2 012 S E A S O N

MEET THE MUSIC Wed 7 November 6.30pmThu 8 November 6.30pm

Ariel’s Music Rhapsody for Clarinet

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INTRODUCTION

Ariel’s Music – Rhapsody for ClarinetProgramming a concert is a bit like assembling a playlist. But there’s one key diff erence: the process involves discussion and collaboration and refl ects – in the end – the ideas and strengths of the performers. And the two longest pieces on tonight’s program are connected to soloist David Thomas and conductor Richard Gill respectively.

David Thomas is an advocate for contemporary repertoire for solo clarinet and he brings with him Brett Dean’s powerful and emotive concerto, Ariel’s Music. The inspiration is the tragic story of Ariel Glaser, one of the earliest child victims of AIDS, and the courage of her mother Elisabeth. Dean’s music doesn’t try to tell the story, but it does convey a sense of yearning and lamenting, of struggle and anxiety, and of a lonely voice fi ghting to be heard.

Richard Gill is also an advocate for the making of (new) music and Australia’s most passionate champion of music education. He is the motivation and inspiration behind Barry Conyngham’s Symphony.

Sharing the program with these Australians is French composer Claude Debussy, represented by two pieces. One is a tiny but colourful and brilliant rhapsody for clarinet and orchestra, which we’ve never performed in a mainstage concert before. The other is Ibéria, an equally colourful and brilliant composition that evokes to perfection the atmosphere of Spain – in the streets, at night, and on the morning of festival. It’s all the more impressive given that Debussy spent exactly one afternoon in Spain!

Ariel’s Picture. In 1988, before she lost her battle with AIDS, the seven-year-old Ariel Glaser painted a picture. It’s a child’s painting that shows an optimistic vision of the world: a beautiful garden, bright and sunny. This image was later adopted as the logo for the Elisabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.

2012 season meet the musicpresented by ausgridWednesday 7 November, 6.30pmThursday 8 November, 6.30pmSydney Opera House Concert Hall

Ariel’s Music: Rhapsody for Clarinet Richard Gill CONDUCTOR David Thomas CLARINET

Claude Debussy (1862–1918)Ibéria from Images for orchestra

Par les Rues et par les chemins (Through the streets and byways)Les Parfums de la nuit (The fragrances of the night) –Le Matin d’un jour de fête (Morning of a festival day)

Brett Dean (born 1961)Ariel’s Music – Clarinet Concerto

I ElegyII Circumstances

INTERVAL

DebussyPremière Rhapsodie for clarinet and orchestra

Barry Conyngham (born 1944)Symphony

(The symphony is in four untitled movements.)

PREMIERE

This concert will be introduced by Andrew Ford, award-winning composer, writer and broadcaster, andpresenter of The Music Show on ABC Radio National.

Thursday’s performance will be recorded for later broadcast by ABC Classic FM.

Pre-concert talk by Genevieve Lang in conversation with Barry Conyngham at 5.45pm in the Northern Foyer. Visit bit.ly/SSOspeakerbios for speaker biographies.

Estimated durations: 20 minutes, 25 minutes, 20-minute interval, 8 minutes, 23 minutesThe concert will conclude at approximately 8.30pm.

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ABOUT THE MUSIC

CLAUDE DEBUSSYFrench composer(1862–1918)

Ibéria (from Images for orchestra)Ibéria is divided into three movements. Par les Rues et par les chemins (Through the streets and byways) is in a spirited dance tempo, and is dominated by the rhythmic idea presented at the very opening and an elegant clarinet melody that appears soon afterwards. The energetic mood is interrupted fi rst by a more subdued section, and then by a fanfare-like passage for the brass. The opening returns, but the movement ends quietly.

Les Parfums de la nuit (The fragrances of the night) is the heart of Ibéria, and the longest of the three movements. It is a typically luxurious, sensual Spanish nocturne (night music), with harps and much-divided strings making important contributions to the richness of the eff ect. Most of the thematic ideas are taken almost exactly from the fi rst movement, but are presented in a completely diff erent light.

Le Matin d’un jour de fête (Morning of a festival day) follows without a break. Debussy was particularly proud of the transition from night to morning, which he achieved with the sound of distant bells. The movement consists of a rapid series of apparently unrelated events in harsh juxtaposition. This is Debussy at his most ‘realistic’, giving the listener the sort of jumbled succession of sounds and images you might be left with after a day in the heat and confusion of a Spanish festival parade.

Ibéria comes from a long tradition of evocations of Spain by French composers (other examples being Bizet’s Carmen, Chabrier’s España and numerous works by Ravel). Debussy only ever visited Spain for one afternoon, so most of Ibéria is purely imaginary in inspiration. No actual folk melodies are quoted, but the music is fi lled with the authentic sounds of Spanish music – castanets, tambourines, and the strings imitating the strumming of guitars. And no less a fi gure than Manuel de Falla, Spain’s most eminent composer of the time, regarded it as the best example of a French work on a Hispanic subject.

The use of the orchestra in all the Images pieces far outdoes any of Debussy’s earlier music in sophistication

Navigating Ibéria

Postcard in Technicolor

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Images for orchestra

About the composer

and brilliance of eff ect, with prominent use of instrumental timbres previously absent from Debussy’s scores. The eff ect is of a riot of colour, but it never gets out of hand. Roger Nichols describes Debussy’s greatest achievement in Ibéria as his ‘skill in fl irting with vulgarity without ever losing his aristocratic poise’.

Images was Debussy’s last orchestral work, composed over a period of about eight years. It consists of three substantial movements (Gigues, Ibéria and Spring Rounds), of which Ibéria was the fi rst to be completed, in 1908. They were initially performed as standalone pieces, and published as separate scores, with the words ‘Images pour orchestre’ appearing in each case as a subtitle. In addition, the intention of Images – to create musical evocations of three diff erent European countries – suggests diversity rather than consistency. All of which justifi es performances of individual movements, as we do tonight with Ibéria.

