THE SHOW BAND , DIRECTED BY MEGAN PHILIP
MAKE MUSIC IN MAY
An important annual classical music festival in Victoria is the Woodend Winter Arts Festival . The festival features professional ensembles and soloists from all over Australia and internationally . This year , the Symphony Orchestra was invited to present a family concert on the King ’ s Birthday . The program featured Prokofiev ’ s timeless classic , Peter and the Wolf with legendary veteran performer , Max Gillies , as narrator . It was a great treat to work with Max again , and the concert was received with tremendous enthusiasm . It is worth remembering that Prokofiev ’ s famous work was written for children to listen to , not children to play ! The work is very demanding for the orchestra , and soloists , William Ashley ( flute ), Edward Song ( oboe ), Ryan Zhang ( clarinet ) and Jason Kriesner ( bassoon ) all deserve particular credit for the dedicated work needed prior to performance .
The following evening saw the orchestra performing again for the Winter Concert , led by Geoff Liu , L . Mus . A . ( distinction ), and conducted by Director of Music , Dr Ferguson . This is the Symphony Orchestra ’ s largest concert of the year because it is purely the orchestra with no other ensembles , and so it provides an opportunity for the orchestra to play complete works . The concert opened with the Bacchanale from Samson and Delila by Saint-Saëns . Edward Song played the opening oboe cadenza beautifully , and credit must also go to outstanding percussion performances from Thomas Lin and Ned Karunaratne . Ryan
DANIEL ZISIN DELIGHTING IN THE PERFORMANCE OF THE CALLANTINA SWING BAND
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