2024 Sidney Myer Free Concerts

Welcome

A MESSAGE FROM THE GOVERNOR

It is a pleasure to support the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s 2024 Free Concert Series. Much like the events at Sidney Myer Music Bowl, these concerts have become a meeting place for Victorians and visitors to enjoy the thriving performing arts culture of Melbourne.

Beginning in 1959, the Free Concert Series ensures music and live performance is accessible for everyone. It also builds on the MSO’s extensive history of outdoor concerts – the first being given more than 90 years ago.

This year’s performances reflect the diversity and breadth of the Orchestra’s work. Puccini in the Park, When We Were Young and Summer Serenade: Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and Rossini each offer something different to the Victorian community and their visitors.

My sincere thanks to the MSO and the Sidney Myer MSO Trust Fund for ensuring this Free Concert Program remains a key component of Melbourne’s major events calendar.

Professor the Honourable Margaret Gardner AC Governor of Victoria and MSO Patron

A MESSAGE FROM THE LORD MAYOR OF MELBOURNE

Beneath star-lit skies, Melburnians have been enjoying the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s Free Concert Series for generations. This year, the joy of music will again fill summer nights at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. From opera classics to orchestral music, the free concert series is a high point of the year for our city. City of Melbourne is proud to be a supporter of the 2024 series. Our city is privileged to host such a prestigious orchestra, and this series especially introduces us to brilliant emerging musicians and soloists. Over three nights in February, there is so much magnificent music to look forward to. Puccini in the Park, Summer Serenade – traditional and new favourites presented by Melbourne’s finest musicians, singers and conductors.

I thank all who work so hard to make the concerts a success. Their dedication and talent bring joy to all who attend. I wish everyone a terrific night out with family and friends.

Sally Capp AO Lord Mayor of Melbourne

A MESSAGE FROM THE SIDNEY AND MERLYN MYER FAMILY.

“A silver scarf floated down to earth and was tied by three corners to the ground.”

This beautiful 1959 description of the gleaming steel sculptured design of the Music Bowl was written by my late aunt Neilma Gantner.

An accomplished novelist and short story writer, Neilma (1922–2015), was Sidney and Merlyn’s elder daughter.

Neilma – with her cousin Norman, mother Merlyn, brothers Ken and Bails, and sister Marigold – was a driving force in the creation of the Bowl. Neilma captured perfectly and poetically “the utter simplicity and aesthetic strength of the construction.”

25 years after my grandfather Sidney’s untimely death aged 56 at the height of his powers, the revolutionary Music Bowl opened, fulfilling Sidney’s 1932 gift and dream of providing free open air classical music concerts with the MSO “in perpetuity” for the citizens of Melbourne.

And so: as night falls, the symphonic music rises to the slopes and hills of the Botanic Gardens, overlooking the timeless Yarra river, upon a magical site of ancient gatherings, we are transported by Australia’s oldest and finest orchestra.

To all concert-goers, whether long-time afficionados or children, families and friends attending for the very first time, we wish you a joyous evening.

Stephen Shelmerdine AM Chair of Trustees, Estate of the Late Sidney B. Myer

A MESSAGE FROM THE MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Welcome to the MSO’s 2024 Sidney Myer Free Concerts at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. On behalf of the MSO, we are delighted to have you join us for this special occasion, made possible by the MSO Sidney Myer Trust Fund, in association with The University of Melbourne, ABC Classic, and Arts Centre Melbourne.

This year, our concerts invite you to enjoy some of the world’s most beloved works to contemporary Australian compositions, including the world premiere of a commission by MSO Cybec Young Composer in Residence, Naomi Dodd.

Thanks to the extraordinary vision of the late Sidney Myer more than 90 years ago, the Sidney Myer Free Concerts are an icon of Melbourne, bringing the joy of music to audiences of all ages. As we gather together, we invite you to once again enjoy these concerts which have captivated our city for almost a century.

David Li AM Chairman,

Melbourne

Symphony Orchestra

A MESSAGE FROM ARTS CENTRE MELBOURNE

A warm welcome to the Sidney Myer Music Bowl as we embark on another MSO concert series underneath our summer skies.

For over 90 years, the annual symphonies have filled the Bowl with life and emotion, entertaining audiences with performances that traverse genres and reimagine sounds of the past with homage to the contemporary. For decades, the Bowl has been firmly placed in the hearts of artists and music lovers alike for its unforgettable moments; most notably, when the palpable energy of live performance meets the iconic vista of our Melbourne skyline.

We proudly welcome back one of our Resident Companies, the MSO, to the Bowl stage to perform for their most loyal of followers and enthusiastic firsttime listeners.

I hope you enjoy the show, and we look forward to welcoming you back at Arts Centre Melbourne soon!

Karen Quinlan AM Chief Executive Officer, Arts Centre Melbourne

Myer and Music for Melbourne

An Enduring Legacy

FOUNDING YEARS AND EARLY INTEREST IN MUSIC

Simcha Baevski, whose given name in Hebrew means “joy”, was thought to have been born on 8 February 1878. A simcha was also a Jewish festive occasion. Simcha was the youngest child of Talmudic scholar, Israel Yeheskial Baevski and the family matriarch, Gina Dabrusha Shur, who ran the family drapery business.

