New Director of Music

Simon Hewett appointed as Director of Music of Queensland Youth Orchestras

Queensland Youth Orchestras (QYO) has appointed Simon Hewett as its new Director of Music. The position has been vacant since the passing of QYO Founder John Curro AM MBE in November 2019.

QYO President Peter Geroff said “Following an extensive recruitment process, we are thrilled to have Mr Hewett commencing as Director of Music in January 2021. His conducting experience with professional and youth orchestras in Europe and Australia ensures he is well equipped to take on this important role.”

Mr Hewett grew up in Brisbane and completed a Bachelor of Music at the University of Queensland. Over the past 20 years he has built an impressive international career working with some of the world’s leading opera and ballet companies. He has been Principal Conductor of the Hamburg Ballet since 2008, and he was Principal Conductor of the Stuttgart Opera from 2011 to 2016. He has appeared as a guest conductor with the Paris Opera Ballet, the Royal Ballet Covent Garden, the Vienna State Opera Ballet, the Australian Ballet and Opera Australia in Sydney and Melbourne.

Mr Hewett said “I am excited to be returning to my roots in Brisbane and working with the talented young musicians of QYO. After the passing of John Curro in 2019 and the tremendous upheavals of 2020 due to Covid-19 I look forward to a period of renewal in 2021: bringing together our musicians and our audiences, rediscovering the joy and inspiration of young people making music together”.

Established by John Curro AM MBE in 1966, Queensland Youth Orchestras has 500 musicians aged from 8 to 24 in seven ensembles including three symphony orchestras, two wind orchestras, a junior string orchestra and big band. QYO ensembles perform over 50 concerts each year, including three concert series in Brisbane and regional tours.

An important part of Mr Hewett’s role will be conducting QYO’s leading ensemble, the 100 member Queensland Youth Symphony (QYS).

Mr Geroff said ”Under John Curro’s inspired leadership, QYS established a reputation as one of the world’s leading youth orchestras through the consistently high quality of its performances in Australia over five decades and overseas during 13 international tours. I am confident that Mr Hewett will continue this pursuit of excellence and lead the orchestra to even greater heights in the coming years.”

Biography

Simon Hewett studied clarinet and conducting at The University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, graduating with First Class Honours and a University Medal. He was a clarinetist in the QYO Wind Symphony in 1992 and was appointed conductor of Queensland Youth Orchestra 3 in 1997. In 2002, Mr Hewett conducted the QYO Chamber Orchestra for a regional tour.

After receiving a German Government Scholarship, Mr Hewett continued his conducting studies at the Hochschule für Musik ‘Franz Liszt’ in Weimar, Germany from 1998 to 2001. From 2002 to 2003 he was a member of Opera Australia’s Young Artists’ Programme, and made his debut at the Sydney Opera house in October 2003, conducting Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers. Mr Hewett has since returned regularly to Opera Australia as a guest conductor including in 2012 when he led critically acclaimed new productions of The Marriage of Figaro and Salome. His interpretation of Salome was acknowledged with a Green Room Award for Best Performance of an Opera in 2012.

In 2005 Simon Hewett was invited by Simone Young to join the Hamburg State Opera as Resident Conductor and Assistant Music Director. Since his debut with La Traviata in 2005, he has conducted over 500 performances in Hamburg of a large repertoire of opera and ballet. Following successful performances of Die Fliegende Holländer for the Stuttgart Opera in 2010, Mr Hewett was invited to become Principal Conductor. He has since conducted a broad repertoire in Stuttgart including La Bohème, Khovanshchina, Die Fledermaus, Nabucco, Tosca, Madame Butterfly, Eugene Onegin and Der Freischütz.

After conducting the premiere of John Neumeier’s Parsifal at the Baden Baden Festspielhaus in 2006, Simon Hewett has enjoyed a close and productive collaboration with the Hamburg Ballet. He was appointed Principal conductor in 2008, and in addition his regular performances in Hamburg he has toured with the Hamburg Ballet to the Salzburg Festival, Australia, USA, Hong Kong and Japan.

As a symphonic conductor Mr Hewett has appeared with the Queensland, Melbourne, Sydney and West Australian Symphony Orchestras. In 2021 he will take up a role as Principal Guest Conductor with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra.