About Us

lismore symphony orchestra about

Our history

The Lismore Symphony Orchestra was formed in 2003 from a group of dedicated musicians living in the Northern Rivers. This forward-thinking group, led by Ian Bowles and Karen Traise, created something special for the people of Lismore and surrounding areas that continues to this present day.

Our goal is to bring classical orchestral music to the people of the Northern Rivers and we do that with our three concert series each year. In December 2016, it was wonderful to be part of Handel’s Messiah performed under the baton of well-known Australian conductor, Richard Gill.

The same year LSO partnered with Southern Cross University bringing a new dimension to the orchestra and its growth over the next few years.

Meet the team

Man with grey hair playing violin

Jim Stewart / Acting President

about LSO Ben

Ben van Kleef / Conductor

Join us

We would love to hear from you! While there is no set grade required, we recommend a standard of around grade 6 to be comfortable playing our repertoire. You can have a look at our sheet music and see if it’s a good fit.

In order to ensure that the orchestra is able to give the best possible performance at each of its concerts, you would be expected to:

  • be available for most rehearsals
  • let our orchestra manager know if you can’t attend a rehearsal
  • help set up and pack down some chairs and music stands
  • practice between rehearsals
  • agree to our Members Code of Conduct

We rehearse for about 10 weeks leading up to concerts (excluding school holidays) on Thursdays from 7 to 9pm in the D Music Block of Southern Cross University, Lismore. About one Sunday per month we have a rehearsal from 2 to 5pm.

At the moment we are particularly seeking:

  • Violinists
  • Violists
  • Brass players
  • Percussionists
LSO join us

FAQs

Absolutely! We go out to a local pub after most rehearsals, and sometimes we do social lawn bowls on a Sunday afternoon. We have also organised to go away for weekends together to the Jumpers and Jazz festival in Warwick, QLD. Everyone is pretty friendly!

Three times a year, a player call will be emailed out asking for availabilities for the upcoming rehearsals and concert.

We usually hold three series’ a year, one around March/April, a proms concert in June/July, and one around October/November.

Lismore Symphony orchestra history
Lismore Symphony orchestra history
Lismore Symphony orchestra history
Lismore Symphony orchestra history
Lismore Symphony orchestra history
Lismore Symphony orchestra history