Two very different sides of Sydney Symphony Orchestra are on display over two nights at an Opera House buzzing inside and out with preparations for the 35,000 runners in the TCS Sydney Marathon on the last day of winter.

In the Concert Hall, capacity audiences of 2,000-plus are enjoying two symphonies and a violin concerto, while in the Utzon Room, loyal subscribers are treated to an intimate chamber concert over a complimentary glass of wine.

Sydney Symphony Orchestra in the Utzon Room, Sydney Opera House. Photo © Jay Patel

This latest in the Cocktail Hour series gets under way unusually with a world premiere of a work by the orchestra’s Assistant Principal Viola Justin Williams. The 45-year-old Melbourne-based founding member of the Tinalley String Quartet had always been interested in composing, but only turned to it seriously when the Covid lockdowns put an end to public performances.

The first Sydney audiences heard of his music was when Movement for String Quartet was performed by the Australian String Quartet in 2020, but it was when he wrote his first symphony, jointly commissioned by Queensland Symphony Orchestra and the SSO that he decided he...