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| Home | Whitehorse Orchestra at Rehearsal
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| Who are we? | |||
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The
Whitehorse Orchestra is a community orchestra, centred on
the Box Hill area in Victoria, Australia, which rehearses
on Saturday mornings throughout the year. It has over 60
playing members. The orchestra provides an excellent and
enjoyable musical experience for musicians of all ages,
and performs regularly in public. The current
programs are
listed below. Joining History You can download a promotional article (47kb) about the orchestra. |
Friendly
atmosphere The orchestra compensates for its non-audition policy by an atmosphere of friendship and mutual support amongst the members, and by carefully selecting its musical director. This has resulted in a continuously improving performance standard which compares favourably with other amateur orchestras. The orchestra is administered by an elected committee, which in turn appoints the Music Director. Funding Holiday |
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| Our Conductor | |||
| Musical
Director - Gerald Keuneman The success of any orchestra is largely due to the ability and sensitivity of its conductor / musical director and we are fortunate to draw on the experience of Gerald Keuneman, who has filled this role for the past 22 years. Gerald's work with the ABC Showband, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and in musical theatre as a highly accomplished cellist allowed him to perform under the baton of world famous conductors and with many eminent international artists in both the classical and popular fields. This experience, together with his commitment to community music and musical education, guides us in offering innovative performances of great enjoyment and creativity. |
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| Our Concert Master | |||
| Philip Carrington Philip has had extensive experience
working with adult string and orchestral players. He has
taught and resolved problems for students and players of
all standards and musical interests, from bush bands and
rock fiddlers, to orchestral players and soloists.
Players have called him inspirational, dedicated,
empathetic, enjoyable, visionary and energetic, and his
"rare and admirable qualities as an orchestral
trainer and conductor" have been noted by music
critic John Sinclair. |
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| Our President and Committee | |||
| The management of
Whitehorse Orchestra is capably carried out by a
committee elected from members of the orchestra. These
people, together with other volunteers, work behind the
scenes to ensure that all aspects of orchestral operation
work smoothly. Our current President, Anne Pitcher, has been a Committee member from 1988 to 2004, and 2007 to present; Music Librarian from 1989 to 1998; and President from 2001 to 2004, and 2007 to present. |
 Anne Pitcher |
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| Current programs | |||
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Family
Concerts 2012 Saturday 31st March at 2.30pm Saturday 23rd June at 2.30pm Saturday 17th November at 2.30pm Concerts - tickets For concert ticket
enquiries for all concerts, email:
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Children's
Concerts The regular children's concerts attract capacity audiences and delight them with high-quality music, dancing, acting and narration. These presentations of classics such as "Peter and the Wolf" and "Tubby the Tuba" cater for very young children to see their first full orchestra in a friendly environment. 2012 Children's
concert date
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| Membership | |||
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members are made very welcome, and potential players are
encouraged to contact us at members@whitehorseorchestra.org.au Orchestra rehearsals take place each Saturday between 9am and 12pm. at the Box Hill Community Arts Centre, 470 Station St, Box Hill. Visitors are welcome to come and view these rehearsals. The subscription rate is as follows: - Full membership is $150 or $75 per half year. - Concession is $120 or $60 per half year. |
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| Previous Programs | |||
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What sort of
music does the orchestra play? The orchestra has a wide repertoire and performs music of many periods and styles. Being primarily a symphony orchestra, the emphasis is on symphonic works, concertos, modern musicals, works for concert band and string orchestra, and children's music. |
2011 - In
our April concert at MLC we performed the Beethoven
Egmont Overture and Symphony no 6 (The Pastoral). Our
guest artist, Jae-Yoon Chung, performed with a wonderful
tone the beautiful Bruch Kol Nidrei for cello and
