New blood and big hitters like Vengerov will help Queensland Symphony Orchestra celebrate its 70th anniversary in 2017.

Incoming Music Director of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra Alondra de la Parra has announced her first programme and revealed a daring double act into the bargain that should keep fans of the orchestra happy throughout 2017. Joining the acclaimed Mexican conductor for her inaugural season will be violinist Maxim Vengerov, who thrilled Queenslanders with his Sibelius last year, as the orchestra’s Artist-in-Residence.

^{Maxim Vengerov: QSO’s new Artist-in-Residence}

The Russian virtuoso is just one of a roster of top-flight artists headed for Brisbane next year to celebrate the QSO’s 70th year of music making in an artistic line-up that has a bit of theme about it. “Heroes of all kinds have provided rich and necessary sources of inspiration for the great composers,” says de la Parra. “During my first year as Music Director, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra presents some of the finest heroes in symphonic music, with masterpieces such as Mahler’s Titan, Berlioz’s Harold and Tchaikovsky’s Manfred to Wagner’s Tannhäuser, Strauss’s autobiographical Ein...