Sidney Myer’s love of music dates to his childhood and was a stirring theme throughout his life. As a baby he was lulled to sleep by the soothing sounds of songs sung gently by his mother, traditional Jewish folk songs and Yiddish biblical hymns. Music was an essential part of any Jewish childhood and upbringing and Sidney would have grown up with music as a natural part of his life.

AUSTRALIA: SIMCHA BAEVSKI –SIDNEY MYER

Fleeing religious persecution and to escape the obligation to serve years in the Russian army, first Elcon Baevski and then Simcha emigrated to Australia, following other relatives who had settled in Melbourne before them.

It seems that by the time of his arrival, Simcha had decided to change his surname to Myer, as had Elcon and soon afterwards he adopted the anglicised name, Sidney. The young men took the name “Myer” in memory of their deceased eldest brother, Jacob Myer Baevski. Initially, Elcon and Sidney worked for a relative in Flinders Lane but in the new year and new century the pair embarked on their own business hawking their wares in country Victoria.

Soon afterwards they opened a depot in Hargreaves Street, Bendigo which became the first Myer drapery store.

On Christmas Eve 1900, the brothers announced the opening of their new store in lower Pall Mall with their first newspaper advertisement, noting low prices for quality goods, which would remain the Myer promise for decades to come.

BENDIGO, MYER AND MUSIC

In 1900, Bendigo was a thriving cultural centre of approximately 42,500 people. People flocked to the city’s many theatres, enjoying music, opera, and comedy. The Bendigo Conservatorium was established in 1905, 800m from Myer’s shop.

During the gold rushes, Bendigo’s famous Shamrock Hotel, also close by, boasted the largest music hall outside of London. It is likely that Myer attended performances at both majestic venues and possible that Myer was one of the local patrons of the new conservatorium.

MYER MELBOURNE AND MUSIC

The Bendigo business flourished, and new larger premises were opened, before Myer outgrew Bendigo and in 1910 moved to Melbourne the create his famous Myer Emporium.

On moving to Melbourne, Sidney Myer remained an active supporter of music. Alberto Zelman, a contemporary of Sidney Myer, had established the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) in 1906. The two became friends and engaged in correspondence.

The Myer Emporium was a great success and Myer wanted to repay his customers for supporting his business. His aim was that cultural pursuits should be available to all people, whatever their socio-economic standing. It was with this belief, that the arts should be accessible to all, that in the 1920s he began supporting the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra becoming its President by the end of the decade.

At that time, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) was Melbourne’s pre-eminent orchestra and widely in demand. However, the rigours of the Great Depression made its financial survival precarious.

Simcha Baevski (who would become Sidney Myer) with his family, c 1896. Simcha is second from left in the back row, his father and mother are seated left and second left.

Myer’s Bendigo store, c 1905, Sidney Myer is third from right.

Its founder, Alberto Zelman had died in March 1927 and the orchestra had lost its most consistent financial backer.

During the mid 1920s, Sidney Myer began financially supporting the orchestra and so began the now famous outdoor free concerts, bringing music to the people.

SIDNEY MYER AND THE MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Sidney Myer followed “Australia’s songbird” diva, Dame Nellie Melba (1861–1931) as the Orchestra’s President (Melba was President from 1927 and Patron prior to that).

Melba was at that time at the height of her fame. Just prior to accepting the invitation to be MSO President, in June 1927, she was appointed to The Order of the British Empire, Dame Grand Cross, (Civil) for services to Australia. Two great Melbourne names, Melba, and Myer, supporting and leading Melbourne’s greatest orchestra. It is equally notable that it was the MSO that gained favour with both Dame Nellie and Sidney Myer, no other Australian Orchestra. Melba by that time had earned wide world acclamation and clearly would only lend her name to a professional and prestigious body as the MSO then was.

It was Melba who recognised the MSO as Australia’s pre-eminent orchestra and engaged it as her “backing band” for her famous concerts. Like Myer, Melba was an avid supporter of bringing music to the people.

MUSIC FOR THE PEOPLE

In 1929, Sidney Myer funded the “Music for the People” series of free open-air concerts by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in Melbourne’s Gardens and expressed a wish that a permanent home for such performances be constructed in Melbourne. Myer was clearly motivated by real causes, those that would touch the lives of the very people that shopped in his great Emporium and dined in the Myer dining rooms. His wife, Merlyn, recorded the pleasure he received from being able to bring music to the people: Everyone in this world likes a little praise and a pat on the back occasionally and when he (her husband, Sidney Myer), knew that some good which he had the means of doing had been appreciated I know it made him very happy to receive the plaudits of the crowd. At those Symphony Concerts in the Botanical Gardens when he saw thousands upon thousands enjoying the music under glorious surroundings – he was always overjoyed and grateful that he was so privileged to be in a position to do such things for the public.

Melbourne music lovers attending an outdoor free concert, performed by the MSO in 1929.

