Morning Tea to celebrate the 80th Anniversary of Musica Viva Australia

Musica Viva Australia, CEO Ms Anne Frankenberg; State Manager, Mr Paul McMahon; staff, supporters and volunteers; representatives from other Arts powerhouses in Queensland, including Queensland Symphony Orchestra CEO, Mr Michael Sterzinger and Director of Artistic Planning Mr Tim Matthies; Queensland Performing Arts Centre CEO, Ms Rachel Healy; Brisbane Music Festival Artistic Director,  Mr Alex Raineri; Camerata Artistic Director, Dr Brendan Joyce; and Ensemble Q Co-Artistic Directors Trish and Paul Dean.

We also have representatives from the University of Queensland School of Music and Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University; ABC Classic and Arts Queensland; distinguished guests; ladies and gentlemen.

I begin by acknowledging the Original Custodians of the lands around Brisbane, the Turrbal and Jagera peoples, and pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and to any First Nations people here this morning.

It is a genuine pleasure to welcome you all to Fernberg to celebrate this milestone anniversary for one of Australia’s most treasured chamber music organisations.

When this historic home was first built, in 1865, Brisbane’s very first concert hall had just opened and classical music concerts had only just begun to appear in the town’s social calendar. But, as one newspaper correspondent wrote at the time, “there is but little taste in Brisbane for the class of music offered and the more classical it may be, the greater the indifference which has generally been manifested”.

Today, 160 years later, it could not be more different – Queenslanders are now among the 150,000 people nationwide, from primary school students to professional musicians, who enjoy the very best Australian and international artists toured by Musica Viva, and eagerly await each season.

The 2026 season, launched three weeks ago, is no exception. It’s an absolute chocolate box of delights, including performances by the lute virtuoso Thomas Dunford, recorder queen Genevieve Lacey, and a return visit by the incomparable Paul Lewis on piano. It's an 80^th birthday gift to us all!

The range of offerings through Musica Viva Australia in Schools in 2026 is equally exciting and I am delighted that some of those exceptional music educators are able to be with us today.

Reaching the age of 80 is always cause for celebration for an individual, but it’s even more so for an organisation, and, on behalf of all Queenslanders, I thank the past and present board members, staff, sponsors, subscribers and other supporters for the eight decades of effort, commitment and imagination that have built Musica Viva into the largest chamber music organisation and the largest music education provider in the world.

That growth is a wonderful and enduring example of what can happen when passion and determination combine to follow a dream, and today, Australian culture owes a profound debt to the two visionary World War II refugees, Richard Goldner and Walter Dullo, for their decision, 80 years ago, to bring together 16 musicians, many of them also refugees, to form four string quartets and launch Sydney Musica Viva.

The repertoire for the first concert on the 8^th of December 1945 included Beethoven’s Great Fugue. This was a deeply symbolic choice as it was the work that the Warsaw Ghetto Orchestra had been playing when they were arrested and transported to the Treblinka death camp in August 1942.

Care in the choice of both repertoire and performers has continued to be a hallmark of Musica Viva ever since, as has been its commitment to supporting and encouraging young musicians. Musica Viva Australia in Schools is of vital importance in this regard and is a valued complement to the work done in our State since 1971 through Education Queensland’s Instrumental Music Program.

Musica Viva’s work in schools, its Emerging Artist programs, and its concert series are also important parts of the robust and fertile music ecosystem in Queensland. Alongside the wonderful companies and organisations we have represented in the room today, we also have numerous community orchestras and other groups and individuals, all of which play their role in that ecosystem, and I thank all of you for your continued commitment to nurturing and sustaining it and to building awareness of the importance and value of music to all our lives.

Happy 80^th Anniversary, Musica Viva!