Thursday 21 Aug 2025 6pm
Odeon Theatre, Nipaluna / Hobart
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Put your violin down flip it
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The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra acknowledges the traditional owners and continuing custodians of Lutruwita / Tasmania. We pay respect to the Aboriginal community today, and to its Elders past and present. We recognise a history of truth, which acknowledges the impacts of colonisation upon Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and stand for a future that profoundly respects their stories, culture, language and history.
About the concert
Works
Matthew Hindson LiteSPEED (6 mins)
Nico Muhly A Long Line (6 mins)
Anna Meredith Moon (13 mins)
Gordon Hamilton Loop Guts (12 mins)
Mason Bates Mothership (9 mins)
Hannah Solveij.
Uncover the stories behind the works.
Guest Curator and Conductor Sam Weller discusses each work.
An exhilarating ride.
LiteSPEED
Composed by Matthew Hindson (b. 1968)
6 minutes
“Every piece in this concert is informed by some form of electronic or dance music or electronic synthesis and we'll be hitting the ground running at breakneck speed.
We open with Matthew Hindson’s LiteSPEED. Matthew is one of Australia's most played and beloved composers, and this is his homage to rave culture and hardcore techno.
In Matthew's music, there's something … obnoxious I think is the word that I'm going for. But I mean that in a really positive way. He's unapologetically in-your-face.
LiteSPEED takes driving bass lines from techno as well as thumping beats, with high-high-high tempo. The beats are going to be laid down by a wonderful percussionist, Timothy Brigden, and it's all set off by our double bass section.
This sets off our concert and hopefully it will blow your socks off.”
Sam Weller guest curator and conductor
[The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, conducted by David Porcelijn, recorded Matthew Hindson’s Speed in 2000. LiteSPEED is a light version of Speed.]
Feel the flow.
A Long Line
Composed by Nico Muhly (b.1981)
6 minutes
“A Long Line by New York-based composer Nico Muhly provides a moment of introspection for the orchestra.
It's a dialogue between our soloist Hannah’s Solveij’s violin and the electronic track and it has deep, dark, swirling electronics, much more ambient, and provides a really sort of welcome tone shift.”
Sam Weller guest curator and conductor
Ethereal, pulsing, atmospheric.
Moon
- iii. Strawberry
- iv. Sturgeon
- v. Hunter
Composed by Anna Meridith (b.1978)
13 minutes
“The third piece is by Scottish composer Anna Meredith. It's called Moon, and it's for amplified chamber orchestra and live electronics. We'll be performing three movements from this and they're performed without a break, with electronic interludes in the middle.
Anna often blends elements of pop music production into her orchestral and instrumental works. She's composed an electronic track that we play alongside our live performance and the orchestra weaves in and out of this track.
This is a really nice piece that serves as (sort of) the more relaxed part of our programme. It's a little bit more ambient. The final movement, however, ends on a high.”
Sam Weller guest curator and conductor
The ultimate mash-up.
Loop Guts
Composed by Gordon Hamilton (b.1982)
12 minutes
“The centrepiece of the programme is the Australian premiere of Loop Guts, which is composed by Australian composer Gordon Hamilton and Hannah Solveij.
They wrote this together during 2020 and this is the first time it's been performed without Gordon, who conducted the premiere.
It's an amazing concerto where all the electronic sounds and beats are synthesised from live sampling of Hannah's violin. Hannah wears many hats – not just playing the solo part, but also singing and essentially playing percussion, while controlling the live electronics.
There are also many moments for the orchestra to shine through, which is what I really love about this piece. The orchestral interplay is so detailed and busy, without being over the top.
This piece references a diverse array of styles. We have smoky 1920s jazz, a little bit of cabaret, a lot of funk, and also some poppy and melodic house-inspired music.”
Sam Weller guest curator and conductor
From the future.
Mothership
Composed by Mason Bates (b.1977)
9 minutes
“Mason Bates’ Mothership was written for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra’s premiere in 2011 where musicians from around the world gathered in Sydney to play at the Sydney Opera House.
This has a live electronic component, which will be triggered and performed by TSO trombonist Jackson Bankovic.
This is more in reference to house and light techno music. Mason Bates describes the piece as a mothership hovering above the orchestra in which various musicians from the orchestra dock and board the mothership.
Those ‘docking’ episodes are in the form of orchestral solos, so you'll hear solo instruments from the orchestra interacting with the live electronics. It’s very groovy, it’s funky and it’s more based on funk base lines that driving, harsh techno base lines.
This is a really optimistic piece to close the concert.”
Sam Weller guest curator and conductor
Musicians
Sam Weller
Conductor
Sam Weller was recently announced as one of six ‘designated winners’ of the International Conducting Competition Rotterdam, which saw him conduct ensembles such as the Rotterdam Philharmonic, Klangforum Wien and Orchestra of the 18th Century in 2025.