SIDNEY MYER’S TRUST FUND RESCUES MELBOURNE’S ORCHESTRAS

During the Great depression the MSO struggled, and Sidney Myer came to its rescue, making provision for a trust fund to ensure permanent open-air concerts would be performed by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. In December 1932, Sidney Myer donated 10,000 £1 ordinary shares in the Myer Emporium Ltd to the University of Melbourne, to operate a permanent national Orchestra under the direction of the Ormond Chair of Music. The existing University Symphony Orchestra was merged with the original MSO and the united orchestra played on as the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

Sidney donated the shares: being desirous of promoting and establishing free concerts of orchestral music in Melbourne in the open air…The object of the Donor in setting apart the said gift is to make a perpetual provision and endowment dedicated in perpetuity to the promotion and encouragement of free concerts of orchestral music in Melbourne including open air concerts and to further and maintain the interest of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

THE FIRST OPEN AIR FREE CONCERTS

The first of the open-air concerts was a Sunday afternoon orchestral concert by the 80-member MSO, conducted by Fritz Hart (who followed Alberto Zelman as MSO’s conductor) and held in the Botanic Gardens. The concert was a great success and Sidney Myer was reported in the Sun newspaper as saying:

I am highly delighted that so many thousands of people were able to enjoy such music in such excellent surroundings. To the best of my belief, it was as fine a concert as could be given in any part of the world.

VICTORIA’S CENTENARY AND MYER’S LEGACY

In 1933, Myer was elected Chairman of the Music committee for the 1934 Victorian Centenary Celebrations. In May 1934, W.T. Condor, General Manager of the ABC wrote somewhat prophetically to Myer concerning his support of the Sir Hamilton Harty Season with the MSO, saying, “It is felt that your work on behalf of music in Australia will be a lasting one.” Myer’s last activities prior to his death were in the cause of music.

Myer, as Chairman of the Music Sub-committee, organised the musical arrangements for the Centenary but tragically died a month before celebrations began. His wife, Merlyn Myer, wrote, “the opening of the Celebrations by the Duke of Gloucester will remain one of the saddest days of my life.” 40,000 people came to enjoy the musical celebrations, which would not have been possible without the tireless work and financial support of Sidney Myer.

Sidney Myer died suddenly in September 1934 and his funeral procession was one of the largest Melbourne had ever seen.

On 4 November 1934, The Sidney Myer Musical Commemoration was held at 3pm in Como Park, Melbourne. The Great Centenary Choir of 5,000 voices was accompanied by several combined Victorian brass bands.

INSPIRATION FOR A SOUND SHELL

Sidney and his wife, Merlyn had attended a concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, well before Sidney had funded the free concerts in Melbourne’s Gardens. But the memory remained with Sidney, and he had discussed what might be possible for a similar structure in Melbourne.

Following Sidney’s death there was discussion by the City of Melbourne that an apt memorial to Myer might be a sound shell constructed in Como Park. Como and other venues were discussed. Norman Myer, Sidney Myer’s nephew and the new “chief” of the Myer Emporium, was also keen that such a structure be built. He and Merlyn met frequently to discuss the matter. World War two intervened and the matter was set aside while both Norman and Merlyn Myer helped the war effort in numerous ways.

Sidney Myer Musical Commemoration at Como Park, 4 November 1934.

The open-air concert on Hopetoun Lawn at the Botanical Gardens, originally published in The Argus on 9 December, 1929.

FUNDING FOR A MUSIC BOWL

By 1955 the Trustees of the Sidney Myer Charitable Trust announced a gift to the City of Melbourne, the creation of a music bowl to be built in the heart of Melbourne. £100,000 was provided by the Trust for the project and a 10-acre site was set aside at Kings Domain. Merlyn and Sidney Myer’s four children, Ken, Neilma, Bails and Marigold, together with their mother and Uncle, Norman Myer all contributed to the realisation of Sidney Myer’s vision.

In 1956 the Sidney Myer Charitable Trust invited the two architectural firms of Yuncken, Freeman Bros., Griffiths and Simpson and Grounds, Romberg, and Boyd to participate in a joint design exercise. In September 1956 Yuncken Freeman Bros. Griffiths and Simpson took control of the project following a joint meeting of the two firms.

On 12 February 1959, the Sidney Myer Music Bowl was presented as a gift to the people of Victoria and became the lasting home for the MSO Free concerts.

EARLY CONCERTS

The Bowl was officially opened by Prime Minister Robert Menzies on 12 February 1959 to an audience of some 30,000. The combined Victorian (MSO) and Sydney Symphony orchestras performed at the inaugural concert which was conducted by Arthur Wallenstein (of the Hollywood Bowl), with the internationally famous pianist, Andor Foldes as soloist.

Later the same month the American evangelist Billy Graham drew crowds in excess of 70,000 to the Bowl.

In March 1967 records were broken when more than 200,000 people (over a 10th of Melbourne’s population at that time) attended a Seekers concert.

Clockwise from top:

1. The Hollywood Bowl, c. 1922.

2. Merlyn Myer with her daughter, Neilma Gantner, visiting the site of the Sidney Myer Music Bowl at the final stages of its construction, c. November 1958.

