When clarinettist Sam Kelson Gray looks ahead to the Willoughby Symphony Orchestra’s 2027 season, she begins with Beethoven.
‘I’m particularly excited to play Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 with Konstantin Shamray, Sibelius’ Second Symphony, and Respighi’s Pines of Rome. They are gorgeous works!’ she says with enthusiasm.
For the musicians of the Sydney-based WSO, the excitement is not simply what appears on the program, it is the opportunity to get inside this extraordinary music and bring it to life for the audience.
‘It’s one of the great privileges of working in an orchestra like the WSO, to play music with artists such as Shamray, [saxophonist] Amy Dickson, and [trumpeter] Dominic Longhurst,’ she says.
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‘A musical home’
Trumpeter Lars Mehlan understands that privilege, and the pressure that can come with it. He has been a regular WSO player for nearly 20 years.
‘When I first played with the WSO, which I believe was Verdi’s Requiem, I knew I had found my musical home,’ he says.
That sense of belonging is significant for the WSO. It is a community orchestra but that description can easily undermine the calibre of its musicians and the level at which they perform.
Mehlan thinks the terminology is one of the orchestra’s greatest challenges.
‘Neither our name nor our status as a “community orchestra” conveys the extraordinary quality of this group, including that of our Chief Conductor, Professor Nick Milton,’ he says.
Professor Dr Nicholas Milton AM has been associated with the WSO for almost 40 years and is now its Artistic Director and Chief Conductor. Under his leadership, the orchestra has become one of Australia’s most respected and innovative ensembles.
‘I’ve seen many people be completely surprised and blown away by the standard of the orchestra,’ adds Mehlan.
From orchestral greats to young composers
The WSO’s 2027 season includes music at the highest level from Beethoven and Tchaikovsky to contemporary Australian composers, Scottish pipes and drums, opera, choral repertoire and family performances.
The opening program, Fate, sets the tone with acclaimed pianist Konstantin Shamray joining the orchestra for Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 followed by Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony. These really are masterworks in the repertoire.
‘Try any of the Season Concerts to hear iconic works,’ Kelson Gray says. ‘Following Fate with the glorious Beethoven and Tchaikovsky, there is Highland Cathedral featuring the gorgeous Sibelius Second Symphony, or later in the season Pines of Rome and Carmina Burana.’
The season is more than a succession of orchestral music’s greatest hits. Sea and Stars, to be conducted by Associate Conductor Dr Sarah Penicka-Smith in May, places Australian composition alongside Beethoven and Vaughan Williams, including the thrilling Hic Svnt Dracones (Here be Dragons) by Melody Eötvös and the world premiere of Belinda Blades’ While it Lasts.
There will also be a new work by the winner of the 2027 Willoughby Symphony Young Composer Award. This important award has been running for 23 years, providing a continuing pathway for emerging Australian composers.
July’s Highland Cathedral showcases Australian saxophonist Amy Dickson and the Scots College Old Boys Pipes and Drums. Here, Sibelius’s Second Symphony sits alongside Anna Clyne’s toe-tapping PIVOT and James MacMillan’s Saxophone Concerto, a piece the Scottish composer wrote for Dickson.
And there’s Highland Cathedral itself, one of the most famous bagpipe melodies ever written.
Real, human and of the moment
For Lars Mehlan, the Pines of Rome concert in September is one he is really excited about.
‘The program presents one of the best known, albeit challenging, original compositions for the trumpet, Alexander Arutiunian’s Concerto in A-flat major, featuring local trumpeter extraordinaire Dom Longhurst,’ he says.
The Concerto is a powerful piece with themes of Armenian folk music. It leads into Masquerade Suite by Aram Khachaturian, who is considered the greatest Armenian composer of the 20th century.
‘It is a program full of virtuosic, technically complex music for the orchestra, culminating in Respighi’s monumental Pines of Rome,’ he says. This is a musical postcard of Rome from the Villa Borghese to the Appian Way. For a trumpet player, the technical demands of the music are considerable.
‘Playing the lead part in a wind or brass section of a symphony orchestra is always an incredible challenge,’ says Mehlan. ‘It is massively scary to know there’s no safety net! When your solo comes up in the piece, you must deliver.’
The vulnerability of that moment is part of what makes orchestral playing so compelling for both the musicians and the audience. It is real, it is human, and it is of the moment.
Community roots
Kelson Gray is also enthusiastic about playing in the WSO, describing the orchestra as being ‘deeply embedded in the community’. She praises her fellow musicians as ‘fantastic people and players from a huge cross-section of the arts community’.
The orchestra’s home in the The Pat Reilly Concert Hall at The Concourse in Chatswood provides an intimate setting for the WSO’s large-scale repertoire, while the wider precinct has become part of the concert experience. This means a night at the orchestra easily becomes a full night out. As Kelson Gray says, ‘There are amazing eating places all around and some hidden bar gems if you look hard enough.’
For Mehlan, the Pat Reilly Concert Hall itself is an important element in the musical experience. ‘It undoubtedly has some of the best acoustics for symphonic music in Sydney, so we’re very lucky to call it our home,’ he says.
Kelson Gray also points to the venue’s accessibility as well as its sound. ‘The Concourse has all the elements that make a wonderful concert experience,’ she says.
‘It’s an exceptional venue with ease of use for all ages and abilities, wonderful acoustics, and beautiful to look at if you are walking toward it in the evenings.’
The 2027 Season has plenty of musical treats beyond the traditional orchestral repertoire. In August, the Opera Gala sees rising stars from Pacific Opera singing alongside the Willoughby Symphony Choir, in what promises to be a night full of passion, drama and romance.
Violinist Rosa Donata Milton will play the dazzling Carmen Fantasy by Franz Waxman and the exquisite Meditation by Jules Massenet. She reappears in September as Rosie the Clown in a special afternoon concert for families.
The year will end with the much-loved Spirit of Christmas, bringing all the enchantment of the season to the stage. They are even expecting a visit from an extra special Christmas guest.
For Sam Kelson Gray, the joy is always in the act of making music.
‘Simply put, making music in an orchestra is undoubtedly some of the best fun and most rewarding work you can have and do. Ever!’
Lars Mehlan agrees. ‘At the end of the day there is nothing that beats the joy and satisfaction of producing a piece of music together as an ensemble. I wouldn’t want to miss it!’
