History of PSO

Penrith Symphony Orchestra first performed in 1988 as part of the Bicentennial celebrations, when an orchestra of 45 players conducted by Gerald Williams performed Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man, Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No 2 with soloist Gabriella Pusner, and Alfred Hill's Symphony No.2 (The Joy of Life) with a 65-voice choir comprising members of the Nepean Choral Society and the Warrimoo Chorale.

In 1989 the new orchestra’s concerts included the Elgar Cello Concerto with soloist Georg Pedersen, Brahms Symphony No 2, the Mozart Requiem, Delius’s Sea Drift, and Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances with the Nepean Choral Society. In 1990, with the opening of the Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre, the Orchestra changed its name from the Western Philharmonic to the Penrith Symphony Orchestra. In 1990 the Orchestra performed  Brahms Requiem and Messiah with the Nepean Choral Society and presented a Family Concert with Shane Porteus as the narrator for Peter and the Wolf.
 
Support from Penrith Panthers enabled the Penrith Symphony Orchestra to present its first subscription series in 1991.
 
The Orchestra received funding support from Penrith City Council and from the NSW Government through the Ministry for the Arts which enabled its development to its present excellence.
 
The orchestra’s subscription concerts, held in the beautiful concert hall of the Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre, Penrith, draw large audiences, including many loyal subscribers. Other performances in recent years include a popular children’s prom program, Pops for Tots, performed in Penrith and Richmond; afternoon family concerts; appearances in the Penrith Mayoral Musicale, an annual series of free concerts presented by Penrith City Council to showcase local talent; and charity performances for Anglicare in the Sydney Town Hall and the City Recital Hall, Angel Place.
 
In 2000 the orchestra was honoured to receive the Community Orchestra of the Year Award from TOAN (The Orchestras of Australia Network) for extending the public's perception of orchestras. Penrith City Council also received honourable mention in the awards for enlightened support for an orchestra.
 
Further recognition of the orchestra followed in 2003 when Maestro Henryk Pisarek, received a TOAN Award for services to Penrith Symphony Orchestra, Ku-ring-gai Philharmonic Orchestra and the East-West Orchestra.