Baroque Festival

2–6 APRIL

Arts Centre Melbourne, Hamer Hall

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Welcome

It is my great pleasure to be an Artist in Residence with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra this year. I’ve chosen some beautiful masterworks for these concerts —some well-known and others not so known—from composers that you know and love: Handel, Bach, Vivaldi and Telemann.

When baroque composers needed to impress they would compose and dedicate their very best works to important people, significant organisations, or venerable institutions.

For our instrumental programme, our selection of festive masterworks features the very best dedication concertos—most famous among them Bach’s “Brandenburg” concertos. But composers didn’t just dedicate their compositions to princes. Vivaldi dedicated many works to the virtuosic orchestra at Dresden, where his magnificent concertos would be heard in their full glory. Some of these concertos (notably the superb Telemann tragicomique suite) receive their Australian premiere.

For our concert with the phenomenal Australian soprano Samantha Clarke, we’ve picked some of Handel’s greatest and most memorable opera arias and interspersed among them a smorgasbord of Vivaldi arias and instrumental interludes as well. It is a wonderful tour of Baroque Europe at the height of its magnificence, when star singers with the artistry and personality the likes of Samantha woo-ed and wow-ed audiences from London to Venice.

I’m excited to be working on these programmes with old friend and virtuoso violinist Zoë Black, as guest concertmaster, as well as all the virtuoso stars that make up the MSO.

—Erin Helyard

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

As a Yorta Yorta/Yuin composer the responsibility I carry to assist the MSO in delivering a respectful acknowledgement of country is a privilege which I take very seriously. I have a duty of care to my ancestors and to the ancestors on whose land the MSO works and performs.

This new work will become the second in a suite of compositions I am creating for the MSO, known simply as Long Time Living Here.

As MSO continues to grow its knowledge and understanding of what it means to truly honour the First people of this land, the musical acknowledgment of country will serve to bring those on stage and those in the audience together in a moment of recognition as as we celebrate the longest continuing cultures in the world.

– Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

Committed to shaping and serving the state it inhabits, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is Australia’s preeminent orchestra and a cornerstone of Victoria’s rich, cultural heritage.

Each year, the MSO and MSO Chorus present more than 180 public events across live performances, TV, radio and online broadcasts, and via its online concert hall, MSO. LIVE, engaging an audience of more than five million people in 56 countries. In 2024 the organisation will release its first two albums on the newly established MSO recording label.

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

In 2024, Jaime Martín leads the Orchestra for his third year as MSO Chief Conductor. Maestro Martín leads an Artistic Family that includes Principal Conductor in Residence Benjamin Northey, Cybec Assistant Conductor Leonard Weiss, MSO Chorus Director Warren Trevelyan-Jones, Composer in Residence Katy Abbott, Artist in Residence Erin Helyard, MSO First Nations Creative Chair Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO, Young Cybec Young Composer in Residence Naomi Dodd, and Artist in Association Christian Li.

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.

These concerts may be recorded for future broadcast on MSO.LIVE .

In consideration of your fellow patrons, the MSO thanks you for silencing and dimming the light on your phone.

Bach and Vivaldi Concertos

2 APRIL 7:30PM

ARTISTS

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

Erin Helyard* director / harpsichord

Zoë Black violin

*MSO Artist in Residence PROGRAM

VIVALDI Concerto for Violin in F, RV 569

BACH Brandenburg Concerto No.3

VIVALDI Concerto for Violin in G minor, RV 577

BACH Brandenburg Concerto No.1

TELEMANN Overture (Suite) in D Major, TWV 55:D22

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

Duration: 75 minutes, no interval.

PROGRAM NOTES

The music in this program comes from the dawn of the orchestral age. The style of the early 18th century would soon seem antiquated, even downright strange, by the turn of the next century, and nearly irrelevant to the modern orchestra of the mid-19th century and beyond. But none of it would have been possible without the innovations of the Baroque era: the organising of commonpractice harmony (still how we think of chords in most classical and pop music), the rapid evolution of instrumentmaking (this was the age of Antonio Stradivari), and the flourishing of music publishing, which created the first truly international careers.

The concerto originated in Italy. Composers wanted to show off the colours and capabilities of the latest violins, woodwinds, and brass, either as a small group (sometimes called a concerto grosso), or as a solo backed by a larger ensemble. Soon Northwest Europe caught wind of this trend and started importing Italian music, influencing local composers as well.

VIVALDI CONCERTOS

Antonio Vivaldi must have written more concertos than anyone ever— more than 500. Born in Venice in 1678, he was ordained in 1703, but almost immediately gave up his priestly duties to pursue a musical career. That year he was appointed violin master at the Ospedale della Pietà, a music school for orphaned and abandoned girls. The students needed music to play at their wildly popular concerts, and Vivaldi fitted them with no end of custom concertos. In 1711 he published 12 of them under the title L’estro armonico (The Harmonic Inspiration), turning to the enterprising Amsterdam publisher

Estienne Roger, and they became mustplay pieces for violinists across Europe. As his reputation grew, he accepted more and more opportunities beyond the Pietà.

The two Vivaldi concertos on this program—now catalogued as RV 569 in F major (ca. 1717) and RV 577 in G minor (ca. 1720–24—were destined for the Dresden court. In February 1712, the Saxon electoral prince Friedrich August paid a visit to the Pietà, and returned four years later with his top musicians in tow. One of them was the violinist Johann Georg Pisendel, who took lessons with Vivaldi, and was so smitten that he apparently founded a “Vivaldi cult” after returning home to Dresden.

Both these concertos blur the line between solo violin concerto and concerto grosso. The violin predominates, but other instruments also get solo turns, and they all weave in-and-out instead of strictly back-andforth (Vivaldi called this a concerto con molti strumenti). In addition to violin, the F-major concerto also features two oboes, two horns (a German specialty, uncommon in Italy at the time), bassoon, and a cello solo in the finale. The G-minor concerto includes a second violin, two recorders, two oboes, and bassoon.

BACH BRANDENBURG CONCERTOS NOS. 1 AND 3

In 1721, Johann Sebastian Bach was Kapellmeister in Cöthen, where he wrote mostly secular music because Prince Leopold, a Calvinist, had no need for elaborate liturgical works. He did, however, hire a topflight band for his own enjoyment—the players of the Kapelle were a tight-knit bunch who rehearsed in Bach’s apartment.

But between the death of Bach’s first wife, Maria Barbara, in 1720, and his remarriage to Anna Magdalena in December 1721, Bach considered a

move, and remembered the Margrave Christian Ludwig of BrandenburgSchwedt, whom he had met in Berlin a few years earlier. He put together six concertos to send as an application portfolio, demonstrating an incredible range of instrumentation and style. These Brandenburg concertos were likely revisions of older pieces he wrote in Weimar in the mid-1710s, and perhaps kept in his repertoire in Cöthen. In any case, nothing came of the application (he ultimately moved to Leipzig in 1723), and the manuscript was forgotten in a library until it was rediscovered in 1849. Still, the concertos were not recognised as gems or widely performed until the 1930s.

The First Brandenburg is a mostly Italianate concerto con molti strumenti, featuring three oboes, two horns, bassoon, and an extra-high piccolo violin (today usually played on a standard one). It is unique for having four, rather than three, movements—the last being a string of dances. The Third Brandenburg is either a large string chamber piece or a small string orchestra piece, scored for three violins, three violas, and three cellos—plus bass and harpsichord. It’s unusual for its minimalist middle movement: just two chords, marked Adagio, perhaps intended for a brief improvisation or simply as a portal to the kaleidoscope circles of the finale.

