‘Once-in-a-generation opportunity’ for new symphony centre in Sydney

“The Sydney Youth Orchestras is a key part of that ecosystem and they’ve been the cradle for new talent for almost 50 years. I think it would be great if they finally got a permanent home.”

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The search for permanent lodgings for Sydney’s bespoke orchestras and choirs has been underway since at least 2018.

Small to medium-sized orchestras and ensembles have long struggled to find appropriate rehearsal space to meet the specific needs of the artform and say they lack smaller, commercially viable concert halls to play.

“It’s not just about finding space, it’s about acoustics and the availability of high-quality instruments,” said Omega Ensemble general manager David Boyce, who calls the idea a once-in-a-generation opportunity. “Even something so simple as playing in summer, once it hits 40 degrees we can’t play in a space that is not air-conditioned.”

A 2020 report by Left Bank Co, obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald, said the city’s smaller orchestras and choirs were reliant on space that was costly to hire, too small, not designed with the right acoustics, or causing sound issues with neighbours.

“There is concern for the next generation of musicians and small organisations who struggle to find affordable space to rehearse or perform and who are often working from bedrooms with no formal dedicated space,” said the report, which arose out of a roundtable discussion attended by 23 performance companies including the Sydney Youth Orchestras, Four Winds, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Omega Ensemble, and Pinchgut Opera.

The accommodation squeeze, the report said, was putting pressure on Sydney Opera House and City Recital Hall with school halls, churches, the Sydney Town Hall and the Seymour Centre serving as overflow venues. Omega subleases rehearsal spaces from Musica Viva and Opera Australia.

“It impacts on consistency from one project to the next, it impacts on scheduling because those organisations obviously get first priority over their own rehearsal spaces,” Mr Boyce said. “We have to wait in line to see what they are doing and that can be difficult. We are a touring organisation so there are a lot of moving parts. If we had more certainly, we could plan ahead and extend our activities.”

The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, based in Carriageworks, requires climate controlled, museum-standard storage for heritage instruments. Omega, Sydney Bach Society, Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra and Australian Haydn Ensemble said there would be savings in sharing office space and meeting rooms that could be passed onto artists.

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Sydney Youth Orchestras’ 14 ensembles shifted to Santa Sabina College in 2018 after being given three weeks’ notice to leave its previous lodgings.

“There are three stages we can perform on, two of which cost $20,000-plus a day which is the Opera House and Town Hall,” chief executive Mia Patoulios said. “We are breeding talented musicians and not giving them anywhere to perform. We’ve seen our open programs double in size and our core weekly program increase by a third in five years but there is absolutely no space.”

Property NSW owns the Registrar-General’s Building and leases it out as office space to government agencies. To repurpose the heritage building would require demolition of a rear 1960s extension and adaption of the core heritage interiors.

Patoulios said the major performance spaces and large rehearsal spaces could be built on the site of the more recent additions, leaving the core heritage building for offices and small rehearsal spaces, with limited acoustic treatment.

To proceed, State Cabinet would need to commit planning money in the budget process to start a business case.

“There are 550 young musicians who come together each week. We represent 300 different communities across the state and 200 different schools and institutions,” Patoulios said. “We would be keen to progress this by 2023, which is our 50th birthday. To have a home would be a lovely birthday present.”