Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique

Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique

14–17 July

Arts Centre Melbourne, Hamer Hall

Artists

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

Jaime Martín conductor

Alexandra Oomens soprano*

Stephanie Dillon mezzo soprano*

Gondwana Voices*

Lyn Williams AM children’s chorus director*

Program

MICHAEL ATHERTON Shall we dream?*

MENDELSSOHN A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Incidental music (excerpts)*

– INTERVAL –

BERLIOZ Symphonie Fantastique

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

*These pieces will only be performed on July 14 and July 15.

Concert events

Pre-concert talk: 14 & 15 July at 6:45pm in Stalls Foyer, Level 2 at Hamer Hall. Learn more about the music with a pre-concert talk with MSO Library Manager

Luke Speedy-Hutton.

Post-concert talk: 17 July at 7:45pm in Stalls Foyer, Level 2 at Hamer Hall. Stick around for an informative and entertaining post-concert talk with Cybec Assistant Conductor Carlo Antonioli and MSO Chief Conductor Jaime Martín.

Duration

14–15 July: 2 hours and 5 minutes including interval. 17 July: one hour with no interval.^

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

^ Quick Fix at Half Six is proudly presented by TarraWarra Estate

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.

Musicians Performing in this Concert

FIRST VIOLINS

Zoe Black*

Guest Concertmaster

Tair Khisambeev

Assistant Concertmaster

Di Jameson OAM and Frank Mercurio#

Peter Edwards

Assistant Principal

Emily Beauchamp^

Kirsty Bremner

Sarah Curro

Peter Fellin

Deborah Goodall

Karla Hanna

Anne-Marie Johnson

Kirstin Kenny

Eleanor Mancini

Anne Neil#

Susannah Ng*

Ioana Tache*

Kathryn Taylor

SECOND VIOLINS

Matthew Tomkins Principal

The Gross Foundation#

Robert Macindoe

Associate Principal

Mary Allison

Isin Cakmakçioglu

Jacqueline Edwards*

Freya Franzen

Cong Gu

Newton Family in memory of Rae Rothfield#

Isy Wasserman

Philippa West

Andrew Dudgeon AM#

Patrick Wong

Hyon Ju Newman#

Roger Young

Shane Buggle and Rosie Callanan#

VIOLAS

Christopher Moore Principal

Di Jameson OAM and Frank Mercurio#

Merewyn Bramble*

Heidi von Bernewitz*

Lauren Brigden

Katharine Brockman

Anthony Chataway

Dr Elizabeth E Lewis AM#

William Clark

Karen Columbine*

Ceridwen Davies*

Gabrielle Halloran

Jenny Khafagi

Fiona Sargeant

CELLOS

David Berlin Principal

Rachael Tobin

Associate Principal

Anonymous#

Elina Faskhi

Assistant Principal

Di Jameson OAM and Frank Mercurio#

Jonathan Chim*

Rohan de Korte

Andrew Dudgeon AM#

Sarah Morse

Rebecca Proietto

Caleb Wong

Michelle Wood

Andrew and Judy Rogers#

DOUBLE BASSES

Jonathon Coco

Acting Principal

Caitlin Bass*

Rohan Dasika

Benjamin Hanlon

Di Jameson OAM and Frank Mercurio#

Suzanne Lee

Stephen Newton

Sophie Galaise and Clarence Fraser#

Emma Sullivan*

FLUTES

Prudence Davis Principal

Anonymous#

Wendy Clarke

Associate Principal

Sarah Beggs

Alyse Faith^

Correct as of 6 July 2023

Learn more about our musicians on the MSO website

OBOES

Michael Pisani

Acting Associate Principal

Ann Blackburn

The Rosemary Norman Foundation#

COR ANGLAIS

Rachel Curkpatrick

Acting Principal

Emmanuel Cassimatis*

CLARINETS

Philip Arkinstall

Associate Principal Oliver Crofts^

Craig Hill

Rosemary and the late Douglas Meagher#

BASSOONS

Jack Schiller Principal

Elise Millman

Associate Principal

Natasha Thomas

Dr Martin Tymms and Patricia Nilsson#

CONTRABASSOON

Brock Imison Principal

HORNS

Nicolas Fleury Principal

Margaret Jackson AC#

Ian Wildsmith*

Guest Associate Principal

Abbey Edlin

Nereda Hanlon and Michael Hanlon AM#

Rebecca Luton

Rachel Shaw

Gary McPherson#

TRUMPETS

Owen Morris Principal

Shane Hooton

Associate Principal

Glenn Sedgwick and Dr Anita Willaton#

William Evans

