Our History
We are forever grateful for the vision, enthusiasm and talent of our founders, Hugh and Madeleine Baird, who arrived on the Central Coast from Scotland in 1958. In 1962, they formed an orchestra of 20 players, and in 1963, a choir of 16 was added, so beginning the Gosford Orchestral and Choral Society. On Saturday 30th November 1963, the first major concert, Handel’s Messiah, was performed in Gosford Anglican Church to an audience of 400. The society was incorporated as Gosford Philharmonia in 1989 and, in February 2007, Central Coast Philharmonia.
Many have contributed to the Choir over those years, as choristers, soloists, instrumentalists, in management, and, importantly, as audience. Past Musical Directors, Patrick Donnellan and Philip Rees, each received an OAM, in part for their work with the Philharmonia. Patrick Brennan, Artistic Director of the Central Coast Conservatorium, began as our Musical Director in 2019. The Philharmonia has gained a reputation for excellence in singing the finest contemporary works as well as the more familiar, with recent audiences at capacity. We are proud to collaborate regularly with the Central Coast Youth Orchestra, as well as sponsoring the Central Coast Children’s and Youth Choir and an annual Richard Newton Senior Vocalist scholarship.
Repertoire
In the choir’s history, numerous major works have been presented, including Messiah, Elijah, mass settings by Beethoven, Schubert, Haydn and Mozart; Concert performances of opera: Carmen, Faust, Orpheus, Dido; Requiem settings of Mozart, Bruckner, Faure, Durufle, Peter Sculthorpe, Dvorak; Magnificat settings of Pergolasi, JS and CPE Bach. In recent years, the choir has been proud to also present the works of contemporary composers: Alexander L’Estrange, Karl Jenkins, Eric Whitacre, Christopher Tin and Dan Forrest. Some of these have been Australian premieres.
