Immerse yourself in a sensory soundscape with the Willoughby Symphony Orchestra’s powerful music tribute Dedications on May 20 and 21 at the Concourse. Associate conductor Dr Sarah Penicka-Smith will lead the orchestra in a captivating program, featuring Bartók, Dvorák and the 2023 Young Composer Award winner.
Willoughby Symphony Orchestra’s accomplished concertmaster, Maria Lindsay, will open Dedications with Béla Bartok’s passionate ‘Romanian Folk Dances’ and bring the show to a riveting close with Antonín Dvořák’s epic ‘Hero’s Song’, which is the last major symphonic work the Czech composer wrote. Lindsay will also perform Alla Pavlova’s lush ‘Monolog’, written as a tribute to Pavlova’s violinist father, alongside a performance of Australian jazz legend Tommy Tycho’s ‘Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra’, dedicated to the concertmaster herself.
Guests will also have the rare opportunity to hear the world premiere of ‘Prayer for Makronissos’ by the 2023 Young Composer Award winner, Klearhos Murphy. This is a brand new work for the Willoughby Symphony Orchestra and Willoughby Symphony Choir by the Australian-Greek composer who dedicated the piece to his great-grandfather, to all of those who lost their lives during the Greek Civil War and to all those detained.