Ryman Healthcare Winter Gala: Ray Chen performs Tchaikovsky

CONCERT PROGRAM

Ryman Healthcare

Winter Gala: Ray Chen

performs Tchaikovsky

29 June – 1 July

Arts Centre Melbourne, Hamer Hall and Costa Hall, Geelong

Artists

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

Jaime Martín conductor

Ray Chen violin Program

LIGETI Concert Românesc

TCHAIKOVSKY Violin Concerto

– Interval –

RACHMANINOV Symphony No.2

Running time: approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes including interval

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

Pre-concert events

Pre-concert talk: 29 June at 6.45pm & 1 July at 1.15pm in Stalls Foyer, Level 2 at Hamer Hall.

30 June at 6.45pm in Costa Hall, Geelong.

Learn more about the performance at a pre-concert presentation with MSO Cybec Assistant Conductor Carlo Antonioli, Head of Learning and Engagement Nicholas Bochner and MSO Principal Third French horn player Saul Lewis.

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

Acknowledging Country

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.

from a land which has been nurtured by the traditional owners for more than 2000 generations. When we acknowledge country we pay respect to the land and to the people in equal measure.

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

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

— Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

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

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

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

In 2023, the MSO’s Chief Conductor, Jaime Martín continues an exciting new phase in the Orchestra’s history. Maestro Martín joins an Artistic Family that includes Principal Guest Conductor Xian Zhang, Principal Conductor in Residence, Benjamin Northey, Conductor Laureate, Sir Andrew Davis CBE, Cybec Assistant Conductor Fellow, Carlo Antonioli, MSO Chorus Director, Warren Trevelyan-Jones, Soloist in Residence, Siobhan Stagg, Composer in Residence, Mary Finsterer, Ensemble in Residence, Gondwana Voices, Cybec Young Composer in Residence, Melissa Douglas and Young 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.

