Wollongong Con Community Orchestra

23/10/2022

Wollongong Town Hall; Not The Proms 2022: Wollcon Community Orchestra with Five Islands String Orchestra [Photos: Brad Chilby]

06/09/2022

Five Islands String Orchestra and Wollcon Community Orchestra are combining forces again this weekend for the 50th Birthday Music Festival at Wollongong Conservatorium of Music.

The combined Festival Community Orchestra performs SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 11th, 10.30am. The main stage is situated near the Manor House at the top of the Botanic Garden.

It will be a great weekend of music - all free. Checkout the schedule and details here: https://wollcon.com.au/event/50th-birthday-music-festival-at-wollcon/

[Photo by Brad Chilby - the Orchestra at Not The Proms last month]

25/08/2022

Wollcon Community Orchestra is combining with Five Islands String Orchestra to present a 55 piece symphony orchestra onstage at The Wollongong Town Hall. Playing Monteverdi, Rimsky-Korsakov, Bizet, Tchaikovsky and Hot Potato Band. Tickets available online or admission by donation a at the door.

Tickets are selling fast for the ‘Not The Proms’ concert at the Wollongong Town Hall - a WollCon 50th birthday concert and a celebration of Wollongong community music.
'Not the Proms' will be a night full of colour, fun and irreverent music, featuring the Wollcon Combined Festival Orchestra, Curious Rendition Orchestra (CROW) and the WollCon Symphonic Band.
The Con Artists will delight audiences by reliving the magic from the HONK!Oz festival and play with guest soloist Lotte Latukefu.
The concert will culminate with our special guests and band in residence … The Hot Potato Band, a larger-than-life brass collective, setting a new bar for energetic and interactive musical performances. https://wollcon.com.au/event/not-the-proms/

01/04/2022

Come along to our first concert for 2022. Tonight 7pm Wollongong City Art Gallery (admission by donation). Five Islands String Orchestra followed by Wollcon Community orchestra playing:

Symphony No. 104 in D major, H. 1/104, Franz Joseph Haydn
1st Movement.
--
Argentine Dance No..4 Polo Piatti

--
Argentine Dance No.9 Polo Piatti
--
Indian Pacific (1996) James Ledger
--
Blessed Cezary Skubiszewski
from the Australian feature film Blessed (2009). Orchestrated by Daryl McKenzie
--
Pines of Rome (Finale) Ottorino Respighi

27/03/2021

Classical music in the pub!! Our first performance for the year was on the dance floor of the UOW Unibar. Huge thanks to The Con Wind Ensemble and Curious Rendition Orchestra for being part of the concert.

Our guest of honour was the amazing Beryl Donaldson - still playing violin at 96!!

Thanks to Shane LadyMoon for putting the event together, and to our logistics team; Neil Cairns, Greg Knight and Judy Mitchell, and Con staff; David Rooney, Luke Tierney, Mark Holder-Keeping, Mel Wishart and Jenn Cook.

[photos by Lotte Latukefu]

30/01/2021

The Con Community Orchestra is gearing up for 2021. Rehearsals commence this Monday Feb 1. Please get in touch if you are interested (email: [email protected]).

Initially Strings (6.30-7.30pm) will rehearse separately from Wind/Brass/Percussion (7.30-8.30pm).

With space restrictions we currently have room for just 4 more string players, and 5 more wind/brass players depending on instrument.

There is no audition. Approximate minimum level would be AMEB grade 5. Lead players will need to be a little more advanced. Open to Adults and secondary school students.

Repertoire to start will include a Mozart Symphony, a movement from Brahms Symphony No.1, Estampas Mexicanas (Elizondo) . . . and more.

Wollongong Conservatorium of Music ph 42281122 / [email protected]

18/07/2020

Allegro Barbaro (Bartok / arr. John Spence). Recorded in isolation. June 2020

09/07/2020

Pre-Pandemic we had been rehearsing Toccata by Frescobaldi. Back in May with rehearsals shut down, our timpanist Greg Knight encouraged us to keep momentum and record the individual parts at home on phones and other devices. Here is the result - our first attempt at an ISO recording.

Musical direction by Adrian Davis. Audio/visual mixing and editing by Greg Knight and David Rooney.

In lieu of video, the somewhat random images (by David Rooney) show our home in the Botanic Gardens and wider Wollongong during pre-shutdown rehearsals and various recent weather events.

Thanks to Creative Wollongong Quick Response Grants for their assistance with this COVID19 isolation project

11/06/2020

An interesting opportunity for string players. A couple of years back the Con Community Orchestra had the privilege to work with Tángalo. Owen from Tángalo is currently residing in Argentina working with some remarkable musicians including Luciano Nobati - Violinista.

During the shutdown in Argentina, Luciano is offering lessons or masterclasses (in English) to string players interested in Tango music and specifically bowing techniques unique to Tango.

Interested string players or organisations can contact Luciano directly [email protected]. Or if there is enough local interest we could facilitate a group Zoom masterclass via the orchestra.