Hear the halls sing as Southern Cross Soloists celebrates 30 years of making music in 2025
In 2025 the shining stars of Australian chamber music, Southern Cross Soloists, will be celebrating its 30th Pearl anniversary. Less flashy than other gemstones, the lustrous beauty of the pearl depends on the mysterious mechanisms of sea life on Earth – on a universal scale they are thousands of times rarer and more precious than the dreary diamond, which shows up anywhere carbon is under a modicum of pressure. Like the pearl, Southern Cross Soloists (SXS)’s 2025 season is a treasure, rewarding its loyal audience with music they love, whilst continuing to showcase virtuoso soloist musicians from Queensland and beyond.
“Although the ensemble has changed shape over 30 years, one thing has remained constant: the power of live music to connect people by drawing our attention to the here and now,” says co-artistic director and long-time SXS clarinettist Ashley Smith. “Our 30th year finds us at a pivotal time for our art form. Our 2025 season is about connecting through extraordinary music, both old and new.”
To kick off the birthday celebrations, for the first show in the 16th QPAC Concert Series, Southern Cross Soloist musicians will be donning their Sunday best, and inviting audiences to do the same for a Viennese birthday gala. Celebrate! At QPAC on Sunday February 23, will feature chamber music’s ultimate party piece, Beethoven’s Septet Op. 20, alongside waltzes and arias by Johann Strauss II.
2025 will see Ray Lin, winner of the recently announced 2024 Australian Music Composition Competition, internationally renowned jazz-pianist Joe Chindamo OAM and Brisbane-born, Los Angeles-based film composer Leah Curtis write new contributions for the SXS Didgeridoo Commissioning Project. Founded in 2022, after Wakka Wakka Didgeridoo soloist, Chris Williams was appointed permanent Artist in Residence, the SXS Didgeridoo Commissioning Project explores the use of didgeridoo in classical music to create new sounds with a quintessentially Australian flavour. SXS is committed to commissioning and performing three new works each year for Didgeridoo and small ensemble to create a substantial new canon of Australian works by the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.
Joe Chindamo will also be bringing his incredible ivory-tickling fingers to the SXS ensemble in the second QPAC Series concert Pearls on Sunday June 1. Pearls will feature an original composition by Joe, and show off his improvisation skills in classic tunes like Gershwin’s Summertime and Somewhere from West Side Story.
The QPAC Concert series will close with Wonder on Sunday October 12 featuring renowned pianist Aura Go. Other guest artists across their series include superstar soprano Alexandra Flood (Celebrate!) who returns from the Vienna Volksoper to blistering coloratura, rising star Nina Korbe (Pearls) will join SXS to sing her favourite Bellini arias. SXS’s co-artistic director, Margaret Blades, will feature as soloist in a new chamber version of Ross Edwards’ Maninyas Violin Concerto and a new work by SXS’s International Ambassador and composer Sean O’Boyle AM.
The SXS will also be producing its third Sunset Soiree Series which Margaret Blades says will focus on “telling Queensland Stories.”
“From poets Judith Wright and Zara Cross to international superstars, the Bee Gees, we will bring their stories to life through music and the spoken word,” she says. “A recital to celebrate the connection between Australia and Türkiye is also not to be missed, featuring the brilliant ‘1001 Nights in a Harem’ by Fazil Say.”
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The pearl anniversary season will also feature a one-show collaboration with Voxalis Opera that will explore a bewitching vocal chamber canon of works rarely performed in Queensland. SXS will be undertaking an educational collaboration with Queensland Ballet’s Community and Education team to present a school immersion experience at the Thomas Dixon Centre in November. This experience will allow students to discover the wonders of chamber music, didgeridoo and movement for themselves.
“Join SXS in 2025 for a season that promises to sweep you off your feet with joy and celebration!” said Margaret. “We cannot wait to share our program of wondrous music making with you all.”
As a birthday treat, SXS are offering a special deal – purchase a three-concert QPAC Series package subscription and receive two free tickets to bring friends to the Vienna style gala concert Celebrate! on Sunday February 23. For more information head to the Southern Cross Soloist website.
Images by Darren Thomas.