RAY CHEN

Musicians Performing in this Concert

FIRST VIOLINS

Dale Barltrop

Concertmaster

David Li AM and Angela Li#

Tair Khisambeev

Assistant Concertmaster

Di Jameson OAM and Frank Mercurio#

Peter Edwards

Assistant Principal

Sarah Curro

Peter Fellin

Deborah Goodall

Karla Hanna

Lorraine Hook

Anne-Marie Johnson

Eleanor Mancini

Anne Neil#

Mark Mogilevski

Kathryn Taylor

Jacqueline Edwards*

Michael Loftus-Hills*

Susannah Ng*

SECOND VIOLINS

Matthew Tomkins Principal

The Gross Foundation#

Robert Macindoe

Associate Principal

Monica Curro

Assistant Principal

Dr Mary-Jane Gething AO#

Mary Allison

Emily Beauchamp^

Isin Cakmakçioglu

Freya Franzen

Cong Gu

Newton Family in memory of Rae Rothfield#

Isy Wasserman

Roger Young

Shane Buggle and Rosie Callanan#

Clare Carrick*

VIOLAS

Christopher Moore

Principal

Di Jameson OAM and Frank Mercurio#

Lauren Brigden

Katharine Brockman

Gabrielle Halloran

Fiona Sargeant

Lucy Carrigy-Ryan*

Karen Columbine*

Lisa Grosman*

Isabel Morse*

Kate Worley*

Heidi von Bernewitz*

CELLOS

David Berlin Principal

Rachael Tobin

Associate Principal

Anonymous#

Elina Faskhi

Assistant Principal

Di Jameson OAM and Frank Mercurio#

Rohan de Korte

Andrew Dudgeon AM#

Sarah Morse

Rebecca Proietto

Angela Sargeant

Michelle Wood

Andrew and Judy Rogers#

Anna Pokorny*

DOUBLE BASSES

Jonathon Coco

Acting Principal

Rohan Dasika

Benjamin Hanlon

Di Jameson OAM and Frank Mercurio#

Suzanne Lee

Stephen Newton

Sophie Galaise and Clarence Fraser#

Caitlin Bass*

Emma Sullivan*

FLUTES

Wendy Clarke

Associate Principal

Sarah Beggs

PICCOLO

Andrew Macleod Principal

Correct as of 19 June 2023

Learn more about our musicians on the MSO website

OBOES

Huw Jones*

Guest Principal

Ann Blackburn

The Rosemary Norman Foundation#

COR ANGLAIS

Rachel Curkpatrick

Acting Principal

CLARINETS

Philip Arkinstall

Associate Principal

Oliver Crofts^

BASS CLARINET

Jon Craven

Principal

BASSOONS

Jack Schiller

Principal

Elise Millman

Associate Principal

Natasha Thomas

Dr Martin Tymms and Patricia Nilsson#

HORNS

Nicolas Fleury

Principal

Margaret Jackson AC#

Saul Lewis

Principal Third

The late Hon Michael Watt KC and Cecilie Hall#

Abbey Edlin

Nereda Hanlon and Michael Hanlon AM#

Rachel Shaw

Gary McPherson#

TRUMPETS

Owen Morris Principal

William Evans

Rosie Turner

John and Diana Frew#

TROMBONES

Don Immel

Acting Principal

Cian Malikides^

Richard Shirley

Mike Szabo Principal Bass Trombone

TUBA

Timothy Buzbee Principal

TIMPANI

Scott Weatherson* Guest Principal

PERCUSSION

Shaun Trubiano

Acting Principal

John Arcaro

Tim and Lyn Edward#

Robert Cossom

Drs Rhyl Wade and Clem Gruen#

* Denotes Guest Musician

^ MSO Academy 2023

# 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.

Ray Chen violin

Ray Chen is a violinist who redefines what it is to be a classical musician in the 21st Century. With a media presence reaching out to millions, Ray Chen’s remarkable musicianship transmits to a global audience that is reflected in his engagements with the foremost orchestras and concert halls around the world.

Initially coming to attention via the Yehudi Menuhin (2008) and Queen Elizabeth (2009) competitions, of which he was First Prize winner, Ray has built a profile in Europe, Asia, and the USA as well as his native Australia. Signed in 2017 to Decca Classics, the Ray’s forthcoming recording with the London Philharmonic follows three critically acclaimed albums on SONY, the first of which (“Virtuoso”) received an ECHO Klassik Award.

Ray Chen’s profile continues to grow: he was featured on Forbes’ list of 30 most influential Asians under 30; made a guest appearance on Amazon’s Mozart in the Jungle TV series; performed for a live TV audience on France’s Bastille Day and at the Nobel Prize Concert in Stockholm.

Ray has performed with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony among others, and will make upcoming debuts with the San Francisco Symphony, Berlin Radio Symphony, and Bavarian Radio Chamber Orchestra. He works regularly with conductors such as Riccardo Chailly, Vladimir Jurowski, Manfred Honeck, Daniele Gatti, Kirill Petrenko, and many others.

Ray’s commitment to music education is paramount, and inspires the younger generation of music students with his series of self-produced videos combining comedy and music. Through his online promotions his appearances regularly sell out and draw an entirely new demographic to the concert hall.

Born in Taiwan and raised in Australia, Ray was accepted to the Curtis Institute of Music at age 15, where he studied with Aaron Rosand and was supported by Young Concert Artists. He plays the 1715 “Joachim” Stradivarius violin on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation. This instrument was once owned by the famed Hungarian violinist, Joseph Joachim (1831–1907).

Program Notes

GYÖRGY LIGETI (1923–2006)

Concert Românesc for orchestra

I. Andantino

II. Allegro vivace

III. Adagio ma non troppo

IV. Molto vivace

Ligeti was born in Dicsőszentmárton, a Hungarian speaking enclave in the Romanian district of Transylvania, and it was only when he was in his teens that the composer learned to speak Romanian. He had, however, come into contact with Romanian folk music as a young child. He describes hearing the alpenhorn played in the Carpathian Mountains, and being entranced by the fact that the natural harmonic series used by the instrument made it sound weirdly and beautifully ‘out of tune’ – out of tune, that is according to the system of equal temperament used in Western music since the 18th century. The expressive possibility of unequal temperament has remained a feature of Ligeti’s music until the present: in his Violin Concerto, for instance, a group of ocarinas – impossible to play conventionally in tune – add an unspeakable pathos at a critical moment in the work. Ligeti also remembers an occasion when one New Year’s Eve, some musicians playing violin and bagpipe, dressed in shamanistic goatcostumes, forced their way into his family’s courtyard.