Rosie Turner

John and Diana Frew#

TROMBONES

Don Immel

Acting Principal

Richard Shirley

Mike Szabo Principal Bass Trombone

TUBA

Timothy Buzbee Principal

Jeff Baker*

TIMPANI

Brent Miller* Guest Principal

John Arcaro

Tim and Lyn Edward#

PERCUSSION

Shaun Trubiano Principal

Robert Cossom

Drs Rhyl Wade and Clem Gruen#

Greg Sully*

HARP

Yinuo Mu Principal Delyth Stafford*

^ MSO Academy 2023

# Position supported by

* Denotes Guest Musician

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.

London based Australian soprano

Alexandra Oomens is a Harewood Artist with English National Opera. She is a graduate of the Royal Academy Opera Programme at the Royal Academy of Music, and an alumna of the Georg Solti Accademia, where she worked with Maestro Alessandro Corbelli, Barbara Frittoli, and Sir Richard Bonynge.

This season Alexandra will sing Elsie in Yeoman of the Guard, A lady in waiting in a concert version of Gloriana, and Frasquita in Carmen for ENO. She will also make her debut at The Grange Festival as Euridice in Gluck’s Orfeo and Belinda in Dido and Aeneas. In concert she will perform in Mendelsohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Messiah with The King’s Consort, Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu Nostri with Pinchgut Opera and the French premiere of Unsuk Chin’s Puzzles and Games with Orchestra Philharmonique de Radio France at the festival Présences.

In the 2023–2024 season Alexandra will be adding the roles of Pamina and Papagena to her repertoire, both with English National Opera.

Jaime Martín conductor

Alexandra Oomens soprano

Stephanie Dillon mezzo soprano

Mezzo soprano Stephanie Dillon was born and raised in Moree, NSW, and is now based in Sydney. Stephanie is a versatile singer, showcasing her “distinctively edged sound” and “full-bodied mezzo warmth” in repertoire ranging from the Baroque to contemporary periods. Stephanie enjoys a varied career, both as a soloist and ensemble singer.

Stephanie has been a member of the Choir of St James’ King Street, Sydney since 2017. Stephanie enjoys regular collaborations with professional organisations in Australia, including Bach Akademie Australia, the Song Company, Pinchgut Opera, and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Stephanie is the coArtistic Director of new vocal ensemble, CASTALIA Vocal Consort.

In 2022, Stephanie performed in various projects with Bach Akademie Australia, tours with the Song Company and the Australian Chamber Orchestra, and two programs with Pinchgut Opera, including Monteverdi’s Vespers.

Notable 2023 engagements include Bach St John Passion with Christ Church St Laurence Sydney, Bach Magnificat in D with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, projects with Bach Akademie Australia, and various concerts with CASTALIA Vocal Consort. This is Stephanie’s first appearance with the with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

Lyn Williams AM children’s chorus director

Lyn Williams is widely regarded as one of the finest conductors of choirs around the world. For over 30 years, Lyn has harnessed the incredible power of young voices through her worldrenowned ensembles: the Sydney Children’s Choir, Gondwana Voices, the Gondwana Indigenous Children’s Choir and Marliya. Her choirs have appeared with the world’s leading orchestras and conductors and at festivals including the BBC Proms and Polyfollia.

Lyn has commissioned over 200 works from composers across Australia and around the world and her ability to forge innovative and meaningful collaborations is widely recognised. She continues to foster strong relationships with First Nations artists across Australia, bringing together cultural custodians and composers to create new works which preserve and celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island languages and cultures.

