Perth Concert Hall

Presented by Perth Symphony Orchestra & StoryBoard Entertainment. Featuring Logie-nominated and recent star of CHICAGO Natalie Bassingwaighte; Aria chart-topping vocalist Paulini, New York Metropolitan Opera singer Alexander Lewis; semi-finalist in The Voice 2020 Mark Furze; musical theatre favourite Rob Mills; opera singer Eddie Muliaumaseali'l, and mustical theatre all-rounder Brittanie Shipway, with backing by twenty-five professional musicians from Perth Symphony Orchestra.

Set during the Cold War, two of the world's greatest chess players, one American, one Russian, find themselves pawns of their governments sparring in the turbulent East-West political arena. As the game climaxes and stakes rise, Florence Vassey, as Hungarian-born refugee is caught between the two grandmasters, in a triangle of both love and power.

Featuring iconic music of Benny Andersson & Bjorn Ulvaeus (ABBA) with book & lyrics by Tim Rice, the worldwide stage hit Chess The Musical will be presented as a semi-staged concert style production featuring smash-hits 'I Know Him So Well' and 'One Night In Bangkok'. Directed by Tyran Parke this powerful new production of Chess The Musical will be the music theatre event of 2021 that cannot be missed!

Please note this is a semi-staged performance

Join WASO for the family-friendly musical adventure to meet the musicians and instruments of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra.

Benjamin Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra is a radiant introduction and deep dive into the exciting world of the Orchestra, its sound and instruments. From the violins to the triangle, tuba to piccolo, this interactive sonic safari will be guided by presenter Thea Rossen.

Young listeners will meet each instrument of the orchestra through a clever series of variations, travelling around the orchestra from the highest to the lowest.

In a matter of weeks in 1865 Johannes Brahms composed a horn trio in memory of his mother, bringing together a combination of instruments that seemed to occupy a new, magical land. No doubt inspired by its poised beauty, in 1910 the composer Ernst Naumann made an imaginative arrangement of Mozart’s Horn Quintet for this same line-up.

Placing both these demanding works on the same program asks a lot of a horn player, which is where Nicolas Fleury comes in. Resident in Australia since 2019, Nicolas has a brilliant pedigree, which includes studies in his native France, postgrad tuition in London, and a decade as a soloist and Principal with orchestras throughout the world.

Matching such beautiful playing is the welcome responsibility of Amir Farid and Emily Sun, two radiant musicians whose commitment to contemporary music is here expressed in the premiere of a Sonata by Gordon Kerry, generously commissioned by Julian Burnside in celebration of Gordon’s improbable 60th birthday. 

From stolen child and teenage alcoholic to musical icon, social activist and First Nations leader, Archie Roach’s compelling story is an extraordinary odyssey through love and heartbreak, family and community, survival and renewal – and a testament to the healing power of music.

30 years after the release of his two-time ARIA Award winning album Charcoal Lane (1990), Tell Me Why is an intimate and moving musical journey through Roach’s life. The work features seminal songs from his back catalogue, influential music from his youth and three new autobiographical songs.

Roach will be joined onstage by his five-piece band, including award-winning jazz composer and improviser Paul Grabowsky and special guest Emma Donovan.

Don’t miss this spectacular concert celebrating Roach’s eponymous memoir and latest album. 

Join us on a musical adventure as we warp to the four corners of a galaxy, far fay away ... Prepare yourselves for a musical journey through the cosmos as we unleash the award-winning sounds of the WA Wind Symphony along with the vibrant West Coast Philharmonic at Perth Concert Hall. Featuring all of your space favourites from Star Wars, The Mandalorian, Star Trek, 2001: A Space Odyssey. Holst's The Planets and more ... This is the way.

In 2020, when asked whether she thought Musica Viva could put on stage a program she had conceived entirely for the recording studio – a lovely juxtaposition of music old and new, a collaboration with a dear and well-matched friend, renowned harpist Marshall McGuire – the wondrous musician Genevieve Lacey responded:

During this time of isolation, people the world round are yearning for shelter, both physical and spiritual. Bower is an associative, ephemeral nest, woven with memories, heart, hope. Musical treasures found, borrowed and made are lovingly fashioned into a sanctuary.