In 1949, Ligeti was set to work transcribing folksongs from wax cylinder recordings in Bucharest, and some of those melodies, as well as tunes he recalled from childhood, came together in his Romanian Concerto composed in 1951. The piece’s four short movements contain at least one or two tunes which

will be familiar to Bartók-lovers. In addition, as Ligeti notes, ‘I also invented elements in the spirit of the village bands’. This, however, got him into trouble with the authorities in Budapest, where the piece had a single closed rehearsal before being banned. As the composer recently explained:

The way in which village bands harmonised their music, often full of dissonances and ‘against the grain’ was regarded as incorrect. In the fourth movement of my Romanian Concerto there is a passage in which an F sharp is heard in the context of F major. This was reason enough for the apparatchiks responsible for the arts to ban the piece.

In fact, in the years immediately after his relocation to the West and immersion in the world of the post war avant-garde, Ligeti himself disparaged the piece as ‘embodying the height of my compositional misconceptions’. He withdrew the work until the 1990s when, after some revision, he allowed it to be performed again. The Romanian Concerto is a long way from the Ligeti of Atmosphères and Lontano, or the knockabout fun of the Piano Concerto, but contains hints of the orchestral sonority and rhythmic exuberance of later works. It also displays a genuine love for the material, as well as the embryonic technical brilliance of one of the greatest living composers.

Gordon Kerry © 2005

PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY

(1840–1893)

Violin Concerto in D Major, op. 35

I. Allegro moderato – Moderato assai

II. Canzonetta. Andante

III. Finale. Allegro vivacissimo

Ray Chen violin

Most probably, no composer other than Beethoven has enjoyed the popularity in this country of that of Pyotr Tchaikovsky. His reputation has been secure since his early maturity, and yet, it is equally true that no other major modern composer has endured the distortions and indignities as that imposed upon his personality and personal life after his death. A welter of factors have been trotted out to “explain” his art and its personal genesis: his sexuality, politics, religious beliefs, social class. Every generation of musicologists – radical and otherwise, social commentators, and political ideologues has taken its shots at the man. And it must be said, chief among the negative attitudes simply has been the implication that his music is vulgar, overly emotional, and void of intellectual attainment –all clearly a reflection of the composer, himself!

That said, it is refreshing to see that much of the critical persiflage of the last century is now being replaced by a clearer, less ideologically freighted appreciation. He is historically important for his integration of the symphonic tradition of Beethoven and Schumann into the colorful, nationalistic atmosphere of Russia. But, ultimately it is the eloquence and technical mastery of his compositions that founded his lasting popularity. He was blessed with an extraordinary gift for melodic imagination, and learned to use it in contexts of structural integrity – not a given among the world’s great melodists.

The violin concerto was written in 1878 during a time of growing success as a composer, after having lived in Moscow for slightly over a decade. During that time he had composed four of his six symphonies, his first piano concerto, and other important works. However, composition of the violin concerto is associated with one of the most controversial and unfortunate episodes in Tchaikovsky’s life – his illfated marriage with Antonina Ivanovna Milyukova. It was a hurried affair, with neither party’s motives exactly clear even today, after endless sifting of the evidence. It lasted only two months, but they never divorced. Thereafter, Tchaikovsky underwent a long-term re-orientation in his artistic output.

