"There was quite a lot of 'Pow!', quite a lot of 'Wow!', and it was definitely 'Now'."

- Australian Stage Online

"Think ELO and Nigel Kennedy's exuberant lovechild on stage. Think cello player walking backwards on stilts. Think 17 young and mobile players enthusiastically performing everything from Bowie to Rachmaninoff and you have the deep blue orchestra."

- Fairfax Digital Independent weekly

We're pleased to give you a sneak peak at the towns on our national tour for later this year.

As the venues are finalised we will let our deepblue members know via email so sign up to become a member if you haven't already.

Our last public shows for the year are now all on sale at the venues.

OCTOBER 9th - LISMORE, Bookings Ph. 1300 066 772 or www.norpa.org.au

OCTOBER 25th - WOLLONGONG, Bookings Ph. 02 4224 5999 or www.merrigong.com.au

OCTOBER 27th SHEPPARTON, Bookings Ph. 03 5832 9511 or www.riverlinksvenues.com.au

OCTOBER 29th MELBOURNE, Bookings Ph. 03 9243 9191 or www.clocktowercentre.com.au

OCTOBER 30th WARRNAMBOOL, Bookings Ph. 03 5559 4999 or www.entertainmentcentre.com.au

NOVEMBER 6th IPSWICH, Bookings Ph. 07 3810 6100 or www.ipswichciviccentre.com.au

Please tell your family or friends in any of these towns, we'd love to see them and need all the help we can to get the word out there! For more information go to Shows & Tickets.

youngblue workshops will also be run with all of these shows and you can register here.

Wow what great support we've had from the locals down Lismore way.  We've been visiting local schools including the Cape Byron Steiner School and Kadina High School doing workshops and performances.  One highlight was hanging out with Jamie and his noisy toys at Planet Music - what an amazing array of percussion instruments (wish you were there Hik)!

Get your two for one voucher for our Lismore show through any of our wonderful sponsors:

Planet Music - Music & Musical Instruments 
Cnr Molesworth & Woodlark Sts (02) 6621 7784

Winks Hairdressing
6/18 Carrington St (02) 6622 4388

Toyworld Lismore
101 Keen St (02) 6621 3193

Lismore Visitor Information Centre
cnr Ballina Rd and Molesworth St

The Richmond Hotel
36 Woodlark St

Tommy's Bar and Restaurant
75 Molesworth St

Our Sophie Adamus is currently in Zimbabwe waving the deepblue flag.

New tour dates just added.

Colour My World deepblue

by Tony Robertson

I have stated before that some readers will suspect I have been living under a rock the size of Uluru when I admit to my ignorance of some of the acts performing throughout the Brisbane Festival.

I had heard of deepblue round the traps but  apart from the blurb on the festival program I had no idea of what to expect as I settled in for another night of music at the Spiegeltent last Monday.

What I got was  an all too brief  glimpse into the future of orchestral music. It is going to be bold, classy, fun, creative and harmonise with new technology in ways we are just starting to explore.

It is this last point that I would like to share with you  a bit more. This is not to diminish the musical professionalism of the young performers or their ability to take on the classics and contemporary composers with some real panache. Rather, I believe that the deepblue orchestra invite us into a new conversation about the performing arts and technology.

A good starting point is this video from  Ben Cameron,  the Program Director, Arts, at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation in New York, where he supervises a $13 million grants program aimed at the theatre, contemporary dance, jazz and presenting field

I was also taken by this clip from QUT providing some interesting background to the act.

So, what have I been doing since seeing deepblue orchestra in concert? I have been sitting at my computer watching their Youtube channel to see something again of the magic of a unique relationship between performers and audience that deepblue create in their performance.

I then discovered that I could check out individual members on their website, Here I went into Facebook fenzy. After all, who wouldn’t want to friend people who are described on their site as: “deepblue people are passionate people who want to make a difference and want every member of the audience to have an unforgettable experience.” And yes, I have to admit to a fave performer in Wayne Jennings who stunned me with his stilt walking with a cello as well as managing a few wild kicks with ease!!

The passion and performance that these young people  bring to the deepblue orchestra is more than entertainment. It is a commitment to community engagement and audience development.

Visit their web site and get involved by promoting their tours, workshops and support for regional and international young musicians.

So a huge thanks to the Brisbane Festival and the deepblue orchestra, not just for first class entertainment but for an introduction to a model of sustainability in the performing arts.

And a reminder to locals and those traveling to SEQ, join me  for another deepblue orchestra experience  NOVEMBER 6th IPSWICH, bookings ph. 07 3810 6100 or www.ipswichciviccentre.com.au

And for those further South, deepblue are playing at LISMORE on OCTOBER 9th, bookings ph. 1300 066 772 or www.norpa.org.au

By Tony Robertson for Critical Mass, Brisbane Festival's Review Blog : 15 Sept 2010

NOVEMBER 6th IPSWICH, Bookings Ph. 07 3810 6100 or www.ipswichciviccentre.com.au

Please tell your family or friends in and around Ipswich, we'd love to see them and need all the help we can to get the word out there! For more information go to Shows & Tickets.

The youngblue workshop and performance and will also be run on the day of the show (Saturday 6th November) and you can register here.

Welcome to our new website.   There might still be a few bugs but we're working hard to get everything up to date.  We're loading new information, photos and videos and other cool new stuff as part of the site upgrade over the next couple of weeks so please keep an eye in it.  If you find any errors, or have any suggestions on what you'd like us to add to the site, please let us know.