2025 Sidney Myer Free Concerts - Symphonic Showcase 2025 Sidney Myer Free Concerts - Symphonic Showcase

Melbourne Youth Orchestra Curtain Raiser - Join us from 6pm for a performance by Melbourne Youth Orchestra, featuring music by Dvořák, Prokofiev, John Williams and more!

Ben Northey conducts this evening of passion and drama, featuring two masterpieces of 20th-century orchestral music and two works receiving their world premiere.

Always an audience favourite, Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto opens with thunderous chords, giving way to moments of extraordinary lyrical beauty, with the piano and orchestra engaging in an intimate dialogue.

Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra then offers a remarkable display of virtuosity – a brilliant exploration of orchestral colour and complexity. From folk-like melodies to intricate counterpoint, this work is a showcase for the Orchestra, giving each section a chance to show off.

Each half of the program opens with an exciting new work – one from Cybec Young Composer in Residence Klearhos Murphy and another by our first Cybec First Nations Composer in Residence, James Henry.

Program

Klearhos Murphy+ Leventikos*

Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No.2

James Henry^ New work*

Bartók Concerto for Orchestra

*World premiere of an MSO commission

+Cybec Young Composer in Residence

^Cybec First Nations Composer in Residence

Featuring

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

Benjamin Northey conductor

Reuben Tsang** piano

Alice Keath presenter

**Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition winner