The Sydney Symphony Orchestra has today announced the six categories for its upcoming People’s Choice Concert in November. Voting is now open, with music lovers able to choose from a selection of composers and music handpicked by Chief Conductor Simone Young.

Sydney Symphony Orchestra Chief Conductor Simone Young. Photo © Sandra Steh

Talking to Limelight about the selections she’s made, Young is keen to emphasise the celebratory nature of the concerts.

“We’ve come out of two years of concert drought, and we wanted to thank our audiences for being loyal. Everyone in the orchestra and the organisation is aware of the number of people who come up to us and say, ‘I wish you’d do this’ and ‘I wish you’d play that.’ And so, this is a chance for us to tap into that vein of what audiences want to hear from us.”

This unique project essentially hands over the responsibility for curating the concert program to the audience, with Young as musical guide and mentor. It’s an experiment she first attempted in Germany with great results.

“When I did it in Hamburg, it was hugely successful. People were very engaged with the lists of propositions that we made, and my hope then was realised.”

Young is keeping her fingers crossed that Sydney Symphony Orchestra audiences will respond in the same way: “I hope that people don’t just go for the well-known hits; that they’re curious about some of the lesser-known and contemporary works.”

Adding to the excitement, the results will not be revealed until the SSO musicians take to the stage of the Concert Hall at the Sydney Opera House, with Young guiding them and the audience through the winning selection.

“The program remains a secret until the first concert. So, the first audience has the added thrill of not actually knowing what they’re going to hear that night,” Young says, excited at the prospect.

“It’s quite a novel concept, in that most concerts are marketed on their programs. But this one is marketed on the fact that we at the Sydney Symphony Orchestra love our audience, and we know the audience loves us. This is a chance for some real communication at that direct level.”

Young has not only selected music from the greatest local and international composers, the world of film and opera, but also included a considerable number of undiscovered gems for those feeling a little more adventurous. They are divided into six categories: From the ABC’s Classic 100, The Great Composers, Music from the Opera, Music by Australian Composers, Musical Discoveries and Music by English Composers. The nominees are listed below, with voting open until 11 November.

From the ABC’s Classic 100 includes popular works voted for by listeners as part of the national broadcaster’s annual countdown.

Beethoven Symphony No 5: I. Allegro con brio
Elgar Pomp and Circumstance March No 1
Elena Kats-Chernin Wild Swans: Eliza Aria
Enrico Morricone The Mission: Gabriel’s Oboe
Mozart Eine kleine Nachtmusik
Pachelbel Canon
Rossini William Tell: Overture
J Strauss II Emperor Waltz
Tchaikovsky The Nutcracker: Waltz of the Flowers
Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending

Peggy Glanville-Hicks

Peggy Glanville-Hicks is among the Australian composers one can vote to include in the SSO’s People’s Choice Concert.

The Great Composers are so prolific that it can be difficult to choose a favourite work by them. Young makes it easy, by allowing music lovers to simply vote for their favourite composer, and she’ll choose the piece.

JS Bach
Beethoven
Brahms
Debussy
Dvořák
Handel
Mahler
Mozart
Ravel
Tchaikovsky

Music from the Opera contains overtures, interludes and iconic moments from the operatic stage, many of which have became staples of popular culture. Johann Strauss II provided the score to 1950’s Tom and Jerry in the Hollywood Bowl; the Rossini features in A Clockwork Orange; and the Wagner can be found in everything from Looney Tunes to The Blues Brothers.

Gluck Orfeo ed Euridice: Dance of the Blessed Spirits
Mascagni Cavalleria rusticana: Intermezzo
Mozart The Marriage of Figaro: Overture
Puccini Manon Lescaut: Intermezzo from Act III
Rossini The Thieving Magpie: Overture
J Strauss II Die Fledermaus: Overture
R Strauss Capriccio: Moonlight Music
R Strauss Salome: Dance of the Seven Veils
Verdi La forza del destino: Prelude
Wagner Die Walküre: The Ride of the Valkyries

Music by Australian Composers has been chosen by Young from some of our finest homegrown talent. They include works by women composers written over nearly 70 years, from a 1953 piece by Peggy Glanville-Hicks to a recently premiered composition by Holly Harrison.

Brett Dean Amphitheatre
Peggy Glanville-Hicks Three gymnopedies
Holly Harrison Hi-Vis
Matthew Hindson LiteSpeed
Elena Kats-Chernin Dance of the Paper Umbrellas
Stuart Greenbaum 90 Minutes Circling the Earth
Graeme Koehne Elevator Music
Ella Macens The Space between Stars
Peter Sculthorpe Sun Music II
Carl Vine MicroSymphony

Ella Macens

Ella Macens is among the Australian composers one can vote to include in the SSO’s People’s Choice Concert.

In Musical Discoveries, Young is appealing to a more adventurous spirit, with lesser-known works that are sure to captivate. They include the Gaelic Symphony by Amy Beach the first American woman composer to write music for a major orchestra.

John Adams The Chairman Dances
Amy Beach Gaelic Symphony: II. Alla siciliana – allegro vivace
Beethoven Cavatina from String Quartet No.13
Haydn Symphony No 88: II. Largo
Hans Werner Henze L’Upupa: Die blaue Stunde (The twilight hour)
Korngold Straussiana
Einojuhani Rautavaara Lintukoto (Isle of Bliss)
Wolfgang Schmidt Notre Dame: Intermezzo
Ethel Smyth The Wreckers: Prelude to Act II (On the Cliffs of Cornwall)
Tchaikovsky Symphony No 1, Winter Daydreams: III. Scherzo

Music by English Composers spans some 300 years, from Jeremiah Clarke’s Baroque march in honour of Queen Anne’s husband, the Prince of Denmark, right up to Anna Meredith’s more recent fanfare, which has already made its way into a Prada commercial and a Netflix documentary about Lady Gaga.

Thomas Adès Three-piece Suite from Powder Her Face: Overture
Birtwistle Machaut à ma manière
Britten Four Sea-Interludes from Peter Grimes: Moonlight and Storm
Delius A Village Romeo and Juliet: The Walk to the Paradise Garden
Elgar Enigma Variations: Nimrod
Anna Meredith Nautilus
Clarke Trumpet Voluntary
Tippett Concerto for Double String Orchestra: II. Adagio cantabile
Vaughan Williams Five Variants on Dives and Lazarus
Walton Henry V: Overture and Touch Her Soft Lips and Part

Voters can choose from as many categories as they wish, and nominate additional works that are important to them but not included above. As an added bonus, everyone who takes part, and who is not already a Limelight subscriber, will receive a free three-month digital Limelight subscription. The concert is presented in partnership with Credit Suisse, ABC Classic and Limelight.


Voting for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s People’s Choice Concert is now open until 11 November, with concerts to be held on 17–19 November at the Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House.

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