The Sydney University Symphony Orchestra (SUSO) is the premier

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

on the main campus of the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

History

Sydney University Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1948 by Donald Peart, and was known as the Pro Musica Orchestra until 1990. It is currently made up of around 80 musicians from all faculties across the university. The orchestra's home venue is the neo-gothic

Great Hall A great hall is the main room of a royal palace, castle or a large manor house or hall house in the Middle Ages. It continued to be built in the country houses of the 16th and early 17th centuries, although by then the family used the great cha ...

in the university's sandstone Quadrangle. The orchestra is currently conducted by Luke Spicer. SUSO is part of the

University of Sydney Union The University of Sydney Union (USU) is Australia's largest independent student-led member organisation located at University of Sydney in Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia. The current iteration of USU formed in 1972, as an amalgamation ...

's Clubs & Societies program and is run by a committee of twelve students. It receives funding from the University of Sydney Union as well as donations from the public. The current president is Julian van Gerwen (French horn) and vice-president is Marcus Paxton (flute). Their concert season features four concerts each year, and, through a long-standing connection with the university's Arts Unit, the orchestra has been privileged to perform works by leading Australian composers, including Anne Boyd, Ross Edwards,

Peter Sculthorpe Peter Joshua Sculthorpe (29 April 1929 – 8 August 2014) was an Australian composer. Much of his music resulted from an interest in the music of countries neighbouring Australia as well as from the impulse to bring together aspects of Aborigi ...

Matthew Hindson Matthew John Hindson AM (born 12 September 1968) is an Australian composer. Biography Matthew Hindson was born in Wollongong, New South Wales, in 1968. He studied composition at the Universities of Sydney and Melbourne with composers including ...

and Gordon Hamilton. In the past, SUSO has also performed with well known soloists, including Gershwin's ''

Rhapsody in Blue ''Rhapsody in Blue'' is a 1924 musical composition for solo piano and jazz band by George Gershwin. Commissioned by bandleader Paul Whiteman, the work combines elements of classical music with jazz-influenced effects and premiered in a concer ...

'' with

Kathryn Selby Kathryn Shauna Selby AM (born 1962) is an Australian classical pianist. She is often known as Kathy Selby. Biography She grew up in Sydney. She entered the Sydney Conservatorium of Music at the age of seven, studying under Nancy Salas. She ...

, Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 with

Gerard Willems Gerard Willems AM (born Gerardus Maria Willems; 19 August 1946) is a Dutch- Australian classical pianist and teacher. He was the first Australian pianist to record the complete series of 32 piano sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven. He also r ...

, Dvořák's

Cello Concerto A cello concerto (sometimes called a violoncello concerto) is a concerto for solo cello with orchestra or, very occasionally, smaller groups of instruments. These pieces have been written since the Baroque era if not earlier. However, unlike instru ...

with Timo-Veikko Valve, Richard Strauss' Horn Concerto No. 1 with Julian Leslie, Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 (Bruch) with Katherine Lukey, and

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

's , Op. 86, with Robert Johnson, Andrew London, Jack Stephens and Lotti Ropert. Previous conductors include Simon Kenway, Nicholas Routley, Simon Thew,

Ben Macpherson Bennett William Macpherson is an Australian conductor who received a Medal of the Order of Australia in 2002 for his services to music as a conductor and choirmaster. Early life Macpherson was originally a student member of the Perth Unive ...

OAM, Romano Crevici, Phillip Chu, Gareth Tilley, Colin Piper and George Ellis.

Previous concerts

In 2006, SUSO performed with the Sydney University Musical Society (SUMS) for

's farewell concert. It featured Mendelssohn's ''Elijah'' and was broadcast on

2MBS 2MBS Fine Music Sydney (ACMA callsign: 2MBS) is a Sydney music radio station operated by the Music Broadcasting Society of New South Wales Co-Operative Limited. Launched on 15 December 1974, it is Australia's first fully licensed FM radio stat ...

. In 2009, SUSO again collaborated with SUMS to perform Carl Orff's ''

Carmina Burana ''Carmina Burana'' (, Latin for "Songs from Benediktbeuern" 'Buria'' in Latin is a manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century. The pieces are mostly bawdy, irreveren ...

''. In 2011, SUSO provided orchestral accompaniment to The Church for the band's thirtieth anniversary concert, "A Psychedelic Symphony", at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...

. In 2012 SUSO combined with the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

Symphony Orchestra to perform Mahler's Symphony No. 1. In 2014, SUSO joined forces with the Sydney University Musical Society (SUMS) and the Sydney University Wind Orchestra (SUWO) to present the University of Sydney Union Music Showcase in the Great Hall. This event was the first of its kind, in which all three of the university's premier musical ensembles presented a joint concert. In this concert, SUSO performed Beethoven's

Coriolan Overture The ''Coriolan Overture'' (), Op. 62, is a composition written by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1807 for Heinrich Joseph von Collin's 1804 tragedy ''Coriolan''. The overture was premiered in March 1807 at a private concert in the home of Joseph Fr ...

