BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE AND ANDREW MESSENGER
Brave, ambitious, inspired.
Perhaps a little crazy.
If you want to start up an orchestra from scratch, you’ve got to give it all you’ve got – which is exactly how Matthew Schwarz established the Queensland Philharmonia Orchestra in 2012.
Though still a student at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, Matthew managed to gain the interest of over 50 musicians to build a functioning orchestra of which he is now Chief Conductor.
The independent, semi-professional chamber orchestra is made up of student and graduate musicians, with 28 permanent members and 20 more casual. While they’ve had some greatly successful performances including an appearance at the International Music Council’s World Forum of Music conducted by Guy Noble himself, the road to success has been a bumpy one.
So how do you build an orchestra where there wasn’t one before? To Matthew, the experience “is still a bit of a blur.”
“I took the idea to my teacher at the time, John Curro, and then I took it to my friends and colleagues at uni. A few of them thought I was crazy and said it wouldn’t work, but I wanted it to make it work.”
Matthew’s persistence paid off, and while his initial plans were to form a chamber ensemble, the sheer interest in his dream sparked his decision to think bigger.
“We formed a board – a decision-making committee from the members of the orchestra – and we then started investigating what we were required legally to do to start an orchestra,” Matthew explains.
“Artistically, what I had to do was program for the year. We started out with a few ideas which improved as time went on.”
“After we’d done that, we had to get the support of the Queensland Conservatorium because we were all mainly Con students, including myself. They were pretty supportive; they gave us rehearsal venues for free.”
Matthew attributes some of the Philharmonia’s success to a need in the Queensland market for a semi-professional youth orchestra – and to their desire to be well known on the scene.
“What’s made us so successful is that we market a lot. I think it’s the fact that we’re a youth ensemble run by people who are youths – we’re run by ourselves.”
Of course, we all understand the typically difficult life of a struggling uni student living primarily on instant noodles and making more photocopies of music parts than resumes. Naturally, finding the funds to sustain an orchestra is an issue – but not one without a creative solution.
The Queensland Philharmonia last year managed to raise $3,600 through a Pozible campaign which helped to cover costs such as venue hire, music hire, publishing, and other administrative expenses.
“What we achieved was above our expectations and that really secured us for the rest of the year.We couldn’t think of any other way to form or get funding. We didn’t see any ways of getting funding from the government at the time and we didn’t want to ask the Con for too much more support.”
“We asked everyone to spread it to their families, spread it to their friends and it became really successful. We raised our target in a week and a half.”
Matthew recommends anyone interested in starting up a new organisation to look to crowdfunding, and feels that “in the 21st Century, it’s really a way forward for ensembles.”
“If it’s a worthy cause, I think there’s a lot to gain for both parties giving and receiving funding.”
The Queensland Philharmonia will give back to the community this year as part of their new Education and Outreach program, which aims to inspire young musicians to continue building their talent and to feel an orchestral career is not out of their reach.
“I think as a youth ensemble, it is important to show that there are opportunities for music as a career, and that there is a path for music after high school. That’s what we’ll be doing through an education concert of Carnival of the Animals with a narrator, to inspire them and show them what music is all about and how much fun it is to make music.”
Matthew Schwarz will conduct the Queensland Philharmonia Orchestra through Warlock, Holst and Haydn on May 24 at the Old Museum Concert Hall. For more information go to www.queenslandphilharmoniaorchestra.com.au.
Image supplied.
