Ryman Healthcare Winter Gala Lang Lang
Saturday 28 June at 7:30pm Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne
Artists
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Jaime Martín conductor
Lang Lang piano
Program
Ravel Alborada del gracioso [8’]
Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor [24’]
Interval [20’]
Mussorgsky orch. Ravel Pictures at an Exhibition [35’]
CONCERT EVENTS
Pre-concert talk: Learn more about the concert with MSO Head of Operations Callum Moncrieff at 6:45pm in the Stalls Foyer (Level 2) at Hamer Hall.
Running time: 1 hour and 45 minutes including interval. Timings listed are approximate. In consideration of your fellow patrons, the MSO thanks you for silencing and dimming the light on your phone.
The MSO Gala series is proudly presented by MSO Premier Partner, Ryman Healthcare.
Acknowledging Country
In the first project of its kind in Australia, the MSO has developed a musical Acknowledgement 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.
About 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 the MSO continues to grow its knowledge and understanding of what it means to truly honour the First People of this land, the musical acknowledgement of country will serve to bring those on stage and those in the audience together in a moment of recognition as we celebrate the longest continuing cultures in the world.
—Deborah Cheetham Fraillon
ao
Our musical Acknowledgement of Country, Long Time Living Here by Deborah Cheetham Fraillon ao, is performed at MSO concerts.
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is Australia’s preeminent orchestra, dedicated to creating meaningful experiences that transcend borders and connect communities. Through the shared language of music, the MSO delivers performances of the highest standard, enriching lives and inspiring audiences across the globe.
Woven into the cultural fabric of Victoria and with a history spanning more than a century, the MSO reaches five million people annually through performances, TV, radio and online broadcasts, as well as critically acclaimed recordings from its newly established recording label.
In 2025, Jaime Martín continues to lead the Orchestra as Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor. Maestro Martín leads an Artistic Family that includes Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor – Learning and Engagement Benjamin Northey, Cybec Assistant Conductor Leonard Weiss, MSO Chorus Director Warren Trevelyan-Jones, Composer in Residence Liza Lim am, Artist in Residence James Ehnes, First Nations Creative Chair Deborah Cheetham Fraillon ao, Cybec Young Composer in Residence Klearhos Murphy, Cybec First Nations Composer in Residence James Henry, Artist in Residence, Learning & Engagement Karen Kyriakou, Young Artist in Association Christian Li, and Artistic Ambassadors Tan Dun, Lu Siqing and Xian Zhang.
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.
MSO musicians performing in this concert
First Violins
Tair Khisambeev
Acting Associate
Concertmaster
Di Jameson OAM and Frank Mercurio*
Anne-Marie Johnson
Acting Assistant Concertmaster
David Horowicz*
Peter Edwards
Assistant Principal
Sarah Curro
Dr Harry Imber *
Peter Fellin
Deborah Goodall
Karla Hanna
Kirstin Kenny
Eleanor Mancini
Anne Neil*
Mark Mogilevski
Michelle Ruffolo
Oksana Thompson
Zoe Black
Jacqueline Edwards
Lynette Rayner
Second Violins
Matthew Tomkins
Principal
The Gross Foundation*
Jos Jonker
Associate Principal
Monica Curro
Assistant Principal
Dr Mary Jane Gething AO*
Mary Allison
Emily Beauchamp
Isin Cakmakçioglu
Tiffany Cheng
Freya Franzen
Cong Gu
Andrew Hall
Robert Macindoe
Philippa West
Andrew Dudgeon AM*
Patrick Wong
Cecilie Hall*
Roger Young
Shane Buggle and Rosie Callanan*
Michael Loftus-Hills
Violas
Christopher Moore
Principal
Di Jameson OAM and Frank Mercurio*
Jenny Khafagi
Associate Principal
Margaret Billson and the late Ted Billson*
