Youthful brilliance and solemn beauty.

At the heart of this program is a new violin concerto by one of Australia’s most respected composers, Richard Mills, who has conceived the work with MCO Artistic Director Sophie Rowell as the soloist.

Described as an “oarsman, musician and scholar”, Frederick Septimus Kelly wrote his thought-provoking Elegy in memory of his friend while recovering from wounds he acquired in Gallipoli.

Continuing our commitment to nurturing emerging Victorian talent, core MCO musicians will share the stage with a small group of leading young VCASS players for the remarkable Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

To encapsulate the youthful exuberance on the stage, we finish with Jessie Montgomery’s Strum.