Composition Project

Community Event

Thursday 13 June, 6pm | Perth Concert Hall

Perth Concert Hall

West Australian Symphony Orchestra respectfully acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and Elders of Country throughout Western Australia, and the Whadjuk Noongar people on whose lands we work and share music.

How to use your Digital Program

You may use this digital program in the Perth Concert Hall Auditorium. Please use it respectfully and allow your fellow concert-goers to enjoy their concert experience by following these guidelines:

• Please enable Concert Mode at the top of your browser and further dim your screen in your device's settings.

• Place your phone on silent and mute all videos.

• Taking photos or video? Ensure your camera shutter sound and flash are turned off, then, if the conductor's arm is raised, hold it. If it's relaxed, go for it!

• For more information, see Your Concert Experience.

Welcome

The WASO Composition Project is a much-needed platform for aspiring composers. It is an important step towards a professional career. For many, this will be the first time they have heard their music performed by a professional ensemble.

Tonight, you will hear four extremely diverse and exceptionally well-crafted compositions for chamber orchestra. Over a three-month period, the composers have had three day-long workshops with the WASO ensemble. The composers worked with the musicians, as well as librarians and administrators, to gain insight into instrumental technique, score preparation and orchestral life.

I know that it is an incredibly rewarding and somewhat daunting experience for the composers as they hear their works performed for the first time in front of an audience. It is an experience worth a thousand orchestration lessons!

James Ledger

Program

Composition Project

Joonwoo KIM When Snow Blossoms

Amy SKELLERN Duality

Otto GIBBS Merlion Premonitions

Sahil SIDHU The Dream of 1899

James Ledger artistic director/conductor

This concert does not contain an interval.

About Composition Project

WASO’s Composition Project offers young and emerging Western Australian composers the opportunity to develop their skills in a professional environment. Through a series of individual lessons, workshops and rehearsals, participants will compose a new work for a 14-piece chamber ensemble, performed by WASO musicians in front of a live audience at Perth Concert Hall. Participants are mentored both by James Ledger (Artistic Director), Olivia Davies (WASO Composer-in-Residence) and WASO musicians.

The winner will have the opportunity to compose a new 3-minute piece of music for WASO’s mainstage education concert in 2025.

Composition Project is supported by Bendat Family Foundation.

WASO On Stage

VIOLIN
Semra Lee
Assistant Concertmaster
•MACA

Zak Rowntree*
Principal 2^nd Violin

VIOLA
Kierstan Arkleysmith

CELLO
Nicholas Metcalfe
•The Gregg Family

DOUBLE BASS
Giovanni Vinci

FLUTE
Andrew Nicholson

OBOE
Jonathan Ryan
•Joshua & Pamela Pitt

CLARINET
Alexander Millier

BASSOON
Chloe Turner

HORN
★Rod & Margaret Marston
Robert Gladstones
Principal 3^rd Horn

TRUMPET
Jenna Smith
Acting Principal

TROMBONE
Liam O’Malley
•Dale & Greg Higham

TUBA
Chloe Higgins

PERCUSSION
Francois Combemorel
Assoc Principal Percussion & Timpani
•Jim & Freda Irenic

KEY

Principal
Associate Principal
Assistant Principal
Contract Musician°
Guest Musician^

★ Section supported through the Duet program by
• Chair supported through the Duet program by
* Instruments used by these musicians are on loan from Janet Holmes à Court AC.

About the Artists

James Ledger
Artistic Director/Conductor

James Ledger is an ARIA award-winning composer with a breadth of work spanning solo, chamber, electronic and orchestral music. His first orchestral work, Indian Pacific, from 1996 is still regularly performed around Australia. He has held residencies with the West Australian, Adelaide, and Christchurch (NZ) Symphony Orchestras, the Australian National Academy of Music, and the Australian Festival of Chamber Music. He has received commissions from Australia’s leading ensembles including the Melbourne, Sydney, and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, and Australian String Quartet.

Ledger has collaborated with Australian musician Paul Kelly on two song-cycles: Conversations with Ghosts (2012) and Thirteen Ways to Look at Birds (2019). Both of these albums won ARIA awards. He has won APRA Art Music Awards for the orchestral works Viola Concerto (2019), Golden Years (2011) and Chronicles (2009). Recent or upcoming performances include The Last Thing (WASO) and String Quartet No.4 (Darlington Quartet).

He is Chair of Composition at the Conservatorium of Music at the University of Western Australia.

For more information please visit jamesledger.com

Joonwoo Kim

Joonwoo Kim is a Perth-based composer, currently in his second year of a Bachelor of Music at the University of Western Australia (UWA) under the guidance of Dr James Ledger. Joonwoo’s love for music started at a young age, when he began learning piano. He would later pick up the violin and continue with the two instruments throughout his high school years, only in his final years of school finding his true passion in composition.

Joonwoo’s compositional journey started with writing small piano pieces for himself. This hobby quickly took up a large part of his life, as he became interested in writing for a variety of different ensembles and styles. He was fortunate to have been given the opportunity to work with the Australian Youth Orchestra, where he received valuable advice in furthering his compositional style and techniques.

