Objects of Substance- The Gala Posters

confused. The gala posters have a role to play here in that they are a manifestation of the musical elements of each concert in visual form, and their diversity and evolution reflect the concert qualities, as well as offering a journey down memory lane. Traditionally, the poster and program design are outsourced after the Instrumental Music Faculty has determined the theme and music for the Gala. The design company, currently Prodigy, is briefed by the music staff and the magical design evolves.

1997 Gala poster.

The Inaugural Gala Concert, titled Sunday Proms Concert, was held at the Brisbane City Hall in June 1997, and the Proms coordinator, Andrew Jarvis, proclaimed the concert to be “ a most adventurous project.” The special guest was Gina Cervo (1978), internationally acclaimed soprano and Channel Ten’s newsreader, Glenn Taylor, was compere. It was such a great success that the then Principal, Judith Hancock, agreed that it should become a regular event in the School‘s calendar. Its poster was appropriately blue and relatively straightforward in design. Past Student, Dr Melissa Carroll (nee Hickey, 1997), remembers that first Gala Concert as “a different kind of concert. … Until the Sunday Proms Concert , all our concerts were traditionally held in the Gehrmann Theatre, and we only went to City Hall for graduation. I remember the net of balloons being dropped at the end of the concert and was so impressed!”