3. Music Bowl audience, 1959.

ARCHITECTURAL HIGHLIGHTS

The Sidney Myer Music Bowl is heritage listed (2005) and the citation notes:

The Sidney Myer Music Bowl with its associated landscaping was the first major purpose-built outdoor cultural venue constructed in Melbourne. It has remained in continued use as the venue for a wide range of memorable events and performances. The Music Bowl is an excellent representative example of the Late Twentieth Century Structuralist 1960-style. It demonstrates the broad characteristics of the style including large scale free, sculptural, nonrectilinear spaces floating above the site. The Sidney Myer Music Bowl is an exemplar of a free-standing structure featuring its large, landscaped setting for dramatic effect.

Many years before this, Sidney, and Merlyn’s daughter, Neilma wrote about the architectural simplicity and beauty of the music bowl:

It is an auditorium so simple that you are apt to forget the technicalities and the wealth of scientific material that went to make it possible. It seems almost as if a silver scarf had floated down to earth and been tied by three corners to the ground. Or as if a giant had arrived from Mars and left a gleaming parachute on the lawn.

WORLD RENOWNED FOR AS AN ARCHITECTURAL STRUCTURE

In May 1959, the Sidney Myer Music Bowl won the internationally renowned RS Reynolds Memorial Award for its design and construction, beating 52 entries from around the globe.

The judging jury’s statement noted:

The Myer Music Bowl is a simple solution of a project needed by every community in the world; a building used by the people, semi-enclosed and designed to improve culture.

CAROLS BY CANDLELIGHT

The Sidney Myer Music Bowl has remained in continued use since its opening and has been the scene for many memorable events, drawing large crowds. Carols by Candlelight has been staged at the Bowl annually since 1959.

Carols by Candlelight has been a part of Melbourne since 1938 when the event was first held in the Alexandra Gardens. ■

Clockwise from top left:

1. Detail of original artist’s impression of the proposed Music Bowl, prepared by Yuncken, Freeman Brothers Griffith & Simpson, August 1957.

2. The Sidney Myer Music Bowl, at completion, (photograph Wolfgang Sievers , courtesy State Library of Victoria.)

3. Carols by Candlelight at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, 1995 (photograph Mark Wilson).

MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Established in 1906, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is Australia’s pre-eminent orchestra and a cornerstone of Victoria’s rich, cultural heritage.

Each year, the MSO engages with more than 5 million people, presenting in excess of 180 public events across live performances, TV, radio and online broadcasts, and via its online concert hall, MSO.LIVE, with audiences in 56 countries.

With a reputation for excellence, versatility and innovation, the MSO works with culturally diverse and First Nations leaders to build community and deliver music to people across Melbourne, the state of Victoria and around the world.

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra respectfully acknowledges the people of the Eastern Kulin Nations, on whose un-ceded lands we honour the continuation of the oldest music practice in the world.

ACKNOWLEDGING COUNTRY

In the first project of its kind in Australia, the MSO has developed a musical Acknowledgment of Country with music composed by Yorta Yorta composer Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO, featuring Indigenous languages from across Victoria. Generously supported by Helen Macpherson Smith Trust and the Commonwealth Government through the Australian National Commission for UNESCO, the MSO is working in partnership with Short Black Opera and Indigenous language custodians who are generously sharing their cultural knowledge.

The Acknowledgement of Country allows us to pay our respects to the traditional owners of the land on which we perform in the language of that country and in the orchestral language of music.

About Long Time Living Here

In all the world, only Australia can lay claim to the longest continuing cultures and we celebrate this more today than in any other time since our shared history began. We live each day drawing energy from a land which has been nurtured by the traditional owners for more than 2000 generations. When we acknowledge country we pay respect to the land and to the people in equal measure.

As a composer I have specialised in coupling the beauty and diversity of our Indigenous languages with the power and intensity of classical music. In order to compose the music for this Acknowledgement of Country Project I have had the great privilege of working with no fewer than eleven ancient languages from the state of Victoria, including the language of my late Grandmother, Yorta Yorta woman Frances McGee. I pay my deepest respects to the elders and ancestors who are represented in these songs of acknowledgement and to the language custodians who have shared their knowledge and expertise in providing each text.

I am so proud of the MSO for initiating this landmark project and grateful that they afforded me the opportunity to make this contribution to the ongoing quest of understanding our belonging in this land.

— Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO

Program & Artists

Wednesday 21 February

PUCCINI IN THE PARK / 7.30PM

ARTISTS

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

Benjamin Northey conductor

Natalie Aroyan soprano

Paul O’Neill tenor

PROGRAM

PUCCINI Intermezzo to Act 3 from Manon Lescaut

PUCCINI Turandot: ‘Nessun dorma’

PUCCINI Manon Lescaut: ‘Sol perduta abbandonata’

PUCCINI Tosca: ‘Recondita armonia’

PUCCINI Tosca: ‘Vissi d’arte’

PUCCINI Tosca: ‘E lucevan le stelle’

PUCCINI Tosca: ‘Mario! Mario’

INTERVAL

PUCCINI Crisantemi

PUCCINI La Bohème: ‘Che gelida manina’

PUCCINI Intermezzo from Madama Butterfly

PUCCINI Madama Butterfly: ‘Un bel dì’

PUCCINI Madama Butterfly: ‘Viene la sera’

