GRIEG & SIBELIUS

Saturday 21 March 2020, 7.30pm
Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre

Paul Terracini conductor
Vatche Jambazian piano

Gooden Psonody
Sibelius Symphony No. 3
Grieg Piano Concertor

Perhaps the best known of all Romantic keyboard concertos, Grieg’s Piano Concerto is the sublime centre-piece of a concert that also features a world premiere, and Sibelius’ colourfully concise third symphony.

A remarkable emerging talent, Vatche Jambazian, having just returned from studies at the famed Juilliard School, joins PSO as soloist.

Grieg penned his only concerto in 1868, at the age of twenty-four. Inspired by the folk music of his Norwegian homeland and the compositional artistry of Robert Schumann, the work is an enduring masterpiece.

Completed in 1907, the third symphony marks a point of transition for Sibelius, moving away from the grand romanticism of the second symphony towards the more austere beauty of his later symphonic offerings.

SAINT-SAËNS & TCHAIKOVSKY

Sunday 17 May 2020, 3.00pm
Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre

Paul Terracini conductor
Olivia Kovalik violin

Stormer PSO Young Composer – New Work
Saint-Saëns Violin Concerto No. 3
Tchaikovsky Marche Slave
Tchaikovsky Francesca di Rimini

A kaleidoscopic vision of colour and imagination, Tchaikovsky’s heart-rending depiction of Francesca di Rimini features, alongside the famous Marche Slave, and the lush Romanticism of Saint-Saëns last violin concerto.

Saint-Saëns dedicated the Violin Concerto No. 3 to the virtuoso Pablo de Sarasate, who premiered the work in 1880. The concerto is the most enduring of the three, perhaps due to its riches of melodic material and the subtlety and sophistication of the writing.

Ever the master of the emotional and dramatic, Tchaikovsky’s realisation of Francesca di Rimini is a saga of tragic fate and eternal damnation. The tone-poem displays the possibilities and colours of the orchestra to full effect, with its whirling tempests, tender exchanges and memories of passions past.

POPS FOR TOTS CHILDREN'S CONCERT

MUSICAL STORYTELLING

Sunday 14 June 2020, 11.00am
Q Theatre, Penrith

George Ellis conductor
Rachael Coopes presenter

The ever-popular George Ellis returns to PSO with special guest and Play School star, Rachael Coopes.

Come along on a big adventure and learn all about the orchestra, as George and Rachel explore the textures, colours and sounds of music in an all-new show about ‘Musical Storytelling.’

OPERA GALA

Saturday 1 August 2020, 7.30pm
Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre

Paul Terracini conductor
Ayșe Göknur Shanal soprano
Barbara Jin mezzo-soprano
Lorenzo Rositano tenor
Haotsian Qi baritone

Penrith Symphony Orchestra

An evening of operatic highlights, featuring works by:

MOZART, DONIZETTI, VERDI, ROSSINI, MONTIVERDI, PUCCINI, DVOŘÁK & LEONCAVALLO

Enjoy an evening of style, fun and sophistication, as some of Sydney’s most talented artists join PSO to present magical moments from the world of opera.

CINEMA CLASSICS

Saturday 12 September 2020, 7.30pm
Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre

Paul Terracini conductor
Penrith Symphony Orchestra Festival Chorus

Enjoy an evening featuring some of the greatest musical moments from the movies. Orchestra and choir combine to present highlights from Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, James Bond and many more.

Re-visit your favourite films through the power of the scores composed for them. There’s something for everyone in this carefully curated selection charting a course through cinematic history.

BEETHOVEN, WAGNER & LISZT

Saturday 7 November 2020, 7.30pm
Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre

Paul Terracini conductor
Stephanie McCallum piano

Beethoven Piano Concerto no. 4
Wagner Prelude-Tristan & Isolde
Wagner Ride of the Valkyries
Liszt Les Preludes

Stephanie McCallum joins PSO as soloist in Beethoven’s majestic fourth piano concerto, alongside the epic grandeur of Wagner and Liszt.

The concerto was the last Beethoven wrote for himself, with the public premiere of the work also his final public appearance as soloist. It is appropriate then that the work possesses an intimacy and sensitivity above and beyond the usual showpiece concerto style of the day.

Les Preludes was new and novel when it premiered in 1854, breaking new ground in form and compositional conception. Liszt’s most popular orchestral work was also the first to be given the subtitle “Symphonic Poem,” a pioneer of a subsequently rich and much exploited genre.

MESSIAH

Sunday 6 December 2020, 3.00pm
Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre

Sarah Penicka-Smith conductor

Penrith City Choir, Academy Singers, Warrimoo Chorale,
Penrith City Children's Choir
Lucy McAlary chorus director

Penrith Symphony Orchestra

HANDEL Messiah

A festive favourite, Handel’s much-loved work makes a return to PSO’s concert season in 2020. Featuring four exceptional young soloists, and joined by the combined forces of Penrith City Choir, Academy Singers and Warrimoo Chorale.

Handel had built his reputation writing opera in the Italian style, however as the public taste shifted he turned to the oratorio to recapture this earlier success. The Messiah is his best-known work in the genre, and has been a fixture on the concert stage ever since it’s premiere in 1742.