Thursday 2 May 2024 6pm
Federation Concert Hall, nipaluna / Hobart
Conducted by Benjamin Northey,
featuring vocalist Olivia Chindamo.
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
Bernstein ‘Times Square’ from On the Town (5 min)
Joe Chindamo Fantaskatto (23 min)
6 movements:
- Preludio
- Tango appassionato
- Scherzo
- Aria
- Circo
- Ascensione
Gershwin Catfish Row, Suite from Porgy and Bess (25 min)
5 movements:
- Catfish Row
- Porgy Sings
- Fugue
- Hurricane
- Good Morning, Sistuh
💡 FIRST-TIMER TIP
A ‘movement’ is part of a longer work (a bit like the act of a play). Symphonies typically have four movements, concertos have three. There’s usually a contrast between adjacent movements – a fast movement is usually followed by a slow one, for instance. People traditionally clap at the end of the final movement in each work.
Find out more here.
Olivia Chindamo
Uncover the stories behind the works.
Jazz Hands
'Times Square' from On the Town
Composed by Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990)
5 minutes
American composer, conductor and music educator Leonard Bernstein enjoyed one of his earliest successes with the ballet Fancy Free in 1944. Set during World War II, the story concerns three sailors on 24-hour leave in New York. Tremendously successful, Fancy Free was transformed into a full-length musical that same year, giving us On the Town.
The ‘Times Square’ sequence is set in the city’s theatre and entertainment district. It’s where the three sailors congregate for a night of revelry. Percussive and jazzy with syncopated rhythms galore, ‘Times Square’ showcases wind, brass and percussion instruments above all.
Listen out for solos from the high-pitched E-flat clarinet and alto saxophone. The principal melody is the tune of ‘New York, New York (it’s a helluva town)’, which is introduced by horns and trombones before making its way through most sections of the orchestra.
New York, New York
(it's a helluva town)
Here’s a performance conducted by Bernstein himself:
Shooby doo wop!
Fantaskatto
-
- Preludio
- Tango appassionato
- Scherzo
- Aria
- Circo
- Ascensione
Composed by Joe Chindamo (1961–)
23 minutes
Fantaskatto, by Melbourne-based composer and pianist Joe Chindamo, was commissioned by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and premièred in 2017. The composer writes:
“In creating Fantaskatto, I envisaged a kind of marriage between Ligeti’s Mysteries of the Macabre and the scat improvisations of Ella Fitzgerald; in essence, to create an operatic world in which bel canto and the urbanity of jazz could co-exist. It has a Felliniesque quality too, in that grotesque circus-like gestures (such as in the virtuosic high-wire act between the voice and clarinet in the fifth movement) are tempered by moments of exquisite solace, ecstasy, drama, triumph, redemption and great human tenderness.”
Vocalist Olivia Chindamo (our performer this evening!) says of the improvised nature of the concert;
“It gives me a whole lot of flexibility as the soloist - I get to be open to influence and inspiration throughout the piece. There are lots of ways in which the performance can change…the conductor plays a huge role, the orchestra has a say, there are lots of little soloists that are placed throughout the orchestra that conversations directly with me….and ultimately the audience can have a huge impact on how it’s performed.”
💡 FIRST-TIMER TIP
The names of movements in symphonies often follow traditional conventions that give insight into the character, tempo, and sometimes the form of each section.
These terms not only instruct performers on the tempo and mood of each movement but also guide listeners through the emotional and narrative arc of the symphony. For example, ‘Allegro’ refers to tempo and ‘molto’ translates to very, so: very fast!
An American Classic
Catfish Row, Suite from Porgy and Bess
- Catfish Row
- Porgy Sings
- Fugue
- Hurricane
- Good Morning, Sistuh
Composed by George Gershwin (1898–1937)
25 minutes
A decade before On the Town, another American composer, George Gershwin, composed his so-called ‘folk opera’ Porgy and Bess, the last of his many works for the stage. Premièred in 1935, Porgy and Bess was groundbreaking for a number of reasons, not least its predominantly African-American cast (it is set among the dwellers of Catfish Row, a fictional poor neighbourhood in the southern American city of Charleston).
While it enjoyed a strong run in its inaugural Broadway season, Porgy and Bess was not a financial success for Gershwin, which no doubt prompted him to arrange music from it – the five-movement suite heard in this concert – to bring it to a wider public.
Catfish Row, Suite from Porgy and Bess was created in 1935 and conducted by Gershwin in 1936 and 1937. For reasons which remain unknown, it then slipped out of circulation and was forgotten until the original manuscript was discovered in 1958.
Catfish Row blends orchestral episodes from the opera and instrumental arrangements of popular numbers such as ‘Summertime’, ‘I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin’, ‘Bess, You Is My Woman Now’ and ‘I’m On My Way’. Over a period of time, Porgy and Bess would come to be regarded as an American classic but, sadly, Gershwin didn’t live to witness its long-range success. He was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 1937; he underwent surgery but never recovered.