Saturday 24 February

MELBOURNE YOUTH ORCHESTRAS / 6PM

ARTISTS

Melbourne Youth Orchestra

Brett Kelly conductor

PROGRAM

VERDI La Forza del destino: Overture

PUCCINI Intermezzo from Manon Lescaut

BIZET Carillon from L’Arlésienne Suite No.1

BIZET Farandole from L’Arlésienne Suite No.2

MASCAGNI Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana

WILLIAMS Adventures on Earth from E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial

Saturday 24 February

WHEN WE WERE YOUNG / 7.30PM

ARTISTS

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

Carlo Antonioli conductor

Eliza Shephard flute

PROGRAM

NAOMI DODD Cerulean Dances*

ALEX TURLEY River**

MATTHEW HINDSON House Music

INTERVAL

SIBELIUS Symphony No.5

Wednesday 28 February

SUMMER SERENADE: BEETHOVEN, TCHAIKOVSKY AND ROSSINI / 7.30PM

ARTISTS

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

Benjamin Northey conductor PROGRAM

ROSSINI L’Italiana in Algeri: Overture

TCHAIKOVSKY Serenade for Strings

INTERVAL

BEETHOVEN Coriolan: Overture

BEETHOVEN Symphony No.1

Our musical Acknowledgment of Country, Long Time Living Here by Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO, will be performed at these concerts.

* World premiere of an MSO Commission, by the 2024 Cybec Young Composer in Residence

** World premiere of an MSO Commission, by the 2022 Cybec Young Composer in Residence

Ten Moments from MSO & the Bowl

1906 Foundations

In 1906, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra was founded by musical genius Alberto Zelman, child prodigy violinist, who could play every instrument in the orchestra. Its first concert was performed at the Melbourne Town Hall on Tuesday 11 December 1906 and the orchestra consisted of 73 musicians with guest soprano, Maude Harrington who would become Zelman’s wife. Today the MSO is the oldest professional orchestra in Australia.

1921–27 The MSO and Melba

Dame Nellie Melba, the most accomplished and famous soprano of her time, was the first Australian to win international recognition on the operatic stage. Less well known is that Melba played a major role in the story of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. By 1921 she was Patron of the MSO and in December of that year she and the MSO played to 10,000 people in the first “Concerts for the People” series. In 1927 Dame Nellie became President of the MSO.

1929–30 The First Open Air Concerts

On the 8 December 1929, the first of six open-air Sunday afternoon orchestral concerts by the 80-member Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Fritz Hart, was held in Melbourne’s Botanical Gardens. The orchestra was amplified so that it could be heard by all. The “innovation in orchestral music” was made possible by businessman and philanthropist Sidney Myer, who pledged £1,000 a year, and in so doing encouraged other donors who promised at least £500 a year. So began a tradition that continues to this day.

The last of this first series of free orchestral concerts was held on 8 April 1930. 100,000 people attended the six concerts, with 15,000 alone gracing the lawns, fittingly to enjoy Beethoven’s Pastoral, for the last in the series.

Photo: Program for the first concert held by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

Photo: Dame Nellie Melba

Photo: The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra performing in Melbourne’s Botanical Gardens, 1929. The orchestra played on a temporary stage and experimental amplification techniques were used.

1929–40s MSO’s early celebrities

In 1929, Russian conductor, Efrem Kurtz toured Australia with ballerina, Anna Pavlova, and was the first guest celebrity conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. The press reported: Mr Efrem Kurtz said today that the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra was the best symphony orchestra he had heard in Australia.

Kurtz was the first of many guest conductors with the MSO and was said to have given “inspired direction” to Melbourne’s orchestra. A plethora of celebrity soloists have toured Australia and also performed with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, including, the Menuhins, Solomon, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Stern, Goossens and hundreds of others.

1959 Australia’s first sound shell

On 12 February 1959 the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Australia’s first sound shell, was presented by the Sidney Myer Charity Trust as a gift to the people of Victoria. The Bowl, as it became known, was opened by Prime Minister R.G. Menzies.

1965–70 The MSO tours overseas

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra won the crown as Australia’s premier Orchestra when it was nominated to represent Australia at the Pan Pacific Arts Festival in Christchurch, New Zealand in February 1965. This marked the first time that an Australian orchestra had given concerts outside of Australia. In 1967 it made its first tour of Canada and the United States.

October and November 1970 saw the MSO embark on its most ambitious tour ever, when during its massive North American trip, it visited 13 eastern and middle Western states, giving 29 concerts plus one in Canada on its way home. One of the most memorable concerts of the tour was the MSO’s performance at Carnegie Hall. This was the first time that any Australian orchestra had played at the famous venue.

2003–07 The MSO performs in Russia and France

In 2003, the MSO were the first and only Australian orchestra to be invited to perform at the ‘The Stars of the White Nights’ International Festival in St Petersburg. In February 2007, the MSO became the first Australian orchestra in concert in Paris. Under the baton of Oleg Caetani, the orchestra performed the Rite of Spring in Paris at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, where the work was first performed in 1913.

Photo: Program for Efrem Kurtz concert, July 1929.

Photo: Her Majesty the Queen and Prince Phillip attend a concert in their honour at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, February 1963. Merlyn Myer far right.

Photo: Members of the MSO at Carnegie Hall in 1970.

Photo: The MSO performing at the historic and majestic Mariinsky Theatre, June 2003.