After returning from recuperation in Switzerland from the marriage, Tchaikovsky set to work on the concerto, collaborating with a young violinist, Iosif Kotek, who had been a student of his at the Moscow Conservatory. It was completed swiftly, but the première was delayed, owing to the difficulty of finding a violinist who was either willing – or able – to perform it. It finally received its first public performance in Vienna in 1881. The ensuing review by the famous Viennese critic, Eduard Hanslick (you may remember his difficulties with Richard Wagner) has gone down in journalistic history. Among his comments were that in the work “the violin . . .is beaten black and blue;” that the finale has the “brutal and wretched jollity of a Russian holiday” with “savage vulgar faces . . . curses . . . and vodka.”

“Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto gives us for the first time the hideous notion that there can be music that stinks in the ear.”

Well, today of course, we all know better. It is one of the most difficult of violin concertos, and Tchaikovsky’s inimitable melodic gift is omnipresent.

It is a masterpiece, even though it never achieves the traditional balanced give and take expected between orchestra and soloist. Its effervescence, bravura, and appealing melodies have earned it a lasting place in the répertoire.

The first movement begins softly in the orchestra, with a clear theme –although it’s not the main one – followed shortly by intimations of the real main theme. All of this doesn’t last long, for Tchaikovsky, unlike many of his peers, doesn’t believe in a long introduction before the soloist enters. In this case, after a few meditative bars, the solo violin plunges right in to what is clearly the main theme. Tchaikovsky’s themes are always clear, aren’t they? There is, of course, a second theme, too, but the main point here is that the orchestra’s rôle is definitely subordinate to the soloist, who carries the tunes throughout. Clearly apparent, as well, is the virtuosity necessary to bring off the violin part, which is a combination of the famed Tchaikovsky lyricism and a fiery intensity of challenging melodic figurations. The cadenza before the recapitulation is Tchaikovsky’s and a more formidable one would be hard to cite. For those who revel in violin pyrotechnics, this is your métier! The driving gallop to the end of the movement is the pure Tchaikovsky familiar to all who know his other orchestra works.

The woodwind section intones a little organ-like chorale to introduce the entry of the soloist in the slow movement. The mood here is not one of tragedy or deep reflection, but seemingly one of a kind of pastoral rhapsody, and that would be altogether appropriate, considering the beauty of the Swiss countryside in which it was conceived. An aura of improvisation pervades this relatively brief interlude, with ample opportunities for some exchanges between the soloist and the woodwinds. The woodwinds

end the movement, as they began it, and without a break, we’re plunged immediately into the last movement. After a few cadenza-like moments wherein the soloist toys with the main theme, it’s off to the races. But it’s not an unalloyed dash to the end, for the composer wisely intersperses quiet moments that only enhance the return of the dizzying pyrotechnics. So back and forth we go, always driven by the élan and panache of Tchaikovsky’s inimitable skill at stirring up a climatic finish.

© Wm. E. Runyan 2015

SERGEI RACHMANINOV

(1873–1943)

Symphony No.2 in E minor, Op.27

I. Largo - Allegro moderato

II. Scherzo: Allegro molto

III. Adagio

IV. Finale: Allegro vivace

Rachmaninov’s symphonic debut was a disaster. In March 1897 the premiere of his First Symphony was so bad that critic Cesar Cui described it as sounding like ‘a program symphony on the seven plagues of Egypt’, and Rachmaninov asked himself how the conductor, composer Alexander Glazunov, ‘can conduct so badly. I am not speaking now of his conducting technique (one can’t ask that of him) but about his musicianship. He feels nothing when he conducts. It’s as if he understands nothing’. In fact it would seem that the fiasco was caused by Glazunov’s being drunk, but whatever the reason, the experience plunged Rachmaninov into a period of depression. As a result, he consulted well-known hypnotist Nikolai Dahl. He composed, or rather completed, nothing substantial for some three years.

The composer later recalled that ‘my relations had told Dr. Dahl that he must

at all costs cure me of my apathetic condition and achieve such results that I would again begin to compose’. By the turn of the century Rachmaninov’s confidence had largely returned, and he was able to compose the Piano Concerto No.2 in 1901. The success of that work in turn inaugurated a string of major pieces: the Cello Sonata, Second Suite for Piano Duo, a number of choral works and two operas – The Miserly Knight and Francesca da Rimini, based on Dante, and one of many instances where Rachmaninov’s music seems preoccupied with notions of death and judgement in the hereafter.