Accordingly, this program emerges gently onto the concert platform, offering audiences a unique shared experience, enhanced with sound by Jim Atkins and lighting by Niklas Pajanti. Genevieve’s ‘bower’ is the most authentic extension of the ideas at the heart of one of the programmed pieces, Purcell’s exquisite Evening Hymn

Now, now that the sun hath veil’d his light

And bid the world goodnight;

To the soft bed my body I dispose,

But where shall my soul repose?

Artists:

GENEVIEVE LACEY RECORDERS
MARSHALL MCGUIRE HARP 

PROGRAM –

Music by John Playford, Jacob van Eyck, Cipriano de Rore, Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber and Henry Purcell (some arranged by Genevieve Lacey and Marshall McGuire), alongside Australian premieres:

SKIPWORTH Cavern
BENNETT Baiyan Woka (arr. Erkki Veltheim)
KELLER I Surrender
VAN REYK threaded in amongst the infinite threading
FLYNN AND HUMPHREY A mutual support for precarious times
VELTHEIM Nocturne over blue ruins
RODGERS Birds for Genevieve 

As a 15-year-old student nearing the end of his first year at the Vienna Conservatory, Gustav Mahler composed one movement of a piano quartet, a work that always gives the impression that something bigger is struggling to emerge. Following Mahler’s own tradition of enlarging certain chamber pieces, this program includes an orchestration of the quartet, made by the outstanding violinist Harry Ward: an ANAM alumnus and a Musica Viva FutureMaker.

Alfred Schnittke was keenly aware of his Soviet/German musical heritage, even as he stomped on it in heavy boots. Yet his piano concerto is a touching affirmation of his artistic roots, and his affection for Tchaikovsky makes the two Russians good bedfellows, the elder’s Serenade here prefaced by Estonian composer Mihkel Kerem’s Lamento, a work of searing beauty.

ANAM’s ensemble of wonderful young string players is directed with equal verve by the terrific Sophie Rowell, one of Australia’s most admired instrumentalists. They are joined onstage by Adelaide’s brilliant, Russian-trained Konstantin Shamray.

For more than a generation they were the two biggest rock stars on the planet. Today, they remain two of the biggest recording stars in music history.

Elvis was King and Cliff Richard, England’s answer to Elvis, became the PRINCE and was duly knighted to become Sir Cliff.

Australian music legend Marty Rhone is a master when it comes to singing Cliff, and Mark has performed on every continent as Elvis. Together they bring you an unparalleled night of music magic

This is the first time these two legends and their music will be presented on the same stage.

Suspicious Minds, Viva Las Vegas, Jailhouse Rock, Devil Woman, Wired for Sound, Young Ones, oh, and a couple of bonus tracks called Denim & Lace and a Mean Pair of Jeans.

So, Lords, Ladies and Gentleman, get ready for the The King of Rock and the Prince of Pop.

ARC members Kram (Spiderbait), Darren Middleton (Powderfinger), Mark Wilson (JET), and Davey Lane (You AM I, The Wrights, and more) are self-confessed Beatles tragics. As they did with Abbey Road Live, the band will once again walk the tightrope to faithfully and lovingly bring another brilliant Beatles creation to life on stage – Let It Be from start to finish – followed by a second set playing a selection of favourites spanning the breadth of The Beatles’ catalogue.

For thousands of years, music has been intrinsic to honouring country and ingraining a sense of place. Collaborating side-by-side the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and Western Australian Youth Orchestra will adventure across lands and through time, from Perth’s own spectacular Derbarl Yerrigan to Finland’s Kemijoki, the majestic Black Swan to the magical colours of the Firebird. 

