Before the pandemic, I used to construct Fantasy League Subscriptions: choose-your-own seasons that would be feasible if only Australia were a little smaller. They were idiosyncratic – I’d ignore the obvious highlights, searching instead for programming that upended formulas, offered something new and piqued my imagination. 

After all, why go out to hear something I could program at home, with a world of musical performance at my digital fingertips? And today, compelling programming and presentation is more important than ever. Concertgoers need a reason to go out, to brave the trains and an exceedingly mixed bag of COVID precautions, and to sit in a concert hall. 

West Australian Symphony Orchestra

Asher Fisch conducts the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. Photo supplied

The orchestral concert is steeped in quasi-religious ritual: the congregation (audience), the acolytes (musicians), the priest (conductor) with the holy book (the score), knowing when to genuflect (applaud). Ritual isn’t a bad thing, but over time the experience has become mundane. Now, like those who are drawn to high ritual in church (bells, smells and great music), there’s a desire for a more “theatrical” or completely conceived concert event, and it’s good when programmers...