TELEMANN OVERTURE (SUITE) IN D MAJOR

Georg Philipp Telemann was born four years before J.S. Bach but lived 17 years longer, turning into something of a Baroque legacy act by his ninth decade. This Overture (Suite) in D major was one of his last works, written around 1765, when a nine-year-old Mozart was already the latest thing. Scored for oboes and horns with strings, the Suite is in the French style, and dedicated to Count Ludwig VIII of Hessen-Darmstadt, whose love of hunting is reflected in the prominent horn writing.

—Benjamin Pesetsky © 2024

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Handel and Vivaldi Arias

4 APRIL 7:30PM

ARTISTS

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

Erin Helyard* director

Zoë Black violin

Samantha Clarke soprano

Matthew Tomkins violin

Rachael Tobin cello

Michelle Wood cello

*MSO Artist in Residence PROGRAM

VIVALDI Concerto in D, RV 562a

VIVALDI Dorilla in Tempe: Rete, Iacci, e strali adopra

VIVALDI Ottone in Villa: Leggi almeno, tiranna infedele

VIVALDI La fida ninfa: Alma opressa da sorte

HANDEL Concerto grosso in B-flat, Op.3 No.2

HANDEL Rinaldo: Molto voglio & Lascia ch’io pianga

HANDEL Agrippina: Ogni vento ch’ai porto lo spinga

HANDEL Concerto for Organ in D minor, Op.7 No.4

HANDEL Theodora: With darkness deep, as is my woe

HANDEL Samson: Let the bright seraphim

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

Duration: 90 minutes, no interval.

PROGRAM NOTES

Before the symphony gained prestige in the second half of the 18th century, concertos and arias were the star genres of the Baroque era. Opera originated in the late 1500s as a Carnival entertainment mixing music, poetry, and theatre. By 1650 it had become a brisk business, with public theatre operating in Venice and other Italian cities.

VIVALDI CONCERTO IN D MAJOR, RV 562A

Antonio Vivaldi wrote the original version of this Concerto in D major in 1716 and titled it per la solennità di S. Lorenzo, a Benedictine monastery in Venice, where it presumably premiered. Vivaldi’s friend and student Johann Georg Pisendel may have added the horn parts for his Dresden ensemble, and the timpani are later additions as well. The version of this concerto catalogued as RV 562a was performed in Amsterdam with an alternate second movement.

VIVALDI ARIAS

Though most famous today for his 500 or so concertos, Vivaldi also wrote something like 50 operas. Dorilla in Tempe is a “heroic-pastorale melodrama” on a Greek theme, premiered in Venice in November 1726. The fiery aria “Rete, Iacci, e strali adopra” (With nets, cords, and arrows) was actually written by another composer, Giacomelli Geminiano, for a different opera. Vivaldi borrowed it and changed the words for a later production of Dorilla, an accepted practice of the day.

Ottone in villa was Vivaldi’s first opera, premiered in Vincenza in May 1713. The title role is the real-life Roman emperor

Otho, an unlucky guy who reigned for three months in 69 CE, the “Year of Four Emperors” that followed the death of Nero. The aria “Leggi almeno, tiranna infedele” (Read at last, faithless tyrant) is sung by Caio, a young man (originally played by a castrato) who is Ottone’s rival for the love of Cleonilla. He has just penned a letter to her confessing his feelings.

La fida ninfa was commissioned in 1732 for the opening of Verona’s Teatro Filarmonico. The plot involves a group of captives on the Island of Naxos, which is ruled by a pirate. Licori, a young woman, is the latest victim, but she doesn’t know her lost love is also a hostage there (in disguise and now helping the pirate, Stockholm-syndrome style). In “Alma oppressa da sorte” (A soul oppressed by cruel fate), she accepts being shackled by the ankle, but rues being shackled by her heart.

HANDEL CONCERTOS

George Frideric Handel was born in Halle, Germany, and after a stint working as a violinist, keyboardist, and fledgling opera composer in Hamburg, he travelled to Italy in 1706 and spent most of his time in Rome and other Italian cities until 1710. Having soaked himself in the most elegant Italian styles, he moved back to Germany, but by 1712 found a new home in England, where he gained renown and became a British subject in 1727 by a special Act of Parliament.

Most of the Concerto grosso in B-flat major, Op.3, No.2, probably dates from the 1710s, but it was assembled by the London publisher John Walsh in 1734 from bits of other pieces and released as an unauthorised edition. The Concerto for Organ in D minor, Op.7, No.4, was written for Handel himself to play between sections of oratorios, with further improvisations between the movements of the concerto. The first

and third movements are wonderfully moody, while the second riffs on a cheerful tune by Telemann, and the finale is punchy and assured.

HANDEL ARIAS

Agrippina (1709) was written for Venice at the end of Handel’s Italian period, while Rinaldo (1711) was written a few years later for London, which had developed a taste for Italian opera— even if written by a German. Rinaldo is a medieval epic about a crusading knight. “Molto voglio” (I want a lot) is sung by Armida, the queen of Damascus and a sorceress who plots to conquer the world. Later, Rinaldo’s fiancé, Almirena, is held captive, and “Lascia ch’io pianga” (Let me weep) is her heartfelt lament.

Like Vivaldi’s Ottone, Agrippina is set in the Roman Empire around Nero’s chaotic reign (probably a satirical allegory for then-current power

struggles between the Habsburgs and Pope Clement XI). Agrippina is Nero’s conniving mother, who in “Ogni vento” (Every wind) envisions her son sailing smoothly into the imperial throne.

Theodora (1750) and Samson (1743) are both English oratorios—un-staged concert dramas, most often on religious or Greek mythological stories. Theodora is about a 4th century Christian martyr sentenced to serve as a prostitute for pagans—“With darkness deep” she wishes to disappear or die instead. Samson tells the Old Testament story of Samson and Delilah—“Let the bright seraphim” is sung at the very end by an anonymous Israelite, accompanied by a blazing trumpet solo, saluting Samson who just gave his life to defeat the Philistines.

—Benjamin Pesetsky

© 2024

St John Passion

6 APRIL 7:30PM

ARTISTS

Stephen Layton conductor

Ruairi Bowen (Evangelist) tenor

Christopher Richardson (Christus) bass

David Greco (Pilatus) bass

Sara Macliver soprano

Ashlyn Tymms alto

MSO Chorus

Warren Trevelyan-Jones chorus director PROGRAM

BACH St John Passion

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

Duration: 2 hours and 40 minutes, including interval.

PROGRAM

NOTES

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH: ST JOHN PASSION, BWV 245

Citizens of Leipzig who attended the Good Friday Vespers service on April 7, 1724, at St. Nicholas Church would have heard the first performance of St. John Passion, written by the town’s new director of religious music, Johann Sebastian Bach. The previous year he was the third choice for the position of Thomaskantor—overseeing music at all four of Leipzig’s churches—after Georg Philipp Telemann and Christoph Graupner turned down the job. The St. John Passion would be his largest work yet.

The piece formed the majority of the service with a sermon placed between Parts I and II. The idea of a lavish musical Passion was relatively new in conservative Leipzig, which had stuck with a simpler settings until 1721, when Bach’s predecessor, Johann Kuhnau, was finally permitted to write a modern “concerted style” St. Mark Passion. The orchestra was a particular draw for parishioners who had been denied instrumental music for almost six weeks of Lent. Bach went all out for St. John, including colourful, old-fashioned instruments like the viola d’amore and viola da gamba.

One stipulation was that biblical passages had to be used verbatim— no paraphrasing or rewriting of scripture was allowed (in this case, John, chapters 18–19, with two brief interjections of Matthew 26:75 and 27:51–52). But so long as chapter and verse were intact, he was allowed to make a sort of collage, interspersing Lutheran chorales as well as freely-written choruses.