, Gabriel Fauré's ''

Pavane The ''pavane'' ( ; , ''padovana''; ) is a slow processional dance common in Europe during the 16th century (Renaissance). The pavane, the earliest-known music for which was published in Venice by Ottaviano Petrucci, in Joan Ambrosio Dalza's ...

'',

's ''RPM'' and Hector Berlioz's "Marche au supplice". In 2015, SUSO reprised Mendelssohn's ''Elijah'', again as a collaboration with SUMS performed at the Verbrugghen Concert Hall. In 2016, SUSO performed Saint-Saëns' '' Symphony No. 3 "avec orgue"'' at the University of Sydney Great Hall, featuring

Rudolf von Beckerath Rudolf von Beckerath (19 February 1907 – 22 November 1976) was a German master organ builder. He was born in Munich, to the painter Willy von Beckerath, but grew up in Hamburg, where his family moved the year he was born. He initially pu ...

's 1972 organ. In 2017, SUSO opened their season with Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 4 at

Christ Church St Laurence Christ Church St Laurence is an Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican church (building), church located at 814 George Street, Sydney, George Street, near Central railway station, Sydney, Central railway station and Haymarket, in City of Sydney, ...

, and, in June that year, commissioned a work from Australian composer Gordon Hamilton, premiering ''Age of the Universe'' in the second concert. Along with other works such as Dvořák's

Slavonic Dances The ''Slavonic Dances'' () are a series of 16 orchestral pieces composed by Antonín Dvořák in 1878 and 1886 and published in two sets as Op. 46 and Op. 72 respectively. Originally written for piano four hands, the ''Slavonic Dances' ...

, Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 and Richard Wagner's Overture to ''Rienzi'', the year also included the young emerging composer Nicholas D'Silva's new work ''Lux Aeterna'', which the orchestra premiered in their highlight concert in October. This concert featured combined performances with Sydney University Musical Society, culminating in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 "Choral" at Verbrugghen Hall. In 2018, SUSO collaborated with the University of Sydney to present the World War I centenary performance of Karl Jenkins' ''

The Armed Man ''The Armed Man'' is a Mass by Welsh composer Karl Jenkins, subtitled "A Mass for Peace". The piece was commissioned by the Royal Armouries Museum for the Millennium celebrations, to mark the museum's move from London to Leeds, and it was ded ...

''. Alongside this end-of-year concert, SUSO performed throughout the year, with works such as Smetana's "

Moldau Moldau is a German name for: *the Vltava river in the Czech Republic * Moldava (Teplice District), a municipality and village in the Czech Republic *"Vltava The Vltava ( , ; ) is the longest river in the Czech Republic, a left tributary of the ...

" from ''Má vlast'', Dvořák's Symphony No. 7, Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 with Clemens Leske, Sibelius' Symphony No. 3, Beethoven's Symphony No. 8 and Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 1 with Kenichi Mizushima. In 2019, SUSO combined with Pacific Opera to perform Humperdinck's ''

Hansel and Gretel "Hansel and Gretel" (; ) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 as part of ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). Hansel and Gretel are siblings who are abandoned in a forest and fall into the hands of a witch ...

'', and with Katherine Lukey to perform Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1. Throughout the year, SUSO also performed works such as Vaughan Williams' ''

A London Symphony ''A London Symphony'' is the second symphony that Ralph Vaughan Williams composed. The work is sometimes referred to as Symphony No. 2, though the composer did not designate that name for the work. First performed in 1914, the original score of ...

'', Paul Dukas' ''

The Sorcerer's Apprentice "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" () is a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe written in 1797. The poem is a ballad in 14 stanzas. Story The poem begins as an old sorcerer departs his workshop, leaving his apprentice with chores to perform. Tired of ...

'' and Dvořák's

New World Symphony New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 19 ...

. After a disrupted and downscaled 2020 season as a result of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, SUSO managed one full-scale concert in 2021 – an opera gala held in conjunction with the Sydney Conservatorium Opera Department, performed in Verbrugghen Hall conducted by Stephen Mould. SUSO's planned season for 2022 includes collaborating with Russian conductor Natalia Raspopova as a soloist in Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3, Respighi's ''

Pines of Rome ''Pines of Rome'' (), P 141, is a tone poem in four movements for orchestra completed in 1924 by the Italian composer Ottorino Respighi. It is the second of his three tone poems about Rome, following '' Fontane di Roma'' (1916) and preceding '' ...

'', and a reprise of Saint-Saëns' Symphony No. 3 "Organ Symphony".

References

External links

* {{authority control Musical groups established in 1948 Australian orchestras

Symphony Orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

University orchestras 1948 establishments in Australia Music in Sydney