Ballarat Symphony Orchestra

POSTPONED: Beethoven’s 250th Anniversary Gala Concert
2020-03-22 14:30 - 17:00 (Australia/Melbourne) | Wendouree Centre for Performing Arts, 1220 Howitt Street, Wendouree, VIC, 3350, Australia
Covid-19 Update: due to ongoing concern about covid-19, BSO has made the difficult decision to postpone the Beethoven concert. More details to follow soon…
Conductor: Gyula Cseszko
Program:

Fidelio Overture (Op. 72)
Symphony No. 5 in C Minor (Op. 67)
Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor (Op. 37)
Jack Stacey’s Ode to Beethoven (2020), with Jack Stacey on piano

Venue: Wendouree Centre for Performing Arts
Tickets: Adult $35, Concession $30, Student $15, Under 12s free.
Tickets available at the centre, on the website, by ph: 5338 0980, or at the door.

Postponed until 2021: Youth Concerto Concert
2020-06-21 14:30 - 17:00 | Wendouree Centre for Performing Arts, 1220 Howitt Street, Wendouree, VIC, 3350, Australia
Covid-19 update: due to the ongoing efforts to flatten the curve of infection, all BSO concerts will be postponed until further notice. We look forward to bringing you our Youth Concerto Concert in 2021.
Join us for our annual Youth Concerto Concert, featuring up and coming young musicians from the Grampians region.
Program details coming soon…
Applications are now being taken for young musicians in the Grampians region. Click here for details.
Venue: Wendouree Centre for Performing Arts
Tickets: Adult $35, Concession $30, Student $15, Under 12s free.
Tickets available at the centre, by ph: 5338 0980, or at the door.

Sounds from Silence
2021-11-27 19:30 - 21:00 | Wendouree Centre for Performing Arts, 1220 Howitt Street, Wendouree, VIC, 3350, Australia
BSO Concert – 7:30pm on Saturday 27th November 2021 at Wendouree Centre for Performing Arts

Conducted By – Hugh McKelvey
After a hiatus of almost two years, the BSO is planning an end of year concert to reflect the very uncertain and subdued covid climate, and building to Beethoven’s Egmont Overture and Symphony No. 5 to announce that we are back!

Program
Cage – 4’33”
Ives – The Unanswered Question
Copland – Quiet City
Beethoven – Egmont Overture
Beethoven – Symphony No.5

Tickets
Available through Wendouree Centre for Performing Arts

A Musical Celebration
2022-03-20 14:30 - 16:00 | Wendouree Centre for Performing Arts, 1220 Howitt Street, Wendouree, VIC, 3350, Australia
Join us for an afternoon of absolute symphonic indulgence. We’ve put together a program covers everything from blazing energy and colour to warmth and tenderness. It’s a wonderful opportunity for an orchestra not only to play music they love but also to explore colour, clarity, precision and subtlety.

Program:
– Bizet: Selections from Carmen Suite no. 1
– Grieg: Morning Mood
– Mendelssohn: Hebrides Overture
– Elgar: Pomp and Circumstance Nos 1 & 4
– Glinka: Overture from the Life of the Tsar
– Strauss: On the Beautiful Blue Danube
– Rimsky-Korsakoff: Dance of the Tumblers

Tickets: $20 Adults, $15 Concession, $10 Students, Under 12s free
Venue: Wendouree Centre for Performing Arts

Concert 2, 2022
2022-06-19 14:30 - 16:00 | Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute, 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat, VIC, 3350, Australia
Toying with the Classics
The Ballarat Symphony Orchestra presents classical music with a twist. A Toy Symphony with real toys. Beethoven letting the cat out of the bag. Mozart outdoing P.D.Q. Bach. And Haydn being more surprising than the Surprise Symphony. Music by famous composers…with something funny happening!
Conductor: Hugh McKelvey
Program:

Beethoven: Symphony No.1
Leopold Mozart: Toy Symphony
W.A. Mozart: Musical Joke (presto)
Haydn: Symphony No. 45

Prices: Adults $30, Concession $25, Students $10, Under 12s free.
Tickets: https://www.trybooking.com/908786

French Connections
2022-11-26 19:30 - 21:00 | The Abbey Theatre – Loreto, 1600 Sturt St, Lake Wendouree, VIC, 3350
Join us for our final concert of 2022 – French Connections – featuring a program of French composers, since all things French will never go out of style.
Conductor: Hugh McKelvey
Program:
– Gounod, Petite Symphonie
– Faure, Pavane
– Faure, Elegie
– Faure, Masques et Bergamasques (mvts 1-3)
– Tomasi, Fanfares Liturgiques
Tickets: Adults $30, Concession $25, Students $10, Under 12s free.
Venue: The Abbey Theatre, Mary’s Mount Centre, Loreto College, 1600 Sturt St, enter via Gate A.

