BRAVO! The Fremantle Chamber Orchestra is turning 10.
The orchestra was born in 2005 when founder Hans Hug, described by his wife Natalie as a manic Swiss cellist, wanted to give an emerging Serbian guitarist the chance to perform in Fremantle.
Hug recruited some muso friends and organised a concert. It was a success and the cellist decided to start doing what “no-one does” anymore: run an orchestra.
Ten years later the FCO is stronger than ever, with a massive reputation. Unlike most large Australian ensembles, it attracts almost no government funding, relying on private sponsorship and ticket sales.
“I am constantly amazed and grateful for the warmth of our audiences, the passion and commitment of our musicians and the beauty of the music we are so lucky to play,” Hug says.
“It’s a lot of work and really limited funding, but it’s all about the music.
Back together for Fremantle Chamber Orchestra’s 10th anniversary are founder Hans Hug and first conductor Ollivier-Philippe Cunéo. Photo by Steve Grant
“It’s really encouraging when [audiences] tell you ‘this is the best concert ever’”.
Hug’s musicians are paid but at rates that mean they mostly do it for love: principal clarinetist Michael Hodgkins describes playing with the FCO as a “mountain-top experience”.
The FCO will celebrate its anniversary by bringing back its first-ever conductor, who will lead its first-ever piece.
Ollivier-Philippe Cunéo is now based in Paris but is returning for two 3pm concerts, on July 25 at the Perth Town Hall and July 26 at the Fremantle Town Hall.
The performances will feature Mozart’s Symphony 25 followed by an obscure Bruch romantic concerto, Beethoven’s Coriolanus Overture, which featured in the FCO’s first-ever concert.
Cunéo says the program explores the theme of tragedy, considered one of humankind’s highest artistic expressions.
Ollivier-Philippe Cuneo and Hans Hug prepare for this month’s birthday concerts.
“Through the representation on stage (and in song) of human grief and suffering, and of the struggle against almost insurmountable obstacles and hardships, tragedy prepares us emotionally and intellectually for the tragedies we face in our own lives,” Cunéo told the Herald. He says the pieces will compare how composers of different ages treat the subject.
“For both the 17-year-old Mozart and the 19-year-old Schubert, these symphonies represent a musical rite of passage from childhood to maturity,” Cunéo says.
Hug agrees, and sees a parallel with the FCO’s own development from infancy to maturity: “This is exactly what FCO is doing. Becoming an adult orchestra.”
Disclaimer: The Herald is a principal sponsor of the FCO and Natalie Hug is advertising director.
by MARTA PASCUAL JUANOLA
