With Sophie Rowell now entering her third year as director of the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, unique and powerful curation has quickly become the aspect I look forward to most in each of their shows. The orchestra’s first outing of 2025, Daybreak, once again featured an inspired and compelling combination of works, with something for everyone.

A new commission from Melbourne composer (and regular MCO violist) Matt Laing perfectly bookended a string orchestra arrangement of Ravel’s much-loved String Quartet in F.

Speaking of “much-loved,” Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A Major, featuring soloist David Griffiths, was surely a major drawcard for many audience members. However, it was the lesser-known and more unexpected aspects that stood out for me.

David Griffiths and Melbourne Chamber Orchestra: Daybreak. Photo © Lucien Fischer

George Walker’s Lyric for Strings was a true highlight. An American pianist, composer, and teacher most active during the twentieth century, Walker at times echoed Samuel Barber or even Shostakovich. Yet his liquid harmonic changes were almost Wagnerian in their subtlety and beauty, and when combined with propulsive, pithy...