Orchestra Victoria celebrates 50 years

By Alex Dalziel

Orchestra Victoria’s year-long anniversary celebrations continue next month with a new show coming to Joan Hammond Hall on Southbank Boulevard on October 5.

The 50th anniversary celebration music series, called Five at 5, features five different chamber music events, which started in March earlier this year.

The latest performance, Grand Septet, will debut on October 5. The show will feature Kreutzer’s Grand Septet in E flat Major, Op.62, Hindson’s Light Music for Wind Quintet and Shostakovich’s Two Pieces for String Octet.

Orchestra Victoria’s artistic director Nicolette Fraillon said that the concert would offer patrons the perfect end to a Saturday afternoon, or entrée for an evening post-show.

“We are delighted to invite everybody into Orchestra Victoria’s Southbank rehearsal venue. Bearing the name of one of Australia’s foremost opera singers, it is a fitting space for the orchestra, which often accompanied her, to now use as rehearsal and performance space,” she said.

“It is a lovely and intimate space and, as the orchestra for all Victorians, we look forward to opening the doors and inviting everyone to experience the power and joy of the finest music making.”

Later this year on December 21 Orchestra Victoria will deliver its final performance of the series, Corelli’s Christmas.

The Christmas concerto will feature Corellli’s Concerto gross in G minor Op.6 No.8, Kats-Chernin’s Redgum Suite for Trumpet, Trombone and Double Bass and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition arranged for Wind Quintet.

Tickets are available online via  eventbrite.com.au