The primary characters include the Evangelist (the narrator), Jesus, and Pilatus—all sung in recitative and backed by the basso continuo group (organ, harpsichord, cello, and bass). Though declamatory in style, the melodic shape and harmonic underpinning Bach gives to these lines is extremely precise and expressive—just hear in Part I how Peter “wept bitterly” (weinete bitterlich), and in Part II, how stinging is the vinegar (Essig) given to Jesus on the cross.

Part I depicts Jesus’s arrest in the garden and Peter’s sudden fear and embarrassment over it, leading him to deny being his disciple. The opening chorus, “Herr, unser Herrscher” (Lord, our ruler), cries out in a roiling fantasia. The first pair of arias—for alto and soprano—show a heaviness and a lightness in turn. After Jesus is struck by a servant at the priest’s palace, the chorale “Wer hat dich so geschlagen” establishes the idea that his suffering is brought on by the sins of humankind.

Part II introduces Pontius Pilatus, the Roman governor of Judea, who parleys with Jesus, sceptical but faintly curious. Twice he declares, “I find no fault in him” (ich keine Schuld an ihm finde), but the crowd is not having it. Bach portrays the growing mob in two seething turba choruses, where they demand to “crucify him!” (Kreuzige!).

But what is supposed to be ugly in the music can seem uglier in the world today—as the mob is repeatedly identified simply as “the Jews” (die Jüden). This is intrinsic to the Gospel of John, which paints them as an undifferentiated group in a way the other gospels do not. Of course, Jesus and his disciples were Jews themselves, part of a multifarious society, and their primary conflict was with the religious authorities of the Temple. Scholars suppose such distinctions weren’t relevant in the conjectural first-century

community for which the gospel was written—but they are relevant when Jews are a minority in modern Christian societies that have often inflicted violence on them. Bach’s writing is unfortunate in this light, but also provocative, thrilling, even tempting— it asks us to consider if we too could be swept up in a mob.

Jesus is condemned and taken to Golgotha, a place of execution on the outskirts of Jerusalem. An urgent bass solo, “Eilt, ihr angefochten Seelen” (Hurry, you tormented souls) spreads the news with rhythmic verve. As Jesus dies, he whispers “It is accomplished!” (Es ist vollbracht!), echoed in an alto aria accompanied by the viola da gamba, whose muted timbre already sounded archaic in Bach’s day. Suddenly, this mournful song reveals a joyous flipside that looks forward to the resurrection.

At this point, the Passion begins to turn soothing and cathartic. “Mein teurer Heiland” (My beloved Saviour) is a lilting bass aria with gentle choral embellishments, while the soprano aria “Zerfließe, mein Herze” (Dissolve, my heart), with flute and oboe da caccia, has a silvery sorrow. The spiritual community comes together in the last chorus, “Ruht wohl” (Rest in peace), capped by a closing chorale. The parishioners left changed.

—Benjamin Pesetsky

© 2024

MUSICIANS PERFORMING IN THIS CONCERT

FIRST VIOLINS

Zoe Black* 1, 2

Guest Principal

Peter Edwards 3

Assistant Principal

Margaret Billson and the late Ted Billson#

Sarah Curro 1, 2

Dr Harry Imber#

Peter Fellin 3

Deborah Goodall 1, 2

Lorraine Hook 3

Anne-Marie Johnson 3

David Horowicz#

Eleanor Mancini 1, 2

Anne Neil#

Mark Mogilevski 3

Michelle Ruffolo 1, 2

Kathryn Taylor 3

Anna Skalova 1, 2

Emily Beauchamp° 1, 2

Jacqueline Edwards* 1, 2

SECOND VIOLINS

Matthew Tomkins 1, 2

Principal

The Gross Foundation#

Monica Curro 3

Assistant Principal Dr Mary Jane Gething AO#

Mary Allison 3

Tiffany Cheng 1, 2

Glenn Sedgwick#

Freya Franzen 1, 2

Cong Gu 3

Newton Family in memory of Rae Rothfield#

Andrew Hall 1, 2

Philippa West 1, 2

Andrew Dudgeon AM#

Roger Young 3

Shane Buggle and Rosie Callanan#

Clare Carrick* 1

Donica Tran^ 3

VIOLAS

Christopher Moore 1, 2

Principal

Di Jameson and Frank Mercurio#

Anthony Chataway 1, 2

The late Dr Elizabeth E Lewis AM#

William Clark 1, 2

Gabrielle Halloran 3

Jenny Khafagi 3

Isabel Morse° 1, 2

Ceridwen Davies* 1, 2

CELLOS

David Berlin 1

Principal

Rachael Tobin 2

Associate Principal

Anonymous#

Rohan de Korte 1, 2

Andrew Dudgeon AM#

Caleb Wong 3

Michelle Wood 1, 2

Andrew and Judy Rogers#

Alexandra Partridge° 1, 2

DOUBLE BASSES

Jonathan Coco 1

Principal

Stephen Newton 1, 2

Acting Associate Principal

Sophie Galaise and Clarence Fraser#

Rohan Dasika 2

Acting Assistant Principal

Benjamin Hanlon 3

Di Jameson and Frank Mercurio#

Emma Sullivan° 1

Caitlin Bass° 2

1 Appears in Bach and Vivaldi Concertos

2 Appears in Handel and Vivaldi Arias

3 Appears in St John Passion

* Denotes Guest Musician

^ Denotes MSO Academy

# Position supported by

FLUTES

Prudence Davis 3 Principal Anonymous#

Sarah Beggs 3

OBOES

Emmanuel Cassimatis* 1 Guest Principal

Michael Pisani 3 Principal

Ann Blackburn 3

The Rosemary Norman Foundation#

Alexandra Allan^ 1

COR ANGLAIS

Rachel Curkpatrick 1 Acting Principal

Emmanuel Cassimatis* 2

BASSOONS

Nicole Tait* 3 Guest Principal

Elise Millman 1, 2

Associate Principal

Natasha Thomas 1, 2

Dr Martin Tymms and Patricia Nilsson#

HORNS

Nicolas Fleury 1, 2 Principal

Margaret Jackson AC#

Abbey Edlin 1, 2

Nereda Hanlon and Michael Hanlon AM#

TRUMPETS

Owen Morris 1, 2 Principal

Rosie Turner 2

John and Diana Frew#

TIMPANI

John Arcaro 1, 2

Tim and Lyn Edward#

HARPSICHORD

Donald Nicolson* 1, 2

RECORDERS

Hannah Coleman* 1 Guest Principal

Ruth Wilkinson* 1

THEORBO

Nicholas Pollock* 1, 2

Correct as of 19 March 2024.

Learn more about our musicians on the MSO website

Erin Helyard DIRECTOR / HARPSICHORD

Erin Helyard has been acclaimed as an inspiring conductor and a virtuosic and expressive performer of the harpsichord and fortepiano.

Erin graduated in harpsichord performance from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music with first-class honours and the University Medal. He completed his Masters in fortepiano performance and a PhD in musicology with Tom Beghin at the Schulich School of Music, McGill University, Montreal. His monograph Clementi and the woman at the piano: virtuosity and the market for music in eighteenth‑century London was published by Oxford University Studies in Enlightenment in 2022.

As Artistic Director and co-founder of the celebrated Pinchgut Opera and the Orchestra of the Antipodes (Sydney) he has forged new standards of excellence in operatic performance in Australia. Operas under his direction have been awarded Best Opera at the Helpmann Awards for three consecutive years (2015-2017) and he has received two Helpmann Awards for Best Musical Direction: one for a fêted revival of Saul (Adelaide Festival) in 2017 and the other for Hasse’s Artaserse (Pinchgut Opera) in 2019. Together with Richard Tognetti, Erin won an ARIA and an AIR award for Best Classical Album in 2020. In 2023 he was named Limelight ’s Critics’ Choice Australian Artist of the Year.