By the time he composed Ibéria and the First Rhapsodie for clarinet, Debussy was established as a leading fi gure in French musical life. Over the 20 years since his groundbreaking Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, his orchestral pieces had included the Nocturnes and La Mer, he was widely performed beyond France. His opera Pelléas et Mélisande had appeared in 1902 and was recognised for its quietly revolutionary qualities, and he had been honoured by awards and elections to positions of infl uence in the musical scene. Other major projects at the time included the fi rst book of Préludes for piano, and he was developing an interest in music for the stage, with the ballets Jeux (about a nocturnal tennis match) and Khamma (set in ancient Egypt), and the incidental music to D’Annunzio’s play Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien (The Martyrdom of St Sebastian).

www.sydneysymphony.com/staytuned

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Ariel’s Music

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BRETT DEANAustralian composer(born 1961)

Ariel’s Music – Clarinet ConcertoThe concerto is in two contrasting movements, unifi ed by common motifs. Brett Dean describes each movement this way:

Elegy begins with a delicate texture heard in violins and cymbals, which then spreads through the string section while the solo clarinet introduces the most telling of the work’s motifs, a tender, yearning leap of a major 9th. This utterance, very hushed at fi rst, collects other ideas along the way, waking more and more of the orchestra until the clarinet has to battle to have its song heard.

Heading towards the work’s fi rst peak, the solo voice seems to be losing the struggle and is swallowed up, when an unexpected change of texture gives the clarinet a new lease of life. The following interplay between soloist and fl utes, harp, piano and celesta, leads through various playful moments, but the slow downward sliding of the strings pulls the music back to the distant, lamenting character of the opening.

New energy is found again at the beginning of Circumstances. The brass section announces the dotted rhythmic motto fi rst heard briefl y in the fi rst movement. This time it remains as a driving force throughout the ensuing Todestanz (Dance of Death).

The clarinet soloist embodies an anxious fi gure; forever trying to establish a dialogue with other solo voices within the orchestra (e.g. piano, viola, oboe, fl utes). ‘Circumstances’ refers to the way this inherently lonely fi gure reacts to the varied situations confronting it, by turns agitated and restless, suddenly sensitive and somewhat injured, desperate and angry, even defi ant.

At the climax, the full orchestra makes a jagged, aggressive exclamation of the rhythmic motto and forces the soloist to a fi nal, impassioned cry in the form of a high, tumbling cadenza against repeated whips from the orchestra. With all energy then spent and the battle seemingly lost, the elegiac atmosphere of the fi rst movement returns and the piece ebbs away, rocking gently into the distance.

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About the composer

Who is Ariel?

The idea for writing a clarinet concerto came into discussion in the early 1990s when Brett Dean was performing and recording trios with pianist Stephen Emmerson and his brother Paul. It was originally intended to be a double concerto, a companion piece for the Bruch double concerto (programmed with the premiere of Ariel’s Music), but it evolved into a solo concerto for clarinet, accompanied by a ‘largish’ orchestra.

That orchestra comprises three fl utes, two oboes and three bassoons (but no clarinets); four horns, two trumpets, two trombones and tuba; timpani and three percussionists; harp and piano doubling celesta.

The Ariel of the title is not the Ariel of Shakespeare’s Tempest. Instead it refers to an American girl, Ariel Glaser, who died of AIDS in 1988, aged seven. Her mother, Elisabeth Glaser, had contracted the virus in 1981 during advanced pregnancy when an emergency blood transfusion was necessary.

Wife of actor and director Paul Michael Glaser, Elisabeth went public with her family’s tragic story shortly after Ariel’s death. She became an outspoken AIDS campaigner and did much to increase public awareness and government recognition of the social consequences of the disease at a time when this was by no means taken for granted. Ariel’s Music doesn’t contain specifi cally programmatic inventions or follow a narrative-based structure, but it pays tribute to this heroic woman who raised more than $30 million for paediatric AIDS research before her own death from AIDS-related illness in December 1994.

Ariel’s Music was completed in 1995 and won an award from the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers that year. The Sydney Symphony fi rst performed it in the 2001 Meet the Music series with principal clarinet, Lawrence Dobell, as soloist and Yan Pascal Tortelier conducting.

Brett Dean studied in Brisbane before moving to Germany in 1984, where he was a viola player in the Berlin Philharmonic (1985–2000). His fi rst compositions were semi-improvised fi lm scores and he is almost entirely self-taught as a composer. He returned to Australia in 2000 to concentrate on his composing career and his works have been championed by such artists as Simon Rattle.

Notable works include his opera Bliss, premiered in Sydney in 2010, and his violin concerto The Lost Art of Letter Writing, which the Sydney Symphony performed with its dedicatee Frank Peter Zimmermann in 2011. In 2009 Lost Art… won Dean the prestigious and valuable Grawemeyer Award, the equivalent of a Nobel prize for music.

Performance history

Inspiration

Ariel and Elisabeth Glaser

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DEBUSSY First RhapsodyDebussy’s Première Rhapsodie for clarinet and orchestra is a short single-movement work with four principal thematic ideas. The tempo markings in the score indicate the incrementally faster tempo of each section: rêveusement lent (dreamily slow), poco mosso (more movement), modérément animé (moderately animated) and scherzando (playfully). The rhapsody has a mercurial, almost improvised feel, and it off ers scope for the soloist to show a huge range of diff erent tone colours and technical facility.

The diaphanous accompaniment is played by an unexpectedly large orchestra: three fl utes, two oboes, cor anglais, two clarinets and three bassoons; four horns and two trumpets (but no low brass); two percussionists; two harps(!) and strings. Unlike Brett Dean and many other composers of concertante works for clarinet, Debussy doesn’t exclude the clarinet from the body of the orchestra itself.

Debussy composed the First Rhapsody (there is no second rhapsody, by the way) when he was a member of the Superior Council of the Paris Conservatoire. The music belongs to a category of works known as examination pieces. These are typically short works, designed to show off as much of the student’s musical and technical capacity as possible within the space of about ten minutes.

A common structure for a Paris examination piece is a slow, expressive introduction followed by a much faster and virtuosic section, but Debussy adopts a freer and more rhapsodic approach. Composer Gordon Kerry describes it as a sophisticated rondo-like form, allowing the contrasting sections to be regarded from diff erent vantage points.

The Rhapsody was originally composed for clarinet and piano, as would have been required by the format of the Paris Conservatoire exams. The following year, in January 1911, Debussy made an orchestral version for clarinettist Prosper Mimart and dedicated it to him, ironically, as ‘a sign of sympathy’. Perhaps Mimart, like Debussy, had had to listen to ten or more ‘nondescript’ student performances of the piece, all on the one day! However, after Mimart’s performance, Debussy said (without irony) that it was one of his works that pleased him most.

SYDNEY SYMPHONY © 2012

Program notes for this concert adapted in part from notes by ELLIOTT GYGER (Ibéria), BRETT DEAN, GORDON KERRY (Rhapsody) and BARRY CONYNGHAM.

