After her stunning concert in 2022, celebrated US-based conductor Carolyn Watson returns to lead the Monash Academy Orchestra in a program of works inspired by the heartlands of their composers.
Folk music has inspired composers for generations. It is celebrated in Kodály’s jubilant Dances of Galánta, and used as inspiration for Huang Ruo’s Folk Songs for Orchestra. Margaret Bonds’ Montgomery Variations draws upon the spiritual ‘I Want Jesus to Walk with Me’. This powerful work was inspired by the events of the Civil Rights Movement, and dedicated to Dr Martin Luther King Jr.
We welcome Vincent Xue, winner of the 2023 Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music and Performance Concerto Competition, to perform the Yellow River Concerto, arguably one of the most famous compositions from China of the 20th century. We are also thrilled to welcome back conductor Carolyn Watson, currently Music Director of the La Porte County Symphony Orchestra in Indiana and Principal Guest Conductor of the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra.
Monash Academy Orchestra
Carolyn Watson conductor
Vincent Xue* piano
Zoltán Kodály Dances of Galánta
Arr. Yin, Liu, Chu, Sheng. Shi and Xu Yellow River Piano Concerto
Margaret Bonds Montgomery Variations
Huang Ruo Folk Songs for Orchestra
*Winner of the 2023 Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music and Performance Concerto Competition
Due to the high demand for tickets to these free performances, we kindly ask that you only register for the amount of tickets that you will require. If you can no longer attend, please contact Monash University Performing Arts Centres to cancel your booking so that your ticket may be offered to someone else.
