Australia's Sunshine Coast Guitar Orchestra

The Sunshine Coast Guitar Orchestra is open to guitarists of all abilities and experience. Its repertoire consists of a plethora of musical traditions: African, Spanish, Australian, Appalachian and more. The orchestra is spearheaded by local guitarist and composer Andrew Veivers, and meets the first Wednesday of every month (5:30pm – 7:30pm starting on 2nd April) at the Events Centre in Caloundra on Australia's Sunshine Coast.

This community orchestra has been Veivers' ambition for some time. In 2011 he established "The People's Orchestra" in conjunction with the Woodford Folk Festival - this orchestra consists of festival patrons, who rehearse daily during the festival, culminating in providing the music for the annual Fire Event on New Year’s Day (the final day of the festival). Veivers has subsequently used the successful “People’s Orchestra” model create similar projects at festivals and events around the Australia.

“The Sunshine Coast Guitar Orchestra is about opening up the realms of possibility for the guitar – it’s about giving guitarists of all ages, cultures, abilities and genres the opportunity to learn from, and perform in, an orchestral setting.  Many guitarists ... I’m no exception....  spend most of their time practicing and performing in isolation.”  says Veivers.

Besides being a home to the SCGO, the Events Centre has opened its doors to a whole new program of guitar concerts by Australian guitarists including soloists Veivers, Michael Fix, Nick Charles, Rupert Boyd, and Jacob Cordover; as well the UQ Guitars ensemble led by renowned classical guitarist Karin Schaupp.

“The Events Centre have been incredible supporters of the orchestra concept providing a state of the art home for rehearsals and performances in their Playhouse theatre.  The addition of the Guitar Circle concert series will provide even more opportunity for local guitarists to hear, learn from and interact with guitar masters from around the country” says Veivers.

About Andrew Veivers

Andrew Veivers is one of Australia's finest Spanish Guitarists, his speciality being the combination of the flair of traditional Flamenco, with the formal training of Classical guitar. He as performed at many international musical occasions such as The Dillington Classical Guitar Festival (UK) and chamber music series' in Amsterdam, as well as Australias leading festivals. Andrew has appeared as a soloist and also within various ensembles such as Flamenco Fire, The Saruzu Quartet, and Jaleos Flamenco.

Andrew is also a dedicated teacher of the instrument, he opened The Spanish Guitar Studio in Brisbane in 1997. He has also self-published a teaching manual and DVD - The Rhythm Method: An Introduction to Flamenco Guitar.