This event set out to test the boundaries of orchestral sound, fusing the traditional palette of the symphony orchestra – sometimes violently – with contemporary electronic music.

Australian conductor Sam Weller, a rapidly rising figure on the international scene, led proceedings. Recently named one of six winners of the International Conducting Competition Rotterdam, he currently divides his time between Sydney and the Netherlands.

German violinist Hannah Solveij, who also studied in the Netherlands, is an experienced soloist with a particular interest in electronic, funk and jazz. Together, Weller and Solveij curated a program that was as eclectic as it was adventurous.

Hannah Solveij. Photo © Caroline Tan

Curated by Weller and Solveij, the program that began with Matthew Hindson’s LiteSPEED. Starting in the TSO double basses, it immediately established a mood where musically almost anything could happen with its pounding rhythms, hair-raisingly fast tempo and repetitions. A thrilling if exhausting introduction.

Orchestra and audience now had time to chill (briefly) as an electronic track accompanied violinist Solveij in New York-based composer Nico Muhly’s A Long Line – a more meditative...