Instrument Fund
Help Elevate Our Sound
Your donation can fine tune our Orchestra by upgrading our instruments and tools. Let’s hit the right notes together.
To create extraordinary musical experiences, we need the best tools for the trade.
We invite you to elevate our sound by making a gift to our Instrument Fund. Your tax-deductible donation will go directly towards the purchase of high quality instruments, to maintain the exquisite sound of the Orchestra. Every gift makes a difference and will help us strike the perfect chord!
This year we’re focusing on replacing key percussion instruments, the timpani and the celeste. These new instruments will empower our percussionists to perform at their best, creating an even richer experience for you, our audience.
Stories from our Supporters
Hideyasu Shimada Viola Instrument Fund
The father of our Principal Contrabassoon Noriko Shimada, Hideyasu, was a significant orchestral musician in Japan, and became close friends with one of our musicians after visiting Australia in the 1960s.
Now due to a generous gift from Masako, Noriko’s mother, we have established the Hideyasu Shimada Viola Instrument Fund, helping our violists access quality instruments, and ensuring the connection between the Shimada family and the Sydney Symphony continues for decades to come.
The Hazelwood Gracino Violin
The 1716 Grancino violin was played by our former Concertmaster Donald Hazelwood from 1965 until his retirement in 1998.
The Grancino violin returned to the Sydney Symphony in 2019 when a generous donor, Vicki Olsson, purchased the violin from Don and loaned it to the Orchestra. Since then it has been played by Associate Concertmaster, Harry Bennetts. Now, in a further extraordinary act of philanthropy, Vicki has gifted the violin to the Sydney Symphony, ensuring that it will remain at the core of our sound forever more. Her only stipulation was that the instrument be renamed the ‘Hazelwood’ Grancino in honour of Don.