Sweet symphony set to serenade travellers at Brisbane Airport
Passengers travelling through Brisbane Airport (BNE) may find themselves serenaded by members of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra (QSO), which will be taking up the baton as BNE’s next Artist-in-Residence from today.
BNE is the first airport in Australia to have an Artist-in-Residence program which was launched last year and QSO will follow realist painter Robert Brownhall, its first Artist-in-Residence, who created a series of works featuring different views of the airport, from passenger to aircraft and incredible landscape views.
Brisbane Airport has long been a champion of the arts across Queensland, as a major investor in projects and organisations from music and theatre to ballet, exhibitions and festivals, and has commissioned dozens of works for one of the biggest and most significant collections of public art in Australia valued at more than $10 million.
Julieanne Alroe, Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) CEO and Managing Director, said the Artist-in-Residence program aims to do more than entertain travellers as they pass through the terminals.
“There’s a growing awareness of Brisbane as a city dedicated to the arts, and Queensland as a cultural destination, and we want to add momentum to that.
“We are extremely lucky to have an abundance of creative artists and performers in our own backyard and, through our Artist-in-Residence program, we’re able to showcase these talents to a broader audience and hopefully inspire visitors to our city and indeed locals to take a closer look at what Queensland has to offer,” Ms Alroe said.
Queensland Symphony Orchestra is renowned for its performances of both classical and modern compositions that engage audiences of all musical tastes, interests and ages.
As the largest performing arts company in Queensland and the State’s only professional symphony orchestra, QSO plays a significant role in the development of a world-class arts environment across the state.
QSO Interim Chief Executive Rodney Phillips, said the QSO musicians were thrilled to perform for Queensland locals and visitors alike at Brisbane Airport.
“The experience of hearing orchestral music live is like the anticipation people feel at an airport – there’s the excitement of new places and new sounds as well as the memories and warm embrace of family, much like the feeling you get when you hear favourite pieces of music.
“We hope our airport performances will encourage people to take full advantage of Queensland’s vibrant cultural landscape when they are visiting,” Mr Phillips said.
During the residency the QSO will undertake six ‘pop-up’ performances in the international and domestic terminals, with three of these performances taking place before the end of the year.
As part of this partnership, BAC is also a presenting partner of the QSO Family Concert Peter & the Wolf on Sunday 23 October at The Courier-Mail Piazza, South Bank.
QSO’s family shows are the perfect introduction to classical music. A truly wonderful musical adventure, Prokofiev’s enchanting
Peter and the Wolf is a light-hearted symphony that tells the story of courageous Peter and his animal friends outwitting a fierce Wolf. The true heroes of this tale however are the instruments, with the strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion each representing different characters in the story.
QSO musicians in attached images are:
Higher res images available on request.