Australian Wind Symphony

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The Australian Wind Symphony is a professional wind ensemble based near Canberra, ACT, Australia. It was established in 2015 as the Canberra Wind Symphony, and became the Australian Wind Symphony in 2019 in order to meet broader touring, audience, and funding possibilities. The mission of the ensemble was to provide a professional performance opportunity for freelance Australian musicians..

Launch and First Year

The ensemble launched on June 4, 2015 at the ACT Legislative Assembly, and completed its first concert series at the Ainslie+Gorman Arts Centre. It established academic credit for ANU School of Music performance students, and was provided with a residency at The Street Theatre in Canberra. In addition to season performances, the ensemble launched its first ‘Lest We Forget’ concert: a performance dedicated to all who have served in uniform, delivered at the Warriors’ Chapel at the Church of St. Andrew in Forrest, ACT, Australia. This performance has continued every year since the ensemble’s inception.

Continuing Achievements

The second year of this ensemble saw it bring large-scale wind ensemble music to reputable venues, such as the National Museum of Australia in addition to its performances at The Street Theatre. It was this year that an audience-based partnership funding system was established, which enabled audience members to sponsor a specific member of the ensemble through the ‘Fan Club’. During this year, the ensemble continued to build its online presence by releasing recordings on YouTube, with a favourite arrangement of Abide With Me combined with The Last Post (by USA arranger Jay Dawson) gaining tens-of-thousands of views.

Into its second and third years, this ensemble partnered with the USA-based St. Olaf Band to perform a sell-out concert at Llewellyn Hall, Canberra. It was also successful in attaining Matched Boost Funding from the Australian Cultural Fund.

In 2018 the ensemble launched its ‘Spirit Review’ audience submission platform, which enables audiences to submit and share their own personal experience of ensemble performances, in the spirit of spreading the joy and wonder of new live music. A collaboration with an international champion choir paved the way for the ensemble to tour a performance to Wollongong, NSW: the first hint of the touring model this ensemble would later adapt. In 2018 the orchestra also performed a new work by Australian composer Michael Dooley – Winds of Hope – which was commissioned by a private benefactor specifically for this ensemble.

In 2019 Australian Wind Symphony became the first private Australian wind ensemble to ever pay players full professional rates, as it partnered with Marina Prior to deliver a large-scale outdoor spectacular in Braidwood, NSW. It also commissioned a full concert of bespoke arrangements from revered Australian big band icon Ed Wilson (of the Daly-Wilson Big Band), in a show celebrating Ed’s 50th year in show business. This performance toured regionally.

At the end of 2019, the ensemble chose to broaden its reach and expand its touring branch. By changing the ensemble’s name to Australian Wind Symphony, it launched a modest re-brand that would enable the organisation to reach more players, more audiences, more venues, and more potential funding opportunities.

To date, the ensemble has performed 61 regional, Australian, or world premieres, the last being a performance of Love and Light by USA composer Brian Balmages.

In 2020, during a year when no concerts were able to be performed by the ensemble, an Australian Wind Symphony recording of Abide With Me (featuring The Last Post) was licenced by the Peabody Essex Museum in the USA.

In 2021 the ensemble released its first album, 'Captivating - Live', via major streaming services.

Structure

Although privately owned, the Australian Wind Symphony operates essentially as a co-op style organisation. No individual or organisation generates a profit, and performers divide ticket sale money equally. Various agreements and partnerships are in place to assist the organisation in defraying expenses, to give musicians the maximum payout. The ensemble occasionally attracts sufficient funding to cover full player payments which overrides the co-op approach.

Artistic Director

The Australian Wind Symphony is conducted by Geoff Grey, CSM, who co-founded the ensemble in 2015. Geoff is a direct descendent of famed London musician and piano-maker Johann Baptist Cramer and spent over forty years as a musician/conductor in the Australian Army

Icons and Symbols

Australian Wind Symphony performers wear a pin in the shape of a feather. The feather represents the ensemble in full flight. The logo for the ensemble was designed by co-owner and principal flute Sarah Nielsen, and features on a number of promotional items including T-shirts and hoodies.

Venues and Partnerships

After a launch performance at the ACT Legislative Assembly in 2015, the ensemble’s first formal concert series was delivered at Ainslie+Gorman Arts Centre. Australian Wind Symphony delivered its next four concert series at The Street Theatre Canberra, in combination with its annual Remembrance Day performance at The Warriors’ Chapel, Church of St. Andrew, Forrest. The ensemble has also performed in the High Court of Australia, the National Museum of Australia, Llewellyn Hall, Fitters’ Workshop, Drill Hall Gallery, Chevalier College Bowral, Essay and Conference Wollongong, The B (Bicentennial Hall), and The Q at Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre. In 2020 the ensemble partnered with the Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council to deliver its concert series at the newly-renovated Bicentennial Hall, adjacent to The Q, in Queanbeyan, NSW, however the first performance was delayed until 2021 due to the pandemic

Annual Lest We Forget Performance

The Australian Wind Symphony has performed a special Remembrance Day concert on November 11 every year since its inception, including participating in the Australian War Memorial's Local Events for the Cenenary of Armistice . The performance is themed around war, loss, hope, appreciation, recovery and beauty, delivering a different combination of programmatic music every year. The concert is performed at the Presbyterian Church of St. Andrew, Forrest, which also contains the Warriors’ Chapel. The chapel is a poignant setting for this performance, as it has the Ode|Ode of Remembrance chiselled into the walls, and was created by a The Reverend John Walker, who lost three sons in The Great War. A favourite tradition of this performance is a special arrangement of Abide With Me/The Last Post (Arr. Dawson), with the soloist placed inside the Warriors’ Chapel. Recordings of this performance have become popular on the ensemble’s YouTube channel and licenced internationally. In 2020 a live performance was unable to be delivered, however the orchestra released a playlist of some of its unheard recordings, to deliver a version of this performance digitally during the pandemic. This annual event also includes readings by contemporary veterans, often of poetry they have composed.

References

This article "Australian Wind Symphony" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Australian Wind Symphony. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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