurred on 5 June at the Sydney Four Seasons Hotel, they were presented by APRA and the...
|| Blue Rags (Ian Munro
Ian Munro (pianist)
Ian Munro is an Australian pianist, composer, writer and music educator. His career has taken him to over 30 countries in Europe, Asia, North America and Australasia.-Biography:...
) – Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra || Orchestral Work of the Year ||
|-
| Cello Dreaming Orchestral Version (Peter Sculthorpe
Peter Sculthorpe
Peter Joshua Sculthorpe AO OBE is an Australian composer. Much of his music has resulted from an interest in the music of Australia's neighbours as well as from the impulse to bring together aspects of native Australian music with that of the heritage of the West...
) – Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra || Orchestral Work of the Year ||
|-
| Quamby (Peter Sculthorpe) – Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra || Orchestral Work of the Year ||
|-
|rowspan="2"| 2007
APRA Awards of 2007
The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 2007 are a series of awards which include the APRA Music Awards, Classical Music Awards, and Screen Music Awards. The APRA Music Awards ceremony occurred on 16 June at the Sydney Hilton, they were presented by APRA and the Australasian...
|| Tivoli Dances (Graeme Koehne
Graeme Koehne
Graeme Koehne 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 triadic tonality...
) – 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
APRA Awards of 2008
The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 2008 are a series of awards which include the APRA Music Awards, Classical Music Awards, and Screen Music Awards. The APRA Music Awards ceremony occurred on 16 June at the Sydney Hilton, they were presented by APRA and the Australasian...
|| Cantilena Pacifica (Richard Meale) – Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Erica Kennedy (violin), Richard Mills (conductor) || Orchestral Work of the Year ||
|-
|rowspan="3"| 2009
APRA Awards of 2009
The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 2009 are a series of awards which include the APRA Music Awards, Classical Music Awards, and Screen Music Awards. The APRA Music Awards ceremony occurred on 23 June at the Peninsula in Melbourne, they were presented by APRA and the...
|| 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 ||
See also
- Symphony AustraliaSymphony Australia- Symphony Services International :Formerly Symphony Services Australia Limited , Symphony Services International has been orchestrating excellence for many years....
- Tasmanian Composers CollectiveTasmanian Composers CollectiveThe Tasmanian Composers Collective is the representative body for Composers born or living in Tasmania, Australia. It was founded in 2005 by Tasmanian composer and singer Matthew Dewey with the funding support of the Foundation for Young Australians...
- IHOS Music Theatre and OperaIHOS Music Theatre and OperaIHOS Music Theatre and Opera is a Tasmanian opera company was established in Hobart in 1990, by composer and artistic director Constantine Koukias, and production director Werner Ihlenfeld to create original music-theatre and opera works.-Major repertoire:...