Season Preview 2020

The Queensland Symphony Orchestra has announced its 2020 season. With Alondra de la Parra’s three-year contract as Music Director coming to a close at the end this year, QSO joins the Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide Symphony orchestras in operating without a permanent artistic leader lined up.

“We’re in a slow search mode,” the orchestra’s Director of Artistic Planning, Timothy Matthies, tells Limelight. “It’s something that the management and the board are working with the orchestra on – it’s going to be a couple of years.”

In the interim, De la Parra has left her mark on the QSO. “One of the things that she’s really brought is a diversity of programming and types of conductors and soloists to the orchestra, and we thought that was really important to continue,” Matthies says.

The QSO, like all the major orchestras, is getting in on the Beethoven birthday celebrations. For Matthies, it was about “fresh voices” and that approach is typified by the orchestra’s season opener, which features a performance of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto by “three outstanding young Australian musicians”.

Emily Sun, Rising StarEmily...