The packed QPAC Concert Hall audience was desperate for musical salvation after the chaos caused by Cyclone Alfred, which battered Brisbane last week.

It came from Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra, whose mission to empower artists, inspire audiences and enrich communities was very much apparent in Schumann, a program of rarely performed pieces and an impromptu ‘Wild Card’.

Camerata was at maximum capacity for Fanny Mendelssohn’s Overture in C, with 40 musicians, including “the windies”, harp, brass and percussion uniting with the strings. Joyce was among the throng as they tenderly caressed the opening of Mendelssohn’s only non-vocal orchestral piece out of over 460! It is rarely performed and is vivacious and bold. As the strings pitched and bobbed, the windies softened the drama with tender interludes of clarinet and flute until a robust timpani whirled the violins to a majestic and thrilling conclusion.

Brendan Joyce and Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra. Photo © Alex Jamieson

Joyce then took centre stage to deliver a delicious violin solo of Schumann’s Cello Concerto in A...