In 1906, Rachmaninov began work on his Second Symphony – though why he wanted to, given his experience with the First, is a mystery, and it cost him a great deal of effort. But its premiere in St Petersburg in 1908, with Rachmaninov conducting, was a triumph. Moreover, the work won him his second Glinka Prize.

Until comparatively recently it was common for this substantial work to be given in a form which dispensed with up to a third of the music, and while the composer was partly responsible, his attitude to such butchery is clear from the story of his encounter with Eugene Ormandy in Philadelphia. The conductor asked Rachmaninov to make some cuts to the work; after several hours the composer returned the score with two bars crossed out.

It is a truism that cutting great works only makes them seem longer as the proportions of a work are distorted by too much material being removed. The Second Symphony is long but its structure is beautifully proportioned, and precisely as long as it needs to be.

The overall effect is spaciousness, in which long melodies unfurl at a relatively leisurely pace to give the impression of ultra-Romantic spontaneity. It is

in four movements, beginning with a slow introduction that serves to build expectation and whet the appetite for the main material of the allegro to which it leads. It is almost always described as mysterious, with one writer suggesting that it ‘surely’ evokes the Russian steppe. The transition into the main allegro body of the movement is made by solo cor anglais, establishing a pattern in the work, where structural transitions are often announced by wind solos. The allegro is a study in contrasts, ranging between passages of intensely turbulent and serene music.

Rachmaninov places the scherzo, or dance movement, second. This serves the important purpose of restoring an air of musical regularity and emotional predictability after the rollercoaster ride of the first movement. What could be more upbeat than the colourful wind scoring and bright horn calls of this scherzo, or its contrastingly long, songful melody? And in the central trio section, commentators are generally agreed that Rachmaninov is evoking the bustle of village life complete with the deep tolling of church bells and a hymnal procession. But at the end of the movement, which is also the turning-point of the symphony, there is an unsettling moment: the lively music of the scherzo comes apart through the interventions of a brass chorale based on the Dies irae. This Gregorian chant describes the ‘day of wrath’ when humanity will be judged by God at the end of history when the dead shall rise from the ashes. Here the effect is a little like those religious images where the Grim Reaper stands unseen near a crowd of happy people.

Much of what has gone before has been derived from this theme. From the very opening gesture, the melodic material is dominated by notes whose contours outline a stepwise fall, a stepwise rise and wider fall. Rachmaninov’s structural

sense is matched by an economy of thematic material.

Commentators have noted similarities between the adagio third movement and the love scene from Rachmaninov’s Francesca da Rimini, yet in this frank eroticism the Dies irae is never far below the music’s surface. The movement begins with one of Rachmaninov’s most inspired, soaring themes (which has been prefigured in the first movement) for the first violins, full of unexpected yearning dissonances. This is succeeded by an equally gorgeous tune for clarinet solo and yet one more for strings and oboe. The climax of the movement, which grows out of the elaboration of these three melodies, is arguably the most powerful in the whole work and it dispels any pessimism in favour of a Tchaikovskian finale.

In the last movement Rachmaninov achieves a kind of Beethovenian triumph. While the music revisits certain themes and moods from earlier in the work, it is clear that a watershed has been reached. The mood is buoyant, the tonality predominantly major and the down-up-down contour of the Dies irae is often turned literally upside down. Whether the work is programmatic in any real sense is unclear, and we can assume that Rachmaninov, like Tchaikovsky, was suspicious of attempts to ‘translate’ his music. And Rachmaninov was by no means religious, but in view of the ‘Francesca’ link and the references to the Dies irae it seems to be a work in which anguish and the ominous presence of death are dispelled by the power of love.

© Gordon Kerry 2007/14

Guests of Note DINNER

SERIES

Across three separate events, we warmly invite you to share an intimate evening of conversation, fine food, wine – and of course music! – with some of the biggest superstars from our 2023 Season.

