What a treat it is to hear an evening of music that isn’t just the same old names. I realise that the standard contingent of composers with “B” last names are favourites that get bums on seats, but hey, I can confirm that this line-up of composers not named Bach, Beethoven or Brahms resulted in a completely packed QPAC. And look! A concert that isn’t just the tired combination of overture/concerto/symphony! The anticipation was almost palpable as the listeners filed into QPAC.

Alondra de la Parra. Photo © Felix Broede

Like the last few Queensland Symphony Orchestra concerts I’ve seen, the seemingly new policy of including spoken introductions makes an enormous difference. Here, Music Director Alondra de la Parra’s enthusiasm absolutely came through, complete with brief switches into Spanish to respond to cheers from the (very excited) audience. Likewise, the audience’s appreciation for the demonstration of the various unusual percussion instruments required for the performance was clear.

The concert began with Mexican composer Carlos Chávez’s Sinfonía india (Symphony No. 2). It uses three themes from the Seri and Yaqui people of Sonora (in the north of Mexico), and the Huicholes of Nayarit (in...