Performing without a conductor, Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra’s Artistic Associates and their guests proudly take full ownership of their music-making in the spirit of chamber music to form a thriving, refreshing, and acclaimed voice to empower artists, inspire audiences, and enrich communities through music.
As Artistic Associates, players contribute to the strategic direction of Camerata, and are integral to the process of programming the season of works. Under Artistic Director and Violinist Brendan Joyce, the ensemble is Company-in-Residence at Queensland Performing Arts Centre and performs their mainstage concert season in both Brisbane and Toowoomba, as well as undertaking an annual tour throughout regional Queensland.
In 2022 Camerata’s mainstage concert season will see them reimagining some of classical music’s greatest works while celebrating contemporary Australian pieces and artists – all with their trademark adventurous programming and energy.
Camerata will at last welcome guest artist – after years in the making – leading singer/songwriter Lior, as well as the critically acclaimed soprano Sofia Troncoso, and their signature Wild Card Mystery Guests. What’s more, Camerata is delighted to announce the addition of a fourth mainstage concert with the full ensemble for the very first time, as well as the exciting addition of a performance at HOTA, Home of the Arts for Camerata and Lior: Compassion.
With a reputation for innovation and interesting and adventurous programming, the ensemble is extremely flexible in its repertoire and thrives in collaborations with artists from all art forms.
2022 Program here
In addition to the mainstage concert season, in February, Camerata will perform an online-exclusive concert with ARIA-nominated artist and saxophonist, Rafael Karlen, alongside The Australian Voices, in Sinking Cities. In March, Camerata will perform with Grammy-award nominated artist Tenzin Choegyal at the Adelaide Festival as part of their Chamber Landscapes program.
Young composer Alexander Voltz is Camerata’s 2022 Emerging Composer-in-Residence.
Currently the youngest composer represented by the Australian Music Centre, Voltz’s work takes inspiration from myth, politics and the historic, whilst also deconstructing and challenging the human condition.
The Emerging Composer-in-Residence program originally began in 2015 as a regional touring commission where an emerging composer was invited to compose a piece of music inspired by a regional area through which Camerata was touring. The first work premiered in Longreach that same year, which saw Camerata’s chief touring funders, the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation, enabling both the tour and the commission.
Brendan Joyce, Artistic Director of Camerata says, “the really wonderful and perhaps unexpected thing about these works is that in every case, we have had much of the regional audience in attendance mention that they felt the new commission was their favourite thing on the otherwise eclectic classical program. I just love that. Perhaps it’s just that people in the farthest regions of our huge state are still relatively cut off from live acoustic music making, so they are then so much more open to what we offer.”
Camerata is one of Australia’s busiest ensembles with more concerts and projects to be announced throughout the year.
We’re looking forward to hearing about their concerts and sharing reviews with you throughout the year.