In 2017, Lyn received the Australia Council for the Arts’ Don Banks Music Award for outstanding and sustained contribution to music in Australia, in recognition of her lifework as founder and director of Gondwana Choirs. In 2021, Lyn received the Sir Bernard Heinze Memorial Award for outstanding contribution to Australian music.

Gondwana Voices

Founded by Lyn Williams AM in 1997, Gondwana Voices is Australia’s national children’s choir for treble singers aged 10-17. It regularly performs with the country’s leading ensembles and has built a reputation for performances of outstanding musicianship. The choristers of Gondwana Voices come from all around Australia, from the cities, the suburbs and the bush to perform captivating and challenging music. The choir tours nationally and internationally and has taken part in international choral festivals including the World Symposium on Choral Music, Rotterdam; America Cantat, Mexico City; Polyfollia, Normandy; and the BBC Proms. In 2019, Gondwana Voices performed Brett Dean’s Vexations and Devotions with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra under maestro Vladimir Jurowksi at the Berlin Philharmonie. The choir has recorded three albums for ABC Classics.

Gondwana Voices Chorus List

Arlie Bragg

Heidi Campbell

Rachel Carpenter

Holly Dauparas

Paige Easson

Grace Endres-Blakeney

Madeline Flannery

Sienna Flannery

Maddie Fletcher

Hannah Green

Sonya Gussak

Maya Hersch

Abigail Hughes

Zoë Humberstone

Lucia Juarez

Max Junge

Bryn Lymburner

Dylan Marrick

Teresa Mayo

Nathan Nguyen

Sofia Nicholas

Beatrix Parton

Chelsea Porritt

Mira Prasad

Pyari Quereshi

Mia Rogers

Elizabeth Samuel

Saskia Scheib

India Smith

Eleanor Tehan

Lillian Tran

Zailey Waddingham

Claira Walker

Ebbeny Williams-Cherry

Erin Winsbury

Evelyn Zhu

BERLIOZ’S SYMPHONIE

Program Notes

MICHAEL ATHERTON

(born 1950)

Shall we dream?

Gondwana Voices

Michael Atherton’s Shall we dream? is a movement from his 1995 work, The Mahogany Ship. A mahogany ship, relic or legend, is a thing to stir the imaginations of Australians. It was in 1846 that Captain John Mason of Port Fairy, Victoria, was riding his horse along a beach at Warrnambool, when he sighted a shipwreck. His written account of the incident has led to almost a hundred and fifty years of speculation over its origin and disappearance.

Michael Atherton provided a single melody from which Lyn Williams has created a mesmeric dream soundscape. The work is created anew each time it is performed, designed specifically for each space and its acoustic.

FELIX MENDELSSOHN (1809–1847)

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Overture and Incidental music, Op.21 & 61

Overture

Scherzo

Song with Chorus ‘You spotted snakes’ Intermezzo

Nocturne

Wedding March

Funeral March

Finale

Alexandra Oomens soprano

Stephanie Dillon mezzo soprano

Gondwana Voices

The Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream has an elfin imagination and humour which neither Mendelssohn nor anyone else has ever surpassed. He was only 17 when he accomplished this brief miracle, orchestrating it with the deftness and delicacy that still set it apart from the orchestral sound of any other composer.

This was at the time when Felix and his beloved sister, Fanny, made their first acquaintance with Shakespeare in the famous Romantic German translations of Tieck and Schlegel, which are among the poetic masterpieces of German literature. In his enthusiasm Mendelssohn himself began to dream of composing music as a companion to Shakespeare’s immortal Dream.

In a letter written from the family home in Berlin early in July, 1826, and addressed to Fanny, Mendelssohn wrote: ‘I have grown accustomed to composing in our garden; there I completed two piano pieces in A major and E minor. Today or tomorrow I am going to dream there A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This is, however, an enormous audacity…’.

A few days later, on July 18, Felix wrote his sister an enthusiastic report of the first Berlin performance of Weber’s Oberon Overture, and ended his letter with the words: ‘Ever since you left, my love for you goes in E minor’ – a reference to the opening Allegro of the overture A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which is in E minor.