Erin is an Associate Professor at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and appears courtesy of Pinchgut Opera.

Zoë Black VIOLIN

Zoë Black is a violinist’s violinist, known for her beauty of sound and natural virtuosity. In 1989 she won the National Youth Concerto Competition and in 1991, the string section of the ABC Young Performers Awards.

After graduating from the Victorian College of the Arts in 1992, Zoë was awarded grants from the Australia Council and Queen Elizabeth Silver Jubilee Trust as well as the major performance award of the Australian Music Foundation in London, which facilitated her studies at the Guildhall School of Music under David Takeno and subsequently at the Vienna Hochschule with Michael Schnitzler.

Zoë was appointed assistant leader of Australian Chamber Orchestra in 1993, touring the world extensively. A committed chamber musician, in 2005 Zoë co-founded the Freshwater Trio with whom she toured nationally and internationally. She has also performed as soloist with various chamber and symphony orchestras and is a regular guest concert master with MSO & QSO.

Zoë returned to the ACO in 2012 in a part time capacity, where she regularly led the ACO Collective, performed as soloist and was an integral component of their educational programme. More recently, Zoë was a guest leader of the Australian String Quartet in 2016, performing at Festivals in Victoria, WA and in Italy (Rome, Venice and Cremona).

In 2011 Zoë co-founded the innovative duo with pianist/composer Joe Chindamo. The duo has performed at all the major festivals in Australia and recorded 3 ARIA nominated CDs, (Re imaginings, Dido’s Lament and their re-versioning of the The Goldberg Variations, premiering the latter at Carnegie Hall in 2015. The duo made their debut Italian performance at the Spinacorona Festival in Naples, at the invitation of renowned pianist, Michele Campanella in 2018.

A passionate teacher and tutor, Zoë is on faculty at the Australian National Academy of Music, where, along with her duo partner Joe Chindamo, she also completed a conducting residency in 2022.

Samantha Clarke SOPRANO

Australian/British soprano Samantha Clarke is the winner of the 2019 Guildhall Gold Medal and prize winner in the 2019 Grange International Festival Singing Competition. Samantha studied at the Royal Northern College of Music, as a Sir John Fisher Foundation and Independent Opera Scholar, under the tutelage of Mary Plazas.

She is a recent graduate of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama Opera School as a Baroness de Turckheim Scholar, Help Musicians, Tait Memorial and Countess of Munster Trust Scholar and studied with Yvonne Kenny.

In addition to the 2019 Guildhall Gold Medal, Samantha is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Leverhulme Royal Northern College of Music Award, the Dame Eva Turner Award and the Michael and Joyce Kennedy Award for the singing of Strauss.

Her operatic roles include: Violetta La traviata, Fiordiligi Cosi fan tutte, Helena A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Donna Elvira Don Giovanni, Pamina Die Zauberflöte, Countess Le Nozze di Figaro, Anne Trulove The Rake’s Progress, The Governess The Turn of the Screw and Theodora.

Recent and future engagements include Woglinde Das Rheingold, Marzelline Fidelio and Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Simone Young, Violetta La traviata with Opera Australia and West Australian Opera, a US tour with the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra, Fiordiligi Cosi fan tutte at Grange Festival and Opera Queensland, Countess Le Nozze di Figaro at Garsington, Theodora for Pinchgut Opera, her Proms debut in Mozart Requiem, Messiah and War Requiem with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Beethoven Symphony No.9 in Tasmania.

Samantha features on the Resonus’ Samuel Barber: The Complete Songs recording with accompanist Dylan Perez.

Matthew Tomkins VIOLIN

Matthew Tomkins has been a member of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra since 2000 and in 2010 was appointed to the position of Principal Second Violin. Matthew was born in Canberra but grew up in Creswick, just outside of Ballarat and began learning the violin at the age of five. His teachers included Marco van Pagee, Spiros Rantos and Mark Mogilevski and he also holds a Bachelor of Engineering and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Melbourne.

With the MSO he has toured throughout Europe and China and performed with artists as diverse as Nigel Kennedy, Charles Dutoit, KISS, and Tim Minchin. He has also been a regular performer in the MSOChamber Players series. Matthew is well known to Australian audiences as a member of the Flinders Quartet and is also a core player with the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra. He has tutored regularly for the Australian Youth Orchestra, and teaches chamber music and violin at the University of Melbourne.

Matthew’s position as Principal Second Violin is supported by The Gross Foundation

Rachael Tobin CELLO

Rachael is the Associate Principal Cellist of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. She studied at the Royal Academy of Music, London, and completed a Masters’ degree at Mannes College of Music, New York. She has performed as a soloist at the Park Lane Group’s New Year Series (London) and concertos with The London Soloists’ Chamber Orchestra and the Mannes Symphony Orchestra.

Rachael has won the Macklin Bursary, the ABRSM international undergraduate scholarship, the Elder Scholarship, a Centenary Medal for service to The Arts, and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra Cello Fellowship. She was a member of the Estonian National Opera Orchestra and worked with Philharmonia (UK), the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.

She is also a member of the Melbourne Ensemble—a group made up of colleagues from the MSO who regularly perform chamber music together.

Rachael’s position as Associate Principal Cello is supported by an Anonymous donor

Michelle Wood CELLO

Joining the MSO cello section in 2009, Michelle Wood has led a varied career alongside that in the orchestra – most notably as a sought-after chamber musician. She was the founding cellist of the internationally acclaimed Tinalley String Quartet – subsequent winners of the 9th Banff International String Quartet Competition and the 2005 Australian (now Asia-Pacific) Chamber Music Competition.

Michelle has appeared as guest artist with the Australian String Quartet, Australia Ensemble, Stargaze Ensemble in Berlin, and festivals in Australia and Europe. She has been broadcast widely on radio in Australia and Europe, and is Co-Artistic Director of ‘Concerts Sans Frontières’ (Concerts Without Borders). She has been acting Principal and Guest Associate Principal Cellist in the Melbourne and Adelaide Symphony Orchestras respectively, a core player in the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, and a member of the Australian World Orchestra under Zubin Mehta and Riccardo Muti.

Michelle is also a passionate teacher and mentor, working with students from the University of Melbourne, Australian National Academy of Music, Melbourne Youth Orchestra, Australian Youth Orchestra, and Melbourne Symphony Fellowship Programs.

Michelle performs on an instrument made in 1849 by Charles Boullangier, affectionately called Charlie.

Michelle’s position is supported by Andrew and Judy Rogers

Stephen Layton CONDUCTOR

Awarded with an MBE for services to classical music in October 2020, Stephen Layton is one of the most sought-after conductors of his generation. Often described as the finest exponent of choral music in the world today, his ground-breaking approach has had a profound influence on choral music over the last 30 years. Founder and Director of Polyphony, and Director of Holst Singers, Layton has recently stepped down as Fellow and Director of Music at Trinity College Cambridge – a post he held for 17 years. His other former posts include Chief Conductor of Netherlands Chamber Choir, Chief Guest Conductor of Danish National Vocal Ensemble, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of City of London Sinfonia, and Director of Music at the Temple Church, London.

Layton is regularly invited to work with the world’s leading choirs, orchestras and composers. His interpretations have been heard from Sydney Opera House to the Concertgebouw, from Tallinn to São Paolo, and his recordings have won or been nominated for every major international recording award.

Layton is constantly in demand to première new works by the greatest established and emerging composers of our age. Passionate in his exploration of new music, Layton has introduced a vast range of new choral works to the UK and the rest of the world, transforming the music into some of the most widely performed today.

