A MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE PRODUCER “ That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” As we recall astronaut Neil Armstrong’s immortal words during the 50th anniversary year of Apollo 11’s moon landing, let’s also pay tribute to Honeysuckle Creek and Tidbinbilla. They were the marvelously named NASA deep space tracking stations near Canberra, Australia’s capital city, which were the only ones to receive the “live” shaky black-and-white pictures of Armstrong’s first steps on the Moon. And relay them around the world. Those historic moments of Australian-American partnership in space exploration were special. So it’s especially exciting to celebrate our shared history with the music of the great space classics, including the thrilling 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Wars, and Star Trek. And it’s entirely fitting that it should be the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s nearly 100 musicians, representing Australia’s pre-eminent symphonic ensemble, who have brought their exciting production of “The Galaxy’s Greatest Hits” to Chicago’s music lovers as part of our combined effort to help popularize the classics. With actor George Takei – Mr Sulu from the USS Enterprise – as our host, a guest appearance by decorated American astronaut Charlie Duke, and stellar performances by acclaimed jazz musicians Kurt Elling and James Morrison, we know this will be a “Night to Remember” for our audience, and for the Orchestra. Tonight’s concert launches the MSO’s American tour which takes them on to Washington D.C.’s John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Mechanics Hall in Worcester (MA), and then to New York’s Carnegie Hall. In planning tonight’s performance, it’s been a great personal pleasure to collaborate with our innovative conductor Benjamin Northey and his creative teams, and “to boldly go where no orchestra has gone before.” And I’m grateful to the Orchestra’s Managing Director, Sophie Galaise, whose tireless dedication and energetic leadership has taken the MSO to new heights. Finally, my thanks to all of you in the audience who’ve joined us to celebrate the ongoing story of AustralianAmerican mateship, and to enjoy a unique musical experience in Chicago’s magnificent Symphony Center.
Anthony Pratt Executive Chairman Pratt Industries USA and Visy Australia Aldrin Looks Back at Tranquility Base Courtesy of NASA 2
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WELCOME FROM THE MANAGING DIRECTOR, SOPHIE GALAISE On behalf of everyone at the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, thank you for the incredibly warm welcome we have received here in Chicago. It has been almost 50 years since the MSO last visited the USA and we are delighted to be returning with our first stop here in your beautiful city. Tonight, our superb musicians are honored to be joined on stage by the youngest man to walk on the Moon, Charlie Duke, our host, Star Trek’s George Takei, and the jazz superpowers of Kurt Elling and James Morrison. The MSO’s effervescent Benjamin Northey, takes the helm as conductor. This is an event only made possible through the inspiring support of Anthony Pratt and the Pratt Foundation. We have been greatly motivated by Anthony’s energy and enthusiasm not only for the MSO, but for bringing wonderful music to Chicago audiences. Our relationship with Anthony and the Pratt Foundation goes back a number of years and it is most humbling to see our close working relationship result in the wonderful concert you will see tonight. We are very grateful to Anthony for his vision and friendship. It requires many talented people to produce a tour such as this and to have the support of all our partners is a real endorsement of the MSO. I also kindly thank the Embassy of Australia Washington D.C., the Australia Council for the Arts, the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria, Emirates, Northern Trust, Harold Mitchell AC, the Ullmer Family Foundation, Ken Ong OAM, Glenn Sedgwick, and the many other donors who have made our dream to tour the USA a reality. We thank you for your trust in the MSO as a leading figure in the Australian cultural landscape and for supporting our aspirations on the global stage.
WELCOME FROM THE AUSTRALIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES Welcome to the Mateship tour. In 2018, Australia and the United States celebrated a centenary of mateship – a friendship formed in the trenches of World War I when Australian and American troops first fought side-by-side at the Battle of Hamel on July 4, 1918. Since that day Australians and Americans have served alongside one another in every major conflict. This is symbolic of the deep and enduring bond, mutual respect and close co-operation that exists between Australia and the United States. The relationship between our two countries is unique in its breadth, depth and length, and is characterized by genuine cultural affinity and a spirit of collaboration. The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is a great example of this spirit. As one of the world’s leading orchestras, the MSO inspires and engages audiences across Victoria, Australia and internationally. The orchestra embodies the rich cultural heritage of Australia, and on this tour shares the work of contemporary Australian composers Carl Vine AO and Iain Grandage, alongside orchestral classics. Australia places innovation and creativity at the heart of community. People-to-people connections both at home and abroad create shared understanding and mutual admiration. As one of Australia’s leading cultural ambassadors, the MSO exemplifies our reputation as a culturally rich and diverse society. Australia also celebrates artistic excellence. The MSO was the first Australian orchestra to play at New York’s Carnegie Hall. This tour expands their reach across the north-east of the United States to concert halls in Chicago, Washington, D.C., Worcester, MA and New York City.