orchestra, together with the Saint-Saens cello concert. In June we included in our program the Beethoven Piano Concerto no. 4 performed by John Grayling. In addition we played the Nabucco Overture by Verdi and the New World Symphony by Dvorak. For our August concert, we once again had the services of the Italian pianist Massimo Folliero, who performed the Rachmaninov Piano Concerto no. 2. The other works on the program were the Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture, and the Polovtsian Dances by Borodin. Our Children's Concert at Kingswood College in October was a huge success. The theme was movies and the children were introduced to the instruments with 'Starwars', 'Great Locomotive Chase', 'Lord of the Rings', 'Beauty and the Beast', 'Harry Potter', and 'Pirates of the Caribbean'. In November in our final concert we featured Jason Xanthoudakis in the concerto for Saxophone and orchestra by Glazounov. Other works performed in this concert were Finlandia and the Symphony No 2 both by Sibelius. The concert was a successful finale to the year. |
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| 2010
- For our concert in February we participated in a very
memorable world premiere performance in the Melbourne
Town Hall entitled Tarka, a symphony in 4 movements with
soloists Harry Williamson & Doug de Vries. The music
by Harry Williamson was written to illustrate his
father's book, Tarka the Otter. In May we presented a strong program consisting of Mussorgsky 'Night on Bald Mountain', Weber 'Concerto for Clarinet opus 74' and Sibelius 'Symphony No. 2'. Our brilliant clarinet soloist was Sungpil Lee. In July we were delighted to have international piano soloist Massimo Folliero from Italy perform Beethoven's Piano Concerto No 3 to acclaim. His encore provided a thrilling finale to the concert, which also included Brahms' Academic Festival Overture, the Celebrations of Marguarita by John Nottle, and the Beatlecracker Suite, an arrangement of Lennon and McCartney melodies in the style of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite. In September a brilliant young cellist from the USA, Christopher Ahn, nephew of our leader Seung Young Chung, performed with us the incomparable Elgar Cello Concert on E minor. In an all-English concert, we also performed the Elgar Pomp and Circumstance No 4 and the Nimrod movement from the Enigma Variations, and Vaughan Williams' Folk Song Suite and Shakespearean Sketches. In November we moved across to the popular repertoire with such items as Danny Boy, Oliver, Phantom of the Opera and A Chorus Line, as well as Verdi and Elgar. Our Children's Concert in December featured a Christmas theme. |
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2009 - For
our first children's program we journeyed down to Toorak
College, Mount Eliza, to present the story of Paddington
Bear together with other items. In May we presented a mixed program of classics including the Hungarian March by Hector Berlioz, the overture and 3 other sections of A Midsummer Night's Dream by Mendelssohn, the Barcarolle from the Tales of Hoffmann by Offenbach, and the last movement of the Symphony No. 1 by Brahms. In June our popular concert consisted of selections from shows including Oklahoma, South Pacific and West Side Story and we were very happy to have our own Michelle Pitcher fresh from Italy singing a great group of songs. In August our celebratory concert at MLC for Mendelssohn featured two wonderful soloists, Seung Hae Paik with the Piano Concerto nr 1, and Jennen Ngiau'keung with the fabulous Violin Concerto. In December our guest conductor, Gyula Cseszko, led us through a marvellous program which featured Ji Won Kim, the winner of 2009 ABC Symphony Australia Young Performers' Competition. She performed the Beethoven Violin Concerto in her brilliant style. In addition Chang-Seung (David) Park gave a beautiful rendition of the Mozart Clarinet Concerto, so it was a concert to remember. |
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| History | |||
| Hungarian-born
Anthony Szakacs-Cook played wind instruments in several
professional orchestras in Melbourne, and was a
well-known flute teacher. The Whitehorse Youth Orchestra was founded by Tony in 1973/74, consisting of the music students of the then Whitehorse Technical College. This orchestra expanded
and subsequently allowed older, non-student members to
join, and became the forerunner of the present Whitehorse
Orchestra. |
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| Harrietville Camp | |||
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For
many years, for a litle over a week in January, the
orchestra has committed to the organisation and running
of the annual Summer Music Camp at Harrietville. "Imagine a
picture-postcard mountain village, nestled at the foot of
Mt Feathertop and washed by the headwaters of the mighty
Ovens River. Imagine, in this verdant setting, a
gathering of musicians ... some old, some young ...
strings, brass, woodwinds, singers, recorders ... some to
rehearse, to perform, to talk music, to learn new skills,
to make new friends. Imagine eight days of peace and
pleasure. Clear, crisp mornings, sun-drenched afternoons,
starry nights. The perfect ambience for music making. The
Harrietville Music Camp - a legend now, for nearly a
quarter of a century. Be there. Be part of the
legend." |
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| Contacts | |||
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General
enquiries: The
Secretary Or contact by email: Please enquire by email
to: For all ticket sales and
enquiries, email to: Other related websites: Renaissance Living, Surrey
Hills |
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Send mail to
webmaster 'at' whitehorseorchestra.org.au (substitute the 'at')
with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: 24 Jan 2012