Currently, as a student of the Conservatorium of Music at UWA, he is able to write music freely, collaborating with his peers and exploring different genres. This has given him the opportunity to grow as a composer by experimenting with electronics and unconventional ensembles, and learning new compositional ideas and methods.

Amy Skellern

Amy Skellern is a nineteen-year-old composer, currently in her second year of studying a Bachelor of Music at the University of Western Australia (UWA). Since the age of eight, Amy has had a passion for composing whenever given the chance. Her musical education at Churchlands Senior High School exposed her to various genres such as Classical, Jazz, and Modern, which have all influenced Amy’s compositional style. By the age of seventeen, Amy was fortunate to have her piece Fanfare Villainous premiered in Elder Hall, performed by Adelaide Youth Orchestra. At age eighteen, her orchestral composition Sunrise on Saturn was premiered with a2. Orchestra in Perth’s Government House Ballroom.

Amy writes programmatically, with storytelling an important aspect to her compositions. Her works tend to use dark imagery to develop a tense and unsettling atmosphere. She’s heavily inspired by late Romantic and Modern works, particularly Stravinsky, Messiaen, John Adams, and Debussy.

Otto Gibbs

Described as “a truly imaginative, thoughtful and special musician” by his late mentor, Richard Gill AO, Otto Gibbs is a fascinating emerging talent in the realm of Australian art music. Otto is in the second year of studying a Bachelor of Music at the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), and has already garnered several impressive achievements. In his first year of study, he won WAAPA’s 2023 Royal Overseas League Orchestral Composition Prize with his work Rhapsodie pour l’amour oublié, which was premiered under the baton of Jessica Gethin. He also co-scored Juno Shean’s short film, The Ways We Cook, which won the NextGen Youth Prize at the 2023 Best Australian Short Film awards.

This year, in addition to participating in WASO’s 2024 Composition Project, Gibbs was commissioned by Swedish percussionist and photographer Tomas Björn, to write a miniature for solo vibraphone. The resultant work, Helheim, has its Australian premiere in June 2024, and will make its European premiere soon afterwards. Otto has also been awarded the New Colombo Plan’s prestigious 2024 Singapore Fellowship, and will undertake exchange study at Singapore’s LASALLE College of the Arts, starting in August 2024.

Sahil Sidhu

Sahil was born in Kuala Lumpur and spent the first thirteen years of his life there. As an eight or nine-year-old, he developed a profound love for music upon hearing Mozart’s 38th Symphony for the first time. Listening to music soon became his favourite pastime, often conducting an imaginary orchestra with the same fervour as someone trying to scrape burnt egg from the bottom of a pan.

Sahil's true compositional journey began in Australia, although there were early improvisations when he was ten or eleven. These early attempts were mostly tolerated, except for one instance when a listener remarked that it sounded like a baby crawling across the piano. However, it was in high school that Sahil's musical journey underwent a significant transformation, as he began to experiment with combining jarring styles in different ways.

After rigorous study of composition in high school, Sahil continued his education under the tutelage of Dr James Ledger at the University of Western Australia (UWA). Now in his third year of composition at UWA, he is excited and honoured by every opportunity to learn more about the craft.

In addition to writing music, Sahil enjoys writing stories and poetry, and experimenting with language.

About the Music

Joonwoo KIM When Snow Blossoms

When Snow Blossoms aims to convey ideas on the different aspects of snow, from its serene quietness to its blizzard-like torrents. Thematic elements on nature and birds are scattered around the piece, with heavy references to the soundscapes of Seoraksan and the mountain ranges of Korea. The work gets inspiration from these ranges, which were hiked during the peaks of winter.

The softness of snow is represented with the delicate opening of the strings, where the balance of silence and resonance is explored. The music slowly opens up towards a vaster sonority, exploring ideas on falling snow and the weight they add to a hiker’s ascent. The piece goes through these different facets on snow, eventually ending up in the in the chaotic blizzards and harsh avalanches snow can transform into. When Snow Blossoms ends back where it starts, with the aftermath of the chaos being the softer snow left behind from the wake of violent storms.

Amy SKELLERN Duality

Duality is driven by a dark narrative of two birds who are swept away into a violent storm. The alto flute opens the piece, embodying the sombre call of a lonely bird. Shortly joined by the bassoon, the two ‘birds’ call and respond to one another. This playful interaction is interrupted by waves of sound that resemble gushes of wind. The flute and bassoon continue to ‘chirp’ to one another, whilst the ensemble pushes and pulls the stability of sound, swirling with the intensity of a growing storm.

The bird calls grow into frantic shrieks, desperate to escape the angry winds that surround them. Swept away into a storm of sound, each instrument plays separate dynamics from one another to create a sporadic and unpredictable environment. The peak of the storm hits as the entire ensemble plays in unison, then slowly dissipates back into silence. The lone bird desperately calls out for its friend, but a response never arrives.

