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Penrith Symphony Orchestra offers audiences a grand array of musical masterworks, in a Symphonic Series of myths and legends, epic and intimate. The brilliant orchestration and colour of Stravinsky and Debussy opens the year, followed by a cinematic feast, and great classics.
The 2025 season showcases the orchestra’s own talented musicians, alongside exciting soloists, both emerging and established. PSO is proud to present The Jenny Bounds and Western Sydney University Composer Prizes, continuing to bring new and intriguing works to the concert stage in Western Sydney. This championing of young composers forms an integral part of our diverse programming, alongside much-loved highlights of the repertoire.
Favourites return in 2025; a fresh new collaboration with Emily Who in PSO’s Pops 4 Tots, alongside the magic of the Opera Gala and the tradition of The Family Christmas Concert.
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JENNY BOUNDS YOUNG COMPOSER PRIZE
BORODIN POLOVTSIAN DANCES
KHACHATURIAN ADAGIO from “Spartacus and Phrygia”
SAINT-SAËNS INTRODUCTION and RONDO CAPRICCIOSO
BRAHMS SYMPHONY No.2
Lara Dowdeswell Violin
Paul Terracini Conductor
Originally conceived as part of a larger operatic score, the Polovtsian Dances present an exhilarating spectacle for orchestra, followed by the soaring Romanticism of Khachaturian. Lara Dowdeswell appears as soloist in Saint-Saëns mellifluous and virtuosic violin showpiece, the Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso dazzles with its technical acrobatics and lyricism in equal measure. Grandly pastoral but with darkness ever lurking, Brahms second symphony was written over the summer of 1877, during a stay at the picturesque lakeside town of Pörtschach. This elegant and complex work brims with melody and emotion.
BEETHOVEN EGMONT OVERTURE
WSU COMPOSER PRIZE
BRUCH CONCERTO FOR VIOLIN AND VIOLA
BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY No.2
Marina Marsden Violin
Justine Marsden Viola
Paul Terracini Conductor
The heroic and expressive Egmont Overture opens a program of refined classics featuring Beethoven’s second symphony, its music bursting with restless energy and angst as the composer grappled with ever increasing hearing loss. Autumnal and lushly romantic, Bruch’s double concerto evokes a warm nostalgia, taking listeners on a momentary 19th Century Idyll.
WILLIAMS Star Wars Suite
WILLIAMS Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Suite
HISAISHI Symphonic Suite “Spirited Away”
SHORE Lord of the Rings Suite
Paul Terracini Conductor
Heroes, myths and legends abound as PSO presents a cinema epic of four complete film suites, featuring some of the greatest music from the biggest blockbusters of all time. Journey a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, with two scores from legendary composer for the big-screen, John Williams. Joe Hisaishi’s evocative score for Spirited Away features, before Howard Shore’s majestic writing for Lord of the Rings.
SAINT-SAËNS Piano Concerto No.5
DEBUSSY Prélude à l’aprés-midi d’un faune
STRAVINSKY Firebird Suite
Kian Chan Piano
Paul Terracini Conductor
An exotic fairy tale of mystical romanticism and brilliant orchestration, Stravinsky’s Firebird is the centrepiece of a kaleidoscopic program, also featuring the bravura showpiece of Saint-Saëns fifth piano concerto. The languid sensuality and subtle hues of Debussy’s dreamy masterpiece, Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun marked a modernist turning point with its premiere in 1894.
TCHAIKOVSKY NUTCRACKER SUITE ANDERSON SLEIGH RIDE MARKS RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER HANDEL HALLELUJAH CHORUS
Plus many more carols and festive favourites
Paul Terracini Conductor
Glenbrook Ballet Theatre
PSO Festival Chorus
Penrith Youth Orchestra
Come together with friends and family for a Christmas tradition. PSO is joined by the Festival Chorus, Penrith Youth Orchestra and Glenbrook Ballet Theatre to celebrate the joy of the festive season, with a selection of carols, popular favourites and orchestral delights.
MOZART
ROSSINI
VERDI
BIZET
PUCCINI
Paul Terracini Conductor
Sharon Zhai Soprano
Simon Kim Tenor
A magical evening of opera comes to the Joan, with wonderful moments from some of the greatest exponents of the genre. PSO welcomes back two compelling artists from Opera Australia in an unmissable program.
PENRITH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA FEATURING MUSICIANS FROM PENRITH YOUTH ORCHESTRA
ROSSINI WILLIAM TELL OVERTURE
BADELT PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN
MENKEN-ASHMAN UNDER THE SEA
STRAUSS THUNDER AND LIGHTNING POLKA
STRAUSS THE BLUE DANUBE
BRAHMS HUNGARIAN DANCE No.5
PAUL TERRACINI Conductor
EMILY WHO Presenter
Dive beneath the waves with Emily Who and Penrith Symphony Orchestra, as they embark on a musical journey of magic and imagination in Under the Sea. How does an orchestra work and what do all those instruments really look and sound like? Join us as we explore the sights and sounds of the ensemble together. You can sing and dance along, even make a splash and have a go conducting the full symphony orchestra. Maybe we’ll even find pirate treasure!