Thursday, February 14, 2013

Building Bolero -- The Queensland Symphony Orchestra Moves to South Bank




Every project starts with the seed of an idea .. and this was no different.

I was looking for a way to mark the arrival of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra to our new ABC broadcasting home in South Bank, Brisbane. It's right in the heart of Brisbane's cultural precinct, and the QSO now occupies our ground floor and is the primary user of our Studio 420 - a magnificant new rehearsal auditorium.

Just as I was musing over a creative way to welcome the QSO, up popped ABC Local Radio's Chris Welsh with a brilliant suggestion. Chris is "an ideas man" - yes, just like The Castle's Darryl Kerrigan. Chris sent me a link to a wonderful flashmob orchesta event in Spain, which sparked the concept of the QSO performing outside our wonderful new ABC Brisbane building for all passers by to enjoy.

The project was born. I sought some financial backing, and brought independent producer, Gary Johnson on board. Gary is also "an ideas man" and a delight to work with. With a team of ABC cameramen and QSO creatives, Gary massaged, expanded and kicked around a whole host of themes and ideas, with the QSO eventually settling on Bolero as a piece of music which could build beautifully for the purposes of a 6 minute video clip.

The performance was filmed by a crew of ABC camera operators and the music was recorded by ABC Classic FM's Live Music Producer, Matthew Dewey.

So that's the story of Building Bolero. Please enjoy..