Sympathy and pleasure

Navigating the rhapsody

An examination piece

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Homage to Richard Gill

Navigating the Symphony

BARRY CONYNGHAMAustralian composer(born 1944)

Symphony

Barry Conyngham’s Symphony is in four movements – moderate, slow, dance-like, and fast – which he describes this way:Movement 1. The fi rst minute contains the thematic and harmonic material of the whole work. By focusing on specifi c elements, the remainder of the fi rst movement develops this material with an emphasis on cascading textures and an exploration of orchestral colours. The movement ends with a declaration of the dominant harmonic colour of the whole piece, an ambiguity of resolution.Movement 2. With muted strings, the mood is nostalgic and tentative but also has an underlying sense of discovery. Then there is a shift to playfulness with woodwinds, marimba and pizzicato (plucked) strings. The opening atmosphere returns but a more contemplative development of the thematic material dissolves into calm and silence.Movement 3. What is this? Why is this? Is it connected? Is it a strange game? Perhaps playful shadows of something from the fi rst two movements… uncertain… ambiguous… unmusical?Movement 4. The movement begins with fast, restless strings then is joined by the familiar. The energy builds but is interrupted by a new dance-like texture, mostly in three-time, from duo to trio. As this concludes, there is a reminder of the opening. The restless energy of the strings returns, rushing to a conclusion with the fi nal full revelation of the main theme, joined by the trio, building, building to the climax of the climax – itself unexpected, but familiar.

The symphony calls for three fl utes (with piccolo and alto fl ute doubling), two oboes, cor anglais, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons and contrabassoon; four horns, three trumpets, three trombones and tuba; timpani and three percussionists; harp, piano and celesta; and strings.

In a number of his works, Barry Conyngham pays homage to great musicians: Toru Takemitsu in Passing (1999), Peter Sculthorpe in Dreams Go Wandering Still (2004), and Hiroyuki Iwaki in Gardener of Time (2011), with each title refl ecting the non-musical images and feelings that lie at the heart of the work.

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The composer writes… My Symphony continues the trend in that it is a celebration of a great teacher and musician, Richard Gill. Based on the images I wished to draw upon, it should have been called ‘Learning’ or ‘The Teacher’, but it is not, because a number of years ago Richard challenged me to write a symphony and to call it a symphony. I have had to come to terms with the expectations – even obligations – created by this title. Accommodating my own orchestral voice with the form has been as important as refl ecting on the dynamics, emotions and moods involved in teaching and learning.

I suspect the fi nal work refl ects not only a further evolution in my now long-term love aff air with the orchestra, but also a much greater concern with development, motivic cohesion, emotional expansion, rhythmic contrast, diff usion, accumulation, texture, speed, stillness and energy. Even the overall structure of four discrete movements echoes past symphonic forms and refl ects an attempt to draw upon the traditional ‘symphony’ while not abandoning my own orchestral voice.

Yes, the piece does echo the feelings, moods and trajectories one associates with the act of learning: struggle, frustration, ambiguity, urgency, enthusiasm, hesitancy, excitement, exhaustion and, fi nally, triumph and satisfaction. But I also learnt from, and was challenged by, this being a symphony. The great musician and extraordinary educator, my friend and colleague, Richard Gill has done it again!

Barry Conyngham says he fi rst fell in love with the orchestra as a young man hearing Stravinsky and Bartók for the fi rst time. In the mid-1960s he found a mentor in Peter Sculthorpe, who encouraged him to explore the music of Japan. This brought him in contact with composer Takemitsu, who became an important infl uence. After Takemitsu’s death in 1996, Conyngham composed an orchestral work for the Sydney Symphony, Passing, which celebrated his life.

In setting out to write orchestral music, he sought to create a new voice for the orchestra, a complex instrument that struck him as perfect for the task he set himself: to express what it meant to be an Australian. In Conyngham’s case, what it meant to be a mid-20th-century Australian, raised in a big, coastal city (Sydney), but viscerally attached to the Australian landscape, living at a distance from the artistic centres of the world, and subject to what he has always called ‘fl oating nostalgia’. This perspective is refl ected in work titles such as Horizons, Southern Cross and Vast.

In 2007 the Sydney Symphony gave the Australian premiere of Conyngham’s Monuments (1989) with soloist Michael Kieran Harvey and conductor Richard Mills. In the past ten years the Sydney Symphony has also performed his Viola Concerto, Decades, Fix, Passing and Southern Cross (in Meet the Music 1994).

About the composer

Conyngham’s Symphony was commissioned for Richard Gill and the Sydney Symphony by the Hon. Justice Jane Mathews AO. It is dedicated to Richard Gill in celebration of his 20th anniversary this year as artistic director of the Sydney Symphony’s Education Program, and receives its first performances this week.

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David Thomas CLARINET

David Thomas studied clarinet at Melbourne University with Phillip Miechel and the Vienna Conservatorium with Roger Salander. He has been Principal Clarinet of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra since 2000, and was previously Associate Principal Clarinet of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra.

He has appeared with orchestras throughout Australia, performing concertos by Mozart, Weber, Copland and Françaix, as well as contemporary works. He gave the premiere of Ross Edwards’ Clarinet Concerto, dedicated to him, and has since recorded it with the MSO and Arvo Volmer. He also premiered Richard Mills’ Diary of Transformations for clarinet and string quartet.

He has performed with the Australian, Flinders and Goldner string quartets, and pianists Michael Kieran Harvey and Elyane Laussade, and he regularly performs in the MSO Chamber Players series. He also teaches clarinet and chamber music at the University of Melbourne and the Australian National Academy of Music.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Richard Gill CONDUCTOR

Richard Gill oa is the Artistic Director of the Sydney Symphony’s Education Program and the founding Music Director of Victorian Opera. He has also been Artistic Director of OzOpera, Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Canberra Symphony Orchestra and the Adviser for the Musica Viva in Schools program.

For the Sydney Symphony he conducts Meet the Music and Discovery concerts, and directs the orchestra’s Sinfonietta Project for young composers. He has also conducted the Melbourne, Queensland, Tasmanian and Canberra symphony orchestras, Orchestra Victoria, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, the Australian, West Australian and Sydney youth orchestras, and productions for Opera Australia and Opera Queensland.

He was Chairman of the Jury for the ABC/OA Operatunity OZ project (2005–06), music director for the Sydney Theatre Company production of The Threepenny Opera, and a speaker at TEDxSydney in 2011. He recently published a memoir, Give Me Excess of It.

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Artistic Director, EducationSandra & Paul Salteri Chair

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ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

Richard Gill – a profile in sonata form

Naomi Johnson spoke to Richard Gill about Conyngham’s Symphony and his 20 years – and counting! – at the helm of the Sydney Symphony’s education programs.

