2018 Concerts

Paul Terracini conductor
Ayse Göknur Shanal soprano
Barbara Jin mezzo soprano
Nathan Bryon tenor
Jared Lillehagen bass

Penrith City Choir, Academy Singers, Warrimoo Chorale
Lucy McAlary  chorus director

PÄRT Summa
MOZART Requiem

Two sublime works are presented in this concert of transcendent beauty. Pärt’s Summa is a work of meditative reflection and a fitting prelude to the Mozart. The work marked the emergence of Arvo Pärt’s now signature minimalist, tintinnabuli style. Based on the Latin Credo, it employs this unique style in his own contemplation of the eternal.

Mozart did not live to see the final realisation of his Requiem, with mystery and intrigue surrounding its eventual completion after his death in 1791. This concert features Ayse Göknur Shanal, Barbara Jin, Nathan Bryon and Jared Lillehagen as soloists. The orchestra will also combine with the voices of Penrith City Choir, Warrimoo Chorale and Academy Singers in presenting this much-admired masterpiece, a fitting last utterance of genius that speaks of and to eternity.

J STRAUSS II Kaiser Walzer
TBA New works by Western Sydney Young Composers
TCHAIKOVSKY 1812 Overture
HARVEY Homage to Liszt
RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No. 2

It’s time for a party as PSO celebrates 30 years of music making. The program gives a nod to history while also looking forward to the future.

The joy and sophistication of Strauss’s Kaiser Walzer opens the evening. Originally written as a toast to the German Emperor from his Austrian counterpart, the work’s warmth and charm are as apparent as ever.

Two new works will be premiered – by the winners of the Western Sydney University composition prize held in association with PSO – before the first half concludes with the festive fireworks of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.

PSO presented Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2 at its very first concert in 1988. Internationally renowned Australian pianist Michael Kieran Harvey joins the orchestra in 2018 to perform this monumental and much-loved work. It is preceded by the pianist’s own dazzling solo composition, Homage to Liszt.

Paul Terracini conductor
Marina Marsden  violin
Justine Marsden viola

KEZIA YAP New Work (world premiere)
MOZART Sinfonia Concertante for Violin & Viola
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 6 “Pathétique”

Inspired by the musical styles he encountered on his recent European tour, and impressed by the musicians of the Mannheim orchestra, Mozart completed the Sinfonia Concertante in 1779. Sisters Marina and Justine Marsden, both members of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, join the PSO as soloists in this sublime work.

Continuing its tradition of championing the work of emerging composers, the orchestra will premiere an exciting new work by PSO Young Composer Award winner Kezia Yap.

Tchaikovsky’s dramatic and emotional sixth symphony was completed in August of 1893, and received its premiere only nine days before the composer’s untimely death. The work was well received immediately and rightly occupies a place in the repertoire as one of the great Romantic symphonies.

Sadaharu Muramatsu conductor
Andrei Hadap  piano

BRAHMS  Piano Concerto No. 1
DVOŘÁK  Symphony No. 9, “From The New World”

Sadaharu Muramatsu makes a welcome return to conduct the PSO in two of the greatest works of the orchestral repertoire.

Dvořák ninth symphony, From the New World, was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic and completed in 1893 while the composer was living in America. The work is evocative of both the composer’s European homeland and the wide-open spaces of the American landscape that inspired it. One of the most popular symphonies ever written, the enduring appeal of this masterpiece is abundantly apparent in many memorable themes and in its inspired orchestral writing.

Winner of the Conservatorium High School Concerto Competition, Andrei Hadap appears as soloist in the epic Piano Concerto No.1 by Brahms. The work was Brahms’s first-performed orchestral work, and foreshadows his later symphonic output. It occupies a rightful place amongst the great concertos.

George Ellis conductor and presenter

A selection of works introducing the orchestra, including excerpts from:

MOZART Marriage of Figaro Overture
BRAHMS Hungarian Dance
BIZET Habanera
DVORAK Symphony No. 8
COPLAND “Hoe Down” from Rodeo

How is music put together?
What do the instruments sound like?
How do they play together?

Come on an adventure with the PSO and George Ellis in Musical Opposites, a show taking you on a journey of exploration, discovering the ins and outs and ups and downs of the orchestra. Join the musicians of the orchestra in this fun and inspiring introduction to classical music for children and the whole family.

Sarah Penicka-Smith  conductor
Ashlee Woodgate soprano
Barbara Jin mezzo soprano
Brad Cooper tenor
Tristan Entwistle bass

Penrith City Choir, Academy Singers, Warrimoo Chorale
Lucy McAlary chorus director

Handel  Messiah

Residing in London since 1712, Handel had built his reputation writing opera in the Italian style, however as the public taste shifted he turned to the oratorio to recapture this earlier success. Messiah is his best-known work in this genre, and has been a fixture on the concert stage ever since its premiere in Dublin in 1742.

Handel’s much-loved work makes a return to PSO’s concert season in 2018 and will feature four exceptional young soloists. Sarah Penicka-Smith returns to conduct this performance where orchestra and soloists will be joined by the combined forces of Penrith City Choir, Academy Singers and Warrimoo Chorale.