I hope you thoroughly enjoy tonight’s performance.
A hearty thank you to all who have generously supported this tour.
Sophie Galaise
Congratulations MSO and enjoy the performance!
MSO Managing Director
The Hon Joe Hockey Australian Ambassador to the United States
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ARTISTS
PROGRA
MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
R. STRAUSS Also sprach Zarathustra!
BENJAMIN NORTHEY
WILLIAMS Star Wars Suite: Main Title
conductor
GEORGE TAKEI host
KURT ELLING
WILLIAMS (ARR. BELL) Lost in Space GOLDSMITH Star Trek: The Motion Picture: End Title GRAY Thunderbirds March
vocals
WILLIAMS Star Wars Suite: Princess Leia’s Theme
JAMES MORRISON
WILLIAMS Star Wars Suite: Imperial March
trumpet
with special guest
CHARLIE DUKE
WILLIAMS E.T.: Adventures on Earth INTERMISSION HOLST The Planets: Mars, the Bringer of War DEBUSSY (ARR. CAILLIET) Clair de Lune HORNER Apollo 13: Main Theme HOWARD (ARR. LYALL) Fly Me to the Moon ELLINGTON (ARR. BARKER) I Like the Sunrise VAN HEUSEN (ARR. BYRNE) Come Fly With Me WILLIAMS Star Wars Suite: Throne Room and Finale Video direction and design by Brannon Fells
Apollo 11 Bootprint Courtesy of NASA 6
Running time: 2 hours including intermission. 7
ABOUT THE GALAXY’S GREATEST HITS From the first moment that humanity stood and gazed at the bigger and the smaller lights, even before we learned to put words around the enormity of the cosmos, the Sun, the Moon and the tumbling planets have held us rapt. And of all the artforms, it is music that taps most directly into this sense of wonder. So many great composers have grappled directly with the mass and weight of the universe, with often spinetingling results. In curating a concert to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the moon landings, there was only one consideration: think big. It is fitting that we begin with Richard Strauss’ opening for his tone poem, Also sprach Zarathustra, not only because it has become a touchstone of planetary awe through its use in Stanley Kubrick’s seminal science fiction film, 2001: A Space Odyssey. On one level, the music is as expansive, as grandiloquent as its subject matter; and yet on another it is strangely, and almost serenely beautiful. It has a primal power, and those two minutes of music have, in the popular imagination, become an iconic evocation of space itself. Of course, Strauss didn’t exactly intend this association; it was Kubrick that linked it with the immensity of the planets. Film has often leaned on music to convey this kind of immensity, to bolster its own visions of vastness. It is hardly surprising that some of the most memorable “space music” has been written for film; film composers are the classical composers of our time, and the appetite for films set among the stars is insatiable. Arguably the greatest – certainly one of the most decorated and beloved – is John Williams, who is responsible for many of the blockbuster scores featured in this program. A composer who echoes former greats like Tchaikovsky and Wagner, Williams is a master of the leitmotif, that musical idea that threads through a work and comes to represent a particular character or emotion. Think of those stirring trumpets that indicate Indiana Jones’s daring, or the disturbing ostinato made up of two alternating notes for tuba that brings Jaws up from the depths. In Star Wars, Williams created some of the most recognizable music we have. The grand, bursting bombast of the main theme is as immediately impressive as the opening to Beethoven’s Fifth; even people who’ve never seen Star Wars (are there any left?) would identify the music as an evocation of man’s expansive imagining beyond the known universe. The gorgeously plaintive nobility of “Princess Leia’s Theme” speaks to the feisty charms of Carrie Fisher herself;
and the strident formality of the “The Imperial March” feels like a musical description of the fascist mind state. Along with the music from the finale, an immensely satisfying culmination of the score’s themes, these pieces demonstrate the breadth and scope of Williams’ talent. His music for Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is space evocation in an entirely different vein. Sweetly sentimental, without the menacing imperialism or existential threat of Star Wars, this is a child’s vision of space and the final frontier: warm and wondrous. All the elements of the film that have made it so enduring – the profundity of childhood friendship, the vision of universal benevolence – are palpable in the music. Speaking of final frontiers, can there be any more memorable a theme than that composed by Jerry Goldsmith for Star Trek: The Motion Picture? The Star Trek television series defined the idea of planetary exploration as a noble act in a post-imperial world, of diplomacy