ExpositionThere’s nothing like the live music experience, says Richard Gill, and the exposure must begin in childhood. Music is ‘the only thing children deal with in the arts that is quintessentially abstract,’ he says, and the power of evocation and suggestion which results is both challenging and unique.

It’s this determination to bring music to as many young minds as possible that has inspired Barry Conyngham’s Symphony, a work that explores the ‘struggles and joys of teaching’ in the most abstract of traditional musical forms.

DevelopmentThe culture of the Sydney Symphony’s education programs under Gill is one of continual development. They extend from family and schools concerts to the Discovery and Meet the Music concert series. Fundamental to the programs are the orchestral musicians themselves, both Sydney Symphony players and the participants in the Sinfonia and Fellowship training programs. Learning about music, whether as ‘a listener, a performer or a mentor’ is central to Gill’s philosophy – everyone is simply at a diff erent stage of the musical journey. Once a level of understanding has been reached, it is time to start passing on that knowledge.

Although Gill’s involvement in music education goes well beyond kindergarten concerts, he gives the impression that these are still his favourite. ‘I’ve programmed Schoenberg, Mahler and Webern for kindergarten children,’ he says, ‘and it’s been received absolutely positively. Programming for children is really easy, because they have no bias, no prejudices.’ They can ‘make their own decisions about the music’ without labelling it as contemporary, accessible or otherwise.

He is keen for audiences of all ages to come away from concerts with ‘the idea that they understood some of the music, that they came to grips more or less with most of it, and then there would be some of it that they didn’t understand and would benefi t from hearing another time’. Entertainment is highly desirable, he says, but not the primary motivation. We’ll encourage people to come more often to hear live music, he believes, if we set listeners a challenge, a piece that, although it’s interesting, isn’t immediately accessible. Program a concert of easy listening and ‘there is no challenge’ – and no education.

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The challenge of Conyngham’s Symphony is one of tradition – he has written large-scale orchestral works before, but up till now has avoided the title ‘symphony’ and its implications. Gill explains that audiences tend to associate the symphonic style with ‘classicism and romanticism, up to about Mahler and Stravinsky’, so the title is fairly uncommon in contemporary orchestral works. Nevertheless, the symphonic tradition is ‘long and honoured’, and it is maybe with the thought of both old and new ideas in mind that Gill challenged Conyngham to ‘write a symphony and to call it one’.

RecapitulationConyngham’s Symphony – dedicated to Richard Gill the teacher – has been programmed with Debussy’s Première rhapsodie and his Ibéria (something to understand) and Ariel’s Music by Australian composer Brett Dean (something to come to grips with). ‘It’s a terrifi c contrast to Ibéria and Ariel’s Music,’ says Gill of Conyngham’s Symphony, although he doesn’t dwell on the idea of struggles and joys of learning. ‘I get the spirit of it, absolutely,’ he says, but he also feels that we in the audience will experience the music – ever abstract – in our own way.

CodaAfter 20 years, does Gill feel that he’s got the Sydney Symphony’s education program running perfectly? Yes and no. ‘The notion of programming is evolving, because children evolve and change. The minute you become complacent, the minute you feel you’ve cracked it, that’s when it will go astray.’

Or, in other words, we’re always learning.

NAOMI JOHNSON, AYO MUSIC PRESENTATION FELLOW © 2012

‘Programming for children is really easy, because they have no bias, no prejudices.’RICHARD GILL

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MUSICIANS

FIRST VIOLINS

Kirsten Williams Associate Concertmaster

Roy Theaker*Fiona Ziegler Assistant Concertmaster

Sophie ColeJennifer HoyNicola LewisAlexander NortonLéone ZieglerLaura D’Angelo*Claire Herrick°Monique Irik*Elizabeth Jones°Lisa Stewart*Lucy Warren†Dene Olding Concertmaster

Sun Yi Associate Concertmaster

Julie BattyJennifer BoothMarianne BroadfootBrielle ClapsonAmber Davis

SECOND VIOLINS

Kirsty HiltonAlexander ReadEmily Long A/Assistant Principal

Susan Dobbie Principal Emeritus

Maria DurekShuti HuangStan W KornelBenjamin LiNicole MastersBiyana RozenblitAlexandra D’Elia°Emily Qin°Marina Marsden Emma West Assistant Principal

Emma HayesPhilippa PaigeMaja Verunica

VIOLAS

Roger Benedict Tobias Breider Sandro CostantinoGraham HenningsStuart JohnsonFelicity TsaiLeonid VolovelskyElla Brinch*Jacqueline Cronin°Tara Houghton°Anne-Louise Comerford Justin Williams Assistant Principal

Robyn BrookfieldJane HazelwoodJustine Marsden

CELLOS

Umberto Clerici*Kristy ConrauTimothy NankervisElizabeth NevilleChristopher PidcockAdrian WallisDavid WickhamMee Na Lojewski*Catherine Hewgill Leah Lynn Assistant Principal

Fenella Gill

DOUBLE BASSES

Neil Brawley Principal Emeritus

David CampbellSteven LarsonRichard LynnBenjamin WardDouglas Rutherford†

Kees Boersma Alex Henery David Murray

FLUTES

Emma Sholl Carolyn HarrisRosamund Plummer Principal Piccolo

Katie Zagorski†

Janet Webb

OBOES

Diana Doherty David PappAlexandre Oguey Principal Cor Anglais

Shefali Pryor

CLARINETS

Francesco Celata Craig WernickePrincipal Bass Clarinet

Rowena Watts†

Lawrence Dobell Christopher Tingay

BASSOONS

Nicole Tait°Fiona McNamaraNoriko Shimada Principal Contrabassoon

Melissa Woodroffe†

Matthew Wilkie Roger Brooke

HORNS

Robert Johnson Sharn McIver†

Brendan Parravicini*Rachel Shaw°Ben Jacks Geoffrey O’Reilly Principal 3rd

Marnie SebireEuan Harvey

TRUMPETS

Paul Goodchild John FosterAnthony HeinrichsDavid Elton

TROMBONES

Scott Kinmont Nick ByrneMitchell Nissen*Ronald Prussing Christopher HarrisPrincipal Bass Trombone

TUBA

Steve Rossé

TIMPANI

Mark Robinson Assistant Principal

Richard Miller

PERCUSSION

Rebecca Lagos Colin PiperJoshua Hill*Brian Nixon*Philip South*

HARP

Louise Johnson Genevieve Lang*

KEYBOARDS

Ying Ho*

Bold = PrincipalItalics = Associate Principal* = Guest Musician° = Contract Musician† = Sydney Symphony FellowGrey = Permanent member of the Sydney Symphony not appearing in this concert

To see photographs of the full roster of permanent musicians and find out more about the orchestra, visit our website: www.sydneysymphony.com/SSO_musiciansIf you don’t have access to the internet, ask one of our customer service representatives for a copy of our Musicians flyer.

