MYO brings "Symphonic Romance" to Warragul

Enjoy the emotional rollercoaster of Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony, Borodin's thrilling Polovtsian Dances and other romantic pieces when the Melbourne Youth Orchestra (MYO) perform at the West Gippsland Arts Centre next Sunday.

Titled "Symphonic Romance", the concert will be an afternoon of sweeping orchestral colour, lyricism and drama featuring the emerging talent of MYO conducted by MYO music director Brett Kelly.
The group of esteemed young musicians will be joined on stage by the West Gippsland Chorale for a selection of pieces, celebrating the strength of music-making in Gippsland while creating a large-scale artistic partnership between regional and metropolitan performers.
"We're thrilled to be collaborating with the West Gippsland Chorale," Brett said. "Bringing metropolitan and regional musicians together in performance creates something genuinely special - not just artistically, but as a shared community experience."
Brett said the MYO was excited to stage the concert in West Gippsland and continue the orchestra's growing commitment to regional Victoria following acclaimed performances in Ballarat and Bendigo in recent years.
He described preparing for the concert in Warragul as an interesting but exciting challenge.
"If you're going somewhere that you don't normally perform, you want to be able to put your best foot forward in every sense, and especially with the actual music we play," he said.
At the centre of the "Symphonic Romance" program is Tchaikovsky's Symphony No.6, "Pathétique" - one of the most powerful and emotionally charged works in the orchestral repertoire.
Brett described Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony as "an amazing emotional rollercoaster".
"It starts in an atmosphere of despair, and we go through serene, almost dance-like qualities in the second movement, to incredible triumph in the third and then finish again in a state of somewhat despair," he said. "If people could imagine the most archetypically romantic film music, this is like three levels above that"
A piece that "demands enormous commitment, maturity and courage from the orchestra", Brett said hearing young musicians take on Tchaikovsky's Pathétique was "incredibly powerful"
"The result is music-making of extraordinary intensity and honesty."
The program also will feature the vibrant energy of de Falla's "Three-Cornered Hat Suite No.2", before the orchestra are joined by the West Gippsland Chorale.
Accompanied by a smaller section of the orchestra, the chorale will perform the luminous "Across the Vast Eternal Sky" by Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo and Morten Lauridsen's intimate and lyrical "Dirait-On".
The concert will conclude with the whole orchestra and chorale joining forces for Borodin's thrilling "Polovtsian Dances", bringing together soaring choral textures, powerful orchestral colour and the combined energy of musicians from across metropolitan and regional Victoria.
For local audiences, Brett said "Symphonic Romance" offered the opportunity to experience a major symphonic and choral program, presented live in the heart of the region.
"We're really hoping it'll be a great opportunity for local families to get a real taste of what an orchestra can be like and to see young people doing it," he said.
Brett said with the layout of the West Gippsland Arts Centre seating, people would "almost have the orchestra on their laps", providing a fantastic opportunity to take in the full experience of listening to a live orchestra.
"It'll be almost like an orchestral concert on an IMAX screen," he said. "It's going to be so in your face, beautifully loud and absolutely enveloping."
One of the talented young people set to take the stage for "Symphonic Romance" is Warragul student and trumpeter, Alessandra Vodanovich.
Having played the trumpet for more than 10 years, Alessandra said she was looking forward to playing in Warragul with the MYO, and encouraged young Gippsland musicians to attend.
"I grew up in the area so it's going to be really great having family there and particularly my grandpa who's coming from Sale," she said.
"I think there's a lot of emerging talents in Warragul, especially some of the schools around there so it'd be really great for them to come along and see what we're doing and maybe find some inspiration as well and try out for MYO."
The Melbourne Youth Orchestra will perform "Symphonic Romance" with the West Gippsland Chorale at the West Gippsland Arts Centre on Sunday June 21 at 2:30pm.
Tickets are available to purchase online at https://sales.wgac.com.au