News
Asia-Pacific Orchestral Librarians’ Summit 2014
Just a couple of weeks after world leaders descended on Brisbane for the G20 Summit, orchestral librarians from around Australia and overseas convened for the Asia-Pacific Orchestral Librarians’ Summit 2014 on the 29th of November. The day-long event was hosted by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra at the ABC Building in South Bank and was attended […]
A thriving Artist Development program – what really counts?
I have been involved in the Artist Development endeavours of the six professional Australian symphony orchestras (known as ‘the network’) since Symphony Australia was created out of ABC Concerts, the national broadcaster’s concert division, in 1997. During those 17 years I have observed the network’s commitment to furthering the careers of countless Australian conductors, composers […]
Sydney Symphony Orchestra
The SSO has evolved into one of the world’s finest orchestras as Sydney has become one of the world’s great cities.
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2015 YPA applications closed!
Applications for the 2015 YPA are now closed. Good luck!
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Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
TSO is a much loved cultural institution and 'a source of pride' to 90% of Tasmanians.
Orchestras in our time and place: the League of American Orchestras’ conference, Seattle, 2014
League of American Orchestras conferences are inspirational affairs. It’s not just the wealth of sessions or the chance to hear orchestras and ensembles you might not otherwise hear; it’s the chance to run into colleagues, including former employees of Australian orchestras who now work, say, in Atlanta or Dallas. Mostly, it’s those moments sitting in […]
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The orchestral business model – that’s no way to run a business!
In recent years there has been much discussion of the orchestral business model. What is the view from the UK? Mark Pemberton, Director of the Association of British Orchestras, offers his perspective. The permanent orchestra season has, as usual, been financially a bad one all over the country. There is always a deficit, which public-spirited […]
2014 YPA Finals. Winner announced!
Grace Clifford wins the 2014 ABC Symphony Australia Young Performer of the year.
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2014 YPA Finals. Chamber Music round results announced!
Three finalists selected to proceed to the next stage.
2014 YPA Finals. Recital round results announced!
Six finalists selected to proceed to the next stage.
Annual Report 2013
Download a copy of Symphony Australia’s Annual Report for 2013.
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Performance and new media licensing in Australia and New Zealand
by Scot Morris APRA/AMCOS (Australasian Performing Right Association and The Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society) Scot Morris: Thank you for the invitation to come and speak to you all, I feel a little bit like I’m here under false pretences. My role at APRA is Director of International, so essentially I’m in charge of all […]
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Queensland Symphony Orchestra
Each year, the QSO delivers over 100 extraordinary musical experiences to people of all ages.
Score reading in Studio City – Getting ‘under the hood’
The cabaret room of Vitello’s in Studio City (the same suburb where Mack Sennett built his film lot in 1927; where The Brady Bunch lived in the early 1970s) is not the sort of place you’d expect to find composer activity on a Friday morning. But once a month, of a Friday, 50+ LA composers […]
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Young Performers Awards 2014 gets underway
Preliminary auditions for YPA 2014 are now in full swing.
Professional Development Report
Miranda Cass from the QSO reports on her residency with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. For the full report l click on the link below. Miranda Cass QSO
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Professional Development Report
Nina Dubecki from the MSO reports on her participation in the Essentials of Orchestra Management 2013 program hosted by the League of American Orchestras in New York City. For the full report click on the link below. Nina Dubecki MSO
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Professional Development Report
Anna Melville from the MSO reports on her time at the Association of British Orchestras conference in Leeds and her secondment with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. For the full report click on the link below. Anna Melville MSO.final
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Professional Development Report
Alexis Aitken reports on her time with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and London Philharmonic Orchestra. For the full report click on the link below. Alexis Aitken TSO
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Professional Development Report
Ilmar Leetberg from the SSO reports on his participation in the Communication Law and Policy Workshop at the European Communication Research and Education Conference in Munich. For the full report click on the link below. Ilmar Leetberg SSO
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Professional Development Report
Sophie Emery from the ASO reports on her time with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. For the full report click on the link below. Sophie_Emery_ASO_final
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Professional Development Report
Kate Sewell from the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra reports on her time at the 2012 National PRIA Conference. For the full report clink on the link below. Kate Sewell ASO
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Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
They started as a radio ensemble in 1936. Today they play to international acclaim.