The men of the Sydney Symphony are proudly outfitted by Van Heusen.

Vladimir AshkenazyPrincipal Conductor and Artistic Advisor supported by Emirates

Dene OldingConcertmaster

Jessica CottisAssistant Conductor supported by Premier Partner Credit Suisse

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Founded in 1932 by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the Sydney Symphony has evolved into one of the world’s fi nest orchestras as Sydney has become one of the world’s great cities. Resident at the Sydney Opera House, the Sydney Symphony also performs in venues throughout Sydney and NSW and makes regular international tours.

The Sydney Symphony’s fi rst Chief Conductor was Sir Eugene Goossens, appointed in 1947; he was followed by Nicolai Malko, Dean Dixon, Moshe Atzmon, Willem van Otterloo, Louis Frémaux, Sir Charles

Mackerras, Zdenek Mácal, Stuart Challender, Edo de Waart and Gianluigi Gelmetti. David Robertson will take up the position of Chief Conductor in 2014. The orchestra’s history also boasts collaborations with legendary fi gures such as George Szell, Sir Thomas Beecham, Otto Klemperer and Igor Stravinsky.

The Sydney Symphony Live label has captured performances with Alexander Lazarev, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Sir Charles Mackerras and Vladimir Ashkenazy. The orchestra has also released recordings with Ashkenazy on the Exton/Triton labels, and numerous recordings for ABC Classics.

SYDNEY SYMPHONYVladimir Ashkenazy, Principal Conductor and Artistic AdvisorPATRON Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir AC CVO

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Sydney Symphony Board

John C Conde ao ChairmanTerrey Arcus amEwen CrouchRoss Grant

Jennifer HoyRory JeffesAndrew Kaldor

Irene LeeDavid LivingstoneGoetz Richter

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SYDNEY SYMPHONY PATRONS

Sydney Symphony Leadership EnsembleDavid Livingstone, CEO, Credit Suisse, AustraliaAlan Fang, Chairman, Tianda GroupTony Grierson, Braithwaite Steiner PrettyInsurance Australia Grou pMacquarie Group FoundationJohn Morschel, Chairman, ANZ

Andrew Kaldor, Chairman, Pelikan ArtlineLynn Kraus, Sydney Office Managing Partner, Ernst & YoungShell Australia Pty LtdJames Stevens, CEO, Roses OnlyStephen Johns, Chairman, Leighton Holdings,

and Michele Johns

Maestro’s CirclePeter Weiss am HonDLitt – Founding President & Doris WeissJohn C Conde ao – ChairmanGeoff Ainsworth am & Vicki Ainsworth Tom Breen & Rachael KohnIn memory of Hetty & Egon GordonAndrew Kaldor & Renata Kaldor aoRoslyn Packer ao

Penelope Seidler amMr Fred Street am & Mrs Dorothy StreetWestfield GroupBrian & Rosemary WhiteRay Wilson oam in memory of the late James Agapitos oam

01 Roger Benedict Principal Viola Kim Williams am & Catherine Dovey Chair

02 Lawrence Dobell Principal Clarinet Anne Arcus & Terrey Arcus am Chair

03 Diana Doherty Principal Oboe Andrew Kaldor & Renata Kaldor ao Chair

04 Richard Gill oam Artistic Director Education Sandra & Paul Salteri Chair

05 Catherine Hewgill Principal Cello The Hon. Justice AJ & Mrs Fran Meagher Chair

06 Robert Johnson Principal Horn James & Leonie Furber Chair

07 Elizabeth Neville Cello Ruth & Bob Magid Chair

08 Colin Piper Percussion Justice Jane Mathews ao Chair

09 Emma Sholl Associate Principal Flute Robert & Janet Constable Chair

For information about the Directors’ Chairs program, please call (02) 8215 4619.

Directors’ Chairs

01 02 03 04 05

06 07 08 09

Sydney Symphony VanguardVanguard CollectiveJustin Di Lollo – ChairKees BoersmaRose HercegDavid McKeanAmelia Morgan-HunnJonathan Pease

Ron ChristiansonMatthew ClarkBenoît CocheteuxGeorge CondousMichael CookPaul CousinsJustin Di LolloRose GalloSam GiddingsDerek HandRose HercegJennifer Hoy

Damian Kassagbi Chris KeherElizabeth LeeAntony Lighten Gary LinnaneDavid McKeanHayden McLeanAmelia Morgan-HunnHugh MunroFiona OslerPeter Outridge

MembersMatti AlakargasNikki AndrewsJames ArmstrongStephen AttfieldAndrew BaxterMar BeltranKees Boersma Peter BraithwaiteAndrea BrownIan BurtonJennifer BurtonHahn Chau

Archie PaffasJonathan Pease Seamus R QuickMichael ReedeJacqueline RowlandsBernard RyanAdam WandJon WilkieJonathan WatkinsonDarren WoolleyMisha Zelinsky

sydney symphony 17

PLAYING YOUR PART

The Sydney Symphony gratefully acknowledges the music lovers who donate to the orchestra each year. Each gift plays an important part in ensuring our continued artistic excellence and helping to sustain important education and regional touring programs. Donations of $50 and above are acknowledged on our website at www.sydneysymphony.com/patrons

Platinum Patrons $20,000+Brian AbelGeoff Ainsworth am & Vicki AinsworthRobert Albert ao & Elizabeth AlbertTerrey Arcus am & Anne ArcusTom Breen & Rachael KohnSandra & Neil BurnsMr John C Conde aoRobert & Janet ConstableMichael Crouch ao & Shanny CrouchJames & Leonie FurberDr Bruno & Mrs Rhonda Giuff reIn memory of Hetty & Egon GordonMs Rose HercegMr Andrew Kaldor & Mrs Renata Kaldor aoD & I KallinikosJames N Kirby FoundationJoan MacKenzie Violin Scholarship, SinfoniaJustice Jane Mathews aoMrs Roslyn Packer aoPaul & Sandra SalteriMrs Penelope Seidler amG & C Solomon in memory of Joan MacKenzieMrs W SteningMr Fred Street am & Mrs Dorothy StreetMr Peter Weiss am HonDLitt & Mrs Doris WeissWestfi eld GroupMr Brian & Mrs Rosemary WhiteRay Wilson oam in memory of James Agapitos oamKim Williams am & Catherine DoveyJune & Alan Woods Family Bequest