2009 50 years at the Sidney Myer

Music Bowl

2009 marked the 50th anniversary of the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. To celebrate the occasion, then Chief Conductor and Artistic Director Oleg Caetani conducted all four February programs, three of which featured young Australian soloists, including pianists John Chen and Amir Farid, and a cast of solo singers for Beethoven’s Symphony No.9. The first program replicated that of the very first concert given in the Bowl, 50 years to the day after that event, including Robert Hughes’ Essay for Orchestra. These concerts took place in the shadow of the Black Saturday fires, with the MSO collaborating with the Arts Centre to raise funds each evening for the Red Cross’ bushfire appeal.

2020 A Focus on Youth

In 2020 the MSO’s Young Composer in Residence Jordan Moore, was commissioned to write A Call to Adventure, which had its world premiere at Around the World with the MSO at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl to an audience of more than 5,000 people.

At the Sidney Myer Free Concert on Saturday 8 February, the MSO presented the results of a two-year collaboration with e.motion21, a not for profit organisation working to enhance lives and change perceptions of Down syndrome within society through dance, fitness and performance.

2019–present First Nations

In 2019, the MSO performed the symphonic world premiere of Eumeralla by Yorta Yorta woman, soprano and composer, Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO. In 2021, Deborah was announced as the MSO’s First Nations Creative Chair.

In February 2022, the Orchestra performed with proud Gunditjmara and Bundjalung man, Uncle Archie Roach AC at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl not long before his July passing. A State Memorial Service to celebrate his life and music was held on 15 December 2022 at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. ■

Photo: Archie Roach at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, February 2022

Photo: e.motion21 and the MSO at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, February 2020

Photo: Program for the Sidney Myer Music Bowl Free Concerts, 2009

FEATURED ARTISTS

BENJAMIN NORTHEY CONDUCTOR

PRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR IN RESIDENCE

Australian conductor Benjamin Northey is the Chief Conductor of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and the Principal Conductor in Residence of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

Northey also appears regularly as a guest conductor with all major Australian symphony orchestras, Opera Australia (Turandot, L’elisir d’amore, Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, Carmen), New Zealand Opera (Sweeney Todd ) and State Opera South Australia (La sonnambula, L’elisir d’amore, Les contes d’Hoffmann). His international appearances include concerts with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Malaysian Philharmonic and the New Zealand Symphony, Auckland Philharmonia and Christchurch Symphony Orchestras.

Northey studied conducting with John Hopkins at the University of Melbourne and Jorma Panula at the Stockholm Royal College of Music. With a progressive and diverse approach to repertoire, he has collaborated with a broad range of artists including Maxim Vengerov, Julian Rachlin, Karen Gomyo, Piers Lane and many others.

NATALIE AROYAN SOPRANO

Armenian-Australian soprano Natalie Aroyan holds a Postgraduate Diploma of Opera from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and a double-degree in Business and I.T. from the Australian Catholic University. She is a winner of the Opera Foundation New York Competition, Herald Sun Aria, and the Italian Opera Foundation Award, studying at Mannes College, New York and the Accademia di Bel Canto, Italy with Mirella Freni.

Natalie’s roles with Opera Australia include the title roles in Aida, Adrianna Lecouvreur, Rachel (La Juive), Elena (Mefistofele), Odabella ( Attila), Mimì (La bohème), Elvira (Ernani ), Amelia Grimaldi (Simon Boccanegra), Desdemona (Otello), Micaëla (Carmen), Eva (Die Meistersinger) and featuring at Opera in The Domain, Sydney Myer Music Bowl, New Year’s Eve Galas, Uluru and Great Opera Hits. Natalie has also performed Mimì and Marguerite (Faust) for West Australian Opera; Mimi for Hanoi Opera, Vietnam, Micaela for Sugi Opera, Korea; Amelia Grimaldi in Bari; Aida in Busseto; Verdi Requiem in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne; and opera galas with QSO and MSO.

PAUL O’NEILL TENOR

Australian tenor Paul O’Neill has forged a compelling international career singing in opera houses and concert halls throughout Europe and Australasia. A graduate of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and the Cardiff International Academy of Voice, O’Neill has appeared in leading roles with opera companies including Opera Australia, West Australian Opera, State Opera South Australia, Halle Opera and Graz Opera. He has also performed as an ensemble member of the Berlin Staatsoper. Important roles include Faust at the Theater Münster, Don Jose at the Glyndebourne Festival, The Prince in Rusalka at the State Theatre of Saarbrücken and Isepa (La Gioconda) at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam.

Additionally, O’Neill’s concert highlights include Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 with the Rheinland-Pfalz State Philharmonic and the Beethoven Orchestra in Bonn; and Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Haydn’s Orlando Paladino, both with the Berlin Philharmonic under Seiji Ozawa and Nikolaus Harnoncourt. He has also worked with leading conductors including Daniel Barenboim, Andris Nelsons, Neeme Järvi and Simone Young.

MELBOURNE YOUTH ORCHESTRAS

Melbourne Youth Orchestras (MYO) brings young Victorian musicians together to participate in ensemble music-making. Through their educational program, MYO continues to unleash creativity and empower tomorrow’s leaders through a commitment to excellence, ultimately inspiring its members to reach their potential through music.

