SCPO relaunch

The Southern Cross Philharmonia was established as a professional orchestra by Gerald Gentry in 2005. Based in Melbourne, Australia, it is a not-for-profit organization listed on the Australian Government Register of Cultural Organizations (ROCO) and endorsed as a deductible gift recipient.

Gerald Gentry's death in 2014  has meant the orchestra has been without artistic leadership for some time. But, in 2018, the SCPO appointed Dr. Houston Dunleavy as the Artistic Director and gave him the task of getting the orchestra back on stage, performing with the virtuosity for which it had become renowned.

The orchestra will champion the music of Australian composers, the music of women composers and the music of Southern Hemisphere composers.

Our 2019 season is an exciting one, with new music already being composed by some of the best living composers in Australia - Eve Duncan, Christina Green, Andrian Pertout, Johanna Selleck, Amanda Harberg and Houston Dunleavy, as well as masterworks by Peter Tahourdin and Samuel Barber.

We are also welcoming to our shores, again, American viola virtuoso, Brett Deubner, who will perform the world premiere of Houston Dunleavy's "Moonburn" -  Concerto No. 2  for viola, strings and percussion.

The funding we seek will build on the base funding of the orchestra and provide marketing/promotion funds, and contribute to other orchestral expenses such as venue hire, travel cost for our soloist, and fees for composers and players.

Ideally, the funding will be in place by the before our gala re-launching concert, which will be on Sunday 24th, February, 2019, where we will be able to celebrate our sponsors and donors and present the orchestra to Melbourne and the world.

The support of people like you means that young professional musicians will have the opportunity to work with established professionals, and present their talents. It will give under-represented composers an avenue for their music to be performed as the highest professional level. Melbourne audiences will be able to hear new music from many perspectives, in particular the music of their own city. 

Sponsors and donors such as you as the new lifeblood of art  and culture. Melbourne, a city of early 5 million people, many of whom are deeply immersed in the city's cultural life, is a city worth celebrating. The re-launching of the SCPO will be a superb way to do this, and it will happen because of the generosity of those who care about the life we lead here. 

The young professionals of the orchestra, the composers whose music they present, and city itself, will be changed for the better in a time when art and music are needed as uniting and healing forces.