Ruairi Bowen EVANGELIST TENOR

A graduate of King’s College, Cambridge, and a finalist in the 2020 International Handel Singing Competition, Ruairi Bowen has collaborated with some of the leading conductors in the Baroque field including Emmanuelle Haïm, Sir John Eliot Gardiner and Stephen Layton.

His current engagements include Damon Acis and Galatea for Opera Holland Park; staged performances of Die Schöpfung at Lithuanian National Opera; First Armed Man Die Zauberflöte with Scottish Chamber Orchestra at Edinburgh International Festiva; his debut with English National Opera as Earl Tolloller Iolanthe; Cyril Princess Ida with Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, also J. S. Bach’s Easter Oratorio; Messiah with London Handel Orchestra; and Mozart Requiem with Huddersfield Choral Society.

Recordings include participation in Proud Songsters, an album of English Solo Song with Simon Lepper, Percy Grainger’s Brigg Fair and Nathaniel Dett’s Music in the Mine for BBC Radio 3 and Stanford’s Mass Via Victrix with the BBC National Orchestra & Chorus of Wales conducted by Adrian Partington on Lyrita CD.

Christopher Richardson CHRISTUS BASS

Christopher Richardson’s 2022–23 engagements included Manoah (Samson), Haydn’s Nelson Mass and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio for Sydney Philharmonia, Messiah for the Melbourne Symphony, Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 for the Adelaide Symphony, Haydn’s The Seasons for Victoria Chorale, Bach’s St Matthew Passion for St David’s Cathedral, Hobart and a major recital at the Blackheath Chamber Music Festival.

Christopher returns to Sydney Philharmonia and the Queensland and Tasmanian Symphonies in 2024 for Messiah, to the TSO in Mozart’s Requiem and to the MSO as Christus in St. John’s Passion.

Other recent concert engagements include those with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra in Bach’s Magnificat; the Melbourne Symphony (Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem and Mass in C); the Queensland Symphony in Mozart’s Requiem and the Tasmanian Symphony in Bach’s St Matthew Passion.

For Pinchgut Opera, he has sung Thoas (Iphigénie en Tauride) and Idreno ( Armida); he débuted with Sydney Symphony as Swallow (Peter Grimes) and features on a CD of Calvin Bowman art songs Real and Right and True released on the Decca label, in 2018.

David Greco PILATUS BASS

Internationally regarded for his recordings of Schubert lieder and the cantatas of J.S Bach, ARIA Award-nominated baritone David Greco has sung on some of the finest stages across Europe and Australia.

In 2012 he was the first Australian singer to be appointed a position with the Sistine Chapel Choir in the Vatican, Rome.

An acclaimed interpreter of oratorio and concert work, he appears regularly with Australia’s finest orchestras such as the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Australian Haydn Ensemble, and the Sydney Symphony.

He has become closely associated with Britten’s War Requiem, making his debut in this work with West Australia Symphony Orchestra in 2022, and again in 2023 with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

Equally experienced on the operatic stage, he has been a principal artist with Opera Australia and has become closely associated with the celebrated Pinchgut Opera company with many roles with the company.

David is an active researcher into historical performance of 19 th century voice and recently received his doctorate from the University of Melbourne leading to the first Australian recordings of the historically informed performances of Schubert’s songs cycles Winterreise, Die schöne Müllerin and most recently Schwanengesang with ABC Classics with duo partner Erin Helyard.

David is a Lecturer in Voice and Opera at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Sara Mcliver SOPRANO

Sara Macliver is one of Australia’s most popular and versatile artists, and is regarded as one of the leading exponents of Baroque repertoire.

Sara is a regular performer with all the Australian symphony orchestras as well as the Perth, Melbourne and Sydney Festivals, Pinchgut Opera, the Australian Chamber Orchestra and Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Musica Viva, and a number of international companies.

Sara records for ABC Classics with more than 35 CDs and many awards to her credit.

In recent years Sara has sung with Sydney Symphony Orchestra, West Australian Opera, West Australian, Tasmanian, Queensland and Adelaide Symphony Orchestras, the Australian String Quartet, St George’s Cathedral, the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra and in several programs with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra; she also sang with Sydney Philharmonia, Ten Days on the Island, the Peninsula Summer Festival, Brisbane Camerata, ANAM, Bangalow Festival, St George’s Cathedral and Collegium Musicum amongst many other projects.

Sara has been awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Western Australia in recognition of her services to singing, and teaches at the Conservatorium there.

Ashlyn Tymms ALTO

In 2024, Ashlyn Tymms will sing Ježibaba in Rusalka and Dido in Dido and Aeneas for West Australian Opera and Fanny Price in Mansfield Park for New Zealand Opera; she takes the alto solos in Mahler’s Symphony No.8, Mozart’s Requiem and Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 for West Australian Symphony. She also sings the Beethoven with the Queensland Symphony and Bach’s St John Passion with the Melbourne Symphony.

Ashlyn’s 2022 performances included Beethoven Symphony No.9 with the Melbourne Symphony and Mahler’s Symphony No.3 with the West Australian Symphony. She also made her Sydney Opera House début in Handel’s Messiah. For West Australian Opera, she has sung Dorabella (Così fan tutte), Santuzza (Cavalleria rusticana), Hansel (Hansel and Gretel ) and Flora (La traviata); in 2023, Ashlyn returned to WAO as Emilia (Otello) and in the title role in Carmen. She sang Rosimonda in Handel’s Faramondo at the London Handel Festival. Other roles include Judith in the world premiere of The Two Sisters with Tête à Tête Opera, La marchande de journaux in Poulenc’s Les mamelles de Tirésias, Euridice in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo, the title role in Dido and Aeneas, Eurydice in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld and Berenice in Rossini’s L’occasione fa il ladro.

MSO Chorus

For more than 50 years the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus has been the unstinting voice of the Orchestra’s choral repertoire. The MSO Chorus sings with the finest conductors including Sir Andrew Davis, Edward Gardner, Mark Wigglesworth, Bernard Labadie, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Manfred Honeck, Xian Zhang and Nodoko Okisawa, and is committed to developing and performing new Australian and international choral repertoire.

Commissions include Brett Dean’s Katz und Spatz, Ross Edwards’ Mountain Chant, and Paul Stanhope’s Exile Lamentations. Recordings by the MSO Chorus have received critical acclaim. It has performed across Brazil and at the Cultura Inglese Festival in Sao Paolo, with The Australian Ballet, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, at the AFL Grand Final and at the Anzac Day commemorative ceremonies.

The MSO Chorus is always welcoming new members. If you would like to audition, please visit mso.com.au/chorus for more information.

Warren Trevelyan-Jones CHORUS DIRECTOR

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus Director Warren Trevelyan-Jones is the Head of Music at St James’, King Street in Sydney and is regarded as one of the leading choral conductors and choir trainers in Australia. Warren has had an extensive singing career as a soloist and ensemble singer in Europe, including nine years in the Choir of Westminster Abbey, and regular work with the Gabrieli Consort, Collegium Vocale (Ghent), the Taverner Consort, The Kings Consort, Dunedin Consort, The Sixteen and the Tallis Scholars. Warren is also Director of the Parsons Affayre, Founder and Co-Director of The Consort of Melbourne and, in 2001 with Dr Michael Noone, founded the Gramophone award-winning group Ensemble Plus Ultra. Warren is also a qualified music therapist.