Lauren Brigden
Katharine Brockman
William Clark
Morris and Helen Margolis*
Aidan Filshie
Gabrielle Halloran
Fiona Sargeant
Karen Columbine
Andrew Crothers
Cerdiwen Davies
Isabel Morse
Cellos
David Berlin
Principal
Rachael Tobin
Associate Principal
Elina Faskhi
Assistant Principal
Di Jameson OAM and Frank Mercurio*
Rohan de Korte
Andrew Dudgeon AM*
Rebecca Proietto
Peter T Kempen AM*
Angela Sargeant
Caleb Wong
Michelle Wood
Jonathan Chim
Double Basses
Jonathon Coco Principal
Stephen Newton
Acting Associate Principal
Benjamin Hanlon
Acting Assistant Principal
Rohan Dasika
Aurora Henrich
Luca Henrich
Caitline Bass
Flutes
Prudence Davis
Principal
Jean Hadges*
Wendy Clarke
Associate Principal
Sarah Beggs
Piccolo
Andrew Macleod
Principal
Oboes
Johannes Grosso
Principal
Michael Pisani
Acting Associate Principal
Ann Blackburn
Margaret Billson and the late Ted Billson*
Cor Anglais
Dafydd Camp
Clarinets
David Thomas Principal
Robin Henry
Bass Clarinet
Jonathan Craven Principal
Alto Saxophone
Justin Kenealy
Bassoons
Jack Schiller
Principal
Dr Harry Imber *
Elise Millman
Associate Principal
Melissa Woodroffe
Contrabassoon
Brock Imison Principal
Horns
Nicolas Fleury
Principal
Margaret Jackson AC*
Peter Luff
Acting Associate Principal
Saul Lewis
Principal Third
The late Hon Michael Watt KC and Cecilie Hall*
Abbey Edlin
The Hanlon Foundation*
Josiah Kop
Rachel Shaw
Gary McPherson*
Trumpets
Owen Morris Principal
Shane Hooton
Associate Principal
Glenn Sedgwick*
Rosie Turner
Dr John and Diana Frew* Callum G’Froerer
Trombones
José Milton Vieira
Principal
Richard Shirley
Bass Trombone
Michael Szabo Principal
Tuba
Timothy Buzbee
Principal
Timpani
Matthew Thomas Principal
Percussion
Shaun Trubiano Principal
John Arcaro
Tim and Lyn Edward*
Robert Cossom
Drs Rhyl Wade and Clem Gruen*
Robert Allan
Hugh Tidy
Scott Weatherson
Harp
Yinuo Mu Principal
Pauline and David Lawton*
Megan Reeve
Celeste
Louisa Breen
Learn more about our musicians on the MSO website. * Position supported by
The MSO creates music that matters for all Victorians, whoever or wherever you are.
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Jaime Martín conductor
Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra since 2022, and Music Director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra since 2019, with those roles currently extended until 2028 and 2027 respectively, Spanish conductor Jaime Martín also took up the role of Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales last year, and has held past positions as Chief Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland (2019–2024), Principal Guest Conductor of the Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España (Spanish National Orchestra) (2022–2024) and Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of Gävle Symphony Orchestra (2013–2022).
Having spent many years as a highly regarded flautist, Jaime turned to conducting full time in 2013. Recent and future engagements include appearances with the London Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as a nine-city European tour with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Jaime Martín is a Fellow of the Royal College of Music in London, and in 2022 the jury of Spain’s Premios Nacionales de Música awarded him their annual prize for his contribution to classical music.
Jaime Martín’s Chief Conductor Chair is supported by the Besen Family Foundation in memory of Eva Besen AO and Marc Besen AC.
PHOTO: PAUL MARC MITCHELL
PHOTO: OLAF HEINE
Lang Lang
Lang Lang is a leading figure in classical music today – as a pianist, educator and philanthropist he has become one of the world’s most influential and committed ambassadors for the arts in the 21st century. Equally happy playing for billions of viewers at the 2008 Olympic Opening Ceremony in Beijing or for just a few hundred children in the public schools, he is a master of communicating through music.
Heralded by the New York Times as ‘the hottest artist on the classical music planet’, Lang Lang plays sold-out concerts all over the world. He has forged collaborations with conductors including Simon Rattle, Gustavo Dudamel, Daniel Barenboim and Christoph Eschenbach, and performs with all the world’s top orchestras. He is known for thinking outside the box and frequently steps into different musical worlds. His performances at the Grammy Awards with Metallica, Pharrell Williams or jazz legend Herbie Hancock were watched by millions of viewers.
For about a decade, Lang Lang has contributed to musical education worldwide. In 2008 he founded the Lang Lang International Music Foundation, aimed at cultivating tomorrow’s top pianists, championing music education at the forefront of technology, and building a young audience through live music experiences. In 2013 he was designated by the Secretary General of the United Nations as a Messenger of Peace focusing on global education.
Lang Lang started playing the piano aged three, and gave his first public recital before the age of five. He entered Beijing’s Central Music Conservatory aged nine, and won First Prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians at 13. He subsequently went to Philadelphia to study with legendary pianist Gary Graffman at the Curtis Institute of Music. He was 17 when his big break came, substituting for André Watts at the Gala of the Century, playing Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach; he became an overnight sensation and the invitations started to pour in.
Lang Lang’s boundless drive to attract new audiences to classical music has brought him tremendous recognition: he was presented with the 2010 Crystal Award in Davos and was picked as one of the 250 Young Global Leaders by the World Economic Forum. He is also the recipient of honorary doctorates from the Royal College of Music, Manhattan School of Music and New York University. In December 2011 he was honoured with the highest prize awarded by the Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China and received the highest civilian honours in Germany (Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany) and France (Medal of the Order of Arts and Letters). In 2016 he was invited to the Vatican to perform for Pope Francis. He has also performed for numerous other international dignitaries, including four US presidents and monarchs from many nations.
www.langlang.com www.langlangfoundation.org
Maurice Ravel (1875–1937)
Program Notes
Alborada del gracioso (Morning Song of the Jester)
Like many French composers in the l9th and early 20th centuries, Ravel was fascinated by Spain, a fact reflected in many of his works (from the one-act opera L’Heure espagnole to the celebrated Bolero). This fascination was not primarily the result of personal experience. The Spain of Alborada del gracioso (or, for that matter, of Bizet’s Carmen or Debussy’s Ibéria) was not a real country, but rather an exotic, mysterious ideal of heady perfumes and vibrant colours, populated by passionate gypsies and dashing bullfighters: the Spain of travel brochures.
Alborada del gracioso was originally written for piano, as part of a set entitled Miroirs (Mirrors) which appeared in 1905. Several of Ravel’s orchestral works are transcribed from piano pieces: such is his genius as an orchestrator, however, that the orchestral and piano versions both have the status of originals. Each version is so perfectly conceived for its scoring that it seems impossible to imagine it in any other medium. Alborada is particularly interesting, in that its whole harmonic and rhythmic fabric is a powerful evocation of a guitar, being played by a virtuoso in the Spanish tradition – an ‘original version’, which does not exist and yet appears to predate the other two!
The timbres featured in Ravel’s orchestration (made in 1918) make the guitar references explicit, with much use of harp, and string pizzicato and harmonics, as well as an extensive percussion section (with particularly prominent parts for side drum and castanets). There are a number of specific genres in Spanish folk music which bear
the name ‘Alborada’ (literally ‘dawn song’), but Ravel was perhaps thinking more of the romantic mediæval idea of a farewell serenade sung by a lover, as he rides away from his beloved at dawn. The complete title, ‘Morning Song of the Jester’, aptly suggests the music’s volatile nature, by turns melancholy, playful and extravagant.