Years later, when Mendelssohn was asked by the publishers Breitkopf and Härtel to recall the ideas that had suggested the thematic sequence of the Overture and had so fired his imagination, Mendelssohn wrote:

‘…it is impossible for me to outline for the [concert] program the sequence of ideas that gave rise to the composition, for just this sequence of ideas is my Overture. It follows the play closely, however, so that it may perhaps be very proper to indicate the outstanding situations of the drama in order that the audience may have Shakespeare in mind or form an idea of the piece. I think it should be enough to point out that the fairy rulers, Oberon and Titania, appear throughout the play with all their people…At the end, after everything has been satisfactorily settled and the principal players have joyfully left the stage, the elves follow them, bless the house, and disappear with the dawn. So the play ends, and my Overture too.’

Mendelssohn’s teacher, Adolph Bernhard Marx, has left us a rather detailed account of the growth of the Overture score, with understandable emphasis on the importance of the advice which Marx gave to the young genius and which Felix, after some initial pique, accepted enthusiastically. In any case, the entire composition of the Overture, including whatever revisions were made at Marx’s instigation, took less than a month. According to Felix’s letter to Fanny, he cannot have begun actual work on the score before 7 July

and the original score, now in the Berlin State Library, bears 6 August as the date of completion.

A popular story, passed down to us by Mendelssohn’s friend, Ferdinand Hiller, according to which Mendelssohn told Hiller that he worked on the Overture for a whole year during his spare time between lectures at the University, cannot possibly be true, since Mendelssohn did not enter the University before Easter of 1827. At that time, as the Mendelssohn authority Eric Werner points out, the Overture was not only completed but had already been performed at least twice in public. The first public performance of the Overture was at a concert at Stettin, conducted by Carl Loewe, on 20 February, 1827.

Youthful miracles are seldom repeated. Yet, near the end of his life Mendelssohn did match that boyish inspiration. He was exactly twice 17 when the King of Prussia invited him to compose incidental music for a Berlin production of Ein Sommernachtstraum. The man responsible for the royal command, the director of the new production, was Ludwig Tieck, the poet and co-translator of the Shakespeare text. Tieck was famous among his contemporaries as one of the most musical of German poets. Under the stimulus of this association, Mendelssohn’s youthful enthusiasm for Shakespeare surged back. With the most felicitous ease, Mendelssohn wove the early themes into new pieces, and new ideas flowed with the Romantic freshness, and the grace and imagination of old. They also flowed with a subtlety far beyond mere thematic quotation.

The first performance of the incidental music was part of the new dramatic production at the Neues Palais in Potsdam on October 14, 1843. Only the court and invited guests were admitted. And only after the success of

SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE

BERLIOZ’S

the production was established beyond all question was it offered to the public at large in the Royal Theatre in Berlin, usually with sold-out houses.

Although Shakespeare’s play already requires copious use of music, Mendelssohn and Tieck in their collaboration went much further. Not only did they supply music for Shakespeare’s songs; Mendelssohn composed substantial entr’actes and long stretches of background music to Shakespeare’s dialogue as well as dances, marches, fanfares, and sometimes just a single note to lend atmosphere to a word or action on the stage.

Selections from the complete incidental music are usually prepared for concert performances.

© Yvonne Frindle

HECTOR BERLIOZ (1803–1869)

Symphonie fantastique, Op.14

I. Dreams, Passions (Largo – Allegro agitato e appassionato assai)

II. A Ball (Valse: Allegro non troppo)

III. Scene in the Fields (Adagio)

IV. March to the Scaffold (Allegretto non troppo)

V. Dream of the Witches’ Sabbath (Larghetto – Allegro)

The first performance of the Symphonie fantastique on 5 December 1830 marked a turning point in Berlioz’s career. It was through this work that he first became known; his extensive influence on 19 th century composers dates from it. For those in the audience it was also a significant event, which opened a new era in music. For despite its apparent obeisance to classical procedures, this music sounded like no music ever heard before.