With world premiere performances of works delivered by outstanding Noongar musicians and performers featuring the spellbinding Della Rae Morrison and Barry McGuire sitting alongside classics from Sibelius, Copland and Stravinsky, this magical night of orchestral colour, conducted by Thaddeus Huang, will bring you a renewed love for the sand beneath your feet.

Tickets on sale now!

Program includes:
Jean Sibelius Finlandia
Aaron Copland The Tender Land – Suite
Igor Stravinsky The Firebird – Suite

Thaddeus Huang conductor
Barry McGuire & Della Rae Morrison vocals
West Australian Youth Orchestra
West Australian Symphony Orchestra

WAAPA proudly celebrates the 30th anniversary of Edith Cowan University in a spectacular gala concert at the Perth Concert Hall. Showcasing the incredible talents and creativity of WAAPA’s students, staff and alumni, this performance extravaganza takes audiences on a rich and diverse journey through music, theatre and dance – with some very special guests and a few extra surprises along the way! Join us for an amazing party, as WAAPA celebrates 30 wonderful years at ECU and we look towards an exciting and inspiring future. Don’t miss this incredibly special event! Performed by: WAAPA students, staff, alumni and special guests

Every so often a new work comes along that makes us all sit up and take notice, startled as we do so; Paul Dean’s concerto for cello and wind quintet is such a piece. It is gritty, lyrical, compelling, and in Trish Dean has a phenomenal advocate. She is well matched by Paul and the other members of Ensemble Q, a sharp-shooting group of renowned wind soloists in Brisbane, brought together out of the desire to create a collection of ‘exceptional players and wonderful people’.

This program demands much from each player, perfectly framed by the different ways in which composers since Beethoven have thought about wind instruments. It’s funny to think of the Ligeti and Barber works being composed within two years of each other, for they could not be more different – Barber an exponent of mid-century American lyricism, Ligeti an uncompromising modernist. They nonetheless rub shoulders most happily in this program, a snapshot of virtuosic wind writing.

Artists:

PAUL DEAN CLARINET AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
TRISH DEAN CELLO AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
VIRGINIA TAYLOR FLUTE
HUW JONES OBOE
PETER LUFF HORN
DAVID MITCHELL BASSOON 

Programs

BRITTEN Ciaccona from Second Suite for Cello, Op. 80 (1967)
LIGETI Six Bagatelles for wind quintet (1953)
DEBUSSY Syrinx (1913)
BEETHOVEN Variations on ‘La Ci Darem’ (1795)
BARBER Summer Music, Op. 31 (1955)
DEAN Concerto for Cello and Wind Quintet (2018)

Based on the true story of Tupaia, a Tahitian star navigator who sailed with James Cook on the Endeavour, this beautiful and haunting work explores the 1769 meeting of two master mariners, each from a vastly different place and culture, both proud of their knowledge and unwavering in their ambition.

The opera delves into the minds of these two navigators of genius and the gulf of belief that, despite their common love of the sea and thirst for exploration, stops them from finding their way into each other's world. Set sail on this journey and let the music lift you up to the stars.

Star Navigator is a new work composed by Tim Finn with Tahitian monologues by Celestine Vaite. Originally commissioned by West Australian Opera, New Zealand Opera and Victorian Opera and supported by the state government of Western Australia.

The winner of the BBC Young Musician award in 2016, and now one of the brightest stars in classical music, the brilliant cellist is also one of seven siblings, all instrumentalists, who have been described by Simon Cowell as the world’s most talented family.

On this, the first Australian tour by Sheku and the Kanneh-Masons, he will be joined by his sister Isata, now one of Britain’s leading young pianists, in a performance of greatly loved sonatas for cello and piano, and by the entire family in a programme of works by Chopin, Mozart, Saint Saëns, Fauré, Elgar and other popular composers.

The Kanneh-Masons are Isata, 23 (piano), Braimah, 21 (violin), Sheku, 20 (cello), Konya, 18 (piano and violin), Jeneba, 16 (piano and cello), Aminita, 13 (violin and piano), and Mariatu, 9 (cello and piano).