The collaboration between the West Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO) and the West Australian Youth Orchestra (WAYO) under the title Become Ocean offered an excellent opportunity for the young performers of WAYO to combine with the professional players of WASO. The ocean-themed program comprised a world premiere by Olivia Davies and an Australian premiere by John Luther Adams, in addition to Britten’s Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes.

Jen Winley conducts the West Australian Symphony Orchestra performing Become Ocean, 2022.

Given Perth’s coastal location, a program dedicated to the sea would appear to be a relevant tribute to the Indian Ocean lapping the West Coast. Concerns regarding rising sea levels cannot be ignored given today’s climate awareness, and as John Luther Adams reflected “…. as the polar ice melts and sea levels rise, we humans find ourselves facing the prospect that once again we may quite literally become ocean”.

Olivia Davies is the current Young Composer in Residence with WASO. In a brief pre-performance interview, Davies described her work In Waves as akin to a pendulum, moving at its own pace before gradually slowing to a stop. Jen Winley (