Welcome back to the concert hall for the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra’s 2022 Concert Season!

The past two years have taught us a great many things, but what we have learned above all else is how deeply and profoundly we love performing with our dear friends and colleagues, and for you, our loyal friends and audience.

So it is with renewed enthusiasm and resolve that we present this series of concerts to INSPIRE, EDUCATE and ENLIGHTEN, with some of the most beautiful music ever composed, from the salons of Vienna to the stages of Tin Pan Alley, from the damnation of Don Giovanni to the celestial grandeur of Jupiter.

For the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra’s 2022 Concert Season, we are embarking again on a multi-state season with additional concerts and education programs to be announced throughout the year. Please visit our website regularly and subscribe to our mailing list to be kept up to date with our performances for audiences throughout metropolitan and regional New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and the ACT.

In addition to our main concert series, our education programs nurture and develop the next generation so that we may continue to offer historical perspectives and insights for many years to come. This year we are delighted to be presenting our informed performance education programs to students and emerging musicians in more states around the country than ever before. 

Our first program for 2022, Northern Serenades, brings you exquisite and expressive string music written in the late 19th century. Works by Elgar, Wolf and Holst are among their best-loved, while Victor Herbert’s Serenade for Strings is a neglected gem. And the richness of these pieces is complemented by Australian composer Shauna Beesley’s arrangement of Schumann’s Fantasiestücke for strings, commissioned for this tour and here receiving its world premiere.

In May, we are excited to collaborate with Australian Boys Choir, The Vocal Consort and conductor Nicholas Dinopoulos for Austrian Encounters to present some of the finest 19th-century choral repertoire in Melbourne and Geelong.

Sounds of Vienna then takes us into the early 1800s, when Vienna was the epicentre of the music world. This dynamic and vibrant culture is perfectly represented by Joseph Eybler’s sparkling Quintet, and Schubert’s mighty and beloved Octet, a towering piece of chamber music at its most ambitious. 

In August, we look to the Tempestuous Skies. Mozart’s Serenata Notturna was written for outdoor evening performance, with Jupiter, the subject of his final, great symphony, gazing down. Far from heavenly is the carnal and tempestuous Don Giovanni, though the music is sublime, as is the twenty-third Piano Concerto, here performed by Neal Peres Da Costa. 

Our warm thanks to everyone who continued to support us throughout 2021. Despite everything we were able to perform 23 of our 29 planned concerts for live audiences, and made huge strides in our digital offerings and further developing our education programs. Thank you to our incredibly generous donors, patrons and supporters, to our government funding bodies, and to all our presenting partners. We are hugely thankful for your support for enabling us to continue to inspire, educate and enlighten.   

We cannot wait to see you back in the concert hall for our 2022 season!

Onwards and upwards,

Rachael Beesley & Nicole van Bruggen
Co-Artistic Directors
Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra