Jaime conducts Rachmaninov and Dvorák

JAIME CONDUCTS

AND DVOŘÁK

27–29 JUNE

Melbourne & Geelong

ARTISTS

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

Jaime Martín conductor

Denis Kozhukhin piano

PROGRAM

GLINKA Ruslan and Ludmila: Overture [5']

RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No.2 [33']

– Interval –

DVOŘÁK Symphony No.8 [36']

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

CONCERT EVENTS

PRE-CONCERT TALKS

Want to learn more about the music being performed? Arrive early for an informative and entertaining pre-concert talk with Kym Dillon.

27 June & 29 June at 6.45pm in the Stalls Foyer on Level 2 at Hamer Hall.

28 June at 6.45pm at Costa Hall Foyer

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

Duration: 1 hour and 45 minutes including interval. Timings listed are approximate.

The Geelong Series is proudly supported by Geelong Friends of the MSO.

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

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.

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.

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 Benjamin Northey, Cybec Assistant Conductor Leonard Weiss CF, 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.

MUSICIANS PERFORMING IN THIS CONCERT

FIRST VIOLINS

Sophie Rowell

Guest Concertmaster

Tair Khisambeev

Acting Associate Concertmaster

Di Jameson OAM and Frank Mercurio#

Anne-Marie Johnson

Acting Assistant Concertmaster

David Horowicz#

Sarah Curro

Dr Harry Imber#

Peter Fellin

Deborah Goodall

Karla Hanna

Lorraine Hook

Kirstin Kenny

Eleanor Mancini

Anne Neil#

Mark Mogilevski

Michelle Ruffolo

Anna Skalova

Emily Beauchamp*

SECOND VIOLINS

Matthew Tomkins

Principal

The Gross Foundation#

Jos Jonker

Acting Associate Principal

Monica Curro

Assistant Principal Dr Mary Jane Gething AO#

Mary Allison

Isin Cakmakçioglu

Freya Franzen

Cong Gu

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#

Donica Tran^

VIOLAS

Christopher Moore

Principal

Di Jameson OAM and Frank Mercurio#

Lauren Brigden

Katharine Brockman

Anthony Chataway

William Clark

Aidan Filshie

Jenny Khafagi

Fiona Sargeant

Ceridwen Davies°

Karen Columbine*

Andrew Crothers*

CELLOS

David Berlin

Principal

Rachael Tobin

Associate Principal Anonymous#

Rohan de Korte

Andrew Dudgeon AM#

Rebecca Proietto

Peter T Kempen AM#

Angela Sargeant

Caleb Wong

Michelle Wood

Andrew and Judy Rogers#

Alexandra Partridge°

Anna Pokorny*

DOUBLE BASSES

Jonathon Coco

Principal

Stephen Newton

Acting Associate Principal

Sophie Galaise and Clarence Fraser#

Rohan Dasika

Acting Assistant Principal

Benjamin Hanlon

Di Jameson OAM and Frank Mercurio#

Caitlin Bass°

Emma Sullivan°

Luca Arcaro*

Correct as of 18 June 2024.

Learn more about our musicians on the MSO website

FLUTES

Prudence Davis

Principal

Jean Hadges#

Wendy Clarke

Associate Principal

Sarah Beggs

PICCOLO

Andrew Macleod Principal

OBOES

Michael Pisani Acting Principal

Ann Blackburn

CLARINETS

Philip Arkinstall Associate Principal

Craig Hill

Rosemary and the late Douglas Meagher#

BASSOONS

Jack Schiller

Principal

Dr Harry Imber#

Elise Millman

Associate Principal

Natasha Thomas

Patricia Nilsson and Dr Martin Tymms#

CONTRABASSOON

Brock Imison Principal

HORNS

Nicolas Fleury Principal

Margaret Jackson AC#

Peter Luff*

Guest Associate Principal

Saul Lewis

Principal Third

The late Hon Michael Watt KC and Cecilie Hall#

Abbey Edlin

The Hanlon Foundation#

Josiah Kop

Aidan Gabriels*

TRUMPETS

Owen Morris Principal

Rosie Turner

John and Diana Frew#

TROMBONES

Don Immel°

Acting Principal

Richard Shirley

Mike Szabo Principal Bass Trombone

TUBA

Timothy Buzbee Principal

TIMPANI

Matthew Thomas Principal

PERCUSSION

Shaun Trubiano Principal

Robert Cossom

Drs Rhyl Wade and Clem Gruen#

* Denotes Guest Musician

^ Denotes MSO Academy

° Denotes Contract Musician

# Position supported by

JAIME MARTÍN CONDUCTOR

Chief Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra since 2022, Jaime Martín is also Chief Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra (Ireland) and Music Director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. He is the Principal Guest Conductor of the Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España (Spanish National Orchestra) for the 22/23 season and was Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of Gävle Symphony Orchestra from 2013 to 2022.

Having spent many years as a highly regarded flautist, Jaime turned to conducting full-time in 2013, and has become very quickly sought after at the highest level. Recent and future engagements include appearances with the London Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic, Netherlands Philharmonic, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Colorado Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Antwerp Symphony, Orquesta Sinfónica y Coro de RTVE (ORTVE) and Galicia Symphony orchestras, as well as a nine-city European tour with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Martín is the Artistic Advisor and previous Artistic Director of the Santander Festival. He was also a founding member of the Orquestra de Cadaqués, where he was Chief Conductor from 2012 to 2019.

Jaime Martín’s Chief Conductor Chair is supported by the Besen Family Foundation in memory of Eva and Marc Besen.

DENIS KOZHUKHIN PIANO

A pianist of exceptional technique, emotional depth and sophistication, Denis Kozhukhin has established himself as one of the most accomplished musicians of his generation.

Highlights of the last two seasons include performances with San Francisco Symphony, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Frankfurt’s hr-Sinfonieorchester, BBC Symphony, Orchestre National de Belgique, Danish National Symphony, Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and WDR Sinfonieorchester.

Kozhukhin’s 2023/24 season includes returns to the Oslo Philharmonic, NHK Symphony, Washington’s National Symphony and Orquestra Simfónica de Barcelona, alongside debuts with Dallas Symphony, Düsseldorfer Symphoniker and Melbourne Symphony. Denis will also perform recitals and chamber music at the Pierre Boulez Saal, Elbphilharmonie, Wigmore Hall, Vienna’s Konzerthaus and Zurich’s Tonhalle. Since winning the Queen Elizabeth Competition in 2010, Denis has performed with the London Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic and Staatskapelle Berlin. A sought-after recitalist and chamber musician, Kozhukhin regularly appears at a number of prominent music festivals including Verbier, Gstaad, Grafenegg, Dresden, Intonations Festival, Tsinandali, Klavier Ruhr, Lanaudiere, and Jerusalem Music Festivals, as well as the BBC Proms.

As a Pentatone recording artist, his discography spans works by Haydn, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Grieg, Ravel and Gershwin.

A graduate of the Reina Sofía School of Music in Madrid under the guidance of Dmitri Bashkirov and Claudio Martinez-Mehner, Kozhukhin further honed his skills at the Piano Academy at Lake Como, where he received advice from notable pianists such as Fou Ts’ong, Stanislav Ioudenitch, Peter Frankl, Boris Berman, Charles Rosen, and Andreas Staier, and Kirill Gerstein in Stuttgart.

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PROGRAM NOTES

MIKHAIL GLINKA

(1804–1857)

Ruslan and Ludmila: Overture

Glinka’s music was, to borrow a phrase from Tchaikovsky, the ‘acorn from which the oak of Russian music grew’. Born into a minor noble family, Glinka was able to cultivate his musical interests from a young age, at school in St Petersburg and conducting a ‘serf orchestra’ on an estate neighbouring his parents’. By 1820 he was back in St Petersburg, ostensibly working in the civil service but in fact devoting himself to composition, and attending opera. The visit of an Italian company in 1828 confirmed his love of Rossini, and he travelled to Italy two years later where he got to know Donizetti and Bellini and their works. Before returning to Russia in 1834, he spent time in Berlin, studying the principles of counterpoint. Having absorbed Italian lyricism and German rigour, Glinka returned to his homeland and set about writing music based on Russian themes.

Ruslan and Ludmila is his second completed opera, and is based on a fairy tale given literary currency by the great poet Alexander Pushkin. (Glinka and Pushkin had discussed a collaboration on the work, but the poet was fatally wounded in a duel before work began.)

Ludmila is the daughter of Svetozar, the Grand Prince of Kiev. She is betrothed to Ruslan, but abducted from her father’s palace by the evil sorcerer Chernomor. Ignoring the betrothal, Svetozar offers his daughter and half his kingdom to whomever brings Ludmila back. Ruslan and his two rivals, Farlaf and Ratmir, set off on the quest, encountering wizards, giants and other magical beings. Ruslan,

having won Chernomor’s own sword from the sorcerer’s giant brother, cuts off his beard (rendering him powerless) only to discover that Ludmila, who has been cast into a magic sleep, has been abducted again, this time by Farlaf, who takes her to the hall of her father in Kiev. The good sorcerer Finn gives Ruslan a ring which will awaken Ludmila. He returns to Svetozar’s palace, removes the spell and marries Ludmila, to the joy of the people of Kiev.

Like many an opera composer, Glinka left writing the overture to until last, but drew on themes from the body of the work. The overture begins with music derived from the general rejoicing at the end of the opera, which is contrasted with a melody associated with Ruslan’s love for Ludmila. Chernomor makes an appearance in Glinka’s pathbreaking use of the wholetone scale (heard in the trombones), but is banished by a return to the rejoicing mood of the opening.

Gordon Kerry © 2004

SERGEI RACHMANINOV (1873–1943)

Piano Concerto No.2

I. Moderato

II. Adagio sostenuto

III. Allegro scherzando

Denis Kozhukhin piano

The story of the creation of Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto is often told: the young composer, a star student of the Moscow Conservatory and a favourite of Tchaikovsky, had achieved considerable success getting his earliest works published, but in 1897 his ambitious First Symphony was disastrously premiered in St Petersburg, resulting in vicious press attacks, notoriously from César Cui who compared it to a program symphony

based on the Seven Plagues of Egypt. Supposedly, the ordeal led Rachmaninov into a three-year period of deep depression in which he was unable to write, and ended only after a course in hypnotherapy with the viola-playing Dr Nikolai Dahl. The doctor’s treatment apparently persuaded the young composer that he would be able to write a new concerto, and the resulting work— dedicated to Dahl—has become one of the most famous in the piano repertory.

It’s an attractive tale, yet despite Rachmaninov’s obvious disappointment with the reception of his symphony, the so-called ‘creative hiatus’ was a relatively busy period for him. From 1898, he took up the baton professionally for the first time, conducting numerous performances for the newly established Mamontov Private Opera Company in Moscow, and directing the young Chaliapin in roles for which he would later become so famous. Such was his conducting skill that within a few years he would hold a position at the Bolshoi Theatre. The period also heralded a subtle but significant change in his outlook on composition once he started writing larger works again. From 1900, Rachmaninov favoured a more conservative style than that of his symphony, and one that, ironically, became the source of some personal consternation as he sought to evolve his creative voice in following years.

Whether due to the course in hypnotherapy—after all, it was some months before he began to write again—or simply the passage of time, there is no doubting the sense that something was unleashed within the composer in the works that followed. In the concerto and other compositions of the period (the second Two-Piano Suite and the Sonata for Piano and Cello are the closest), a new assuredness of style is evident, and there is an almost overwhelming abundance of

melody. These new works were also created quickly: the second and third movements of the concerto were completed within a few months, and a performance of these took place in December 1900 in Moscow. The first complete performance of the new concerto occurred on 9 November 1901, also in Moscow, with the composer at the piano and his cousin, the noted pianist Alexander Siloti, conducting.

The famous opening notes of the Second Piano Concerto are essentially an extended cadence: slightly varied chords over bell-like bass notes gradually increase in volume, before the notes A flat, F, G—the basis of a motif that appears throughout the concerto —resolve to the home key of C minor, whereon the orchestra introduces the expansive principal subject. The second theme, in the key of the relative major, is by contrast given almost exclusively to the piano. The development section begins with material based on the motif, while a fragment of the second subject in the violins propels the movement to its climax. The recapitulation follows, with the orchestra again stating the main theme while the piano provides a martial-like accompaniment based on material extrapolated from the motif. The opening phrase of the second subject is recalled by the French horn, and, rather than providing a complete restatement, Rachmaninov shares fragments of the melody gently between the soloist and the orchestra. The reverie is soon broken, however, and a build up of momentum brings the movement to a fiery close.

A short orchestral passage serves to move the second movement to the warmer key of E major where, over an arpeggiated figure in the piano (material composed some years earlier for a sixhand piano Romance), the first subject is given to the flute, then taken over by the clarinet. After a second statement of

the theme by the soloist, the melody is developed as the music builds. A faster scherzando section—perhaps recalling the analogous section in Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto—leads the movement to a climax, at which point Rachmaninov provides a cadenza (lacking from its traditional place in the first movement). The violins restate the opening melodic material, before sustained piano chords accompany a passage of gradual melodic descent as the movement dies away.

The final movement begins quietly on low strings, the rhythmic material being related to the motif. A dramatic keyboard cadenza also emphasises the motif before introducing the principal theme. A short period of development, including a brief shift to waltz-time, leads to an abrupt key change and the announcement of the lyrical second subject by the oboe and violas. This is perhaps one of Rachmaninov’s most famous melodies, which the literature suggests may have been ‘borrowed’ from a friend. However, if there is any truth to this story it is more likely that the reference is only to the opening notes, its expansive treatment bearing too many of the composer’s inimitable hallmarks. A trance-like section over a held bass note leads to a development section where Rachmaninov, with youthful exuberance, replaces a recapitulation of the first subject with a fugue based on its opening notes. The second subject is then heard again in the distant key of D flat major, before a short coda leads to a final restatement of the melody, this time fortissimo and given to the full orchestra, underpinned by massive chords on the piano. In characteristic fashion, the concerto concludes with a spirited dash to the end.

Scott Davie © 2007

ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK (1841–1904)

Symphony No.8 in G, Op.88 B.163

I. Allegro con brio

II. Adagio

III. Allegretto grazioso

IV. Allegro ma non troppo

The success that Dvořák enjoyed, thanks to Brahms’ advocacy in the late 1870s, made his name beyond Vienna and Prague, and in 1884 he made the first of nine visits to England where his music became—and remained—extremely popular. In 1890, now a regular visitor, Dvořák arrived with the score of his Eighth Symphony (published originally as No.4), which he had recently premiered in Prague but which for some time was colloquially known as the ‘English Symphony’.

In fact the piece has, even for Dvořák, an especially Bohemian accent; its immediate popularity with the British audience perhaps has more to do with its relaxed attitude to the formal rigours of Germanic symphonism, and an abundance of memorable, folk-inflected melody. For Brahms, normally a great supporter, this was a major flaw. He argued (offering, in passing, a seriously backhanded compliment to his rival Anton Bruckner) that too much that’s fragmentary, incidental, loiters about in the piece. Everything fine, musically captivating and beautiful—but no main points! When one says of Dvořák that he fails to achieve anything great and comprehensive with his pure, individual ideas, this is correct. Not so with Bruckner, all the same he offers so little.

In fact, the formal freedom and melodic richness are precisely what makes this work special. According his early biographer, Otakar Šourek, Dvořák aimed ‘to write something different from his other symphonies and shape the musical content of his ideas in a

new manner’. He did so not by piling up beautiful incidents, as Brahms suggests, though; as he is said to have told his student, Josef Michl: ‘To have a beautiful idea is nothing special. The idea comes from itself and if it is beautiful and great, man can take no credit for that. But to develop the idea well and make something great from it, that is the most difficult, that is—art!’

While the Symphony is a work of absolute music, it was composed in close proximity to a series of concert overtures originally known as Nature, Life and Love—the more customary titles In Nature’s Realm, Carnival and Othello came later. This triptych shows Dvořák’s essential Romanticism in his adherence to the cult of Nature and his delight in celebrating his ethnic musical roots, and in similar musical language to that of the Eighth Symphony.

The first movement is in G major and marked Allegro con brio, but Dvořák disguises both speed and tonality by beginning with a slow-moving minormode melody in the cellos, richly doubled by horn, clarinet and bassoon. When the music makes it to the home key of G major it is with a chirping melody for the flute. In a breathtaking display of orchestration that ranges from translucent shimmering to the richness of divided violas and cellos, Dvořák elaborates his themes through an audacious series of key changes; the conventional recapitulation is here a shining G major chord with the flute melody now given to a more introspective cor anglais. The Adagio, in C minor, is often brightened with rapid, falling major scales like pealing bells, and has an impassioned central section. The scherzo begins with a lyrical G minor dance contrasting with a more buoyant G major trio and fast coda. The finale is a set of variations on the bright fanfare announced by the trumpet as the movement opens.

What Brahms, of all people, failed to hear in this music is how the varying episodes, across the movements, are unified by pervasive rhythmic cells. The long-short-short figure with which the work opens also dominates the slow movement’s main theme. Groups of four repeated even notes—crotchets or quavers—appear at structural points; groups of triplets can appear as distant drum taps, or the opening gesture of an important melody (like that of the Adagio), and be transformed into the three-note up-beat of the third movement; the dotted rhythm of the third movement’s trio is transmuted in the rhythm of the fourth movement’s fanfare, and when that theme is stated by the orchestra its rising arpeggio reveals it to be related to the flute’s theme from the first movement. This almost subliminal motivic manipulation gives coherence to some of Dvořák’s most expansive and poetic music.

Gordon Kerry © 2013

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MSO PATRON

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Margaret Gardner AC, Governor of Victoria

CHAIRMAN’S CIRCLE

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ARTIST CHAIR BENEFACTORS

Chief Conductor Chair Jaime Martín

Besen Family Foundation

Concertmaster Chair

David Li AM and Angela Li

Cybec Assistant Conductor Chair

Leonard Weiss CF

Cybec Foundation

Acting Associate Concertmaster

Tair Khisambeev

Di Jameson OAM and Frank Mercurio

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Naomi Dodd

Cybec Foundation

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Dr Celia Godfrey

Dr Marged Goode

Hilary Hall, in memory of Wilma Collie

David Hardy

Tilda and the late Brian Haughney

Cathy Henry

Gwenda Henry

Anthony and Karen Ho

Rod Home

Lorraine Hook

Doug Hooley

Peter and Jenny Hordern

Katherine Horwood

Penelope Hughes

Jordan Janssen

Shyama Jayaswal

Basil and Rita Jenkins

Jane Jenkins

Emma Johnson

Sue Johnston

John Kaufman

Angela Kayser

Drs Bruce and Natalie Kellett

Dr Anne and Leonard Kennedy

Akira Kikkawa

Dr Judith Kinnear

Dr Richard Knafelc and Mr Grevis Beard

Tim Knaggs

Professor David Knowles and Dr Anne McLachlan

Dr Jerry Koliha and Marlene Krelle

Jane Kunstler

Kerry Landman

Janet and Ross Lapworth

Bryan Lawrence

Dr Jenny Lewis

Dr Kin Liu

Andrew Lockwood

Elizabeth H Loftus

Chris and Anna Long

Wayne McDonald and Kay Schroer

Lois McKay

Lesley McMullin Foundation

Dr Eric Meadows

Sylvia Miller

Ian Morrey and Geoffrey Minter

Anthony and Anna Morton

Barry Mowszowski

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 and Lorraine Raskin

Cathy Rogers OAM and Dr Peter Rogers AM

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

Frank Tisher OAM and Dr Miriam Tisher

Andrew and Penny Torok

Christina Turner

Ann and Larry Turner

Sandra and the late Leon Velik

Jayde Walker

Edward and Paddy White

Nic and Ann Willcock

Lorraine Woolley

Dr Kelly and Dr Heathcote Wright

George Yeung

Demetrio Zema

Anonymous (14)

OVERTURE PATRONS $500+

Jane Allan and Mark Redmond

Mario M Anders

Jenny Anderson

Doris Au

Lyn Bailey

Mr Robin Batterham

Peter Berry and Amanda Quirk

Miranda Brockman

Dr Robert Brook

Roger and Coll Buckle

Daniel Bushaway

Jungpin Chen

Robert and Katherine Coco

Dr John Collins

Gregory Crew

Sue Cummings

Dr Oliver Daly and Matilda Daly

Suzanne Dembo

Carol des Cognets

Bruce Dudon

Margaret Flatman

Brian Florence

Elizabeth Foster

M C Friday

Simon Gaites

David and Geraldine Glenny

Hugo and Diane Goetze

Louise Gourlay OAM

Christine Grenda

Dawn Hales

George Hampel AM KC and

Felicity Hampel AM SC

Dr Jennifer Henry

William Holder

Gillian Horwood

Oliver Hutton

Rob Jackson

Wendy Johnson

Leonora Kearney

Irene Kearsey & Michael Ridley

John Keys

Lesley King

Dr Kim Langfield-Smith

Heather Law

Pauline and David Lawton

Paschalina Leach

Kay Liu

David Loggia

Helen Maclean

Eleanor & Phillip Mancini

Joy Manners

Morris and Helen Margolis

Sandra Masel in memory of Leigh Masel

Janice Mayfield

Gail McKay

Shirley A McKenzie

Dr Alan Meads and Sandra Boon

Marie Misiurak

Adrian and Louise Nelson

Marian Neumann

Ed Newbigin

Valerie Newman

Amanda O’Brien

Brendan O’Donnell

Jillian Pappas

Sarah Patterson

The Hon Chris Pearce and Andrea Pearce

William Ramirez

Geoffrey Ravenscroft

Dr Christopher Rees

Professor John Rickard

Michael Riordan and Geoffrey Bush

Fred and Patricia Russell

Carolyn Sanders

Dr Marc Saunders

Julia Schlapp

Hon Jim Short and Jan Rothwell Short

Madeline Soloveychik

Tom Sykes

Allison Taylor

Dr Hugh Taylor and Dr Elizabeth Dax

Reverend Angela Thomas

Mely Tjandra

Chris and Helen Trueman

Noel and Jenny Turnbull

Phil Parker

Rosemary Warnock

Amanda Watson

Michael Whishaw

Deborah and Dr Kevin Whithear OAM

Adrian Wigney

Charles and Jill Wright

Anonymous (13)

FUTURE MSO ($1,000+)

Justine Battistella

Shayna Burns

Jessica Agoston Cleary

Alexandra Champion de Crespigny

Josh Chye

Barry Mowszowski

Jayde Walker

Demetrio Zema

MSO

GUARDIANS

Jenny Anderson

David Angelovich

Lesley Bawden

Peter Berry and Amanda Quirk

Joyce Bown

Patricia A Breslin

Jenny Brukner and the late John Brukner

Peter A Caldwell

Luci and Ron Chambers

Sandra Dent

Sophie E Dougall in memory of Libby

Harold

Alan Egan JP

Gunta Eglite

Marguerite Garnon-Williams

Dr Clem Gruen and Dr Rhyl Wade

Louis J Hamon OAM

Charles Hardman and Julianne Bambacas

Carol Hay

Dr Jennifer Henry

Graham Hogarth

Rod Home

Lyndon Horsburgh

Katherine Horwood

Tony Howe

Lindsay and Michael Jacombs

John Jones

Pauline and David Lawton

Robyn and Maurice Lichter

Christopher Menz and Peter Rose

Cameron Mowat

Laurence O’Keefe and Christopher James

David Orr

Matthew O’Sullivan

Rosia Pasteur

Penny Rawlins

Margaret Riches

Anne Roussac-Hoyne and Neil Roussac

Michael Ryan and Wendy Mead

Anne Kieni Serpell and Andrew Serpell

Jennifer Shepherd

Suzette Sherazee

Professors Gabriela and George Stephenson

Pamela Swansson

Tam Vu and Dr Cherilyn Tillman

Peter and the late Elizabeth Turner

Michael Ullmer AO

The Hon Rosemary Varty

Francis Vergona

Terry Wills Cooke OAM and the late Marian Wills Cooke

Mark Young

Anonymous (23)

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

ADOPT A MUSICIAN

Margaret Billson and the late Ted Billson

Peter Edwards

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

Jean Hadges

Prudence Davis

Cecilie Hall and the late Hon Michael Watt KC

Saul Lewis

The Hanlon Foundation

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

Peter T Kempen AM

Rebecca Proietto

Rosemary and the late Douglas Meagher

Craig Hill

Professor Gary McPherson

Rachel Shaw

Anne Neil

Eleanor Mancini

Newton Family in memory of Rae Rothfield

Cong Gu

Patricia Nilsson

Natasha Thomas

Andrew and Judy Rogers

Michelle Wood

Glenn Sedgwick

Tiffany Cheng, Shane Hooton

Anonymous

Rachael Tobin

HONORARY APPOINTMENTS

Life Members

John Gandel AC and Pauline Gandel AC

Jean Hadges

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

The late Marc Besen AC and the late Eva Besen AO

John Brockman OAM

The Honourable Alan Goldberg AO QC

Harold Mitchell AC

Roger Riordan AM

Ila Vanrenen

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

MSO ARTISTIC FAMILY

Jaime Martín

Chief Conductor

Benjamin Northey

Principal Conductor

Artistic Advisor – Learning and Engagement

Leonard Weiss CF

Cybec Assistant Conductor

Sir Andrew Davis CBE †

Conductor Laureate (2013–2024)

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

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)

PRINCIPAL PARTNER

Thank you to our Partners

PREMIER PARTNER

MAJOR PARTNERS

VENUE PARTNER

INTERNATIONAL LAW FIRM PARTNER

GOVERNMENT PARTNERS

EDUCATION PARTNERS

ORCHESTRAL TRAINING PARTNER

SUPPORTING PARTNERS

Quest Southbank Ernst & Young

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