Media Release: Australian Youth Orchestra to perform Mood: Mahler and Wagner, July 13-14, Geelong & Melbourne
Media Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 3, 2024
Media Contact:
Samuel Cairnduff: samuel.j.cairnduff@gmail.com | 0401 396 755
Australian Youth Orchestra to perform Mood: Mahler and Wagner, July 13-14, Geelong & Melbourne
The AYO’s flagship orchestra, conducted by the internationally acclaimed Nicholas Carter and featuring world premiere by Iain Grandage
Melbourne - The Australian Youth Orchestra (AYO), Australia's most prestigious youth ensemble, returns to Victoria for two powerful performances with Mood: Mahler and Wagner, on Saturday, 13 July at Costa Hall, Geelong/Djilang and Sunday, 14 July at Hamer Hall, Melbourne/Naarm.
Press are invited to review.
Music as stormy as the depths of winter, blazing with the fiery energy of the Australian Youth Orchestra. Under the baton of Nicholas Carter, almost 100 of Australia’s best and brightest young musicians assemble for some of the most momentous works of the orchestral world.
This is bold music. Join us for an unforgettable afternoon of drama with Mood: Mahler and Wagner.
The AYO said: ‘Mahler and Wagner were two formidable figures in an era when music was all about grand emotions, big sounds, and pushing boundaries. Wagner’s transcendent Prelude und Liebestod is a harrowing rumination on the perils of love and trembles with anticipation. Passion and heartache swell through the orchestra, stirring from the opening touch of the cello.’
Mahler’s Symphony No.5 is bold. Hold your breath as solo trumpet commands its opening; the herald of a work that twists and turns through tension and tenderness. Out of the anguish of a funeral march unfurls the heart-rending release of the symphony’s Adagietto, one of history’s greatest love letters, rich with eternal yearning. Across 70 minutes of music, joy, grief and hope vie for their place in the spotlight.
Conductor Nicholas Carter said: ‘It’s always a huge joy for me to work with youth orchestras. The ambition, dedication and passion that these wonderful young musicians display is truly inspiring to me. To bring the music of Mahler, Grandage and Wagner to life with the AYO will certainly be a highlight of my year!’
Iain Grandage said - I grew up inside youth orchestras, being in the WA Youth Orchestra across my secondary schooling, and then AYO through much of my tertiary education. I loved it. It felt like home. Surrounded by like-minded people who felt the same rush of excitement and joy at being part of an organism that was so much more than the sum of its individual parts.
This work stems from the first moment I spied true orchestral virtuosity. It was January 1988 and fresh out of school, I was attending my first National Music Camp. There I saw Carlo Felice Cillario conduct the most electric AYO performance of the Ruslan & Ludmilla overture - ebullient virtuosity streamed off that stage. They were euphoric. I was too. And the memory of that moment has never left me.
This piece Overt is about those internal processes being made outwardly evident - a piece that is filled with ebullience, joy and the miracle of orchestral organism. Its central section is gentler, quieter and features solo and tutti viola solos. These are there for Colin Cornish, for whom the work was commissioned after he lead the organisation with such skill over so many years, in order to honour his own earlier history as a viola player.
Opening the program, the afternoon features the world premiere of Overt by Australian composer Iain Grandage. Each young musician shines in this concerto for orchestra, written in honour of Colin Cornish AM, who led AYO from 2005 to 2023.
EARLY BIRD TICKETS ON SALE FROM $30.00
LISTINGS INFORMATION
The Australian Youth Orchestra
Mood: Mahler and Wagner
Music by Wagner and Mahler
Saturday, 13 July
Costa Hall
Geelong/Djilang
3.00 pm
Sunday, 14 July
Hamer Hall
Melbourne/Naarm
5.00 pm.
https://www.artscentremelbourne.com.au/whats-on/2024/classical-music/mood
TICKETS ON SALE FROM MONDAY, APRIL 29
EARLY BIRD TICKETS FROM $30.00
Media opportunities with the Australian Youth Orchestra will be available in Geelong and Melbourne during the week of Monday, July 8th.
Stay tuned for more information on specific dates, times, and locations.
Full release, including biographies, available here.
Media Contact
Samuel Cairnduff
0401 396 755
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