Elliott Gyger © Symphony Australia
PORTRAIT BY ACHILLE OUVRÉ (1907)
Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921)
Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22
I. Andante sostenuto
II. Allegro scherzando
III. Presto
Lang Lang, piano
Camille Saint-Saëns’ contribution to French music over an exceptionally long life was a helpful and versatile one. A child prodigy who, making his debut as a ten year old in Mozart and Beethoven piano concertos, offered his delighted audience any one of the 32 Beethoven piano sonatas as an encore, he lived to a somewhat embittered old age, and walked out of the 1913 premiere of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring muttering that it wasn’t music.
Saint-Saëns for most of his life had been receptive to the new, and tried to steer French music away from its fixation on opera into channels where it could benefit from the example of the best of German instrumental music. He was a friend of Franz Liszt, and his Third Symphony, with organ – was in many ways a tribute to that composer. Saint-Saëns may have suspected that he would be bestremembered for a private party amusement, The Carnival of the Animals. He did not want it published.
Ironically, a piece which he dashed off in 17 days in 1868 has proved one of his most durably popular: his Second Piano Concerto. The haste was due to the concert hall becoming available at short notice for a concert conducted by the Russian Anton Rubinstein, in which SaintSaëns was to play a concerto. The music shows little sign of hasty workmanship. Saint-Saëns was the classicist among the French Romantics, and his sure grasp of form sometimes makes up for ideas which seem too easily acquired. Liszt described this piano concerto fairly when he said that Saint-Saëns ‘takes into account the
effects of the pianist without sacrificing anything of the ideas of the composer’.
Nevertheless, this concerto has been indelibly marked by the witty observation of the Polish pianist Sigismond Stojowski: that it ‘begins with Bach and ends with Offenbach’. It is true that the pianist’s unaccompanied introduction is an obvious tribute-by-imitation to Bach, especially the Bach of the Chromatic Fantasia and other toccatas for organ or harpsichord. SaintSaëns conceives this imitation in a Romantic sense: it is a declamation rather than a meditation, and projected, by the sustaining pedal on the steel-framed piano, to the back row of the concert hall.
The themes of the first movement, prefaced by this introduction, are expressive and lyrical: the main melody was borrowed (with permission) from Saint-Saëns’ younger friend and former pupil Gabriel Fauré (who had used it for a Tantum ergo with choir and organ). The level of activity soon rises, and dramatic exchanges between the soloist and the orchestra climax in a full-throated return of the main theme. There is a cadenza returning to the fantasia style of the introduction, and the movement ends, as it were, by swallowing its own tail.
The puckish scherzo (Allegretto scherzando) is the only movement that was a success at the under-rehearsed first performance. It has a catchy refrain, and is laid out for the instruments with masterly delicacy. The last movement is a tarantella (in popular imagination, the dance of the victim of spider bite!), and this brings a strong whiff of the music of Offenbach (he of the can-can). Are the high spirits of comic operetta out of place in the finale of a concerto? Mozart didn’t think so; nor did Saint-Saëns.
David Garrett © 1999
Ryman Healthcare Spring Gala with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jaime Martín
Joyce DiDonato
Modest Mussorgsky (1839–1881)
orchestrated by Maurice Ravel
Pictures at an Exhibition
Promenade –
1. Gnomus (Gnome)
Promenade –
2. Il vecchio castello (The Old Castle)
Promenade –
3. Tuileries. Dispute d’enfants après jeux (Tuileries. Children quarrelling after play)
4. Bydło (Oxen)
Promenade –
5. Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks
6. ‘Samuel’ Goldenberg und ‘Schmuÿle’
7. Limoges. Le marché. La grande nouvelle (Limoges Market. The Big News) –
8. Catacombæ. Sepulcrum romanum (Catacombs. A Roman Sepulchre) – Con mortuis in lingua mortua (With the Dead in a Dead Language)
9. The Hut on Hen’s Legs. Baba Yaga –
10. The Great Gate of Kyiv
Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition is piano music but it has inspired more orchestrations and arrangements than possibly any other piece of music. And it was one of these – Ravel’s brilliant and sophisticated orchestration from 1922 –that brought this remarkable music to widespread public attention, decades before it entered the piano recital repertoire courtesy of champions Vladimir Horowitz and Sviatoslav Richter.
