Queensland’s leading training ground for the state’s best and brightest classical musicians – Queensland Youth Orchestras – has snared three business luminaries to its board.
The appointment of Shaun Kenny, Steve Sleswick and Belita Fletcher reflects QYO’s standing as a critical player in the state’s arts infrastructure. And QYO deserves the best, because it’s an amazing organisation.
This is a premier, world-class youth music organisation based in Brisbane, providing top-tier training and performance opportunities for more than 500 musicians aged seven to 25.
Founded in 1966 by the legendary John Curro, QYO operates eight ensembles, including three symphony orchestras, concert bands and a big band, with the flagship Queensland Youth Symphony.
Haven’t been to a QYS concert yet? Then you are missing something because they are spectacular and led by world-class conductor Simon Hewett, also the QYO’s artistic director and a Brissie boy who came home to continue Curro’s legacy.
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Hewett was appointed principal conductor of the Hamburg Ballet in 2008 and continues to perform regularly with the Hamburg Ballet at the Hamburg State Opera, as well as on tour at the Salzburg Festival, the Spoleto Festival, the Baden Baden Festspielhaus, in the US, Japan, Hong Kong, Moscow and Australia.
Alongside his commitments with QYO, Hewett continues to perform internationally as a guest conductor, most recently at La Scala, Milan, the Semperoper Dresden, the Hamburg State Opera and with the Korean National Ballet.
Having someone as talented and committed as Hewett out front is great but he needs support from his board and that has always been key to QYO’s success. So, it’s heartening to know that the good work done by outgoing board president Ian Walker (a former State Arts Minister who now heads the board at QPAC) will continue.
Shaun Kenny has been appointed QYO board president. Highly regarded for his arts’ patronage and knowledge of the sector, he is also chairman of the Opera Australia Capital Fund Board. Notably, Kenny has had a long and distinguished career with Bechtel Corporation — a world-leading engineering, procurement, construction and project management firm.
Brisbane’s Philip Bacon – renowned art dealer, QYO benefactor and a key advocate for the city’s cultural development – describes Kenny’s appointment as fortuitous. In particular, he highlights the QYO’s home at the Old Museum as being ideally located at the heart of what will become the 2032 Olympic Precinct.
“The Olympics will give QYO visibility across the globe,” Bacon says. “Shaun Kenny’s international career means that as a global visionary he is capable of leveraging that opportunity to highlight the true value of our home-grown talent and cultural assets.”
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Joining Kenny are incoming board members Belita Fletcher, an QYO alumnus, and Steve Sleswick, a Brisbane property and arts entrepreneur.
Sleswick is a familiar face on the city’s music scene, having been responsible for the dynamic revival of two of Brisbane’s most popular inner-city music venues, The Tivoli and the Princess Theatre. Thanks to Sleswick’s nous and networks, audiences and musicians are now flocking to both venues.
Fletcher’s career is testament to the power of music education to help young people forge their own paths – be they corporate, cultural or both. After studying musicology at Cambridge University, Fletcher pivoted to a career in accounting and is now a KPMG associate director of financial risk management. In the coming months, Fletcher and the QYO board will progress preparations for a celebration to mark the organisation’s 60th anniversary in June.
Outgoing president Ian Walker says it has been “an immense pleasure and privilege to serve in this role alongside our artistic director Simon Hewett and executive director Amanda Jolly”.
Also retiring from the board are vice-president Matthew Garner and treasurer Timothy Kuusik.
“It’s been so fulfilling working with them and the entire board,” Walker says. “I wish incoming president Shaun Kenny and QYO all the best for an exciting future.
“The future of our home, the Old Museum, remains unclear – partly due to the unavoidable planning processes surrounding Olympic venues. But this is an unmissable opportunity to burnish the Old Museum’s standing as one of Queensland’s proudest buildings housing one of Queensland’s gems – Queensland Youth Orchestras. I have a year to serve as past president and have offered to take this project on as my special focus for 2026.”
Meanwhile, QYO’s 2026 season launches on March 21 with a performance by the Queensland Youth Symphony at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University Conservatorium Theatre.
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