By any measure, the work of a professional musician requires balance – artistic, mental, sometimes even physical. But performing with The Metropolitan Orchestra, Sydney’s crack ensemble of freelancing musicians, aboard a BRAVO Cruise of the Performing Arts demands a whole new level of surefootedness.

“Even if you don’t consciously feel it, the stage is always swaying beneath you,” says pianist Bev Kennedy, a veteran of several BRAVO cruises and now preparing for the next one in October. “It’s not much, but as musicians, we rely on our internal sense of balance, so it takes a bit of adjusting to. But the fun of the BRAVO cruise – the people you work with and meet and the atmosphere – makes that physical challenge all part of the fun.”

For Kennedy and her orchestra colleagues, a BRAVO cruise is no ordinary gig. It’s a floating music festival where the stage moves, the audience mingles with the performers, and no two days are alike. Drawing classical, opera, musical theatre and jazz artists from across the globe, the cruise has become a beloved annual tradition for musicians and audiences alike.

Guy Noble conducts The Metropolitan Orchestra as Marina Prior...