Mussorgsky never intended to orchestrate Pictures at an Exhibition, and yet many musicians have felt that this vivid music called for orchestral colours. Among them have been conductors Henry Wood (who withdrew his 1915 effort after Ravel’s was published) and Leopold Stokowski, as well as Serge Koussevitzky, whose instructions
to Ravel were that the orchestration be in the style of Rimsky-Korsakov, the one composer who, surprisingly, didn’t attempt the task.
Ravel didn’t have access to Mussorgsky’s original music from 1874 – only the 1886 edition by Rimsky-Korsakov, compromised by misreadings and errors – but as best he could, he aimed for fidelity to Mussorgsky’s style, sublimating his own. It’s no accident that his orchestration was praised for not sounding like his ballet Daphnis et Chloé. Similarly, and despite Koussevitzky’s instructions, Ravel avoided the showy glamour heard in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade.
The exhibition of the title was a memorial in honour of Mussorgsky’s friend, the architect and artist Viktor Hartmann, who had died in 1873, at the age of 39. As an architect, he was notoriously bad at constructing ‘ordinary, everyday things’, but given palaces or ‘fantastic’ structures, his artist’s imagination was capable of astonishing creativity.
From hundreds of drawings, watercolours and designs, Mussorgsky chose ten –some of them showcasing Hartmann’s imagination, others reflecting his travels. His music places the listener at the exhibition itself, promenading from picture
to picture in ‘Russian style’ with a lopsided alternation of five- and six-beat groupings. (Mussorgsky said his own ‘profile’ could be seen in these promenades.) Then, pausing before each artwork, he takes us into its world.
Many of the gestures in Ravel’s orchestration have become so intimately associated with Mussorgsky’s music that their genius seems inevitable. The first picture, Gnomus (Gnome), was really a caricature – a design for a nutcracker –and Ravel’s colours are grotesque and menacing, featuring the eerie effect of the strings sliding to flute-like harmonics. The Old Castle depicted a mediæval castle, with a solitary troubadour included for scale. Mussorgsky places the castle in Italy with a lilting siciliano rhythm but the melody has a mournful Russian character. Ravel, memorably, gives the minstrel a (Belgian-French) saxophone!
The Tuileries painting depicted a group of shrieking children in the palace gardens. Mussorgsky was fond of children (as was Ravel) and his music captures perfectly the shapes of their speech. Curiously, though, these Parisian children seem to be calling for their nanny in Russian: ‘Nianya!
FROM LEFT: Costume design for the ballet Trilbi; Paris catacombs; design for a clock in the Russian style showing Baba Yaga’s hut on hen’s legs; design for the Kyiv city gate
Nianya!’ Ravel’s pristine orchestration features flute, oboe and clarinets.
In Bydło (Oxen), through no fault of his own, Ravel departed from Mussorgsky’s original, which begins with heavy, thundering chords in the bass register of the piano. What we hear instead is a slow crescendo, emerging from the muted sound of bassoons, tuba, cellos and basses: an ingenious representation of the approach and passing of a Polish ox-drawn wagon.
The design that inspired Mussorgsky’s imaginary Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks survives: a whimsical egg costume. After the fourth and last Promenade, Ravel sets the scene with chirping flutes, fluttering violin trills, and the staccato tapping of chicks at their shells.
‘Samuel’ Goldenberg and ‘Schmuÿle’ refers to a pair of portraits depicting two Polish Jews – one rich, one poor. Mussorgsky probably named them himself (the Germanicised ‘Samuel’ for the wealthy Goldenberg and its Yiddish equivalent ‘Schmuÿle’) and he unites them in a timeless narrative – the poor man begging from a rich one. Goldenberg appears first – assertive and powerful –with (in Ravel’s orchestration) full strings.
Then, in a stroke of genius to match the earlier use of the saxophone, Ravel casts a stuttering trumpet as Schmuÿle.