Otto GIBBS Merlion Premonitions

I wrote Merlion Premonitions in the wake of my upcoming journey to Singapore for a year of exchange study. The music reflects my own thoughts and feelings regarding my new life there, and is presented as a programmatic work following a boy’s journey into a fantastical version of a new land. The work is split into 5 distinct “premonitions”; each one providing a different snapshot of the protagonist’s story.

I. Across the Straits – The boy sails across a turbulent strait, thinking about the journey ahead. The music harkens to that of Maurice Ravel and Lili Boulanger.

II. Into the Temples – Our protagonist ventures into a labyrinthine temple. The music starts calmly, with echoes of temple bells and deep prayers, but the further into the temple, the darker the mood becomes.

III. The Merlion Emerges – In the depths, a beast with a lion’s head and a fish’s tail appears. It’s intimidating, but ultimately harmless. You can hear the Merlion’s roar in the contrabassoon.

IV. Grand Festivities – The boy finds himself in a festival, bombarded with sounds, sights and smells. The chaos is reflected in the choppy nature of the music.

V. One Last Procession – Triumph is in the air, as the boy has at last found his place. The music is a brass-heavy chorale using the harmonic language of Olivier Messiaen.

Sahil SIDHU The Dream of 1899

The Dream of 1899 is a chamber work I composed to explore the diverse timbres achievable within such an ensemble. The piece is almost a battle between discordant, fiery passages and slow, still sections. The quick passages are highly virtuosic and arrhythmic, while the slow sections are often sustained by a single note in the ensemble's extremes with a winding melody, reminiscent of a hymn.

I drew inspiration from traditional poems I have been reading, marvelling at their long history and composition, which dates back so far that their true origins are unknown. The distinct musical qualities of these poems, and how they resonate with their respective cultures and languages, have always fascinated me. In this composition, I sought to capture some of those qualities and deeply explore what makes them so delightful to listen to.

My other inspiration was very early music, or what one can reconstruct from it. The different approaches to musical thinking and exploration are fascinating, particularly because they are not constrained by harmony or rhythm in the modern Western sense. I have drawn many of my ideas from these ancient styles of thinking and writing, striving to convey them as faithfully as possible.

About WASO

Engage | Excite | Experience | Educate

From the centre of Perth to the furthest corners of the state, we have provided the soundtrack to life in WA since 1928.

As the State Orchestra, Perth’s first and finest, WASO is the largest employer of performing artists in Western Australia and reaches two million people with musical experiences each year on stage, in our community, and online.

From concert halls to classrooms, hospitals to aged care, we bring joy, inspire learning, and nurture participation in our community, because everybody deserves the opportunity to experience live music. Every year, through community and leading industry partnerships, we engage a new generation of young and emerging artists to help secure a bright future for music in Australia.

We celebrate our rich classical music heritage with great artists from all over the world and commission and perform new repertoire to renew and expand it.

The Orchestra collaborates widely with major arts companies and independent artists, performing opera to ballet, movies to musicals, jazz to rock. We champion the diversity of music in all its forms, with a team of talented and passionate people who create unforgettable experiences for all West Australians to enjoy.

Asher Fisch is Principal Conductor and Artistic Adviser of our Orchestra and we are proud to call Perth Concert Hall home.

Your Concert Experience

Get the best out of your concert.

Explore the music
Be sure to take a quick look at the performance schedule or enjoy a deep dive into the music with your concert program online or in the foyer.
Share with your friends
Snap a selfie from your seat, capture the artist bows and share the experience with friends. Don’t forget to tag us! #wasymphonyorchestra
Clap with enthusiasm
Whether you are welcoming your favourite artist to the stage, or showing appreciation at the end of a piece, we love thunderous applause. Not sure when to clap? Here’s a tip; if the conductor’s arm is raised, hold it. If it’s relaxed, go for it!
Respect those around you
Ensure your mobile phone is on silent and does not disrupt the experience of those around you. If you need to cough or sneeze, please do this into your elbow. Cough lozenges are available from the Information
Desk located on Level 1. Masks are welcome but not required.
Accessible services available
For information about our services such as assisted listening and accessible toilets please search “Perth Concert Hall Access” online.
Latecomers admitted at a suitable time
If you arrive late or leave your seat during a performance, your auditorium entry will need to wait until a suitable break.
Drinks and nibbles
The Wardle Kitchen is open for casual dining, serving delicious hot meals before each performance, while our Grab and Go stations offer quick bites such as sushi and sandwiches. Bars are available on the first two levels, and you are welcome to bring your cold drink into the auditorium.
First Aid available
St John First Aid officers are present at every WASO concert. Please notify a Perth Concert Hall team member if you require any first aid assistance.
Box Office is open
Get tickets to your next WASO experience at the Box Office located on the ground floor (Level 1). Our Box Office is open one hour prior to each performance, and during interval, or you can email us anytime at boxoffice@waso.com.au. You can also visit us Mon-Fri 9am-5pm.