'We agreed that we’d exhausted the official channels': TSO chief Caroline Sharpen on why the orchestra is going public with its stadium location concerns

On a Wednesday several weeks ago, the musicians and staff of the TSO gathered in our rehearsal studio on Evans Street. Across the road, bulldozers were finishing off remediation of the southwest corner of the Macquarie Point precinct.

We put our heads together and agreed that we were in a pickle.

For a company in the business of sound, the proposition of a 23,000-seat stadium 170m from our own high-performance facilities is a scenario geared to keep you awake at night.

After first learning about this reality from The Mercury last year, we did the appropriate thing and expressed our concerns through official channels. We sought meetings with relevant ministers and were ignored or referred back to the arts portfolio – the only corner of government prepared to at least speak with us.

So, our pickle, on the eve of the POSS lodgment, was: do we do our jobs and stand up to protect our livelihoods? Or do we keep our heads down and hope that the Tasmanian Planning Commission will somehow be compelled by our fourth official submission as it wades through the 4,000 pages of stadium documentation?

The POSS Noise and Vibration Assessment doesn’t tell us how noise from crowds, sirens, PAs and rock concerts will impact on people using our very sensitive facilities at the state concert hall, rehearsal and recording studios. We know that low frequency sounds are hardest to mitigate, but there’s no modelling on the spectral range of sound from stadium events and there’s no detail on future mitigation. The report falls well short of helping the commissioners adopt an informed position.

As the most recorded, broadcast, filmed and streamed orchestra in Australia, we are Tasmania’s number one cultural export. How many days of the year will we have to ‘down tools’ to avoid clashes with games and concerts? Do we simply cease operations during the months of piling during construction?

We agreed that we’d exhausted the official channels, leaving us with the less palatable option of making a bigger public fuss.

But the trombone section piped up – ‘we can’t stand between the aspirations of a football state and the long overdue opportunity for a men’s and women’s team to represent it!’ they said.

‘We absolutely cannot and nor would we want to’ was the immediate consensus.

All of us at the TSO could not be more thrilled about the Tasmania Devils and we’ll be cheering them on from day one.

Another worry in the room was that any public comment would see us lampooned as ‘elitist’. Elite is a great compliment if you’re an athlete – but the opposite if you’re a cultural organisation. If that criticism comes our way, it won’t stand up to the reality of what we do. More than half of our activities occur in schools, communities, health and aged care settings all around the island.

Another tricky factor is our unequivocal support for a stadium. The orchestra’s been at the pointy end of high performance in the world for more than 75 years. We know that to achieve that, you need for fit-for-purpose facilities.

The TSO invested $1 million from reserves in an acoustic upgrade of Federation Concert Hall in 2020, transforming it into one of the finest music venues in the world. It’s what the orchestra needed to reveal its true lustre as one of Australia’s premier cultural exports.

So, we know our Tasmania Devils need outstanding facilities. But honestly, we just need there to be a less terrible option!

One that isn’t 170m from our state concert hall. One that doesn’t steal the solemnity and cultural significance of our Cenotaph and state war memorial. One that doesn’t photo bomb and devalue the precious maritime heritage of our waterfront.

How we’ve ended up with this binary ‘support stadium 1.0 or lose the team’ outcome is strange.

Sure, it’s spelled out in the government’s contract with the AFL. But it is strange given that we are a creative, resourceful and dogged state.

A great feature of Tasmania is that it’s one of the least densely built-up places on earth. Surely there’s a better site. A site that means we don’t compromise and devalue the treasures adjoining the Macquarie Point precinct. Surely!

Of this we are certain: We can achieve something magnificent for our Devils. AND we can value and protect our precious Cenotaph, state concert hall and famous maritime heritage for generations to come.

And that is your orchestra on the record.