Best of all, every ticket raises funds to support the Orchestra’s core artistic program – helping the MSO continue presenting the best artists, thrilling repertoire, and world-class orchestral performances.

DINNER #1

An evening with Jaime Martín & Ray Chen

Saturday 1 July 2023

DINNER #2

An evening with Jaime Martín & Javier Perianes

Saturday 22 July 2023

DINNER #3

An evening with Benjamin Northey & Deborah Cheetham

Fraillon AO

Sunday 15 October 2023

For more information and to book your ticket, please scan the QR code or call MSO Philanthropy team on 03 8646 1551

Supporters

MSO PATRON

The Honourable Linda Dessau AC CVO, Governor of Victoria

CHAIRMAN’S CIRCLE

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Di Jameson OAM and Frank Mercurio

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Anonymous

ARTIST CHAIR BENEFACTORS

Chief Conductor Jaime Martín Mr Marc

Besen AC and the late Mrs Eva Besen AO

Cybec Assistant Conductor Chair

Carlo Antonioli Cybec Foundation

Concertmaster Dale Barltrop

David Li AM and Angela Li

Assistant Concertmaster

Tair Khisambeev Di Jameson OAM and Frank Mercurio

Young Composer in Residence

Melissa Douglas Cybec Foundation

2023 Composer in Residence

Mary Finsterer Kim Williams AM

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Shirley and Jeffrey Zajac

Anonymous (4)