The actual music of the Symphonie fantastique is surrounded by a thick hedge of literary and biographical associations. Berlioz himself is largely responsible for this. Firstly there is the tale of Harriet Smithson, a hapless English actress whose portrayal of Ophelia had captured Berlioz’s imagination. In 1830 he wrote to a friend that the Symphonie was to depict the development of his ‘infernal passion’ for Miss Smithson. 20 years and two disastrous marriages later, he wrote in his Memoirs that the work had been written under the influence of Goethe’s Faust. But the early association stuck well. If there is one thing everyone knows about Berlioz and the Symphonie fantastique, it is the sad tale of his relationship with Harriet Smithson!

directed should accompany the Symphonie whenever it was played. The program bristles with literary allusions: to Chateaubriand, to Shakespeare, Goethe, Hoffmann, De Quincey. In brief, it deals with a young musician, in the toils of a desperate passion for a woman who embodies his romantic ideal. The vagaries of feeling occasioned by his passion are the subject of the first movement. In the following movements we see him in various situations: at a ball, in the midst of nature in the country, in the grip of an opium dream witnessing his own execution, and partaking in a Witches’ Sabbath, where his beloved appears transformed into a demon’s harlot.

The program is of considerable interest in itself as an index of artistic preoccupations at that time: the discovery of the unconscious (the opium dream), the interest in the demoniac, the fascination with the monstrous and bizarre – the ‘fantastic’ of the work’s title. In actual fact, the label ‘fantastic’ only applies directly to the last two movements, and it is worth noticing that trombones and tubas are silent until these last two movements, where their entry reinforces the change of atmosphere.

Despite its inherent literary interest, much debate has centred on the relevance of the program to the actual music of the Symphonie. There is no doubt that Berlioz captured the contemporary imagination very well with it, and, more practically, that it helped the audience to accept more readily the strangeness of the music in those early performances. But is the program anything more than a ‘promotional aid’? Does it add to, or distract from, our appreciation of the music of the Symphonie?

Berlioz revised the program no less than four times, modifying it quite significantly in the process. He also modified his

view of its usefulness, finally directing that, whenever the Symphonie is played alone, without its stage sequel Lélio, the program was not to be distributed. However, as in Harold in Italy, the titles of the movements must be retained. The composer sensed rightly that the music was coherent and comprehensible in its own terms, and did not need any added literary explanation.

The true originality of the Symphonie fantastique lies in the music itself. The many novelties of its melody, harmony and orchestration strike our ears even today. Most significantly, however, the work embodies an entirely new conception of dramatic instrumental music. In formulating this new dramatic ideal, Berlioz drew equally on the examples of Beethoven and Shakespeare – seen in the light of his own beliefs about the expressive capabilities of instrumental music. In realising the new dramatic ideal in his music, Berlioz significantly modified classical symphonic practices in several respects: the number and grouping of the movements, the character of the individual movements and the treatment of the main theme.

The ‘hero’ of Berlioz’s symphonic drama is not the musician of the program, but the first theme of the Allegro (Passions) section of the first movement. This theme is the subject and source of action in the whole work. Notice that it reappears – like an actor in a play, but unlike the theme of a Classical symphony – in each of the subsequent scenes of the drama. Berlioz uses solo instruments to complete the identity of the theme, to ‘characterise’ it. After the first movement, it appears most often on solo clarinet, though flute and oboe are also used in the Waltz and particularly in the pastoral third movement.

Development of the theme is projected into five specific ‘situations’ – another unusual feature, and one which again

has more in common with drama than with classical symphonic practice. Time and place are suggested by the movement titles. But the situations are evoked by the music itself, in the introduction that precedes each movement.

The movements are grouped symmetrically on either side of the central movement, the Scene in the Fields. The drama develops in an arc. It rises to its point of crisis with the appearance of the allegro theme in the Adagio third movement. From there it descends to the catastrophe in the last movement, the Dream of the Witches’ Sabbath, where the original identity of the allegro theme is destroyed by the forces of parody that are so potent in this movement. The most important dramatic events occur in the first, third and fifth movements. The other two movements, A Ball and March to the Scaffold, complement each other as episodes, or interludes, between the main movements.

