The Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) is an Australian orchestra focused on

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

based in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

History

The Australian Chamber Orchestra was founded by cellist John Painter in 1975.Verghis, Sharon
"Bach with more bite pays off"
''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'', 2 September 2005. Richard Tognetti was appointed lead violin in 1989 and subsequently appointed

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogu ...

. As well as frequent Australian tours, the Sydney-based Australian Chamber Orchestra often tours Asia, Europe and the US, including regular performances at London's

Wigmore Hall The Wigmore Hall is a concert hall at 36 Wigmore Street, in west London. It was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt and opened in 1901 as the Bechstein Hall; it is considered to have particularly good building acoustics, acoustics. It specialis ...

, New York City's

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

and

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

, Vienna's

Musikverein The ( or ; ), commonly shortened to , is a concert hall in Vienna, Austria, which is located in the Innere Stadt district. The building opened in 1870 and is the home of the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra. The acoustics of the building's 'Grea ...

and Washington's

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

. The ACO is the only frequently touring Australian musical ensemble internationally. In 2014 an album of the orchestra, featuring the American soprano Dawn Upshaw as soloist, won three

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

. The orchestra appears in the films ''Musical Renegades'' and ''Musica Surfica'' and the television series ''Classical Destinations'' series two. In 2005, ACO Collective, a second ensemble combining emerging artists and Australian Chamber Orchestra musicians was formed as a training and regional touring orchestra. The ACO musicians perform on a collection of ten Golden Age string instruments, including three

Stradivarius A Stradivarius is one of the string instruments, such as violins, violas, cellos, and guitars, crafted by members of the Stradivari family, particularly Antonio Stradivari (Latin: Antonius Stradivarius), in Cremona, Italy, during the late 17th ...

violins. Richard Tognetti performs on a 1743 Guarneri del Gesù violin, on loan from an anonymous benefactor. Principal violin Satu Vänskä performs on the 1726 Belgiorno Stradivarius on loan from Guido and Michelle Belgiorno-Nettis, Principal cello Timo-Veikko Valve performs on a 1616 Amati cello on loan from the ACO Instrument Fund and principal violin Helena Rathbone plays a 1732 Stradivarius violin on loan from an anonymous benefactor. In 2021, the orchestra was described as " extremely online".

Awards and nominations

AIR Awards

The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as

AIR Awards The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. History The inaugural 2006 awards were held at Blacket Hot ...

) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. ! , - ,

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, ''Brahms: Symphonies 3 & 4 Ensemble Offspring – Songbirds'' (with Richard Tognetti) , Best Independent Classical Album or EP , , , - ,

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, ''River'' (with Richard Tognetti) , Best Independent Classical Album or EP , , , - ,

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, ''Beethoven'' (with Richard Tognetti) , Best Independent Classical Album or EP , , , - , rowspan="1",

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

, ''Memoir of a Snail'' , Best Independent Classical Album or EP , , rowspan="1", , -

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions o ...

. They commenced in 1987. ! , - ,

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

, ''Mozart in Delphi'' , rowspan="8", Best Classical Album , , rowspan="8", ARIA Award previous winners. , - ,

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

, ''Janáček: Kreutzer Sonata for Strings, Barber: Adagio for Strings, Walton: Sonata for Strings'' (with Richard Tognetti) , , - , rowspan="2",

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, ''Mendelssohn: Octet in E-flat for Strings, Op. 20; Sinfonia No. 9 in C. Swiss'' (with Richard Tognetti) , , - , ''Symphony Serenades and Suites'' (with Richard Tognetti) , , - , rowspan="2",

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, ''Peter Sculthorpe: Music for Strings'' , , - , ''Spirit'' , , - ,

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, ''Il Tramonto – The Sunset'' , , - ,

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, ''Beethoven Violin Concerto & Mozart Symphony No. 40'' (with Richard Tognetti) , , - ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, ''Musical Renegades'' , Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album , , ARIA Award previous winners. , - ,

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, ''Bach Violin Concertos'' (with Richard Tognetti) , rowspan="5", Best Classical Album , , rowspan="5", , - ,

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, ''Classical Destinations II'' , , - ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, ''Mozart Violin Concertos'' (with Richard Tognetti & Christopher Moore) , , - ,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, ''Mozart Violin Concertos Vol 2'' (with Richard Tognetti) , , - ,

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, ''Mozart's Last Symphonies'' (with Richard Tognetti) , , - ,

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, ''Mountain'' (with Richard Tognetti) , Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album , , , - ,

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, ''Heroines'' (with Richard Tognetti) , rowspan="1", Best Classical Album , , , - ,

, ''River'' (with Richard Tognetti) , Best Original Soundtrack or Musical Theatre Cast Album , , , - ,

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, ''Indies & Idols'' (with Richard Tognetti) , Best Classical Album , , , - ,

, ''Beethoven Symphonies 1, 2 & 3 'Eroica (with Richard Tognetti) , Best Classical Album , , , -

References

External links

* {{Authority control ARIA Award winners Australian orchestras Chamber orchestras Musical groups established in 1975 Arts organizations established in 1975