I’m absolutely thrilled to be writing a new work for the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s 2021 Season - a trumpet concerto featuring principal trumpet Owen Morris! The work will be premiered in April 2021 and conducted by maestro Johannes Fritzsch. Trumpet was my first instrument, way back in kindergarten, so I’m especially looking forward to rekindling my brass-y roots.

From the New World

Thursday 22 April 2021 at 8:30pm, Hamer Hall

Saturday 24 April 2021 at 2:00pm, Hamer Hall

Featuring

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Johannes Fritzsch conductor
Owen Morris trumpet

Program

Joan Tower For the Uncommon Woman
Holly Harrison New work for trumpet and orchestra (World premiere of an MSO Commission)
Dvořák Symphony No. 9 From the New World

About the performance

The MSO performs one of the most popular symphonies of all time, Antonin Dvořák’s From the New World – an orchestral celebration of the joy of discovery, alongside works by two female compositional voices in this heartening program conducted by Johannes Fritszch.

• From Carnegie Hall to the moon
  Antonin Dvořák was living in New York City in the 1890s, both longing for his Czech homeland and delighting in uncovering musical styles that were new to him, namely African-American and Native American melodies. This coupling resulted in a symphony that captures Dvořák‘s intense emotions at the time, bittersweet and yet enormously hopeful. The 1893 premiere at Carnegie Hall was a huge success and it’s remained popular ever since. From the New World has even been heard in space, when Neil Armstrong took it on the Apollo 11 mission to the moon.

• An uncommon fanfare
  American composer Joan Tower (b.1938) wrote six fanfares “For the Uncommon Woman” between 1987 and 2014, which are sometimes referred to as a response to Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man. Here the MSO performs the fourth in the series, a bright, brassy and big-hearted work that was premiered by the Kansas Symphony Orchestra in 1992.

• A trumpet showcase
  One of Australia’s leading young composers, Holly Harrison’s works have been performed across Australia, Asia, Europe and the USA. Here the MSO performs a world premiere work composed to showcase MSO Principal Trumpet Owen Morris. Harrison is also the 2020-21 Composer in Residence at the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.