At first glance The Orchestra Project’s yearly mission seems not just ambitious but implausible: to bring the nation’s young musicians together to prepare and perform the most gruellingly difficult of symphonic repertoire under the direction of industry leaders in just three days.

But Artistic Director and conductor Fabian Russell is clearly up for a challenge, as he has been for the 21 years of The Orchestra Project’s existence.

The Orchestra Project. Photo © Lucien Fischer.

My first experience with The Orchestra Project was in 2019 and it was memorable for two reasons. I had never played in an orchestra of that scale before, and the mammoth sound we could produce in South Melbourne Town Hall was nothing short of magnificent. But what I really remember about that experience was the incredibly slow, aching Adagietto movement of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, during which I was forced to sustain unwavering long notes in the Violin 2 section. It was something my body simply wasn’t prepared for. My arm was burning by the end.

Never before had I needed to maintain so much control in my bow, but laying that bed of slow-shifting inner voice...