At Limoges Market gossip is the primary currency: ‘Important news,’ began Mussorgsky’s scenario, ‘Monsieur de Puissangeout has just recovered his cow, Fugitive…’ A neighbour’s new dentures and another’s bulbous red nose are equally fascinating in this racing and brilliantly coloured miniature.
Another surviving painting shows Hartmann himself looking at the Paris catacombs by lanternlight, the inspiration for Catacombæ Sepulcrum romanum (Catacombs. A Roman Sepulchre) and Con mortuis in lingua mortua (With the Dead in a Dead Language). Cue gloomy brass sounds. Then, writes Mussorgsky alongside his dodgy Latin: ‘The creative spirit of the departed Hartmann leads me to the skulls and invokes them: the skulls begin to glow faintly.’ The introspective mood is sustained with an evocation of the Promenade theme in a minor key, which Ravel gives to the oboes and mournful cor anglais against shivering high strings.
The final pair of pictures brings the music to a climax. Both images reveal Hartmann’s gift for grand and fantastic conceptions: the table clock in the form of Baba Yaga’s hut on hen’s legs and a competition entry for a city gate with a cupola in the form of a Slavonic helmet. Unlike Western witches, Baba Yaga travels in a mortar propelled by a pestle – her broomstick is for sweeping over her tracks. Mussorgsky portrays Baba Yaga’s ride as much as her dwelling place with this terrifying and inexorable music (and, marked with a tempo of one bar of music per second, clocklike as well!).
Mussorgsky’s Great Gate of Kyiv conveys an ‘old heroic Russia’ with a Russian Orthodox chant (‘As you are baptised in Christ’), which Ravel gives to a choir of clarinets and bassoons in imitation of Russian reed organs. This is interrupted by a characteristically Russian peal of bells, which Ravel gives to everyone except the tubular bells and glockenspiel – these are held in reserve for the Promenade theme as it rings out one last time.
Yvonne Frindle © 2019
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Margaret and John Mason OAM
Ian McDonald
Dr Paul Nisselle AM
Simon O’Brien
Roger Parker and Ruth Parker
Alan and Dorothy Pattison
Liz and Graham Pratt
James Ring
Tom and Elizabeth Romanowski
Dr Ronald and Elizabeth Rosanove
Christopher Menz and Peter Rose
Marshall Segan in memory of Berek Segan OBE AM and Marysia Segan, Founders of the Castlemaine State Festival
Steinicke Family
Jenny Tatchell
Christina Turner
Bob Weis
Anonymous (6)
Player Patrons ($1,000+)
Dr Sally Adams
Jessica Agoston Cleary ∞
Helena Anderson
Applebay Pty Ltd
Margaret Astbury
Geoffrey and Vivienne Baker
Mr Robin Batterham
Peter Berry and Amanda Quirk
Rick Berry
Dr William Birch AM
Richard Bolitho
Michael Bowles and Alma Gill
Joyce Bown
Drs John D L Brookes and Lucy V Hanlon
Elizabeth Brown
Suzie Brown OAM and the late Harvey Brown
Roger and Coll Buckle
Jill and Christopher Buckley
Dr Robin Burns and the late Dr Roger Douglas
Shayna Burns ∞
Ronald Burnstein
Daniel Bushaway and Tess Hamilton
Peter A Caldwell
Alexandra Champion de Crespigny ∞
John Chapman and Elisabeth Murphy
Joshua Chye ∞
Kaye Cleary
Sue Dahn
Mrs Nola Daley
Panch Das and Laurel Young-Das
Michael Davies and Drina Staples
Rick and Sue Deering
John and Anne Duncan
Jane Edmanson OAM