Sam is enjoying a blossoming career in The Netherlands and Australia, with a recent debut at the Concertgebouw with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic and performances of two staged operas with Residentie Orkest and the Dutch National Opera Academy. Upcoming highlights include debuts with the Tasmanian, Queensland and West Australian Symphonies and a return to Adelaide Symphony. In the past Sam has led performances with Noord Nederlands Orkest, The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, PHION, Phil Zuid and a national tour of Die Zauberflöte with Opera2Day and LUDWIG Orchestra.
Originally from Australia, and now based between Sydney and Amsterdam, Sam founded Ensemble Apex in 2016, which has been hailed as ‘one of the most exciting new ensembles on the Sydney scene’ (Limelight Magazine). The orchestra creates exceptional orchestral music experiences for newcomers and seasoned concert-goers alike. Apex has presented sold-out seasons since 2016, with highlights including Bela Bartok’s Miraculous Mandarin at Sydney Town Hall, Rhapsody in Blue with Simon Tedeschi, Strauss’ Eine Alpensinfonie and most recently a critically acclaimed production of Verdi’s Messa da Requiem. In 2024 they launched Apex Festival supported by the Australian Government – a cutting-edge new orchestral music festival in Australia.
In 2022 Sam graduated from the prestigious National Masters of Orchestral Conducting in The Netherlands where he studied with Ed Spanjaard, Jac Van Steen, Kenneth Montgomery OBE and guest professor Antony Hermus.
Sam is a guest lecturer and conductor at Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Conservatorium van Amsterdam and Koninklijk Conservatoire - Den Haag.
Hannah Solveij
Violin
Hannah Solveij Gramß is a versatile classical violinist known for crossing genre boundaries. She holds a Master’s degree from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, where she studied with Professor Tjeerd Top, a Bachelor’s degree from the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg with Professor Herwig Zack, and in 2020 completed an Erasmus program at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Lyon with Professor Marianne Piketty.
After her academy experience with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Hannah continued to work as a freelancer with esteemed orchestras including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. Since 2025, she has been guest concertmaster of the internationally renowned Metropole Orkest, a world-class jazz and pop orchestra.
As a soloist, she has performed the Barber Violin Concerto with the Noord Nederlands Orkest and premiered her own violin concerto, Loop Guts – composed with Australian composer and conductor Gordon Hamilton – with the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, Nürnberger Symphoniker, and Orchestre National de Lyon.
Hannah has also performed as first violin with the Vision String Quartet, a Berlin-based ensemble renowned for performing classical, jazz, pop repertoire from memory, often standing, creating a dynamic concert experience.
Beyond performing, she has been a panel member for Symphony Insiders and Symphony Night Live on the streaming platform Symphony.Live (2022–23). She has also been active as a jazz singer with the vocal ensemble Chants Fleuris and has appeared in multiple short films as an actress and voiceover artist.
Her work has been recognised with awards including the Bavarian Arts Promotion Prize and the Würzburger Art Promotion Prize, as well as nominations for two Opus Klassik awards. She is the recipient of various scholarships, including the Deutschlandstipendium, the Young Art and New Paths program of the Bavarian State Ministry for Science and the Arts, and Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now.
Artists
Sam Weller Guest curator and conductor
Hannah Solveij Guest curator and violin
Violin
Emma McGrath Concertmaster
Ji Won Kim Associate Concertmaster
Jennifer Owen Principal Second
Tobias Chisnall Principal First
Miranda Carson
Yue-Hong Cha
Frances Davies
Michael Johnston
Christine Lawson
Christopher Nicholas
Rohana O’Malley
Hayato Simpson
Viola
Caleb Wright Principal
Anna Larsen Roach
Susanna Low
William Newbery
Cello
Jonathan Békés Principal
Ivan James
Nicholas McManus
Martin Penicka
Double Bass
Stuart Thomson Principal
Matthew McGrath
Flute
Lily Bryant Guest Principal
Lloyd Hudson Principal Piccolo
Oboe
Rachel Bullen Guest Principal
Clarinet
Andrew Seymour Principal
Eloise Fisher Principal Bass Clarinet
Bassoon
Tasman Compton Guest Principal Contrabassoon
Horn
Claudia Leggett Guest Principal First
Julian Leslie
Trumpet
Fletcher Cox Principal
Trombone
David Robins Principal
Jackson Bankovic
Bass Trombone
James Littlewood Principal
Timpani
Matthew Goddard Principal
Percussion
Gary Wain Principal
Evan Pritchard
Drum Kit
Timothy Brigden Guest Principal
Harp
Meriel Owens Guest Principal
Keyboard
Michael Power Guest Principal
*Correct at time of publishing
Odeon Theatre
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