Australia's leading orchestra returns to Carnegie Hall for first time in 50 years

AN EVENING WITH THE MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

AUSTRALIA’S LEADING ORCHESTRA RETURNS TO CARNEGIE HALL AFTER ALMOST 50 YEARS, TO PRESENT INTIMATE CONCERT ON
SUNDAY OCTOBER 20, 2019

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra celebrates contemporary Australian composers and orchestral classics in Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall performance

Concertmaster Dale Barltrop directs chamber orchestra in Vine, Grandage, plus Schubert’s Symphony No.3 and Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri overture

Australia’s most established orchestra plays in New York for first time since Carnegie Hall debut in 1970

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: (Melbourne, Australia, June 28, 2019) The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra tours to the United States this October to perform works by contemporary Australian composers, Carl Vine AO and Iain Grandage, together with pieces by Rossini and Schubert. The momentous concert on Sunday, October 20 in Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall will be led by eminent MSO Concertmaster Dale Barltrop.

“It has been nearly 50 years since the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra last performed in New York, and we are beyond excited at the prospect of returning to fly the Australian flag in one of the world’s most iconic music venues,” Barltrop said.

“Our program will feature stunning contemporary works for string orchestra by two of Australia’s leading composers, Carl Vine AO and Iain Grandage, alongside the music of Rossini and Schubert.”

The intimate concert will begin with the popular overture to Rossini’s 1813 hit opera L’Italiana in Algeri and close with Schubert’s boisterous 3^rd Symphony with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra performing as a chamber orchestra.

At the heart of the program there will be two contemporary Australian works, All the World’s a Stage by Iain Grandage (b: 1970) and Smith’s Alchemy by Carl Vine AO (b: 1954).

All the World’s a Stage (2018) was commissioned for the 50^th wedding anniversary of Mary and Frederick Davidson AM. The work celebrates their milestone and is inspired by the composer’s favorite passage from Shakespeare‘s As You Like It, where the character, Jaques, philosophizes on the chapters of human life. The composition reflects the monologue through seven movements, each corresponding to a different stage in man’s journey from infant to adulthood and ultimately, death.

Smith’s Alchemy (2001) is a stirring, energetic work for string orchestra that reveals Vine’s strong cinematic qualities. Rhythmically and texturally complex, containing a scintillating opening, atmospheric center and dynamic conclusion, Smith’s Alchemy requires communal virtuosity on behalf of its players.

About the Artists

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is a leading cultural figure in the Australian arts landscape, bringing the best in orchestral music and passionate performance to a diverse audience across the nation and around the world.

Based in the capital city of Australia’s southernmost mainland state, Victoria, each year the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra engages with more than 5 million people through live concerts, TV, radio and online broadcasts, international and regional tours, recordings and education programs.

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is a vital presence, both onstage and in the community, in cultivating classical music in Australia. The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is the only Australian orchestra partnered with UNITEL, the world’s leading distributor of classical music programs for film, television and video.

Under the spirited leadership of Chief Conductor, Sir Andrew Davis, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra regularly attracts great artists from around the globe; including Anne-Sophie Mutter, Lang Lang, Renee Fleming and Thomas Hampson, while bringing Melbourne’s finest musicians to the world through tours to China, Indonesia, Singapore, Japan, Europe, Canada and the United States.

Australia’s original professional orchestra, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra has been the sound of the city of Melbourne since 1906. The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra was the first Australian orchestra to perform overseas (1965) and the first to debut at Carnegie Hall (1970).

Dale Barltrop is a Concertmaster of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and First Violinist of the Australian String Quartet. He previously served as Concertmaster of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in Canada and Principal Second Violin of the St Paul Chamber Orchestra in the United States, having performed with all of these orchestras as soloist and director.

Barltrop has also appeared as Concertmaster of the Australian World Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle and as guest director of the Australian Chamber Orchestra. He has performed at numerous music festivals across North America, including Mainly Mozart, Festival Mozaic, Music in the Vineyards, Yellow Barn, Kneisel Hall, Tanglewood and the New York String Seminar.

This performance is the final concert in the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra's 2019 USA tour, which will see the orchestra perform in Chicago, Washington D.C., Worcester (MA) and New York.

Program information
Sunday, October 20, 2019 at 7:30p.m.
Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall
An Evening with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Dale Barltrop, Play-Conduct violin

ROSSINI L’Italiana in Algeri (Overture)
GRANDAGE All the World’s a Stage
VINE Smith’s Alchemy
SCHUBERT Symphony No.3

Ticket information
Tickets, priced $35 and $45, are available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, 154 West 57th Street, or can be charged to major credit cards by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800 or by visiting the Carnegie Hall website, carnegiehall.org.

Acknowledgements
This performance is part of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s 2019 US Tour, celebrating more than a century of mateship between Australia and the United States. The tour will bring Melbourne’s finest musicians to Chicago, Washington D.C., Worcester (MA) and New York.

The MSO’s US Tour is proudly supported by the Australian Embassy Washington D.C., Australia Council for the Arts, the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria, the Pratt Foundation, Harold Mitchell AC, the Ullmer Family Foundation, Ken Ong OAM and Glenn Sedgwick.

For more information, images or to request interviews with artists please contact MSO Publicist Bridget Davies | daviesb@mso.com.au | 614 38376545