PLAYER PATRONS $1,000+

Dr Sally Adams

Anita and Graham Anderson

Australian Decorative & Fine Arts Society

Geoffrey and Vivienne Baker

Robbie Barker

Allen and Kathryn Bloom

Michael Bowles and Alma Gill

Joyce Bown

Professor Ian Brighthope

Miranda Brockman

Drs John D L Brookes and Lucy V Hanlon

Jill and Christopher Buckley

Dr Robin Burns and Dr Roger Douglas

Ronald and Kate Burnstein

Kaye Cleary

John and Mandy Collins

Andrew Crockett AM and Pamela Crockett

Mrs Nola Daley

Panch Das and Laurel Young-Das

Caroline Davies

Michael Davies

Natasha Davies for the Trikojus Education Fund

Rick and Sue Deering

Suzanne Dembo

John and Anne Duncan

Jane Edmanson OAM

Diane Fisher

Grant Fisher and Helen Bird

Alex Forrest

Frank Tisher OAM and Dr Miriam Tisher

Applebay Pty Ltd

David and Esther Frenkiel OAM

Anthony Garvey and Estelle O’Callaghan

David I Gibbs AM and Susie O’Neill

Sonia Gilderdale

Dr Celia Godfrey

Dr Marged Goode

Dr Sandra Hacker AO and Mr Ian Kennedy AM

Dawn Hales

David Hardy

Tilda and the late Brian Haughney

Cathy Henry

Dr Jennifer Henry

Anthony and Karen Ho

Peter and Jenny Hordern

Katherine Horwood

Penelope Hughes

Shyama Jayaswal

Basil and Rita Jenkins

Sandy Jenkins

Sue Johnston

John Kaufman

Angela Kayser

Drs Bruce and Natalie Kellett

Dr Anne and Leonard Kennedy

Akira Kikkawa

Tim Knaggs

Professor David Knowles and Dr Anne McLachlan

Dr Jerry Koliha and Marlene Krelle

Jane Kunstler

Ann Lahore

Kerry Landman

Kathleen and Coran Lang

Bryan Lawrence

Phil Lewis

Andrew Lockwood

Elizabeth H Loftus

Chris and Anna Long

Gabe Lopata

John MacLeod

Eleanor & Phillip Mancini

Marshall Segan in memory of Berek Segan

OBE and Marysia Segan

Aaron McConnell

Ian McDonald

Wayne McDonald and Kay Schroer

Ray McHenry

John and Rosemary McLeod

Don and Anne Meadows

Dr Eric Meadows

Professor Geoffrey Metz

Sylvia Miller

Ian Morrey and Geoffrey Minter

Anthony Morton

Laurence O’Keefe and Christopher James

Roger Parker and Ruth Parker

Susan Pelka

Ian Penboss

Kerryn Pratchett

Professor Charles Qin OAM and Kate Ritchie

Eli Raskin

Jan and Keith Richards

James Ring

Dr Peter Rogers and Cathy Rogers OAM

Dr Ronald and Elizabeth Rosanove

Marie Rowland

Jan Ryan

Martin and Susan Shirley

P Shore

John E Smith

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

The Reverend Noel Whale

Edward & Paddy White

Nic and Ann Willcock

Robert and Diana Wilson

Richard Withers

Lorraine Woolley

Youth Music Foundation

Anonymous (13)

OVERTURE PATRONS $500+

Margaret Abbey PSM

Jane Allan and Mark Redmond

Mario M Anders

Jenny Anderson

Dr Judith Armstrong and Robyn Dalziel

Doris Au

Benevity Australia Online Giving Foundation

Mr Peter Batterham

Peter Berry and Amanda Quirk

Dr William Birch AM

Dr Robert Brook

Elizabeth Brown

Suzie Brown OAM and the late Harvey Brown

John Brownbill

Roger and Coll Buckle

Jungpin Chen

Charmaine Collins

Dr John Collins

Dr Sheryl Coughlin and Paul Coughlin

Judith Cowden in memory of violinist

Margaret Cowden

Gregory Crew

Dr Oliver Daly and Matilda Daly

Merrowyn Deacon

Bruce Dudon

Melissa and Aran Fitzgerald

Brian Florence

Elizabeth Foster

Chris Freelance

Mary Gaidzkar

Simon Gaites

David and Geraldine Glenny

Hugo and Diane Goetze

Louise Gourlay OAM

Jan and the late Robert Green

Christine Grenda

George Hampel AM KC and Felicity Hampel AM SC

Geoff Hayes

Jim Hickey

William Holder

Rod Home

R A Hook

Gillian Horwood

Geoff and Denise Illing

Wendy Johnson

Peter Kempen AM

John and Christine Keys

Belinda and Alexandra King

Dr Kim Langfield-Smith

Janet and Ross Lapworth

Pauline and David Lawton

Paschalina Leach

Dr Jenny Lewis

Sharon Li

Dr Susan Linton

The Podcast Reader

Morris and Helen Margolis

Janice Mayfield

Shirley A McKenzie

Dr Alan Meads and Sandra Boon

Marie Misiurak

Joan Mullumby

Valerie Newman

Dr Judith S Nimmo

Estelle O’Callaghan

Brendan O’Donnell

David Oppenheim

Sarah Patterson

Adriana and Sienna Pesavento

Geoffrey Ravenscroft

Alfonso Reina and Marjanne Rook

Professor John Rickard

Dr Anne Ryan

Viorica Samson

Carolyn Sanders

Dr Nora Scheinkestel

Julia Schlapp

Madeline Soloveychik

Dr Alex Starr

Dyan Stewart

Ruth Stringer

Tom Sykes

Reverend Angela Thomas

Mely Tjandra

Rosemary Warnock

Amanda Watson

Michael Whishaw

Deborah Whithear and Dr Kevin Whithear

OAM

Dr Susan Yell

Anonymous (14)

CONDUCTOR’S CIRCLE

Jenny Anderson

David Angelovich

G C Bawden and L de Kievit

Lesley Bawden

Joyce Bown

Mrs Jenny Bruckner and the late Mr John Bruckner

Ken Bullen

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

Grace Kass and the late George Kass

Sylvia Lavelle

Pauline and David Lawton

Cameron Mowat

Ruth Muir

David Orr

Matthew O’Sullivan

Rosia Pasteur

Penny Rawlins

Joan P Robinson

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

Peter and Elisabeth Turner

Michael Ulmer AO

The Hon. Rosemary Varty

Terry Wills Cooke OAM and the late Marian Wills Cooke

Mark Young

Anonymous (19)

The MSO gratefully acknowledges the support of the following Estates:

