World premiere highlights the orchestra's largest string instrument
2 September 2025.
The TSO will perform the world premiere of a new work by acclaimed Australian composer Richard Mills on Thursday 11 September.
Composer Richard Mills. Photo by Charlie Kinross.
Richard’s concerto, Fantastic Bestiary, has been written for TSO Principal Double Bass Stuart Thomson to highlight the orchestra’s largest string instrument.
The composer will take to the podium to conduct the 6pm concert, titled Fairy Tales.
‘The medium of bass and orchestra presents a particular opportunity for symphonic storytelling,’ says Richard.
His eight-movement concerto tells a story of mythical creatures in the dramatic real-life landscapes of Tasmania, Western Australia and far northern Queensland.
About Fantastic Bestiary
The audience will encounter mythical creatures including basilisks on Bruny Island, melancholy birds near Scottsdale, fire dragons at Cradle Mountain and even dancing crocodiles in prehistoric Tasmania.
‘It was engaging to invent a series of fanciful titles to reveal the wide range, rich palette of colour and the characterful articulations of the solo bass,’ Richard says.
About our soloist
Originally from Scotland, Stuart Thomson was appointed to the role of TSO Principal Double Bass in 2003.
Stuart began playing the double bass at age nine. He studied at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and worked with the BBC Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, London Symphony and Philharmonia orchestras.
He joined the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in 1999 and then moved to Australia in 2001 to play with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, joining the TSO in 2003.
Principal Double Bass Stuart Thomson.
Join us for our next 6pm concert.
Conducted by Richard Mills, our Fairy Tales concert will include the world premiere of Richard’s double bass concerto, Fantastic Bestiary, as well as Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite.
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