Christopher R Fraser
David I Gibbs AM and Susie O’Neill
Sonia Gilderdale
Dr Celia Godfrey
Dr Marged Goode
Fred and Alexandra Grimwade
Hilary Hall, in memory of Wilma Collie
David Hardy
Cathy Henry
Gwenda Henry
Anthony and Karen Ho
Rod Home
Lorraine Hook
Doug Hooley
Katherine Horwood
Penelope Hughes
Shyama Jayaswal
Basil and Rita Jenkins
Jane Jenkins
Wendy Johnson
Angela Kayser
Drs Bruce and Natalie Kellett
Dr Anne Kennedy
Akira Kikkawa ∞
Dr Richard Knafelc and Mr Grevis Beard
Tim Knaggs
Dr Jerry Koliha and Marlene Krelle
Jane Kunstler
Ann Lahore
Wilson Lai and Anita Wong
Kerry Landman
Janet and Ross Lapworth
Bryan Lawrence
Phil Lewis
Elizabeth H Loftus
David Loggia
Chris and Anna Long
Elena Lovu
Wayne McDonald and Kay Schroer
Lisa and Brad Matthews
Andrea McCall
Lesley McMullin Foundation
Dr Eric Meadows
Ian Merrylees
Sylvia Miller
Ian Morrey and Geoffrey Minter
Susan Morgan ∞
Anthony and Anna Morton
Laurence O’Keefe and Christopher James
George Pappas AO, in memory of Jillian Pappas
Ian Penboss
Kerryn Pratchett
Peter Priest
Professor Charles Qin OAM and Kate Ritchie
Eli and Lorraine Raskin
Michael Riordan and Geoffrey Bush
Cathy Rogers OAM and Dr Peter Rogers AM
Marie Rowland
Viorica Samson
Martin and Susan Shirley
P Shore
Kieran Sladen
Janet and Alex Starr
Dr Peter Strickland
Bernard Sweeney
Russell Taylor and Tara Obeyesekere
Frank Tisher OAM and Dr Miriam Tisher
Margaret Toomey
Andrew and Penny Torok
Chris and Helen Trueman
Ann and Larry Turner
Dr Elsa Underhill and Professor Malcolm Rimmer
Nicholas and Faith Vann
Jayde Walker ∞
Edward and Paddy White
Willcock Family
Dr Kelly and Dr Heathcote Wright
C.F. Yeung & Family Philanthropic Fund
Demetrio Zema ∞
Anonymous (19)
Overture Patrons ($500+)
Margaret Abbey PSM
Jane Allan and Mark Redmond
Jenny Anderson
Doris Au
Lyn Bailey
Robbie Barker
Anne M Bowden
Stephen and Caroline Brain
Robert Bridgart
Miranda Brockman
Dr Robert Brook
Christine Brown
Phillip Brown
Jungpin Chen
Robert and Katherine Coco
Dr John Collins
Warren and Margaret Collins
Gregory Crew
Sue Cummings
Bruce Dudon
Dr Catherine Duncan
Dr Matthew Dunn
Brian Florence
Nadine Fogale
Elizabeth Foster
Chris Freelance
M C Friday
Simon Gaites
Lili Gearon
Dr Julia Gellatly
Miles George
David and Geraldine Glenny
Hugo and Diane Goetze
The late George Hampel AM KC and Felicity Hampel AM SC
Alison Heard
Dr Jennifer Henry
C M Herd Endowment
Carole and Kenneth Hinchliff
William Holder
Peter and Jenny Hordern
Gillian Horwood
Oliver Hutton and Weiyang Li
Rob Jackson
Ian Jamieson
Chris and Meryl Jessup
Linda Jones
Leonora Kearney
Jennifer Kearney
John Keys
Leslie King
Dr Judith Kinnear
Katherine Kirby
Professor David Knowles and Dr Anne McLachlan
Heather Law
Peter Letts
Halina Lewenberg Charitable Foundation
Dr Helen MacLean
Sandra Masel in memory of Leigh Masel
Janice Mayfield
Gail McKay
Jennifer McKean
Shirley A McKenzie
Richard McNeill
Marie Misiurak
Joan Mullumby
Rebecca-Kate Nayton
Adrian and Louise Nelson
Marian Neumann
Ed Newbigin
Valerie Newman
Dr Judith S Nimmo
Amanda O’Brien
Brendan O’Donnell
Phil Parker
Sarah Patterson
The Hon Chris Pearce and Andrea Pearce
William Ramirez
Geoffrey Ravenscroft
Dr Christopher Rees
Professor John Rickard
Fred and Patricia Russell
Carolyn Sanders
Julia Schlapp
Tom Sykes
