{"id":577364,"date":"2026-04-01T00:12:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T00:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/577364\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T00:12:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T00:12:11","slug":"from-screen-to-symphony-joff-bush-on-blueys-new-orchestral-album-and-music-from-the-hit-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/577364\/","title":{"rendered":"From screen to symphony: Joff Bush on Bluey\u2019s new orchestral album and music from the hit series"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even if you don\u2019t have little ones in your life, there\u2019s a very good chance you can sing the theme of the hit children\u2019s series Bluey.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The iconic, bouncy melodica tune has just received a full orchestral glow up in the latest series album, Bluey: Up Here, which was released last week.<\/p>\n

It features music from favourite episodes played for the first time with full symphony orchestra.<\/p>\n

Music has been an important part of the show\u2019s storytelling since it first aired in 2018, with original music from Bush and his team paired with delightful inclusions of western classical music, ranging from whimsical to poignant.<\/p>\n

The early inspiration of classical music<\/p>\n

When he was 15, Bush remembers hearing a performance of Debussy\u2019s L\u2019isle joyeuse (The Isle of Joy).<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought there was nothing more beautiful in the world\u2026 that\u2019s what spurred me on to want to be a composer and a musician,\u201d he shares.<\/p>\n

Bush wishes a younger version of himself knew that classical music could be many different things, including fun and cheeky.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have to like something just because it says Mozart,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

“It’s up to you. You can find your own connection with it.”Inspiring a new generation of music lovers<\/p>\n

With Bluey, Bush has brought that connection to a whole new generation of listeners.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The series features music from Mozart\u2019s Rondo alla turca (The Magic Xylophone) to Jupiter from Holst\u2019s The Planets (Sleepytime).\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of Bush\u2019s favourite classical moments, from the episode Ice Cream, uses Waltz of the Flowers from Tchaikovsky\u2019s Nutcracker, as sisters Bluey and Bingo dance around trying to lick the other\u2019s treat.<\/p>\n

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But inspiring a love of classical music was never the goal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we were trying to do was do what was best for the story,\u201d Bush says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think kids often get the opportunity to find a connection with pieces of classical music,\u201d he shares.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I’m very proud that a lot of Bluey is able to do that.”<\/p>\n

The show\u2019s reach is vast. For two years running, it\u2019s been the most-streamed show in the US<\/a>, beating long-running, international hits including Grey\u2019s Anatomy.<\/p>\n

Screen Sounds: Iconic themes from children’s screens<\/a><\/p>\n

Experience favourite earworms from beloved children’s film and TV shows, including Bluey, Magic Beach, The Snail and the Whale and more.<\/p>\n

But Bluey is firmly rooted in Brisbane.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This feels especially tangible as we talk with Bush in ABC Classic\u2019s studio overlooking the river while one of the Bluey-themed ferries glides past.<\/p>\n

“I think we\u2019re in such a bubble here in Brisbane. It blows my mind when we get feedback from all around the world [and realise], \u2018oh you guys are watching it\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

The success is something that still surprises Bush. \u201cWe\u2019re just all the same group of people trying to make something cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Creating an orchestral Bluey sound in Brisbane<\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly, the new album is firmly rooted in the show\u2019s Brisbane home base.<\/p>\n

It features more than 100 musicians, mostly based in Brisbane, including the Queensland Symphony Orchestra (QSO) and Camerata (Queensland\u2019s chamber orchestra), as well as other musicians the Bluey team regularly work with.<\/p>\n

For Bush, it was a special experience from the start of the recording process.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you go in and the symphony orchestra is warming up they\u2019re playing all of your music.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like some sort of weird dream where all of your music is being played by different instruments all at once,\u201d Bush shares.<\/p>\n

“That really shocked me. I had to sit down for a minute.”<\/p>\n

The album is filled with \u201cEaster eggs\u201d for classical music fans.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Loading Instagram content<\/p>\n

The orchestral version of the theme, by composer, orchestrator and arranger Joseph Twist, \u201csqueezes in eight or nine references to various classical pieces, either in their style or by actually quoting them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope to see if you can pick them!\u201d Bush laughs.<\/p>\n

Talking about one of the musical references, \u201cthe QSO just played that so well\u2026They put their own flavour on it, which doesn\u2019t often happen with orchestral musicians,\u201d Bush says.<\/p>\n

The orchestral sounds of Bluey: Up Here are a long way from where Bush and his team started.<\/p>\n

“It wasn’t like we had a successful show before we started.”<\/p>\n

The Bluey sound world was built around what the music team and their friends could do themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bush brought in a friend to play the violin, another on woodwinds, and filled it out with accordion, keyboard and himself on vocals.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhich is actually a problem because I\u2019m not a good singer, so I had to get really good at Auto-Tune,\u201d he jokes.<\/p>\n

The art of making music for kids<\/p>\n

Bluey\u2019s fan base stretches across age ranges, including the adults who love watching it with the little ones in their lives.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Bush says he\u2019s not deliberately writing the music for kids or adults. That can be dangerous.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou end up putting yourself in a box and are unable to do what you think is going to be the best for the story.\u201d<\/p>\n

He treats it as he would scoring any show, \u201cbear in mind that it\u2019s seven minutes, so that\u2019s got its own characterisation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meeting the emotional needs of children is however still front of mind.<\/p>\n

Bush is very aware of avoiding anything that might \u201cjust genuinely have a sensory shock to young ears.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also very focused on clarity.<\/p>\n

“If you’re really clear on the intention of the music, and it supports the story, it helps kids feel safe watching it.”<\/p>\n

Bluey: Up Here, featuring the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Camerata, conducted by Joseph Twist, is available now on vinyl, CD and streaming.<\/p>\n

Get the latest classical music stories direct to your inbox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Even if you don\u2019t have little ones in your life, there\u2019s a very good chance you can sing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":577365,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,36365,283183,283184,9472,134,283182],"class_list":{"0":"post-577364","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-bluey","11":"tag-bluey-album","12":"tag-bluey-up-here","13":"tag-classicreads","14":"tag-entertainment","15":"tag-joff-bush"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=577364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577364\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/577365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=577364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=577364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=577364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}