Killer Instincts
2023-03-19 14:30 - 16:00 | Wendouree Centre for Performing Arts, 1220 Howitt Street, Wendouree, VIC, 3350, Australia
We’re excited to present our first concert for 2023 – Killer Instincts!
Sink your teeth into an afternoon that features some of the music worlds most loved pieces. From Schubert’s beautiful ‘Unfinished Symphony’ to the infectious enthusiasm and energy of ‘Bacchanale’ from Saint Saens.
Monstrous intent comes in the form of Jurassic Park with its wonderfully sweeping melodies, which are oddly, not scary at all and the popular ‘Hansel and Gretel Overture’ by Engelbert Humperdinck.
Devour an afternoon of frighteningly stunning melodies from some of the monsters of classical music.

Humperdinck – Hansel and Gretel Overture
John Williams – Jurassic Park
Schubert – Unfinished Symphony
Saint-Saens – Bacchanale
Tickers: Adults $30, Concession $25, Students $10, under 12s free.
Concert Program: Killer Instincts

The Big Sing
2023-06-11 17:00 - 18:00 | Ballarat Civic Hall, 300/304 Mair St, Ballarat, VIC, 3350, Australia
The Big Sing – presented by Victorian Opera with Ballarat Choral Society and Ballarat Symphony Orchestra featuring Syrah Torii and Alistair Cooper-Golec.

Join us on Sunday 11 June at the Ballarat Civic Hall where Helen Duggan, Jenny Going, Gareth Grainger and Victorian Opera’s Artistic Director Richard Mills AM lead us on an eclectic choral journey of renowned opera choruses, alongside arias and duets, with a chance to sing and participate!
Date & time: Sunday 11th June at 5pm
Venue: Ballarat Civic Hall, 300/304 Mair Street Ballarat Central.
Tickets: Adults $30, Under 30s $25, Concession $23, Children $15, Family $80 (2x adults + 2 children), Group of 10 = $25 per person.
This event is the first installment of Victorian Opera’s ongoing commitment to the cultural life in Ballarat and regional Victoria. Thanks to the presenting partner AWM Electrical and Data Suppliers.

BSO Space Concert CANCELLED
2024-06-16 14:30 - 15:30 | Wendouree Centre for Performing Arts, 1220 Howitt Street, Wendouree, VIC, 3350, Australia
The BSO have made the difficult decision to cancel our Space themed concert as we have been unable to secure a full string section. The BSO committee are currently working hard to rebuild the orchestra and are hopeful about returning to performing by the end of 2024. We hope to see you then!

Big Christmas Sing!
2024-12-01 14:00 - 15:00 | Ballarat Civic Hall, 300/304 Mair St, Ballarat, VIC, 3350, Australia
Victorian Opera is proud to return to Ballarat with The Big Sing as part of the Ballarat Opera Festival.
A musical event in partnership with the Ballarat Choral Society and Ballarat Symphony Orchestra, staged at the Ballarat Civic Hall, featuring local singers alongside Victorian Opera Emerging Artist Prize winners, conducted by Victorian Opera’s Head of Music, Phoebe Briggs.
Expect a touch of Christmas mixed in with renowned opera choruses, arias and duets, with a chance to sing and participate. Come along and begin the festive season with cheer!
This event is made possible through the support of AWM Electrical and Data Suppliers.

