The Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra begins its 2022 Concert Season with the Northern Serenades tour which will take the orchestra from Kenthurst, NSW (20 March) via Newcastle (22 March) and Sydney (23 March) to Brisbane (26 March) and, finally, Melbourne (29 March)

Northern Serenades is a dream come true for lovers of string music. In the late-19th century, the serenade was the vehicle for exquisite writing by some of the biggest names of the era, including Edward Elgar and Hugo Wolf. These relatively brief pieces, among them some very well-known works, are filled with tuneful music that highlights the expressive way that string players were performing at the time.

The Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra’s co-artistic director Rachael Beesley who will direct this program from the violin, is looking forward to reinvigorating the full expressive potential of this late-19th and early-20th century repertoire…

Sounds Like Sydney 23 March 2022

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“A unique brand of classical music will return to stages across Australia this year following the announcement of a $560,000 Federal Government grant by Federal Member for Fairfax, Ted O’Brien, who made the funding grant official at a morning tea and recital last week at the Peregian Springs ‘The Pool Cafe’. A group of talented young musicians from the Young Mannheim Symphonists, mentored by the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra performed for a small audience…

The Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra will use the funding boost to significantly expand their national tour in 2022 and build their education capacity.”

Coolum Advertiser, 19-25 January

“…The Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra received a $560,000 Federal Government grant, announced by Ted O’Brien MP at Peregian Springs on Tuesday.

The funding will allow the orchestra to expand its national tour and offer education and training to the next generation of musicians.

General Manager and Co-Artistic Director of the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra, Nicole van Bruggen said it would help the music industry bounce back from the impacts of COVID.

‘Freelance musicians and arts workers have been really struggling over the past two years,’ she said.

‘This announcement is not only going to put food on their table, it also acknowledges that small and agile organisations such as the Australian Romantic and Classical Orchestra are in a key position to pull the music industry out of the reality of this pandemic.’ …”

Sunshine Coast News, 12 January 2021

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“The Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra brings sweetness and light to its line-up with late-19th-century serenades from Elgar, Wolf and Holst (alongside a new arrangement of Robert Schumann’s Fantasiestücke by Shauna Beesley). The orchestra celebrates Vienna’s chamber music history with pieces by Eybler and Schubert, before an all-Mozart celebration later in the year. There’s even an Australian premiere of Michael Haydn’s Litaniae Lauretanae MH71 with The Vocal Consort and Australian Boys Choir.”

Paul Ballam-Cross, Limelight

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“The Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra has announced its 2022 season, which sees the HIP ensemble expand their geographical footprint, with mainstage performances in Brisbane and South Australia planned in addition to concerts in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and regional NSW, Victoria and Queensland.”

Hugh Robertson, Limelight

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“I really loved what you could do with this instrument: play chromatically, sustain notes via rolls, play the foundations of many chords orchestrally (or any part of a chord), produce thunderous energy and power as well as the gentlest of musical moments…”

Brian Nixon, Limelight

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⭐⭐⭐⭐

"The entire performance was charming."

"Greatest Mozart II featured two works, beginning with Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet in A, KV478. Nicole van Bruggen played a beautifully seductive, mellifluous basset clarinet, supported by Rachael Beesley and Anna McMichael on violins, with Simon Oswell on viola and Daniel Yeadon on cello."

Clinton White, Limelight

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"The slow second movement [of the Berwald Septet] allowed for some gorgeous clarinet and violin phrases, and the prestissimo really sparkled!"

Clive Lane, classikOn

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⭐⭐⭐ 1/2

"...an evening of romance and class."

"...the enthusiasm meter was set to high."

Steve Moffat, Limelight

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⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1/2

“It would be hard to imagine a more enjoyable program than the two pieces performed by members of the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra, chamber works by Beethoven and Franz Berwald.”

Vincent Plush, Limelight

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"The rich, lush sound of the full Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra, led from the fortepiano by Neal Peres Da Costa, brought a sense of triumphalism to the opening molto allegro movement, which gave way to an andante, at times suggesting a courtly dance."

Helen Musa, City News

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EIGHT MILE PLAINS, SALISBURY & MT GRAVATT STARS IN PRESTIGIOUS ORCHESTRA

An orchestra of Queensland’s most promising young musicians spent last week learning and playing together in Brisbane as part of the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra’s Young Mannheim Symphonists Queensland Intensive education program.

They included residents of Forest Lake, Ferny Grove, Ferny Hills, Taringa, Mt Gravatt, Salisbury, Highgate Hill, Carina Heights, Banyo, Upper Kedron, Clayfield, Eight Mile Plains, Victoria Point, Chapel Hill, Ashgrove, The Gap, Park Ridge, Tewantin, Tanawha and Peregian Springs.

The Southern Star (April 22, 2021)

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