Orchestra Manager – ABO
Wanted! Apply for the rewarding position of Orchestra Manager at the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra.
A musical kick-start – reflections on YPA and music competitions
The ABC Symphony Australia Young Performers Awards can justly claim to be the highest profile competition for Australian musicians. Having started out in 1944 as an annual, state-based concerto competition for young performers, it boasts a long and rich history and has helped launch the careers of some of Australia’s most outstanding musical talents. Overseas […]
2013 YPA Finals. Recital round results announced!
Six finalists selected to perform Chamber recitals at Iwaki Auditorium.
Will Bruckner survive the 21st century? Should he?
Orchestras and the quest for relevance. Thank you, Kate, and a special thank you to each of you for your flexibility. Scheduling this presentation has been an enormous challenge and I am really grateful for the opportunity to be here today. This is my second visit to Australia in as many months after never having […]
The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra
The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra brings to life original baroque and early classical masterpieces.
Inside Conducting by Christopher Seaman
What does a conductor do? Conductor Development course director Christopher Seaman's witty new book tells all.
2014 Conductor Development Program
Applications for the 2014 Conductor Development Program are now open!
Annual Report 2012
Download the Symphony Services International Annual Report for 2012 .
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2013 Orchestral Summit
In August 2013, Symphony Services International will be hosting the 2013 Orchestral Summit for Member and Associate orchestras. Our guest speakers this year will be Brent Assink (Executive Director, San Francisco Symphony) and Joseph LaPosta (State Operating and Major Projects Manager, AFL NSW/ACT). Their biographies appear below. Keynote addresses and workshops will be presented on […]
Melbourne Chamber Orchestra
MCO has a core of string players drawn from Melbourne’s outstanding community of orchestral artists.
The Problem of Popularity
by James Koehne When Donald Mitchell set out to write an appreciation of Malcolm Arnold in 1977, he felt compelled to rescue the composer from the ‘curse of popularity’. Even in his symphonies, Arnold’s music indulges in big, beautiful tunes, and this, Mitchell points out, ‘gives rise to suspicions that we’re being seduced by something […]
2013 Finalists announced!
12 young performers have been selected to proceed to the Finals for the 2013 ABC Symphony Australia Young Performers Awards.
2013 Symphony Australia TSO Composers’ School
Applications for the 2013 Symphony Australia TSO Composers' School (October 14-18) are now open.
Orchestra Victoria
Orchestra Victoria makes a significant contribution to the vibrant cultural identity of Victoria
Katerina Nazarova wins 2012 YPA!
Katerina Nazarova wins the 2012 ABC Symphony Australia Young Performers Awards.
Offal? There was plenty of heart and brains on display
ABC Symphony Australia Young Performers Awards 2012 At first glance you could be forgiven for failing to see the common link between the three 2012 ABC Symphony Australia Young Performers Awards string finalists. Katerina Nazarova (27), an Australian expat living and working in London, Anna Da Silva Chen (15) a Sydney high-school student, and Shane […]
2012 ABC Symphony Australia YPA Grand Final
The winners of each category will now compete in the Grand Final
YPA Stage 3 Strings Final Winner
Katerina Nazarova wins the Stage 3 Strings Final in the 2012 ABC Symphony Australia YPA
Annual Report 2011
Download the Symphony Services International Annual Report for 2011. Part 1 (Report)Part 2 (Financial)
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2012 ABC Symphony Australia YPA
2012 ABC Symphony Australia Young Performers Awards Stage III finalists announced!
An international participant’s view of the 2012 Conducting Summer School
It was a timely coincidence that, a few days only after graduating from the conducting course at the Royal Academy of Music in London, I received an email from the department describing the various mastercourses organised by Symphony Services International and specifying that these were open, for the first time, to international students like myself. […]
2012 Conductor Development Summer School
It was an extremely hot January day in Hobart that saw the coming together of eight of Australia’s and one of Europe’s most promising young conductors, to attend the inaugural Symphony Services International Conducting Summer School. Christopher Seaman, director of SSI’s Conductor Development program, was the teacher for the two weeks, and the Tasmanian Symphony […]
Can conducting be taught?
You cannot train anybody to be a conductor, and I will say until my dying day, conductors are born and not made. - Sir John Barbirolli A technique of conducting does exist and can be learnt and practised down to its smallest details before a student first attempts to conduct an orchestra. - Hermann Scherchen […]
2011 Orchestral Summit in Melbourne
On 2-3 November 2011, Symphony Services International hosted its second annual Orchestral Summit in Melbourne. Featuring guest speakers Paul Hogle (Executive Vice President, Detroit Symphony Orchestra) and Frankie Airey (Director, Philanthropy Squared), the event was a great success. Read below for various reports on sections of the Summit, and to view the PowerPoint presentations by […]
2011 ABC Symphony Australia YPA winner
Nicholas Russoniello wins the Young Performers Awards with the Yoshimatsu Saxophone Concerto "Cyber-bird"
Canberra Symphony Orchestra
In 2012 the Canberra Symphony Orchestra (CSO) celebrates 62 years in our nation’s capital.
Annual Report 2010
Annual Report 2010.pdf (1.8mb) Click to download a copy of Symphony Services Australia’s Annual Report for 2010.
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The Podium #3
The April 2011 issue of The Podium (issue #3) contains the following items: Associate Profile: the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra Surtitles – about our new service for surtitling Top tip: applying for an Australia Council grant A Heritage Worthy of Revival – Australia’s forgotten music – by Rhoderick McNeill Foreign Correspondence – East side story […]
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East Side Story
Gordon Kalton Williams writes from San Francisco You’d almost expect musical innovation in the East Bay area of San Francisco. Harry Partch, who conceived music with 43 tones to the octave, was born in Oakland in 1901 and, though a hobo for much of his life, regarded the Oakland/East Bay area as his preferred stomping […]
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A Heritage Worthy of Revival – Australia’s forgotten music
by Rhoderick McNeill None of Australia’s important composers have captured the national imagination like our sporting heroes. They are not commemorated on Australian postage stamps or our money. Nevertheless, in recent years it has been possible to hear and purchase commercial recordings of the major Australian orchestral works of our time, including music by Sculthorpe, […]
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The Podium #2
In the second edition of the Podium (December 2010): The Accidental Necessity: ABC involvement with the Australian orchestras – by David Garrett 10% – 25% discount on hire of Symphony Services Music Library top 20s Associate Profile: Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra Symphony Services Music Library announces new hire charges for 2011 – better value than ever […]
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Associate Profile: Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra
Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra (APO) is the resident orchestra of New Zealand’s biggest city, and has achieved iconic status in its 30 year history. The orchestra was formed in 1980 when 19 players from the collapsed Symphonia of Auckland founded a cooperatively-run orchestra. APO is now supported by Creative New Zealand, the ratepayers of Auckland, The […]
The Accidental Necessity: ABC involvement with the Australian orchestras – by David Garrett
Australia now has six fully-professional symphony orchestras, all of whom are Members of Symphony Services International, but their existence was not inevitable. So how did it happen? David Garrett looks at the early history and the role of some visionaries. There was no historical necessity that a broadcasting organisation, the Australian Broadcasting Commission (as it […]
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Summit Summaries
One of the key benefits that Symphony Services International offers to its Associates and Members is annual Summits. These are get-togethers of similar people from within professional orchestras across Australia and the region. In 2010 we hosted three Summits - for orchestral librarians, Chief Executives and Artistic Administrators.
The Podium #1
The podium is our newsletter - the inaugural edition features Death and Transfiguration (the prognosis for classical music)
Oliver She wins 2010 young performers award final
New associate: Philharmonia Taiwan
Become a member of the Symphony International Family
Top Tip: what to consider when sourcing music
...and much more! Click the heading to view.
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Consultancy brokerage service
Symphony Services International introduces its Consultancy Brokerage service.
Institute of Musical Research, University of London – David Garrett
From 1-3 July 2010, our colleague David Garrett attended a conference hosted by the Institute of Musical Research, University of London, titled The Symphony Orchestra as Cultural Phenomenon. David kindly agreed to provide us with a report on the sessions he attended. The full program of the conference can be accessed at: http://music.sas.ac.uk/imr-events/imr-conferences-colloquia-performance-events/the-symphony-orchestra-as-cultural-phenomenon.html#c1420 David presented […]
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Annual Report 2009
Annual Report 2009 Download a copy of Symphony Australia’s Annual Report for 2009.
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Professional Development Report