Barrier Reef Orchestra under new management
The longstanding manager of the Great Barrier Reef Orchestra (BRO) has passed on her baton after 24 years of running the orchestra.
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The longstanding manager of the Great Barrier Reef Orchestra (BRO) has passed on her baton after 24 years of running the orchestra.
Sally Frewen-Lord took up the position in 2011 but now after 54 concerts with the orchestra, including the recent Christmas Fun Day, she is handing over to former orchestra member and music teacher Jessica Winton.
But Frewen-Lord’s involvement with the orchestra goes back to its inception in 2000 where her husband Stephen Frewen-Lord was the inaugural, and still current concert master and daughters Melinda and Katrina grew up first watching and then performing in the orchestra.
“Katrina played violin and Melinda played cello, and there was one concert where Steve led the first, Katrina led the seconds and Melinda led the cellos,” Mrs Frewen-Lord said.
“That was a proud moment for me, for all three of them to be in leadership positions.”
She said the BRO was conceived as community orchestra for Townsville.
“It’s a community orchestra. Conductors we have visiting us tell us we’re a good community orchestra, which makes me feel good, because community orchestras come in all shapes and sizes - we’ve got some grey-haired people down to 13-14 year olds.”
She said there had many so many highlights since she had been managing the BRO but it was impossible to pick one that stood out.
“It’s hard to pick over those these years, because we’ve had so many conductors come and visit,” she said.
“We’ve had James Morrison come through. We’ve had Sean O’Boyle conducting. We’ve had people from military backgrounds conduct and we’ve had overseas conductors. We’ve done Celtic things. We’ve done Gilbert and Sullivan and we’ve joined with the Townsville Choral Society - I couldn’t pick one, that’s for sure.”
She said it had been great to have Internationally renowned conductor Theodore Kuchar as the orchestra’s current artistic director.
“That’s been great for opening up a wide range of experiences for the orchestra, because he’s been able to bring in some conductors that we probably would never have had the experience with working with them because he’s well known as a figure in Townsville with the AFCM.
“We have a great association with the AFCM as well. We play in the Queens Gardens concert every year.
“Theodore Kuchar has also the scholarship that he has through AFCM (and Townsville City Council), and I’m just delighted when it’s actually a young BRO player who gets the scholarship,” she said.
She said she had mixed emotions leaving her role as manager of the BRO.
“I was getting a bit teary thinking about it, but I’m just delighted we found Jess to take over. We’ve spent a lot of time together in this transition period, and she’s been very patient as I’ve poured out all this information to her, but I’m confident that the orchestra is in good hands, passing over to her.
“But I’m definitely not backing down or backing away, because I’d still love to be involved in whatever way I can with the orchestra.
Even if it’s just a shoulder to cry on for Jess when she gets a bit frustrated, because there’s plenty of challenges with the job,” she said.
The orchestra’s new manager Jessica Winton has had a strong connection with BRO for 20 years and was a musical student of Stephen Frewen-Lord in the early 2000s before being invited to perform with the BRO in 2006.
“I would have been grade 10. From there I studied in Hobart, where I got my music degree, and then came back (to Townsville) to teach in state education and then eventually private,” she said.
“I thought I’d like to continue that role in the sense of managing, but still being in the performing arts, because that’s where I’m meant to be - where my passion is.
“This position came up, and I thought it was absolutely perfect. I’ve been in and out of the orchestra for many, many years.”
She said there was already an exciting year ahead for the orchestra with the first concert in March.
“We have Peter Morris coming in March to conduct a concert. It’s not named quite yet. We’re going to be doing some incident incidental music from Midsummer Night’s Dream and How to Train a Dragon. That’s going to be very exciting,” she said.
Originally published as Barrier Reef Orchestra under new management
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