The Hills Shire Symphony Orchestra are eagerly looking forward to transporting you to Finland, on Saturday 15th June, at 7.30pm at the Hills Grammar School, Kenthurst.
The concert will pay homage to Finland’s bestknown composer, Jean Sibelius, and features three of his most well known and loved works, Finlandia, the Karelia Suite and his Violin Concerto.
Under Russian rule until after the 1917 Soviet revolution, Finland strongly retained its own culture through the works of its artists, writers, and composers, all of whom drew themes and imagery from the Finland’s vast, majestic landscape of forests and water.
The concert opens with Finlandia, a tone poem written in 1899. Finlandia was composed as a covert protest against increasing censorship from the Russian Empire. Most of the piece is taken up with rousing and turbulent music evoking the national struggle of the Finnish people, however, towards the end calm emerges, with the serene and melodic Finlandia hymn.
A similarly nationalistic work completes the first half of the concert, the famous Karelia Suite. Composed six years earlier than Finlandia, the rough-hewn character of the Karelia Suite was deliberate. The intention was to capture the quality of naïve, folk-based authenticity.
The featured work on the program is one of the most popular of twentieth century violin concertos, Sibelius’ Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D minor Op 47 featuring soloist, Sunny Roh. After graduating with a Masters Degree in Performance from the Sydney Conservatorium, Sunny made her Australian debut performing this concerto with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. She now performs regularly as a concert violinist throughout Europe, England, Korea and Russia, as well as in Australia.
Hills Shire Symphony Orchestra Chief Conductor and Artistic Director, Chris Upton said, “We are thrilled to have this opportunity to work with Sunny and to share her wealth of musical knowledge and experience with Hills music lovers.”
Chris founded The Hills Shire Symphony Orchestra (HSSO) in 2018 to enrich the musical life of The Hills by providing engaging and exhilarating performances of classical music at a reasonable cost, as well as to provide opportunities for local performers, aspiring conductors and composers.
Chamber musicians from the HSSO perform at Bella Vista Farm’s Open Day, on the first Sunday of every month. Listen to the music while enjoying a Devonshire Tea or Sausage Sizzle in the tranquil grounds of the Farm. Performances commence at 10am, corner Norwest Boulevard and Elizabeth Macarthur Drive, Bella Vista. Next Open Day: Sunday, 2nd June, 9am – 2pm.
In order to faithfully present these major works, the orchestra desperately needs more string players. Rehearsals are held on Wednesday evenings in Baulkham Hills. If you or anyone you know plays a string instrument, please don’t hesitate to get in touch for a very warm welcome at [email protected]
Tickets for the upcoming concert are available now at www.hillsshiresymphonyorchestra.org.au. Adults $30, Concession $15, Children under 12, $10. This will be a sell-out concert and seating is limited, so don’t delay!