MSO CHORUS PERFORMING IN THIS CONCERT

SOPRANO

Shirin Albert

Emma Anvari

Sheila Baker

Helena Balazs

Giselle Baulch

Eva Butcher

Aliz Cole

Clarissa Dodawec

Rita Fitzgerald

Susan Fone

Nicole Free

Karina Gough

Juliana Hassett

Penny Huggett

Gina Humphries

Leanne Hyndman

Tania Jacobs

Gwen Kennelly

Ingrid Kirchner

Natasha Lambie

Judy Longbottom

Caitlin Noble

Karin Otto

Amanda Powell

Tanja Redl

Jo Robin

Danielle Rosenfeld-Lovell

Jodi Samartgis

Jillian Samuels

Julienne Seal

Jemima Sim

Fiona Steffensen

Elizabeth Tindall

Fabienne

Vandenburie

Channery Zhang

Jillian Colrain

ALTO

Judy Anderson

Ruth Anderson

Tes Benton

Catherine Bickell

Cecilia Björkegren

Kate Bramley

Jane Brodie

Marie Connett

Mari Eleanor-Rapp

Nicola Eveleigh

Dionysia Evitaputri

Lisa Faulks

Jill Giese

Kristine Hensel

Helen Hill

Yvonne Ho

Helen MacLean

Christina McCowan

Rosemary McKelvie

Natasha Pracejus

Alison Ralph

Kate Rice

Helen Rommelaar

Kerry Roulston

Annie Runnalls

Victoria Sdralis

Libby Timcke

Jenny Vallins

Jacqueline Cheng

Sophia Gyger

Julie Lotherington

TENOR

James Allen

Adam Birch

Kent Borchard

Steve Burnett

Allan Chiang

James Dal-Ben

James Dipnall

Simon Gaites

Lyndon Horsburgh

Fergus Inder

Michael Mobach

Colin Schultz

Robert Simpson

Cameron Tait

Brad Warburton

BASS

José Miguel

Armijo Fidalgo

Kevin Barrell

David Bennett

Richard Bolitho

David Brown

Ted Davies

Simon Evans

Michael Gough

Elliott Gyger

Andrew Ham

Andrew Hibbard

John Howard

John Hunt

Jordan Janssen

Gary Levy

Tim March

Douglas

McQueenThomson

Vern O’Hara

Douglas Proctor

Stephen Pyk

Liam Straughan

Matthew Toulmin

Caleb Triscari

SUPPORTERS

MSO PATRON

Her Excellency Professor, the Honourable

Margaret Gardner AC, Governor of Victoria

CHAIRMAN’S CIRCLE

The Gandel Foundation

The Gross Foundation

Di Jameson OAM and Frank Mercurio

Harold Mitchell Foundation

Lady Primrose Potter AC CMRI

Cybec Foundation

The Pratt Foundation

The Ullmer Family Foundation

Anonymous (1)

ARTIST CHAIR BENEFACTORS

Concertmaster Chair

David Li AM and Angela Li

Cybec Assistant Conductor Chair

Leonard Weiss Cybec Foundation

Assistant Concertmaster

Tair Khisambeev

Di Jameson OAM and Frank Mercurio

Cybec Young Composer in Residence

Naomi Dodd

Cybec Foundation

PROGRAM BENEFACTORS

Now & Forever Fund: International Engagement Gandel Foundation

Cybec 21st Century Australian Composers Program Cybec Foundation

Digital Transformation Perpetual Foundation – Alan (AGL) Shaw Endowment

First Nations Emerging Artist Program

The Ullmer Family Foundation

East meets West The Li Family Trust, National Foundation for Australia-China Relations

Community and Public Programs

AWM Electrical, City of Melbourne, Crown Resorts Foundation, Packer Family Foundation

Live Online and MSO Schools Crown Resorts Foundation, Packer Family Foundation

Student Subsidy Program Anonymous

MSO Academy Di Jameson OAM and Frank Mercurio, Mary Armour, Christopher Robinson in memory of Joan P Robinson

Jams in Schools Department of Education, Victoria, through the Strategic Partnerships Program, AWM Electrical, Marian and E.H. Flack Trust, Flora & Frank

Leith Charitable Trust, Hume City Council

Regional Touring Angior Family Foundation, AWM Electrical, Creative Victoria, Freemasons Foundation Victoria, Robert Salzer Foundation, The Sir Andrew & Lady Fairley Foundation

Sidney Myer Free Concerts Sidney Myer

MSO Trust Fund and the University of Melbourne, City of Melbourne Event Partnerships Program

PLATINUM PATRONS $100,000+

AWM Electrical

The Gandel Foundation

The Gross Foundation

Di Jameson OAM and Frank Mercurio

David Li AM and Angela Li

Lady Primrose Potter AC CMRI

Anonymous (1)

VIRTUOSO PATRONS $50,000+

Dr Harry Imber

Margaret Jackson AC

Packer Family Foundation

Ullmer Family Foundation

Weis Family Anonymous (1)

IMPRESARIO PATRONS $20,000+

The Aranday Foundation

H Bentley

The Hogan Family Foundation

David Krasnostein AM and Pat Stragalinos

Elizabeth Proust AO and Brian Lawrence

Lady Marigold Southey AC

Kim Williams AM

The Yulgilbar Foundation

Anonymous (2)

MAESTRO PATRONS $10,000+

Christine and Mark Armour

Margaret Billson and the late Ted Billson

Shane Buggle and Rosie Callanan

Krystyna Campbell-Pretty

Andrew Dudgeon AM

Jaan Enden

Dr Mary-Jane H Gething AO

David R Lloyd

Peter Lovell

Maestro Jaime Martín

Rosemary and the late Douglas Meagher

Farrel and Wendy Meltzer

Nereda Hanlon and Michael Hanlon AM

Paul Noonan

Opalgate Foundation

Ian and Jeannie Paterson

Elizabeth Proust AO and Brian Lawrence

Rosemary and the late Douglas Meagher

Yashian Schauble

Glenn Sedgwick

The Sun Foundation

Gai and David Taylor

Athalie Williams and Tim Danielson

Lyn Williams AM

The Wingate Group

PRINCIPAL PATRONS $5,000+

Mary Armour

John and Lorraine Bates

Barbara Bell in memory of Elsa Bell

Bodhi Education Fund

Julia and Jim Breen

Jannie Brown

Lynne Burgess

Ken Ong Chong OAM

John Coppock OAM and Lyn Coppock

Ann Darby in memory of Leslie J. Darby

Mary Davidson and the late Frederick Davidson AM

The Dimmick Charitable Trust

Tim and Lyn Edward

Equity Trustees

Bill Fleming

Sophie Galaise and Clarence Fraser

Carrillo Gantner AC and Ziyin Gantner

Dr Rhyl Wade and Dr Clem Gruen

Cecilie Hall and the late Hon Michael Watt KC

Louis J Hamon OAM

Merv Keehn and Sue Harlow

David Horowicz

Dr Alastair Jackson AM

John and Diana Frew

John Jones

Suzanne Kirkham

Lucas Family Foundation

Dr Jane Mackenzie

Dr Ian Manning

Gary McPherson

The Mercer Family Foundation

Anne Neil in memory of Murray A. Neil

Newton Family in memory of Rae Rothfield

Bruce Parncutt AO

David Ponsford

Professor Sam Ricketson and Dr Rosemary Ayton

Andrew and Judy Rogers

The Rosemary Norman Foundation

Guy Ross

Helen Silver AO and Harrison Young

Brian Snape AM

Dr Michael Soon

Mary Waldron

Janet Whiting AM

Dawna Wright and Peter Riedel

Igor Zambelli

Anonymous (3)