MYO plays a leadership role in collaborating with education and music partners to ensure that a high-quality music education is available for all students in Victoria. MYO is recognised as one of Australia’s leading centres for ensemble music making and training, and a meeting place for young musicians and their families who travel from all over metropolitan and regional Victoria to participate.

BRETT KELLY CONDUCTOR

Brett Kelly is a passionate advocate for orchestral music and the arts. For many years he has regularly conducted the Melbourne, Sydney, Tasmanian, Queensland, Adelaide and West Australian Symphony Orchestras, along with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and the Victorian Opera. He has led award-winning seasons with Australia’s premier contemporary opera company, ChamberMade Opera, of which he was Music Advisor and Resident Conductor between 2003 and 2012. He has conducted the orchestral scores for more than 100 international films including Happy Feet 2 and Baz Luhrmann’s epic, Australia. Brett was Principal Trombonist of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra from 1981 to 2019, and has been a core member of three of Australia’s finest contemporary music ensembles, Flederman, The Seymour Group and Elision.

Brett studied at the NSW State Conservatorium and was Principal Trombonist in the Australian Youth Orchestra in 1978 & 79. As a conductor, he studied with prominent conductors Robert Rosen and Jiri Belohlavec, the then-Chief Conductor of the Czech Philharmonic.

CARLO ANTONIOLI CONDUCTOR

Carlo Antonioli is one of Australia’s most dynamic young conductors. In 2023, he was the Cybec Assistant Conductor at the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and was previously the Assistant Conductor at the West Australian Symphony Orchestra.

Rapidly establishing himself both with Australia’s leading symphony orchestras, and with vibrant, cutting-edge ensembles, some of Carlo’s most recent and upcoming engagements include working with the Queensland, Tasmanian and Canberra Symphony Orchestras, Orchestra Victoria, the Australian Contemporary Opera Company, the Australian, Sydney and Melbourne Youth Orchestras, the Australian National Academy of Music, Ensemble Apex, Australian Doctors Orchestra and the Stonnington Symphony. Carlo is also a composer and member of the Sydney-based Dreambox Collective.

Carlo has assisted many prominent conductors in Australia including Vasily Petrenko, Sir Mark Elder, Sir Andrew Davis, Asher Fisch, Karina Canellakis, Mark Wigglesworth and Jaime Martín, as well as Vladimir Ashkenazy and Chief Conductor Simone Young at the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Carlo holds a Master of Music Studies (Conducting) from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and is a member of the Australian Conducting Academy.

ELIZA SHEPHARD FLUTE

ABC Young Performer of the Year Eliza Shephard (BMus Hons, MMus) is a vibrant flautist and is quickly paving her way as an educator, improviser, and collaborator. She is a Teaching Associate at Monash University and has studied and performed in Canada, New Zealand and USA. She trained at the Australian National Academy of Music and has received many accolades for her performances, including the International Woodwind Player Award at the Gisborne International Music Competition.

A fervent contemporary musician, Eliza has established a course on experimental techniques, ‘The Extended Flute’, and is a specialist on the Glissando Headjoint. She was a finalist in the Classical Freedman Fellowship in 2021 and is passionate about amplifying the voices of female musicians and composers. Her March of the Women project (2020–2023) is an exploration of repertoire by female-identifying composers, and Eliza has now recorded a total of 124 works as part of this initiative.