Norma Ruth Atwell

Angela Beagley

Christine Mary Bridgart

The Cuming Bequest

Margaret Davies

Neilma Gantner

The Hon Dr Alan Goldberg AO QC

Enid Florence Hookey

Gwen Hunt

Family and Friends of James Jacoby

Audrey Jenkins

Joan Jones

Pauline Marie Johnston

C P Kemp

Peter Forbes MacLaren

Joan Winsome Maslen

Lorraine Maxine Meldrum

Prof Andrew McCredie

Jean Moore

Joan P Robinson

Maxwell Schultz

Miss Sheila Scotter AM MBE

Marion A I H M Spence

Molly Stephens

Gwennyth St John

Halinka Tarczynska-Fiddian

Jennifer May Teague

Albert Henry Ullin

Jean Tweedie

Herta and Fred B Vogel

Dorothy Wood

COMMISSIONING CIRCLE

Mary Armour

Cecilie Hall and the Late Hon Michael Watt KC

Tim and Lyn Edward

Kim Williams AM

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

The Kate and Stephen Shelmerdine Family Foundation

Michael Ullmer AO and Jenny Ullmer

Jason Yeap OAM – Mering Management Corporation

ADOPT A MUSICIAN

Mr Marc Besen AC and

the late Mrs Eva Besen AO

Chief Conductor Jaime Martín

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

Margaret Jackson AC

Nicolas Fleury

Di Jameson OAM and Frank Mercurio

Elina Fashki, Benjamin Hanlon, Tair Khisambeev, Christopher Moore

Dr Elizabeth A Lewis AM

Anthony Chataway

David Li AM and Angela Li

Dale Barltrop

Gary McPherson

Rachel Shaw

Anne Neil

Eleanor Mancini

Hyon-Ju Newman

Patrick Wong

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

HONORARY APPOINTMENTS

Life Members

Mr Marc Besen AC

John Gandel AC and Pauline Gandel AC

Sir Elton John CBE

Harold Mitchell AC

Lady 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

Mrs Eva Besen AO

John Brockman OAM

The Honourable Alan Goldberg AO QC

Roger Riordan AM

Ila Vanrenen

MSO ARTISTIC FAMILY

Jaime Martín

Chief Conductor

Xian Zhang

Principal Guest Conductor

Benjamin Northey

Principal Conductor in Residence

Carlo Antonioli

Cybec Assistant Conductor

Sir Andrew Davis CBE

Conductor Laureate

Hiroyuki Iwaki †

Conductor Laureate (1974–2006)

Warren Trevelyan-Jones

MSO Chorus Director

Siobhan Stagg

Soloist in Residence

Gondwana Voices

Ensemble in Residence

Christian Li

Young Artist in Association

Mary Finsterer

Composer in Residence

Melissa Douglas

Cybec Young Composer in Residence

Christopher Moore

Creative Producer, MSO Chamber

Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO

MSO First Nations Creative Chair

Dr Anita Collins

Creative Chair for Learning and Engagement

Artistic Ambassadors

Tan Dun

Lu Siqing

MSO BOARD

Chairman

David Li AM

Co-Deputy Chairs

Di Jameson OAM

Helen Silver AO

Managing Director

Sophie Galaise

Board Directors

Shane Buggle

Andrew Dudgeon AM

Martin Foley

Lorraine Hook

Margaret Jackson AC

David Krasnostein AM

Gary McPherson

Farrel Meltzer

Edgar Myer

Glenn Sedgwick

Mary Waldron

Company Secretary

Oliver Carton

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 Premier Partners

Education Partner

Major Partners

Orchestral Training Partner

Venue Partner

Government Partners

Supporting Partners

Quest Southbank Bows for Strings Ernst & Young

Media and Broadcast Partners

Trusts and Foundations

Program Supporters

Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in Melbourne

East meets West

Ministry of Culture and Tourism China

Supporting Partners Consortium Partners

Supporters

Xiaojian Ren & Qian Li

Mr Wanghua Chu & Dr Shirley Chu

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

Freemasons Foundation Victoria