and altruism, and its first big-screen installment needed a musical theme that would convey its high-minded ideals. Goldsmith delivered something dynamic and emotionally rousing, perfectly encapsulating the spirit of adventure. Of course, composers drew inspiration from the celestial bodies long before film and television came to dominate the public imagination. French composer Claude Debussy wrote one of the most beautiful responses to the Moon in the history of music, Clair de Lune, based on the poem by Paul Verlaine, and orchestrated here by the brilliant Lucien Cailliet. It is an exquisite piece, simultaneously hopeful and profoundly melancholic, a tribute to the emotional impact our grand satellite has on human consciousness. Great jazz musicians have found inspiration in the stars too, although it is interesting to note that their galactic musings tend to be more earth-bound than their classical counterparts. The ‘wish upon a star’ in Duke Ellington’s I Like the Sunrise is for the promise of the ‘brand new bright tomorrow’ to come, while Jimmy Van Heusen’s Come Fly With Me imagines air travel as a purely romantic endeavor. Bart Howard’s Fly Me to the Moon ventures further afield to Jupiter and Mars as an apt metaphor, and unsurprisingly, was a staple of mixtapes sent up with Apollo astronauts on their missions to the moon. No concert in celebration of the planets could neglect English composer Gustav Holst. His suite of seven movements that correspond to the planets of the solar system is a perennial favorite, opening with Mars, the Bringer of War. Holst was interested in the astrological (rather than astronomical) impact the planets have on us, and Mars is full of the violence and horror of the war mentality, its crushing determination and its driving vigor. Listen for the echo in Williams’ “The Imperial March”, for which Holst was a clear influence. In fact, that is one of the most fascinating things about “space music”; it taps into the same well of pride and awe that planetary exploration evokes in us. In a world that can seem more and more fractured and isolationist, music has that wonderful tendency to unite us. As always, when we dare to hope and dream, we look to the stars, and beyond. And listen for the echo. –Tim Byrne
Backpacking Courtesy of NASA 8
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BENJAMIN NORTHEY CONDUCTOR Benjamin Northey is Chief Conductor of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and Associate Conductor of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Winner of the 2019 Limelight Magazine Australian Artist of the Year award, Northey appears regularly as guest conductor with all major Australian and New Zealand symphony orchestras, Opera Australia (La Bohème, Turandot, L’elisir d’amore, Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, Carmen), New Zealand Opera (Sweeney Todd) and State Opera South Australia (La sonnambula, Les contes d’Hoffmann). His international appearances include concerts with London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hong Kong, Tokyo and Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestras, the National Orchestra of Colombia and the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg.
MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is a leading cultural figure in the Australian arts landscape, bringing the best in orchestral music and passionate performance to a diverse audience across the nation and around the world. Each year the MSO engages with more than 5 million people through live concerts, TV, radio and online broadcasts, international and regional tours, recordings and education programs. The MSO is a vital presence – both onstage and in the community – in cultivating orchestral music in Australia. As Australia’s fi rst professional orchestra, the MSO has been the sound of the city of Melbourne since 1906. From its home at Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne, to free summer concerts at Melbourne’s largest outdoor venue, the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, and its Secret Symphony performances at unique inner-city locations, the MSO inspires a broad range of audiences with more than 160 concerts a year. Under the spirited leadership of Chief Conductor, Sir Andrew Davis, the MSO regularly attracts great artists from around the globe including Anne-Sophie Mutter, Lang Lang, Renée Fleming and Thomas Hampson. Committed to shaping and serving the city it inhabits, the MSO regularly reaches beyond the customary
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classical audience by collaborating with artists such as Professor Brian Cox, Nick Cave, Flight Facilities, Kate Miller-Heidke, Tim Minchin and Laura Mvula.
Northey is a strong advocate for music by Australian composers. He has a progressive and diverse approach to repertoire having collaborated with a broad range of artists including Pinchas Zukerman, Maxim Vengerov and Anne-Sofie von Otter, as well as KD Lang, Tim Minchin and James Morrison. His awards include the 2001 Symphony Australia Young Conductor of the Year, the prestigious 2010 Melbourne Prize Outstanding Musician’s Award and multiple awards for his many recordings with ABC Music.
Internationally acclaimed, the MSO was the fi rst Australian orchestra to perform overseas (1965) and the fi rst to debut at Carnegie Hall (1970). Today, the MSO brings Melbourne’s finest musicians to the world, nurtures strong cultural partnerships throughout South East Asia and is the only Australian orchestra partnered with UNITEL, the world’s leading distributor of classical music programs for fi lm, television and video. As a national ambassador for the arts and a champion of music education, the MSO campaigns for the rights of all people to access and learn music. Boasting carefully curated learning programs, a regional touring schedule, accessible concerts and free community events, the MSO provides opportunities for music lovers to be involved with the Orchestra, no matter their age or location.
