Melbourne Digital Concert Hall, the brainchild of co-directors Chris Howlett and Adele Schonhardt, raised $35,000 for musicians in its first fortnight and just a week later it had banked a remarkable total of $80,000. Now, the live streaming initiative that aims to help sustain local artists whose livelihoods have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, has announced Faces Of Our Orchestras, an eight-day celebration of Melbourne’s symphonic ensembles.

“With the closure of Hamer Hall, the State Theatre and Melbourne Recital Centre, as well as schools and smaller venues, all orchestral musicians have been affected, no matter which chair they sit in,” says Howlett. “This festival enables us to showcase those artists who perform on stage and in the pit – the concertmasters and tutti players – as well as instrumental combinations that aren’t so regularly heard.”

Led by a trio of concertmasters – Sophie Rowell, Dale Barltrop and Yi Wang – the 14 chamber music concerts, which run from May 1 to May 8, will feature the combined talents of players from Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria and Melbourne Chamber Orchestra.

Concertmasters Yi Wang, Sophie Rowell and Dale Barltrop

“There is such a...