Half a century of classical excellence: Toowoomba Concert Orchestra celebrate golden jubilee

The Toowoomba Concert Orchestra will host a 50th anniversary concert this Sunday, playing pieces from across their five decades of life.

Toowoomba Concert Orchestra 50 years

In the heart of the Darling Downs, where the echoes of strings and brass have resonated for decades, the Toowoomba Concert Orchestra stands as a testament to the enduring power of music and community.

Now celebrating their 50th anniversary, the Toowoomba Concert Orchestra are gearing up for one of their most significant performances to date performing significant songs from across their five decades this weekend at the Empire Theatre.

Formed in 1975 at the Darling Downs Institute of Advanced Education, now the University of Southern Queensland, the group debuted as the Allegri Players and went through several name changes before ultimately settling on the Toowoomba Concert Orchestra.

Orchestra vice-president and leader of the second violin section Eileen Munro has been playing music since she was five and first joined the orchestra two years after its inception.

“I joined the orchestra in 1977 and played quite a lot with them and then you have family and work gets very busy so I went away for a bit, but I’ve been back playing with them for the last 20 years,” she said.

“When I first came to Toowoomba they were establishing a music department at UniSQ and there was a wonderful time in the ‘80s and ‘90s where we had fabulous teachers at UniSQ and they had students that came all the way from Melbourne to play in our orchestra.

“In recent years with financial pressures the music department has been depleted and there isn’t the same opportunities anymore.

“The music school at the moment is more focused towards contemporary music rather than classical music, so the orchestra is still really important as the vehicle for those of us who are classical musicians.”

Toowoomba Concert Orchestra celebrates 50 years

Ms Munro said the orchestra was important for keeping the arts alive in regional areas.

“The joy of music is playing with others and the orchestra has been a vehicle for playing important classical work with other musicians,” she said.

“Within the orchestra we have people who are professional musicians through to people who played in primary and secondary school who find music a nice counterbalance in their life.

“There’s also a social aspect for players that have performed together for a long time, even though there isn’t a lot of chatting in the traditional sense there is a communication that comes through coming together to present a program.

“The arts are vitally important because they reflect aspects of our society and nourish our humanity.”

The Toowoomba Concert Orchestra was first formed at the Darling Downs Institute of Advanced Education

Conductor and director Matthew Henry, who has been with the orchestra for 20 years, said they had become a stalwart in the community helping to inspire the next generation of musicians.

“Premiering work by Australian composers, the children's concert we put on every year, some of the soloists like Josh Pyke who have played and the connections you make through the community are real highlights,” he said.

“Being able to take the orchestra on tour to more regional areas like Dalby and Stanthorpe is also great because the audiences are very appreciative. The general touring costs for orchestras are so huge that it is unusual for them to go to regional towns and as a community organisation we are able to get into smaller towns and share our love of music.

“I’d like to see the orchestra continue with the community engagement and give back to the community well into the future, events like our children's concerts are of vital importance because it instils a love of music from an early age and exposes them to the orchestra.”

The group are now planning a 50th anniversary concert on July 13 at the Empire Theatre which will feature a selection of favourites performed over the five decades including works by Elgar, Khachaturian, Grainger, Satie, and Claire de Lune by Debussy arranged by former conductor Peter Rorke.

Tickets can be purchased here