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GEORGE TAKEI
KURT ELLING
HOST
VOCALS
With a career spanning five decades, George Takei is known around the world for his founding role in the acclaimed television series Star Trek, in which he played Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the Starship Enterprise. But George Takei’s story goes where few stories have gone before. From a childhood spent with his family wrongfully imprisoned in a Japanese American Internment Camp during WWII, to becoming one of the country’s leading figures in the fight for social justice, LGBTQ rights, and marriage equality—George Takei remains a powerful voice on issues ranging from politics to pop culture.
Renowned for his singular combination of robust swing and poetic insight, GRAMMY winner Kurt Elling has secured his place among the world’s foremost jazz vocalists. Declared “the standout male vocalist of our time” by The New York Times, Elling has garnered unprecedented accolades, including a fourteen-year run atop the DownBeat Critics Poll, a dozen GRAMMY nominations, and eight Jazz Journalists Association awards for “Male Singer of the Year.”
In 2012, Mashable.com named Takei the #1 most-infl uential person on Facebook, currently with more than 10 million likes and nearly 3 million followers on Twitter. Takei hosted the AARP-produced YouTube series Takei’s Take, and is the subject of To Be Takei (2014), a documentary on his life and career. On his own YouTube channel, Takei and his husband Brad bring viewers into their personal life in the “heightened reality” webseries, It Takeis Two.
Elling’s most recent release, The Questions, searches for answers to the culture’s most divisive social, political and spiritual issues via the songs of Bob Dylan, Carla Bley and Leonard Bernstein, and the poetry of Rumi and Wallace Stevens. Whether transforming timeless standards or crafting his own enthralling originals, Elling balances elegant lyricism and technical mastery with emotional depth and keen observations into the human condition. “Since the mid-1990s,” hails the Washington Post, “[Elling] has come to embody the creative spirit in jazz.”
Arrangements for the appearance of George Takei made through Greater Talent Network, LLC., New York, NY.
CHARLIE DUKE
JAES MORRISON
SPECIAL GUEST
TRUMPET
One of only 12 men to ever walk on the moon, Charlie Duke was the youngest to do so.
Bursting onto the international stage at age 16, James Morrison debuted in the USA with a breathtaking concert at the Monterey Jazz Festival. Following this were appearances at Europe’s major festivals including Montreux, North Sea, Nice and Bern – playing with legends such as Dizzy Gillespie, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles, B.B. King and Wynton Marsalis. There were also gigs in the world’s most famous jazz clubs – The Blue Note and Dizzy’s in New York, The Tokyo Blue Note and Ronnie Scott’s in London.
Upon graduation from the Naval Academy and receiving his commission in the USAF, Mr. Duke entered pilot training and received his wings in 1958. He served in Germany as a fighter interceptor pilot before being assigned to MIT for a master’s degree. Selected by NASA as one of 19 astronauts in 1966, Astronaut Duke served in five different Apollo missions, including as lunar module pilot of Apollo 16, the fi rst scientific expedition to inspect and survey the Descartes region of the lunar highlands. Duke retired from NASA to enter private business in 1975. He joined the USAF Reserves and in 1979 was promoted to Brigadier General. Mr. Duke has been involved in a wide variety of businesses and is currently a public speaker of international renown on topics that range from delivering under pressure, to team preparedness and space exploration.
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Morrison’s career has been diverse and perhaps not typical of most jazz musicians. He recorded Jazz Meets the Symphony with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Lalo Schifrin and performed concerts at the Royal Albert Hall and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. In additional to Royal Command Performances for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Morrison was invited to perform for Presidents Bush, Clinton and Obama. In 2000, Morrison composed and performed the fanfare for the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony in Sydney.
