2pm • Sunday 21 September 2025
The University of Queensland Symphony Orchestra presents a musical exploration of human endurance and spiritual transcendence. Under the baton of the Kinnane Professor of Music Paul Dean, UQ's young musicians explore Shostakovich's monumental Symphony No. 5 alongside the luminous devotion of Poulenc's Gloria. Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony is part enigma, part emblem. Written during Stalin's reign of terror, this musical masterpiece transforms personal and political struggle into music of overwhelming emotional force.
Complementing Shostakovich's testament to human resilience, Poulenc's Gloria radiates a sacred joy. Couched in French neo-classicism, this work for soprano, massed choir and orchestra celebrates faith and reverence. The UQ Chorale and UQ Singers will be joined by our partners St Peters Lutheran College and Brisbane Boys’ College in the Gloria's exhilarating massed choir. The performance also features 2 rising stars of the next generation of young musicians: gifted soprano and Bachelor of Music student Eline van Bruggen will be soloist in Poulenc's Gloria, and the winning entry of the Percy Brier Prize for Composition will receive its world premiere.
Join The University of Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Paul Dean as we venture into some of the most potent sound-worlds of the last 100 years of music.
Pre-concert talk
Dr Simon Perry will present a pre-concert talk from 1–1:30pm inside the Concert Hall, prior to the performance. All are welcome.
Tickets
$40 adult / $30 concession / $20 students/children (full time student and children)*
Concert Hall, Performance Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), South Bank
2 hours (with interval)
*a transaction fee of $7.50 applies per transaction.
Paul Dean
Conductor
Clarinettist Paul Dean is widely regarded as one of Australia's foremost musicians in his multiple capacities as soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, composer and Artistic Director. He is currently the Kinnane Professor of Music at The University of Queensland, co-Artistic Director of Ensemble Q with the cellist, Trish Dean. He was a founding member and Artistic Director of Southern Cross Soloists and the Bangalow Music Festival, before his appointment as Artistic Director of the Australian National Academy of Music in Melbourne. As a composer Paul has won the coveted Paul Lowin Prize in 2022 for his Symphony No 1 ‘Black Summer’ and an APRA 2023 Award for his Double Bass Concerto. He has been engaged as Composer in Residence for the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and has been commissioned to write works for major artists and orchestras including the Australian World Orchestra, Melbourne, Adelaide and Queensland Symphony Orchestras, Queensland Youth Symphony, and for major international artists including Jack Liebeck, Michael Collins and Torlief Thedeen.
Image of Angela
Angela Zhang
Composer of Overture: Pandemonium, Percy Brier Memorial Prize Winner 2025
Angela Zhang is a Brisbane-based composer and multi-instrumentalist in her first year at The University of Queensland, where she is pursuing a dual degree in Music and Science, majoring in Chemistry. Born in 2006, she is rapidly gaining recognition for her unique architectural style with her works being described as "boldly expressive" and "intricately woven."
In her final year of high school, Angela collaborated with composer John Rotar and The Australian Voices on her choral piece The Crow and the Lily at the TAV Young Composer School and was named a finalist in the Queensland Conservatorium’s “Score It!” competition for her sinfonietta Cadence.
Earlier this year, her chamber work Nocturne for clarinet, violin, and cello premiered at the UQ Art Museum as part of the “Music Meets Art: Entangled Worlds” exhibition, a feature of the UQ School of Music’s Spectrum Festival. Angela is also a violinist and an active member of Sketch, where she composed the main theme for the silent film project, The Passion of Joan of Arc. She currently studies composition under Paul Dean and will perform as a violist under his baton with The University of Queensland Symphony Orchestra.
Eline van Bruggen
Soprano Soloist in Poulenc Gloria
Eline van Bruggen is a Dutch-Australian soprano currently undertaking a Bachelor of Music (Hons) / Bachelor of Arts at The University of Queensland, majoring in Classical Vocal Performance, Linguistics, and Professional Writing and Communication.
In 2024, Eline appeared as the soprano soloist in Mozart Requiem at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre with the UQ Symphony Orchestra, and in Fauré Requiem at Brisbane City Hall with Brisbane Chorale. She made her debut as Susanna in the University of Queensland’s fully staged production of Le Nozze di Figaro, and is looking forward to portraying Anne in Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor later this year.
Eline has toured with Opera Queensland to Longreach and Winton for the 2023 and 2024 Festivals of Outback Opera. She recently returned from the United States, where she performed in Brigham Young University’s Liederabend and Spring Opera Scenes concerts.
She has performed at the Queensland Art Song Festival in both 2024 and 2025, further developing her artistry and interpretive skills in recital repertoire.
Her operatic roles include Ciboletta in Eine Nacht in Venedig and Erste Knabe in Die Zauberflöte in UQ’s complete productions, as well as Nanetta (Falstaff), Cunegonde (Candide), Frasquita (Carmen), Ida (Die Fledermaus), and Poppea (L'incoronazione di Poppea) in staged concert excerpts.
Eline looks forward to returning to QPAC as the soprano soloist in Poulenc Gloria with The University of Queensland Symphony Orchestra.