ASSOCIATE PATRONS $2,500+

Carolyn Baker

Marlyn Bancroft and Peter Bancroft OAM

Sascha O Becker

Janet H Bell

Alan and Dr Jennifer Breschkin

Patricia Brockman

Nigel and Sheena Broughton

Dr Lynda Campbell

Oliver Carton

Janet Chauvel and the late Dr Richard Chauvel

Sage Foundation

Kaye Cleary

Michael Davies and Drina Staples

Leo de Lange

Sandra Dent

Sophie E Dougall in memory of Libby Harold

Barry Fradkin OAM and Dr Pam Fradkin

Janette Gill

R Goldberg and Family

Goldschlager Family Charitable Foundation

Colin Golvan AM KC and Dr Deborah Golvan

Jennifer Gorog

C M Gray

Marshall Grosby and Margie Bromilow

Ian Kennedy AM & Dr Sandra Hacker AO

Susan and Gary Hearst

Dr Keith Higgins and Dr Jane Joshi

Hartmut and Ruth Hofmann

Doug Hooley

Gillian Hund OAM and Michael Hund

Geoff and Denise Illing

Paul and Amy Jasper

Sandy Jenkins

Ann Lahore

Mrs Qian Li

Carolynne Marks

Margaret and John Mason OAM

Ian McDonald

H E McKenzie

Dr Isabel McLean

Christopher Menz and Peter Rose

Ian Merrylees

Dr Paul Nisselle AM

Alan and Dorothy Pattison

Ruth and Ralph Renard

Peter and Carolyn Rendit

James Ring

Tom and Elizabeth Romanowski

Liliane Rusek and Alexander Ushakoff

Jeffrey Sher KC and Diana Sher OAM

Barry Spanger

Steinicke Family

Caroline Stuart

Jenny Tatchell

Robert and Diana Wilson

Shirley and Jeffrey Zajac

Anonymous (4)

PLAYER PATRONS ($1,000+)

Dr Sally Adams

Helena Anderson

Margaret Astbury

Robbie Barker

Justine Battistella

Michael Bowles & Alma Gill

Allen and Kathryn Bloom

Joyce Bown

Youth Music Foundation

Professor Ian Brighthope

Miranda Brockman

Drs John D L Brookes and Lucy V Hanlon

Stuart Brown

Suzie Brown OAM and the late Harvey Brown

Jill and Christopher Buckley

Dr Robin Burns and Dr Roger Douglas

Ronald and Kate Burnstein

Peter A Caldwell

Alexandra Champion de Crespigny

Breen Creighton and Elsbeth Hadenfeldt

Nola Daley

Panch Das and Laurel Young-Das

Caroline Davies

Natasha Davies, for the Trikojus Education Fund

Rick and Sue Deering

John and Anne Duncan

Jane Edmanson OAM

Diane Fisher

Grant Fisher and Helen Bird

Alex Forrest

Frank Tisher OAM and Dr Miriam Tisher

Chris Freelance

Applebay Pty Ltd

David and Esther Frenkiel

Mary Gaidzkar

Simon Gaites

Anthony Garvey and Estelle O’Callaghan

David I Gibbs AM and Susie O’Neill

Sonia Gilderdale

Dr Celia Godfrey

Dr Marged Goode

Hilary Hall, in memory of Wilma Collie

David Hardy

Tilda and the late Brian Haughney

Cathy Henry

Dr Jennifer Henry

Anthony and Karen Ho

Rod Home

Lorraine Hook

Jenny and Peter Hordern

Katherine Horwood

Penelope Hughes

Geoff and Denise Illing

Jordan Janssen

Shyama Jayaswal

Basil and Rita Jenkins

Emma Johnson

Wendy Johnson

Sue Johnston

John Kaufman

Angela Kayser

Drs Bruce and Natalie Kellett

Anne and Leonard Kennedy

Akira Kikkawa

Dr Judith Kinnear

Dr Richard Knafelc and Mr Grevis Beard

Tim Knaggs

Dr Jerry Koliha and Marlene Krelle

Jane Kunstler

Kerry Landman

Janet and Ross Lapworth

Bryan Lawrence

Lesley McMullin Foundation

Dr Jenny Lewis

Phil Lewis

Dr Kin Liu

Andrew Lockwood

Elizabeth H Loftus

Chris and Anna Long

John MacLeod

Marshall Segan in memory of Berek Segan

OBE and Marysia Segan

Ian McDonald

Wayne McDonald and Kay Schroer

Lois McKay

Dr Eric Meadows

Professor Geoffrey Metz

Sylvia Miller

Ian Morrey and Geoffrey Minter

Dr Anthony and Dr Anna Morton

Dr Judith S Nimmo

Laurence O’Keefe and Christopher James

Susan Pelka

Ian Penboss

Kerryn Pratchett

Peter Priest

John Prokupets

Professor Charles Qin OAM and Kate Ritchie

Eli Raskin

Jan and Keith Richards

Roger Parker and Ruth Parker

Dr Peter Rogers and Cathy Rogers OAM

Dr Ronald and Elizabeth Rosanove

Marie Rowland

Viorica Samson

Martin and Susan Shirley

P Shore

Janet and Alex Starr

Dr Peter Strickland

Dr Joel Symons and Liora Symons

Russell Taylor and Tara Obeyesekere

Geoffrey Thomlinson

Andrew and Penny Torok

Christina Turner

Ann and Larry Turner

Leon and Sandra Velik

Jayde Walker

Edward & Paddy White

Nic and Ann Willcock

Lorraine Woolley

Dr Kelly and Dr Heathcote Wright

C.F. Yeung & Family Philanthropic Fund

Demetrio Zema

Anonymous (16)

OVERTURE PATRONS $500+

Jane Allan and Mark Redmond

Mario M Anders

Jenny Anderson

Dr Judith Armstrong and Robyn Dalziel

Doris Au

Lyn Bailey

Mr Robin Batterham

Dr William Birch AM

Richard Bolitho

Dr Robert Brook

Elizabeth Brown

Roger and Coll Buckle

Daniel Bushaway

Jungpin Chen

Dr John Collins

Gregory Crew

Sue Cummings

Dr Oliver Daly and Matilda Daly

Suzanne Dembo

Carol des Cognets

Bruce Dudon

Margaret Flatman

Brian Florence

M C Friday

David and Geraldine Glenny

Hugo and Diane Goetze

Louise Gourlay OAM

Christine Grenda

Dawn Hales

George Hampel AM KC and Felicity Hampel AM SC

John Hill

William Holder

Gillian Horwood

Noelle Howell and Judy Clezy

Rob Jackson

Irene Kearsey & Michael Ridley

Peter Kempen AM

John Keys

Lesley King

Professor David Knowles and Dr Anne McLachlan

Dr Kim Langfield-Smith

Pauline and David Lawton

Paschalina Leach

Kay Liu

David Loggia

Eleanor & Phillip Mancini

Joy Manners

Morris and Helen Margolis

In memory of Leigh Masel

Janice Mayfield

Gail McKay

Shirley A McKenzie

Dr Alan Meads and Sandra Boon

Adrian and Louise Nelson

Marian Neumann

Ed Newbigin

Valerie Newman

Amanda O’Brien

Jillian Pappas

Phil Parker

Sarah Patterson

The Hon Chris Pearce and Andrea Pearce

Peter Berry and Amanda Quirk

William Ramirez

Geoffrey Ravenscroft

Dr Christopher Rees

Professor John Rickard

Michael Riordan and Geoffrey Bush

Fred and Patricia Russell

Carolyn Sanders

Dr Marc Saunders

Dr Nora Scheinkestel

Julia Schlapp

Hon Jim Short and Jan Rothwell Short

Madeline Soloveychik

Tom Sykes

Allison Taylor

Reverend Angela Thomas

Mely Tjandra

Chris and Helen Trueman

Rosemary Warnock

Amanda Watson

Michael Whishaw

Deborah and Dr Kevin Whithear OAM

Charles and Jill Wright

Anonymous (13)