An afternoon of Beethoven and Bizet!
2025-06-15 14:30 - 16:00 | Wendouree Centre for Performing Arts, 1220 Howitt Street, Wendouree, VIC, 3350, Australia
It’s the 150th anniversary of the premier of the Carmen Suites so we’ll be performing a selection of Bizet’s most loved and lasting melodies from this master of Operas! We’re also performing Beethoven’s 7th Symphony, one of Beethoven’s personal favourites. Come and experience the spontaneity and liveliness of this great work and you’ll appreciate the reasons for its immediate call for an encore at its 1813 premiere in Vienna.
Conductor: Nicole Marshall, recent recipient of the Rosemary and John Hopkins Award for Conductors
Orchestra Leader: Kate Carman
Program:

Selections from Bizet’s Carmen suites 1&2: Prélude, Aragonaise, Intermezzo, Seguedille, Les Toréadors, Habañera, Chanson du Toréador, Danse Bohème.
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7

Tickets: Adults $35, Concession $30, Students $15, Under 12s free. Tickets via Wendouree Centre for Performing Arts
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Victorian Opera Big Christmas Sing!
2025-11-30 14:00 - 15:15 | Ballarat Civic Hall, 300/304 Mair St, Ballarat, VIC, 3350, Australia
Join in the Christmas cheer as Victorian Opera, the Ballarat Choral Society and the Ballarat Symphony Orchestra present an afternoon of festive music, operatic hits, and sing-a-long moments.
Venue: Ballarat Civic Hall
Time: 2pm (75 min running time, no interval)
Prices: Full: $35; Concession: $28; Child: $20 (2 – 14 years)
Family: $100 (2 adults and 2 children)
30 under 30: $30
Group (10+): $28.00
Under 2 Babes in arms policy: children under 2 can be permitted as long as they don’t occupy a seat
Tickets: https://hermaj.com/events/victorian-opera-the-big-christmas-sing-2025

Journeys through Space and Time
2026-03-29 14:30 - 15:30 | Wendouree Centre for Performing Arts, 1220 Howitt Street, Wendouree, VIC, 3350, Australia
Ballarat Symphony are starting 2026 with a family friendly concert designed to introduce young people and families to orchestral works!
The program showcasing bold and dramatic melodies to feature different sections of the orchestra.
Guest Conductor: Andrew Leach
Guest Leader: Sarah Nieuwkerk
Program:

Also Sprach Zarathustra (intro), Richard Strauss
The Planets: Mars & Jupiter, Gustav Holst
Peer Gynt: Suite 1, Edvard Grieg
Ancient Airs & Dances: Suite 3, Ottorino Respighi
Pictures at an Exhibition: The Great Gate of Kiev, Modest Mussorgsky
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Paul Dukas

Date & Time: Sunday 29th March at 2:30pm (approx 75 min duration with no interval)
Location: Wendouree Centre for Performing Arts
Cost: Adults $35, Concessions $30, Students $15, under 12s free, Family $60 (2x adults & 2x under 18s)
Proudly supported by Community Bank Buninyong.

Beethoven Festival Concert
2026-05-31 13:00 - 14:00 | Ulumbarra Theatre, 10-20 Gaol Road, Bendigo, VIC, 3550
The Ballarat Symphony Orchestra are excited to be performing in the Bendigo Beethoven Festival in May. Five orchestras will perform all nine Beethoven Symphonies across a three day extravaganza!
Conductor: Nicole Marshall
Program: BSO will perform Symphonies 2 and 5
Date & Time: Sunday 31 May at 1pm (please note ticket website currently has 11am concert time listed)
Venue: Ulumbarra Theatre, 10-12 Gaol Rd, Bendigo.

Beethoven & Beyond
2026-06-14 14:30 - 15:30 | Wendouree Centre for Performing Arts, 1220 Howitt Street, Wendouree, VIC, 3350, Australia
BSO will be returning to Ballarat after performing in the Bendigo Beethoven Festival in May. We’ll present a modified program from the Bendigo Festival which will include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5.
Conductor: Nicole Marshall
Date & Time: Sun 14th June, 2:30pm
Venue: Wendouree Centre for Performing Arts

Victorian Opera Big Sing!
2026-11-29 14:00 - 15:00 | Ballarat Civic Hall, 300/304 Mair St, Ballarat, VIC, 3350, Australia
The BSO are partnering with the Victorian Opera for the fourth year running to present the Big Sing! Featuring prize winning opera soloists and a light and bright program to end the year.
Conductor: Phoebe Briggs
Program: TBC
Date & Time: Sunday 29 November at 2pm
Venue: Civic Hall Ballarat