Hugh Taylor and Elizabeth Dax
Lily Tell
Geoffrey Thomlinson
Mely Tjandra
Noel and Jenny Turnbull
Rosemary Warnock
Amanda Watson
Michael Whishaw
Deborah and Dr Kevin Whithear OAM
David Willersdorf AM and Linda Willersdorf
Charles and Jill Wright
Richard Ye
Anonymous (12)
MSO Guardians
Jenny Anderson
David Angelovich
Lesley Bawden
Peter Berry and Amanda Quirk
Tarna Bibron
Joyce Bown
Patricia A Breslin
B J Brown
Jenny Brukner and the late John Brukner
Sarah Bullen
Peter A Caldwell
Peter Cameron and Doug Jeffries
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 Wynne Jacombs
Michael Christopher Scott Jacombs
John Jones
Merv Keehn and Sue Harlow
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
Kerryn Pratchett
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
Frank Tisher OAM and Dr Miriam Tisher
Mr and Mrs R P Trebilcock
Christina Helen Turner
Michael Ullmer AO
The Hon Rosemary Varty
Francis Vergona
Steve Vertigan and Yolande van Oosten
Tam Vu and Dr Cherilyn Tillman
Robert Weiss and Jacqueline Orian
Terry Wills Cooke OAM and the late Marian Wills Cooke
Mark Young
Anonymous (22)
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
Elizabeth Ann Cousins
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
George and Grace Kass
Christine Mary Kellam
C P Kemp
Jennifer Selina Laurent
Sylvia Rose Lavelle
Dr Elizabeth Ann Lewis AM
Peter Forbes MacLaren
Joan Winsome Maslen
Lorraine Maxine Meldrum
Professor 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
Cecilia Edith Umber
Jean Tweedie
Herta and Fred B Vogel
Dorothy Wood
Joyce Winsome Woodroffe
The MSO honours the memory of Life Members
The late Marc Besen AC and the late Eva Besen AO
John Brockman OAM
The Hon Alan Goldberg AO QC
Harold Mitchell AC
Roger Riordan AM
Ila Vanrenen
The MSO relies on the generosity of our community to help us enrich lives through music, foster artistic excellence, and reach new audiences. Thank you for your support.
♡ Chair Sponsors – supporting the beating heart of the MSO.
2025 Europe Tour Circle patrons –elevating the MSO onto the world stage.
☼ First Nations Circle patrons –supporting First Nations artist development and performance initiatives.
♫ Commissioning Circle patrons –contributing to the evolution of our beloved art form.
∞ Future MSO patrons – the next generation of giving.
The MSO welcomes support at any level. Donations of $2 and over are tax deductible.
Listing current as of 16 June
MSO Board
Chair
Edgar Myer
Co-Deputy Chairs
Martin Foley
Farrel Meltzer
Board Directors
Shane Buggle
Lorraine Hook
Margaret Jackson AC
Gary McPherson
Mary Waldron
Company Secretary
Randal Williams
MSO Family
MSO Artistic Family
Jaime Martín
Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor
Benjamin Northey
Principal Conductor and 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
James Ehnes Artist in Residence
Karen Kyriakou Artist in Residence – Learning and Engagement
Christian Li Young Artist in Association
Liza Lim AM Composer in Residence
Klearhos Murphy
Cybec Young Composer in Residence
James Henry Cybec First Nations Composer in Residence
Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO First Nations Creative Chair
Xian Zhang, Lu Siqing, Tan Dun Artistic Ambassadors
East meets West Supporters
Sidney Myer MSO Trust Fund
