The Hills Shire Symphony Orchestra is a not-for-profit community orchestra, founded in 2018. It is a community orchestra with the aim to bring classical music into the Hills Shire. As of 2025, it remains the only orchestra of its kind in the Hills Shire, having performed six years’ worth of successful concerts, ranging from Beethoven symphonies to popular film music.
The vision for the orchestra is:
1. To provide opportunities for residents of the Hills Shire to perform in a symphony orchestra.
2. To provide opportunities to attend and listen to live classical music in the Hills Shire.
3. To provide learning opportunities for aspiring orchestral musicians, conductors, composers and other musicians.
4. To enrich the cultural identity of the Hills Shire.
Chris Upton
chief conductor / president
Chris Upton began his studies at the age of 8 in tenor trombone, commencing his piano studies at the age of 13. He graduated from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 2015 with a Bachelor of Music (Performance), studying under Sydney Symphony Orchestra trombonists Ronald Prussing and Scott Kinmont.
Whilst studying, Chris began his conducting studies under Dr John Lynch. He has since then participated in many conducting events, including the Melbourne Youth Orchestras Summer School under Max McBride, and the ABODA masterclass under Dr Tze Law Chan. He recently conducted the Woollahra Philharmonic Orchestra in February 2022, featuring Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto with soloist Paul Cheung.
Chris formed the Hills Shire Symphony Orchestra in 2017 after having travelled all over Sydney as a trombonist to play in orchestras and seeing the need for a local community orchestra in the Hills Shire. The orchestra has performed a number of significant works, including Beethoven’s Third, Fifth and Seventh Symphonies, the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with SSO violinist Alex Norton, and Holst’s magnificent Planets suite.
Chris is a passionate secondary teacher, teaching Music, Drama and English at Pacific Hills Christian School.