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MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Sir Andrew Davis Chief Conductor
Benjamin Northey Associate Conductor
Tianyi Lu Cybec Assistant Conductor
Hiroyuki Iwaki Conductor Laureate (1974–2006)
FIRST VIOLINS Sophie Rowell Concertmaster The Ullmer Family Foundation#
CELLOS
CONTRABASSOON
HARP
David Berlin
Brock Imison
Yinuo Mu
Principal MS Newman Family#
Principal
Principal
HORNS
DIDJERIDU
Associate Principal
Nicolas Fleury
Harry Wilson
Miranda Brockman
Principal
Geelong Friends of the MSO#
Peter Luff
Angela Sargeant
Guest Associate Principal
Maria Solà#
Saul Lewis
Michelle Wood
Principal Third The Hon Michael Watt QC and Cecilie Hall#
Rachael Tobin
Michael Aquilina#
Dale Barltrop
Anna Pokorny
Concertmaster
DOUBLE BASSES
Trinette McClimont Rachel Shaw
Steve Reeves
TRUMPETS
Peter Edwards Assistant Principal
Kirsty Bremner Peter Fellin Deborah Goodall Lorraine Hook Anne-Marie Johnson Eleanor Mancini Mark Mogilevski Michelle Ruffolo Kathryn Taylor Michael Aquilina#
SECOND VIOLINS Matthew Tomkins Principal The Gross Foundation#
Robert Macindoe Associate Principal
Mary Allison Isin Cakmakcioglu Tiffany Cheng Freya Franzen Andrew Hall Isy Wasserman Philippa West Roger Young
Principal
Damien Eckersley
Owen Morris
Acting Associate Principal
Principal
Benjamin Hanlon Stephen Newton
Shane Hooten
Sophie Galaise and Clarence Fraser#
FLUTES
Associate Principal
William Evans Rosie Turner John and Diana Frew#
MSO USA TOUR STAFF Sophie Galaise Managing Director
Melissa King Director of Artistic Planning
John Nolan Director of Education and Community Engagement
Gabrielle Waters Director of Operations
James Foster Senior Manager, Operations
Principal Anonymous#
Jessica Buzbee
Steele Foster
Sarah Beggs
Richard Shirley
Sophia Yong-Tang#
Guest Principal Tim and Lyn Edward#
PICCOLO
EUPHONIUM
Andrew Macleod
Lee Rogers+
Principal John McKay and Lois McKay#
OBOES Jeffrey Crellin Principal
Ann Blackburn
Guest Principal
BASS TROMBONE Mike Szabo Principal
TUBA
The Rosemary Norman Foundation#
Timothy Buzbee
COR ANGLAIS
TIMPANI**
Michael Pisani
Christine Turpin
Principal
Principal
Christopher Moore
CLARINETS
PERCUSSION
Di Jameson#
David Thomas
Robert Clarke
Principal
Guest Principal
Craig Hill
John Arcaro
Lauren Brigden
BASS CLARINET
Tim and Lyn Edward#
Acting Assistant Principal
Jon Craven
Drs Rhyll Wade and Clem Gruen#
Principal
Dr Elizabeth E Lewis AM#
BASSOONS
Gabrielle Halloran
Jack Schiller
Maria Solà#
Principal
Fiona Sargeant
Chloe Turner^
Orchestra Manager Production Assistant
Karl Knapp Special Project Coordinator
Lucien Fischer Production Assistant
Gaelle Lindrea Director of Philanthropy, supported by Gandel Philanthropy
Erika Jordan Senior Manager, Philanthropy
Dylan Stewart Senior Manager, Marketing and Communications
Jayde Walker Senior Manager, Corporate Partnerships
Dr Justin Osborne Tour Doctor
Principal
Associate Principal Michael Aquilina#
Katharine Brockman Anthony Chataway
Stu Mindeman piano Clark Sommers bass Greg Artry drums
Helen Godfrey
VIOLAS
Christopher Cartlidge
KURT ELLING’S BAND
TROMBONES
Prudence Davis
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS
Robert Cossom
# Position supported by
Maria Solà#
** Timpani Chair position supported by Lady Potter AC CMRI
Cindy Watkin
+ Courtesy of Washington National Opera / Kennedy Center Orchestra ^ Courtesy of West Australian Symphony Orchestra
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s 2019 USA Tour, celebrating more than a century of mateship between Australia and the United States, is proudly supported by the Pratt Foundation, Emirates, Northern Trust, Australian Embassy Washington D.C., Australia Council for the Arts, the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria, Harold Mitchell AC, the Ullmer Family Foundation, Ken Ong OAM and Glenn Sedgwick. The MSO warmly thanks the following Patrons for their support of our USA Tour and their presence here tonight: Mary Davidson, Barry Fradkin OAM and Dr Pam Fradkin, Susan and Gary Hearst, Margaret Jackson AC and Harold Bentley, Annette Maluish, Ken Ong OAM and Lilih Lam, Liliane Rusek and Alexander Ushakoff, Frank Tisher OAM and Dr Miriam Tisher, and Lorraine Woolley. Thank you to Carol Fox and Associates for marketing and PR services.
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