SUNDAY 25 APRIL, 3pm
VPAC, SOMERVILLE HOUSE
17 Graham St, South Brisbane

Conductor: Nathan Aspinall

Soloist: Jeremy Stafford (guitar)

PROGRAM:

Gustav Mahler | Blumine (original second movement of Symphony No.1)

Nigel Westlake | Antarctica: Suite for Guitar and Orchestra

Gustav Mahler | Symphony No.1 in D major

We open our 2021 concert series by welcoming back conductor Nathan Aspinall after his string of recent successes in the USA. The centrepiece of our first program is Mahler’s Symphony No.1 – a journey of heart and purity by the master composer. Sounds of nature and birdsong open the symphony echoing over the gentle hum of the universe before the work unfolds featuring lively scherzos, a sombre yet parodic funeral march, and concluding with its victorious finale.

We are also joined by sensational local guitar talent, Jeremy Stafford, performing Australian composer Nigel Westlake’s brilliant ‘Antarctica’ for guitar and orchestra. The work vividly depicts both the haunting desolation of the icy tundra, but also its fluid and playful underwater life in the famous movement ‘Penguin Ballet’.