Berlioz continued to develop his dramatic symphonic ideal in Harold in Italy – with its solo viola ‘hero’ – and in Roméo et Juliette, where symphonic form is further enlarged to embrace a play by Shakespeare. But perhaps he never again succeeded as perfectly as he does here in the Symphonie fantastique.

© Kay Dreyfus

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 worldclass orchestral performances.

COMING UP

An evening with Jaime Martín & Javier Perianes

Saturday 22 July 2023

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

CHAIRMAN’S CIRCLE

Mr Marc Besen AC and the late Mrs Eva Besen AO

Gandel Foundation

The Gross Foundation

Di Jameson OAM and Frank Mercurio

Harold Mitchell Foundation

Lady Potter AC CMRI

Cybec Foundation

The Pratt Foundation

The Ullmer Family Foundation

Anonymous

ARTIST CHAIR BENEFACTORS

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

PROGRAM BENEFACTORS

MSO 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

MSO Live Online Crown Resorts Foundation, Packer Family Foundation

MSO Education Anonymous

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

MSO For Schools Crown Resorts

Foundation, Packer Family Foundation, Department of Education, Victoria, through the Strategic Partnerships Program

Melbourne Music Summit Department of Education, Victoria, through the Strategic Partnerships Program

MSO Regional Touring Angor Foundation, William & Lindsay Brodie Foundation

Creative Victoria, Freemasons Foundation

Victoria, Robert Salzer Foundation, The Sir Andrew & Lady Fairley Foundation

The Pizzicato Effect Hume City Council’s Community Grants program, The Marian and E.H. Flack Trust, Flora & Frank Leith

Charitable Trust, Australian Decorative And Fine Arts Society, Anonymous

Sidney Myer Free Concerts Sidney Myer

MSO Trust Fund and the University of Melbourne

PLATINUM PATRONS $100,000+

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VIRTUOSO PATRONS $50,000+

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Weis Family Anonymous (1)

IMPRESARIO PATRONS $20,000+

H Bentley

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Anonymous (2)

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Maestro Jaime Martín

Farrel and Wendy Meltzer

Ian and Jeannie Paterson

Christopher Robinson and the late Joan P Robinson

Yashian Schauble

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Jason Yeap OAM – Mering Management Corporation

Anonymous (2)

PRINCIPAL PATRONS $5,000+

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Sophie Galaise and Clarence Fraser

Geelong Friends of the MSO

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Hilary Hall in memory of Wilma Collie

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Newton Family in memory of Rae Rothfield

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Janet H Bell

Alan and Dr Jennifer Breschkin

Patricia Brockman

Nigel and Sheena Broughton

Stuart Brown

Lynne Burgess

Dr Lynda Campbell

Breen Creighton and Elsbeth Hadenfeldt

Katherine Cusack

Leo de Lange

Sandra Dent

Dr Paul Nisselle AM

Elaine Walters OAM

Barry Fradkin OAM and Dr Pam Fradkin

Carrillo Gantner AC and Ziyin Gantner

Kim and Robert Gearon

Steinicke Family

Janette Gill

R Goldberg and Family

Goldschlager Family Charitable Foundation

Jennifer Gorog

C. M. Gray

Susan and Gary Hearst

Dr Keith Higgins and Dr Jane Joshi

Hartmut and Ruth Hofmann

Jenny Tatchell

John Jones

Mrs Qian Li

The Cuming Bequest

Margaret and John Mason OAM

H E McKenzie

Dr Isabel McLean

Ian Merrylees

Alan and Dorothy Pattison

David and Nancy Price

Peter Priest

Peter and Carolyn Rendit

Tom and Elizabeth Romanowski

Christopher Menz and Peter Rose

Liliane Rusek and Alexander Ushakoff

Jeffrey Sher KC and Diana Sher OAM

Barry Spanger

Peter J Stirling

Clayton and Christina Thomas

Janet Whiting AM

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

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

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

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

Government Partners

Venue Partner

Supporting Partners

Quest Southbank

Bows for Strings

Ernst & Young

Media and Broadcast Partners

Trusts and Foundations

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