Gold Patrons$10,000–$19,999Mr C R AdamsonStephen J BellAlan & Christine BishopIan & Jennifer BurtonCopyright Agency Limited The Hon. Ashley Dawson-DamerEdward FedermanFerris Family FoundationNora GoodridgeMr Ross GrantThe Estate of the late Ida GuggerHelen Lynch am & Helen BauerRuth & Bob MagidThe Hon. Justice AJ Meagher & Mrs Fran MeagherMrs T Merewether oamMr B G O’ConorMrs Joyce Sproat & Mrs Janet Cooke

Henry & Ruth WeinbergAnonymous (2)

Silver Patrons $5000–$9,999Doug & Alison BattersbyMr Alexander & Mrs Vera BoyarskyMr Robert BrakspearMr David & Mrs Halina BrettMr Robert & Mrs L Alison Carr Bob & Julie ClampettHoward ConnorsEwen & Catherine CrouchIan Dickson & Reg HollowayColin Draper & Mary Jane BrodribbPenny EdwardsThe Greatorex Foundation Mrs Jennifer HershonThe Sherry Hogan FoundationMr Rory Jeff esStephen Johns & Michele BenderJudges of the Supreme Court of NSW Mr Ervin KatzThe Estate of the late Patricia LanceMr David LivingstoneTimothy & Eva PascoeWilliam McIlrath Charitable FoundationDavid Maloney & Erin FlahertyDr John Roarty oam in memory of Mrs June RoartyRodney Rosenblum am & Sylvia RosenblumManfred & Linda SalamonJF & A van OgtropMichael & Mary Whelan TrustMs Caroline WilkinsonJill WranAnonymous (2)

Bronze Patrons $2,500–$4,999Mr Marc Besen ao & Mrs Eva Besen aoJan BowenM BulmerFirehold Pty LtdStephen Freiberg & Donald CampbellAnthony Gregg & Deanne WhittlestonVic & Katie FrenchWarren GreenMrs Jennifer HershonAnn HobanIn memory of Bernard M H KhawGary LinnaneMatthew McInnesJ A McKernanR & S Maple-BrownGreg & Susan MarieAlan & Joy MartinMora Maxwell

James & Elsie MooreDrs Keith & Eileen OngIn memory of H St P ScarlettDavid & Isabel SmithersMrs Hedy SwitzerMarliese & Georges TeitlerDr Richard WingateMr & Mrs T & D YimAnonymous (2)

Bronze Patrons $1,000–$2,499Charles & Renee AbramsMrs Antoinette AlbertAndrew Andersons aoMr Henri W Aram oamDr Francis J AugustusRichard and Christine Banks David BarnesMichael Baume ao & Toni BaumeNicole BergerMrs Jan BiberAllan & Julie BlighDr & Mrs Hannes Boshoff Lenore P BuckleIn memory of RW BurleyEric & Rosemary CampbellThe Hon. Justice JC & Mrs CampbellDr John H CaseyJoan Connery oam & Maxwell Connery oamConstable Estate Vineyards Debby Cramer & Bill CaukillMr John Cunningham SCM & Mrs Margaret CunninghamGreta DavisLisa & Miro DavisMatthew DelaseyMr & Mrs Grant DixonJohn FavaloroMr Ian Fenwicke & Prof. Neville WillsMichael & Gabrielle FieldDr & Mrs C GoldschmidtMr James Graham am & Mrs Helen GrahamAkiko GregoryEdward & Deborah Griffi thIn memory of Dora & Oscar GrynbergJanette HamiltonDorothy Hoddinott aoThe Hon. David Hunt ao qc & Mrs Margaret HuntDr & Mrs Michael HunterMr Peter HutchisonMichael & Anna JoelAnna-Lisa KlettenbergMr Justin LamMr Peter Lazar amAssociate Professor Winston Liauw

18 sydney symphony

Sydney & Airdrie LloydCarolyn & Peter Lowry oamDeirdre & Kevin McCannRobert McDougallIan & Pam McGawMacquarie Group FoundationRenee MarkovicA NhanMs Jackie O’BrienMr R A OppenMr Robert OrrellMr & Mrs OrtisMr Andrew C PattersonIn memory of Sandra PaulPiatti Holdings Pty LtdAndy & Deirdre Plummer Robin PotterPottingerErnest & Judith RapeeKenneth R ReedPatricia H Reid Endowment Pty LtdCaroline SharpenDr Agnes E SinclairCatherine StephenJohn & Alix SullivanThe Hon. Brian Sully qcMildred TeitlerJohn E TuckeyMrs M TurkingtonIn memory of Joan & Rupert VallentineDr Alla WaldmanIn memory of Dr Reg WalkerThe Hon. Justice A G WhealyAnn & Brooks Wilson amGeoff Wood & Melissa WaitesMr Robert & Mrs Rosemary WalshMr R R WoodwardIn memory of Lorna WrightDr John YuAnonymous (14)

Bronze Patrons $500–$999Mr Peter J ArmstrongMr & Mrs Garry S AshBarlow Cleaning Pty LtdMrs Margaret BellMinnie BiggsPat & Jenny BurnettMr & Mrs CoatesArnaldo BuchThe Hon. Justice JC & Mrs CampbellDr Rebecca Chin

Mrs Sarah ChissickMrs Catherine J ClarkR A & M J ClarkeMrs Joan Connery oamJen CornishMr David CrossPhil Diment am & Bill Zafi ropoulosElizabeth DonatiThe Dowe FamilyDr Nita & Dr James DurhamMalcolm Ellis & Erin O’NeillMrs Margaret EppsIn memory of Peter EverettMr & Mrs FarrellMr Tom FrancisTony Grierson Vivienne GoldschmidtClive & Jenny GoodwinMr Richard Griffi n amIan R L HarperKen HawkingsMrs A HaywardMr Roger HenningHarry & Meg HerbertSue HewittMr Joerg HofmannMrs Kimberley HoldenMr Gregory HoskingAlex HoughtonBill & Pam HughesBeauty Point Retirement ResortNiki KallenbergerMrs W G KeighleyMrs Margaret KeoghDr Henry KilhamChris J KitchingMr Aron & Mrs Helen KleinlehrerMr & Mrs Gilles T KrygerSonia LalMr Luigi LampratiDr & Mrs Leo LeaderMargaret LedermanIrene LeeAnita & Chris LevyErna & Gerry Levy amMrs A LohanMrs Panee LowDr David LuisDr Jean MalcolmPhilip & Catherine McClellandMrs Flora MacDonaldMrs Helen MeddingsMrs Toshiko Meric