MSO GUARDIANS

Jenny Anderson

David Angelovich

G C Bawden and L de Kievit

Lesley Bawden

Joyce Bown

Patricia A Breslin

Mrs Jenny Bruckner and the late Mr John Bruckner

Peter A Caldwell

Luci and Ron Chambers

Beryl Dean

Sandra Dent

Alan Egan JP

Gunta Eglite

Marguerite Garnon-Williams

Drs L C Gruen and R W Wade

Louis J Hamon AOM

Charles Hardman

Carol Hay

Jennifer Henry

Graham Hogarth

Rod Home

Lyndon Horsburgh

Tony Howe

Lindsay and Michael Jacombs

Laurence O’Keefe and Christopher James

John Jones

Sylvia Lavelle

Pauline and David Lawton

Cameron Mowat

Ruth Muir

David Orr

Matthew O’Sullivan

Rosia Pasteur

Penny Rawlins

Anne Roussac-Hoyne and Neil Roussac

Michael Ryan and Wendy Mead

Andrew Serpell and Anne Kieni Serpell

Jennifer Shepherd

Suzette Sherazee

Dr Gabriela and Dr George Stephenson

Pamela Swansson

Lillian Tarry

Tam Vu and Dr Cherilyn Tillman

Mr and Mrs R P Trebilcock

Christina Turner

Peter and the late Elisabeth Turner

Michael Ulmer AO

The Hon. Rosemary Varty

Terry Wills Cooke OAM and the late Marian Wills Cooke

Mark Young

Anonymous (20)

The MSO gratefully acknowledges the support of the following Estates:

Norma Ruth Atwell

Angela Beagley

Barbara Bobbe

Michael Francois Boyt

Christine Mary Bridgart

Margaret Anne Brien

Ken Bullen

Deidre and Malcolm Carkeek

The Cuming Bequest

Margaret Davies

Blair Doig Dixon

Neilma Gantner

Angela Felicity Glover

The Hon Dr Alan Goldberg AO QC

Derek John Grantham

Delina Victoria Schembri-Hardy

Enid Florence Hookey

Gwen Hunt

Family and Friends of James Jacoby

Audrey Jenkins

Joan Jones

Pauline Marie Johnston

Christine Mary Kellam

C P Kemp

Jennifer Selina Laurent

Sylvia Rose Lavelle

Peter Forbes MacLaren

Joan Winsome Maslen

Lorraine Maxine Meldrum

Prof Andrew McCredie

Jean Moore

Joan P Robinson

Maxwell and Jill Schultz

Miss Sheila Scotter AM MBE

Marion A I H M Spence

Molly Stephens

Gwennyth St John

Halinka Tarczynska-Fiddian

Jennifer May Teague

Elisabeth Turner

Albert Henry Ullin

Jean Tweedie

Herta and Fred B Vogel

Dorothy Wood

Joyce Winsome Woodroffe

COMMISSIONING CIRCLE

Cecilie Hall and the Late Hon Michael Watt KC

Tim and Lyn Edward

Weis Family

FIRST NATIONS CIRCLE

John and Lorraine Bates

Colin Golvan AM KC and Dr Deborah Golvan

Sascha O. Becker

Maestro Jaime Martín

Elizabeth Proust AO and Brian Lawrence

Guy Ross

The Sage Foundation

The Kate and Stephen Shelmerdine Family Foundation

Michael Ullmer AO and Jenny Ullmer

Jason Yeap OAM – Mering Management Corporation

ADOPT A MUSICIAN

Shane Buggle and Rosie Callanan

Roger Young

Andrew Dudgeon AM

Rohan de Korte, Philippa West

Tim and Lyn Edward

John Arcaro

Dr John and Diana Frew

Rosie Turner

Sophie Galaise and Clarence Fraser

Stephen Newton

Dr Mary-Jane Gething AO

Monica Curro

The Gross Foundation

Matthew Tomkins

Dr Clem Gruen and Dr Rhyl Wade

Robert Cossom

Cecilie Hall and the late Hon Michael Watt KC

Saul Lewis

Nereda Hanlon and Michael Hanlon AM

Abbey Edlin

David Horowicz

Anne Marie Johnson

Dr Harry Imber

Sarah Curro, Jack Schiller

Margaret Jackson AC

Nicolas Fleury

Di Jameson OAM and Frank Mercurio

Elina Fashki, Benjamin Hanlon, Tair Khisambeev, Christopher Moore

The late Dr Elizabeth A Lewis AM

Anthony Chataway

David Li AM and Angela Li

Concermaster Chair

Rosemary and the late Douglas Meagher

Craig Hill

Gary McPherson

Rachel Shaw

Anne Neil

Eleanor Mancini

Newton Family in memory of Rae Rothfield

Cong Gu

The Rosemary Norman Foundation

Ann Blackburn

Andrew and Judy Rogers

Michelle Wood

Glenn Sedgwick

Tiffany Cheng, Shane Hooton

Dr Martin Tymms and Patricia Nilsson

Natasha Thomas

Anonymous

Prudence Davis

Anonymous

Rachael Tobin

HONORARY APPOINTMENTS

Life Members

John Gandel AC and Pauline Gandel AC

Sir Elton John CBE

Lady Primrose Potter AC CMRI

Jeanne Pratt AC

Michael Ullmer AO and Jenny Ullmer

Anonymous

MSO Ambassador

Geoffrey Rush AC

The MSO honours the memory of Life Members

Marc Besen AC

Mrs Eva Besen AO

John Brockman OAM

The Honourable Alan Goldberg AO QC

Harold Mitchell AC

Roger Riordan AM

Ila Vanrenen

MSO ARTISTIC FAMILY

Jaime Martín

Chief Conductor

Benjamin Northey

Principal Conductor

Artistic Advisor – Learning and Engagement

Leonard Weiss

Cybec Assistant Conductor

Sir Andrew Davis CBE

Conductor Laureate

Hiroyuki Iwaki †

Conductor Laureate (1974–2006)

Warren Trevelyan-Jones

MSO Chorus Director

Erin Helyard

Artist in Residence

Karen Kyriakou

Artist in Residence, Learning and Engagement

Christian Li

Young Artist in Association

Katy Abbott

Composer in Residence

Naomi Dodd

Cybec Young Composer in Residence

Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO

First Nations Creative Chair

Xian Zhang

East meets West Ambassador

Artistic Ambassadors

Tan Dun

Lu Siqing

MSO BOARD

Chairman

David Li AM

Co-Deputy Chairs

Margaret Jackson AC

Di Jameson OAM

Managing Director

Sophie Galaise

Board Directors

Shane Buggle

Andrew Dudgeon AM

Martin Foley

Lorraine Hook

Gary McPherson

Farrel Meltzer

Edgar Myer

Glenn Sedgwick

Mary Waldron

Company Secretary

Demetrio Zema

The MSO relies on your ongoing philanthropic support to sustain our artists, and support access, education, community engagement and more. We invite our supporters to get close to the MSO through a range of special events.

The MSO welcomes your support at any level. Donations of $2 and over are tax deductible, and supporters are recognised as follows:

$500+ (Overture)

$1,000+ (Player)

$2,500+ (Associate)

$5,000+ (Principal)

$10,000+ (Maestro)

$20,000+ (Impresario)

$50,000+ (Virtuoso)

$100,000+ (Platinum)

Thank

PRINCIPAL PARTNER

INTERNATIONAL LAW FIRM PARTNER

GOVERNMENT PARTNERS

VENUE PARTNER

PREMIER PARTNERS

EDUCATION PARTNERS

MAJOR PARTNERS

SUPPORTING PARTNERS

ORCHESTRAL TRAINING PARTNER Quest

MEDIA AND BROADCAST PARTNERS

TRUSTS AND FOUNDATIONS

The Sir Andrew and Lady Fairley Foundation, The Angior Family Foundation, Flora & Frank Leith Trust, Perpetual Foundation – Alan (AGL) Shaw Endowment, Sidney Myer MSO Trust Fund

Freemasons Foundation Victoria