Over the past two years, Limelight has documented the rise of the Sydney Concert Orchestra and its penchant for programmatic music.

The orchestra has proven a vital platform for Sydney Conservatorium alumni, spearheading the careers of its founding Director and Chief Conductor Omid Moheb Zadeh, Concertmaster David Carreon and Assistant Conductor Ben (Wenhao) Fan.

The Sydney Concert Orchestra with Director and Chief Conductor Omid Moheb Zadeh. Photo © Deppicto

Moheb Zadeh recently returned from Germany, where he came second in the Berliner Symphoniker’s inaugural LWI (Learn & Win International) Conducting Competition.

Carreon, now based in Boston, is a Dean’s scholarship holder at the New England Conservatory, where he is currently completing his Master’s.

He was recently invited to undertake a music residency at Duke University, and he regularly performs as Concertmaster/Principal Violin with Ensemble Apex as well as the Atlantic Symphony and Australian Youth Orchestras.

Having Carreon back on these shores, albeit briefly, has presented Moheb Zadeh with the opportunity to curate a program that truly tests the strings of the SCO.

Culminating in Sibelius’ Second Symphony, it is a program riddled with opposing forces of love and hate, life and death.

It begins with Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and...