MUSICIANS PERFORMING IN THES E CONCERTS

FIRST VIOLINS

Adam Chalabi* 3

Guest Concertmaster

Tair Khisambeev 1,2

Acting Associate Concertmaster

Di Jameson and Frank Mercurio#

Peter Edwards3

Assistant Principal

Margaret Billson and the late Ted Billson#

Sarah Curro 2,3

Dr Harry Imber#

Peter Fellin

Deborah Goodall

Karla Hanna

Anne-Marie Johnson 1,2

David Horowicz#

Eleanor Mancini 1,2

Anne Neil#

Mark Mogilevski

Michelle Ruffolo

Kathryn Taylor 1,2

Emily Beauchamp* 2,3

Josef Hanna* 2

Jos Jonker* 1,3

SECOND VIOLINS

Matthew Tomkins 1,2

Principal

The Gross Foundation#

Robert Macindoe 2,3

Associate Principal

Mary Allison

Isin Cakmakçioglu

Freya Franzen 1,2

Cong Gu 1,2

Newton Family in memory of Rae Rothfield#

Andrew Hall

Isy Wasserman

Philippa West

Andrew Dudgeon AM#

Patrick Wong

Roger Young

Shane Buggle and Rosie Callanan#

Jacqueline Edwards* 3

Oksana Thompson* 3

Donica Tran^ 2

VIOLAS

Christopher Moore 1,2

Principal

Di Jameson and Frank Mercurio#

Katharine Brockman 1,2

Anthony Chataway

The late Dr Elizabeth E Lewis AM#

William Clark 1,2

Gabrielle Halloran

Jenny Khafagi 1,2

Fiona Sargeant 1,2

Molly Collier-O’Boyle* 1

Karen Columbine* 3

Ceridwen Davies* 1

Murray Kearney* 3

Lucas Levin* 3

Isabel Morse* 2

Heidi Von Bernewitz* 3

CELLOS

David Berlin 1,3

Principal

Rachael Tobin 2,3

Associate Principal

Anonymous#

Elina Faskhi 1,2

Assistant Principal

Di Jameson and Frank Mercurio#

Rohan de Korte

Andrew Dudgeon AM#

Rebecca Proietto

Caleb Wong 1,2

Michelle Wood 1,2

Andrew and Judy Rogers#

Jonathan Chim* 1,3

Kalina Krusteva* 3

Anna Pokorny* 2

DOUBLE BASSES

Jonathan Coco 1,3

Principal

Stephen Newton

Acting Associate Principal

Sophie Galaise and Clarence Fraser#

Rohan Dasika 1,2

Acting Assistant Principal

Benjamin Hanlon 1,2

Di Jameson and Frank Mercurio#

Suzanne Lee 3

Caitlin Bass*

Vivian Siyuan* 1,3

Emma Sullivan* 1,2

FLUTES

Prudence Davis 2

Principal

Anonymous#

Wendy Clarke 1,3

Associate Principal

Sarah Beggs

PICCOLO

Andrew Macleod 1,2

Principal

OBOES

Michael Pisani

Acting Associate Principal

Ann Blackburn 1,3

The Rosemary Norman Foundation#

Alexandra Allan^ 2

COR ANGLAIS

Rachel Curkpatrick* 1,2

Guest Principal

CLARINETS

David Thomas 2

Principal

Philip Arkinstall 1,3

Associate Principal

Craig Hill 1,3

Rosemary and the late Douglas Meagher#

BASS CLARINET

Jon Craven 1,2

Principal

Correct as of 12 February 2024.

Learn more about our musicians on the MSO website

BASSOONS

Jack Schiller 2

Principal

Dr Harry Imber#

Elise Millman 1,3

Associate Principal

Natasha Thomas 1,3

Dr Martin Tymms and Patricia Nilsson#

Tasman Compton^ 2

HORNS

Nicolas Fleury 1,3

Principal

Margaret Jackson AC#

Andrew Young 2

Associate Principal

Saul Lewis 1,2

Principal Third

The late Hon Michael Watt KC and Cecilie Hall#

Abbey Edlin 2

Nereda Hanlon and Michael Hanlon AM#

Josiah Kop 1,2

Rachel Shaw 1,3

Gary McPherson#

Rosie Yang* 2

TRUMPETS

Owen Morris 3

Principal

Shane Hooton 1,2

Associate Principal

Glenn Sedgwick and Dr Anita Willaton#

Rosie Turner 2,3

John and Diana Frew#

Adam Davis^ 1

Tristan Rebien* 1,2

TROMBONES & TUBA

Liam O’Malley* 1

Guest Principal

Don Immel* 2

Guest Principal

Richard Shirley 1,2

Mike Szabo 1,2

Principal Bass Trombone

Timothy Buzbee 1,2

Principal Tuba

TIMPANI

Matthew Thomas

Principal

PERCUSSION

Shaun Trubiano 1

Principal

John Arcaro 1,2

Tim and Lyn Edward#

Robert Cossom 1,2

Drs Rhyl Wade and Clem Gruen#

HARP

Yinuo Mu 1,2

Principal

CELESTE

Louisa Breen* 1

MELBOURNE YOUTH ORCHESTRAS

VIOLINS

Chloe Butterfield

Mia Chang

Edgar Chen

Annabelle Dale

Matilda Daly

Eric Dao

Anna Davidson

Clara Dinh

Asher Hanna

Naamah Hanna

Najia Hanna

Eliza Henson Gregg

Ji Hun Hwang

Autumn Lee

Bohan Liang

Katherine Ma

Sophie Qin

Avelyn Reynolds

Venuli Senanayake

Sophia Tan

Anna Tench

Luka Wu

TT Yan

Claire Yeung

Emily Zeng

VIOLAS

Millie Davidson

Isabelle Ford

Mei Hurley

En Kim-Anderson

Evan O’Connor

Tom Protat

Maximillian Topor

Neil Wang

CELLOS

Christopher Cheng

Emily Mannix

Joanna Ostaff

Rowan Parr

Mahalia Shelton

Zac Shieh

Grace Tan

Maggie Wang

Katelyn Woodyatt

DOUBLE BASSES

Maxwell Harders

Wei Keat Lim

Ava Loke

Grace Reynolds

Emma Sevdalis-Fallaw

Harrison Singer

FLUTES

Laura Dickie

Anushi Fernandopulle

OBOES

Kenneth Li

Benjamin Roe

CLARINETS

Ben Fitzsimons

Freya Parr

BASSOONS

Thomas De Simone

Jake Newman

HORNS

Hannah Lin

Scott Plenderleith

Maggie Shi

Oscar Xu

Brandon Zhou

TRUMPETS

Yael Greenberg

Arthur Lou

Rebekka Walker

TROMBONES

Renee Crump

Oscar Milić

BASS TROMBONE

Angus Hood

TUBA

Jansje Schepisi

PERCUSSION

Sasha Wee

Taj Aldeeb

HARP

Skylar Sage Tang

photograph: Mark Wilson