P J MillerDavid & Andree MilmanKenneth N MitchellChris Morgan-HunnMrs Milja MorrisCoff s Airport Security Car ParkDr Mike O’Connor amMr Graham NorthDr A J PalmerJustice George Palmer amDr Kevin PedemontDr Natalie E PelhamMichael QuaileyLois & Ken RaeRenaissance ToursAnna RoPamela RogersLesley & Andrew RosenbergAgnes RossMrs Pamela SayersGarry Scarf & Morgie BlaxillWilliam SewellMrs Diane Shteinman amMs Stephanie SmeeMs Tatiana SokolovaDoug & Judy SotherenMrs Judith SouthamMargaret SuthersMr Lindsay & Mrs Suzanne StoneNorman & Lydia TaylorDr Heng Tey & Mrs Cilla TeyMrs Alma Toohey & Mr Edward SpicerKevin TroyJudge Robyn TupmanGillian Turner & Rob BishopProf Gordon E WallMrs Margaret WallisRonald WalledgeMr Palmer WangMs Elizabeth WilkinsonAudrey & Michael WilsonA Willmers & R PalDr Richard WingDr Peter Wong & Mrs Emmy K WongMr Robert WoodsMrs Everly WyssMrs Robin YabsleyAnonymous (15)

To find out more about becominga Sydney Symphony Patron, pleasecontact the Philanthropy Officeon (02) 8215 4625 or emailphilanthropy@sydneysymphony.com

sydney symphony 19

SALUTE

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The Sydney Symphony is assisted by the Commonwealth Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body

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Some people have a feel for metal. Some people have a feel for skin.

sionists, rhythmic ensemble is relatively easy. We tended to feel things the same way.’ Playing in an orchestra calls on some differ-ent skills. ‘Together as Synergy we’d become so used to how we played, it made for a great section. But then in the orches-tra, you’re negotiating with 90 other people, and working out how to place things rhythmically is a different skill.’

As principal, Rebecca says her job requires her to play with ‘nerves of steel and confidence’, putting herself on the line like the other principal players – think of the snare drum part in Ravel’s Bolero, for instance. Sometimes, however, the role of principal in her section isn’t clear-cut – the percussion section often functions with greater democracy than other sections of the orchestra. ‘Percussion is a little bit weird,’ says Rebecca. ‘Works like Bernstein’s West Side Story, or Messiaen’s Chronochro-mie, have two or three equally weighted parts that are similarly soloistic or contain comparable technical challenges.’

‘I try really hard to put people on parts that play to their strengths.’ That’s the best way, Rebecca says, to build a really good section. ‘Some people have a feel for metal. Some people have a feel for skin.’

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If ever there were a section in an orchestra that needed a strong ‘sixth sense’ to play precisely together, it would have to be the percussion section. Timing unison entries, says principal percussionist Rebecca Lagos, calls for ‘a mystery radar thing. I can’t describe it any other way. We’ll all take a big breath in, and play, and it all comes together. As Colin [Piper, fellow percussionist] says, “you can’t teach that sort of thing.” You really can’t learn it anywhere except on the job.’

Rebecca acknowledges that there can be many hurdles for an aspiring young percussionist. ‘You have to accumulate masses

of gear, find somewhere to store it, possibly find somewhere else to practice. All this could be a real stumbling block to success.’ Her own path to becoming a professional musician was rela-tively straightforward. ‘I’ve been quite blessed in terms of falling into jobs early.’ Twenty-five years ago, when she first joined the Sydney Symphony, Rebecca also joined the percussion ensemble Synergy. ‘It was the perfect foil for all the orchestral stuff.’ Two of her Synergy colleagues, Colin Piper and Ian Cleworth, were also fellow Sydney Symphony musicians. ‘When you’re only playing with three other percus-

NERVES OF STEELPrincipal Percussion Rebecca Lagos talks hurdles, radars and democracy.

ORCHESTRA NEWS | NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2012

Our recent tour to China offered ample opportunity for reflection on the year. And what a year it’s been. In the orchestra’s 80th year, some of our anniversary programs have highlighted historical visits by Igor Stravinsky and Aaron Copland. We’ve also recognised important musical events in the orchestra’s history, including our re-creation of the official opening concert of the Sydney Opera House. It’s been a significant year also with the appointment of our next Chief Conductor and Artistic Director, David Robertson, who takes over from Vladimir Ashkenazy in 2014.

As 2012 draws to a close, we have one celebration left up our sleeve. Ashkenazy will conduct a three- week mini festival of Russian masters. The centrepiece is a concert performance of Tchaikovsky’s opera The Queen of Spades. And we present the Australian premiere of Rachmaninoff ’s Piano Concerto No.4 in its original version. I hope you’ll agree it’s been an amazing year of music-making. Thank you for your support in coming to our concerts. After all, as Confucius says, ‘If an orchestra plays, and no one’s there to hear it, did it ever really happen?’

RORY JEFFES

From the Managing Director

Proud sponsor of theSydney Symphonyin their 80th yearof timeless entertainment

The National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing – known as ‘The Egg’ – dwarfs our musicians in this group shot. Beijing was the second stop on the orchestra’s tour of China, which also took in Tianjin, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Shanghai and Qingdao. Our thanks to tour partner Tianda for their support of this cultural exchange.

Ask a Musician

The short answer is yes, Tobias’s viola is bigger than most. But why? Of all the orchestral instruments, the viola poses the greatest design challenges. In order to match the acoustic properties of its cousin the violin, the lower-pitched viola would have to be about 51cm long, making it almost impossible to play. A compromise must be reached. Over the centuries, viola makers have experimented with sizes and shapes of the instrument, adjusting proportional relationships between the length of the neck and position of the bridge, and the dimensions of the body, all the while seeking to maintain that signature sound of the viola. Naturally, violists come in all shapes and sizes too. Tobias, standing at 6-foot-and-quite-a-bit, has a longer reach than many of his colleagues, and can thus play on an instrument closer to the theoretical ideal. ‘I guess I’m just one of the lucky ones!’ he says.

Our Development Manager Amelia Morgan-Hunn has her own Ask a Musician question: Is Tobias Breider’s viola bigger than everyone else’s?