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Musicians
Olivia Chindamo
Vocal soloist
Olivia Chindamo is a New York-based jazz vocalist from Australia whose unique voice effortlessly carries and delivers stories and melodies with the highest level of integrity, honesty and musicianship. With a special love for improvisation, Olivia's musical endeavours offer a fresh combination of old and new as she continually fuses an ever expanding knowledge of jazz history with her modern sensibilities, impressive technique control and textural versatility.
Having studied under the tutelage of some of America’s finest jazz musicians at the Banff International Workshop in Jazz & Creative Music in 2016, Olivia felt more drawn to the United States than ever before, inspiring her bold move to relocate to the other side of the world and fully pursue her love and passion for jazz music.
Since her arrival, Olivia has performed extensively in the United States at various world-renown venues such as The Kennedy Centre, Dizzy’s Club, The Lincoln Centre and Birdland Jazz Club, and has toured internationally to Switzerland, Liechtenstein, France, the Netherlands, Austria and Poland in recent years with her own projects and as a guest to others’. A 2023 highlight was performing for artistic director and legendary conductor Alondra De La Parra's 2nd annual Festival PAAX GNP in Cancún, Mexico, where Olivia's extraordinary vocal versatilities were spotlighted throughout the 10-day-long program. Performances included the Northern Hemisphere premiere of Fantaskatto: Fantasy for Voice & Orchestra, collaborations with world-renown choreographer Christopher Wheeldon and dancers from the New York City Ballet, The Impossible Orchestra, latin-jazz icon Paquito D'Rivera and with her own jazz trio.
Olivia is a 2021 Master of Music graduate of The Juilliard School, where she made history as its first ever jazz voice graduate student, and was honoured upon graduation with the Joseph W. Polisi prize for “Artist as Citizen” for her work as a jazz division student representative, Gluck Fellowship leader and Community leader for Juilliard International Students.
Orchestra List
Benjamin Northey Conductor
Olivia Chindamo Vocalist
William Newbery Host
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
Violin
Emma McGrath Concertmaster
Ji Won Kim Associate Concertmaster
Lucy Carrig-Jones Principal Second
Jennifer Owen Principal First
Kirsty Bremner
Miranda Carson
Yue-Hong Cha
Tobias Chisnall
Frances Davies
Michael Johnston
Elinor Lea
Susanna Low
Lynette Rayner
Hayato Simpson
💡 FIRST-TIMER TIP
Did you know our Concertmaster plays a violin hand-crafted by one of the finest and most important luthiers (a string-instrument maker) of the nineteenth century, Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume (1798–1875).
He crafted 3000+ instruments in his time and we’re very proud to have a violin made in 1845 on loan from two of our generous Tasmanian patrons.
Viola
Caleb Wright Principal
Douglas Coghill
Anna Larsen Roach
William Newbery
Ariel Postmus
Cello
Jonathan Békés Principal
Nicholas McManus
Martin Penicka
Georgia Shine
Double Bass
Stuart Thomson Principal
Matthew McGrath
Adrian Whitehall
Flute
Katie Zagorski Principal
Rachel Howie Guest Principal Piccolo
Oboe
Celia Craig Guest Principal
Dinah Woods Principal Cor Anglais
Clarinet
Andrew Seymour Principal
Eloise Fisher Principal Bass Clarinet
Derek Grice
Robin Henry
Bassoon
Tahnee van Herk Principal
Evan Lewis Guest Principal Contrabassoon
French Horn
Greg Stephens Principal
Roger Jackson Guest Principal
Julian Leslie
Trumpet
Shane Hooton Guest Principal
Mark Bain
Melanie Wilkinson
Trombone
David Robins Principal
Iain Faragher
Bass Trombone
James Littlewood Guest Principal
Tuba
Rachel Kelly Principal
Timpani
Matthew Goddard Principal
Percussion
Gary Wain Principal
Stephen Marskell
Tracey Patten
Harp
Jessica Fotinos Guest Principal
Piano/Celeste
Jennifer Marten-Smith Guest Principal
Banjo
Matt Tzivakis Guest Principal
*Correct at time of publishing
Federation Concert Hall
Our Southern Home
Federation Concert Hall has been our home since 2001. It's distinctive curve, golden Tasmanian timber, contemporary design and deep red seats set the tone for the ultimate concert experience.
In 2020, major acoustical enhancements were made to the hall, amplifying the venue's, and the TSO's, reputation as world-class.
Photo credit: Fin Matson
Getting THere & Accessibility
Everything you need to know about Federation Concert Hall.
See Venue Info
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What are acoustics and how do they affect my concert experience?
Acoustics are the science of sound, or the way a venue can deliver the thunderous feeling of strings and brass, or the ring of the triangle over all the other instruments.
Read more about the acoustics of the Hall here.
Coming Up
Jonathan Békés, Thursday 23 May 2024, 6pm
Witness Jonathan Békés, TSO Principal Cello, tackle the ferociously challenging solo of Friedrich Gulda’s Cello Concerto.
All 6pm tickets are 2-for-1 – that's under $30 each for you and a friend! Book now.
Book 2-for-1
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