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Ashkenazy’s SibeliusAt the end of the our Sibelius festival in 2004, conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy turned to the audience and declared that he had ‘never heard Sibelius played better!’ Now, celebrating five years at the orchestra’s helm, Ashkenazy still feels a ‘great affinity with Sibelius’s Nordic nature’. He will begin 2013 with two of the composer’s earliest orchestral works: Kullervo and the Lemminkäinen Suite. These tone poems mark the beginning of the Sibelius’s uniquely Finnish style of composition, drawing on his country’s rich folklore to create music of great individuality and beauty.

Both works are shaped by a narrative, each focusing on the story of a hero from the Finnish epic poem, the Kalevala. The tale of Kullervo, a wandering magician, is told through the human voice, calling for a bass-baritone (Kullervo), a soprano (his sister) and chorus in two of its five movements. The sound world of Lemminkäinen is purely instrumental, and the popular third movement, The Swan of Tuonela, features an expansive, song-like solo for the cor anglais. This is the creation of a young composer still working to master the orchestral form, but elements of the snow-covered Finnish landscape are already audible. Ashkenazy, who nominates Sibelius as one of his favourites, says this is some of the composer’s best music. NJ

Legends by the Sea (Lemminkäinen)Wed 6 Feb | 8pm Fri 8 Feb | 8pm Sat 9 Feb | 8pm

A Finnish Epic (Kullervo)Fri 15 Feb | 8pm Sat 16 Feb | 2pm

The Score

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laMUSIC 4 HEALTH MUSIC 4 EVERYONE

Community Focus

Ziegler, cellist Rowena Crouch and double bassist Richard Lynn accompanying the students, from kindergarten to Year 12, as they played on percussion instruments. Other students were invited to the stage to take turns at conducting, or to sing along.

The Sydney Symphony’s Music4Health program of community engagement aims to provide a transformative experience for those with health, disability and aged care needs, and their carers. Members of the orchestra have performed for children aided by the Autism Advisory and Support Service several times in recent years.

If you’d like to find out more about our Music4Health programs, email philanthropy@sydneysymphony.com or call (02) 8215 4625.

The hills and valleys of Western Sydney were alive with the sound of music recently when Mount Pritchard & District Community Club hosted over 400 students with autism and their carers in a day of musical expression. ‘It really is the best hour of the year for us,’ said Grace Fava, president and founder of the Liverpool-based Autism Advisory and Support Service. ‘The look on the kids’ faces, in their eyes, said it all for me. Given the complex needs these kids have, to see how music brings them all together is wonderful.’

Cabramatta Labor MP Nick Lalich was also in attendance, and was so moved that he spoke about it at the next sitting of state parliament: ‘There was a wonderful atmosphere in the auditorium that day. The space was filled with the fun and enthusiasm felt by…the children and their carers and teachers. Each child in the auditorium was given a percussion instrument to play. Some had triangles and others had castanets. The conductor then got each side of the room to play to a different beating rhythm while the Sydney Symphony…provided the melody. It was something to behold. The continual and audible cheering of the children showed how music can cut through their condition.’

The performance was led by violinist Stan Kornel, with violinists Sophie Cole and Léone

Your SayWhat an inspired piece of programming! [Symphony for the Common Man, September] L’après-midi d’un faune, so sensitively played, was a perfect prelude to the Takemitsu, which seemed to take us into a new sort of orchestral idiom in the same way Debussy did in 1894. As for the Copland symphony, it won in the decibel stakes, but the phrase came to mind: ‘full of sound and fury, signifying…’ Frank Langley

It was one of the most pleasurable evenings I am sure to experience [Ravel’s Bolero, October]. Amy Dickson was fabulous and the orchestra were, as always, brilliant. The percussion section put in a lot of work and they deserved the appreciation that was displayed. The SSO Night Lounge seemed like a big hit. The chamber music was awesome. The mingling felt a bit awkward but I’d do it again if the orchestra was planning another! Timothy Borge

SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE TRUSTMr Kim Williams AM [Chair]Ms Catherine Brenner, The Hon Helen Coonan, Mr Wesley Enoch,Ms Renata Kaldor AO, Mr Robert Leece AM RFD, Mr Peter Mason AM,Dr Thomas Parry AM, Mr Leo Schofi eld AM, Mr John Symond AM

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By arrangement with the Sydney Symphony, this publication is offered free of charge to its patrons subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s consent in writing. It is a further condition that this publication shall not be circulated in any form of binding or cover than that in which it was published, or distributed at any other event than specifi ed on the title page of this publication 16930 — 1/071112 — 33MM S84/85

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Managing Director Michael Nebenzahl Editorial Director Jocelyn Nebenzahl Manager—Production & Graphic Design Debbie ClarkeManager—Production—Classical Music Alan ZieglerOperating in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Hobart & Darwin

HONOURS

Philanthropist Peter Weiss was recently honoured by the University of Sydney with an Honorary Doctorate of Letters (HonDLitt). The conferring ceremony was an intimate affair in the Vice Chancellor’s office conducted by Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir AC CVO. We’ve been fortunate to have a long relationship with Peter, and are delighted that he has been recognised in this way.

BRAVO BEN

Congratulations to double bassist Benjamin Ward who has been selected as a 2012 Churchill Fellow. His project is a comparison of the diverse approaches to the double bass in the major orchestras of Europe and Britain. Ben says: ‘It’s a chance for me to inform my own playing, and bring that learning home to then help students through the Sydney Symphony education programs and in private teaching.’ Bravo Ben!

RICHARD GILL – ANNIVERSARIES

2012 is Richard Gill’s 20th year as Artistic Director of our Education program. To celebrate, we commissioned a new work by Barry Conyngham – Symphony – which Richard is conducting in the Meet the Music series in November. It’s also 50 years since Richard began teaching and to mark this auspicious event he recently published a memoir, In Excess of It.

DID YOU KNOW?

Our Education program has built up an impressive reach. Here are just a few of its vital statistics:

approximately 50 schools concerts, for an audience of 30,000 school-aged students.

accredited professional learning workshops annually to approximately 400 teachers and 100 student teachers.

producing six books of lesson resources which are then purchased by teachers all over Australia, and even as far away as Egypt!

workshops in five states.

And advice from the coalface: You gotta be quick! This year’s series of schools concerts at the ABC sold out in 2011, before the season had even begun.

CODA

BRAVO EDITOR Genevieve Lang sydneysymphony.com/bravoBRAVO EDITOR: Genevieve Lang sydneysymphony.com/bravoCONTRIBUTOR: Naomi Johnson