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Adelaide Youth Orchestra Present New Work By Acclaimed Adelaide Composer Graeme Koehne

The Adelaide Youth Orchestra will explore a whole new world of music when they present the new work of an acclaimed Adelaide composer…

Graeme-Koehne-PHOTO-CREDIT---Melinda-Parent-Creative

Acclaimed Adelaide composer, Graeme Koehne. Photo Credit: Melinda Parent Creative

Adelaide Youth Orchestra will explore a whole new world of music in September, presenting the South Australian premiere of a new work by acclaimed Adelaide composer Graeme Koehne AO.

The third and final of AdYO’s popular Maestro series of concerts, Maestro Series 3: Power on Saturday, September 19, will see the young orchestra perform Between Two Worlds, Koehne’s powerful new work adapted from his war-themed ballet 1914.

The program will also feature Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante performed by AdYO alumnus and WA Symphony Orchestra violist Caleb Wright and multi award-winning violinist Ji Won Kim, and Rimsky-Korsakov’s wonderfully dramatic Scheherazade, based on the tales of The Arabian Nights, in its first performance since 2008.

A reflective and emotional work, Between Two Worlds is a new adaptation of the suite from Koehne’s ballet 1914, commissioned by The Australian Ballet in 1998 and inspired by David Malouf’s novel “Fly Away Peter”, about a young man caught up in the horror of World War I between Queensland and the western front.

After its world premiere last year in Hobart by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, this will be the first time Between Two Worlds has been performed in Koehne’s home town.

“The work draws on the themes of the original ballet, adding new layers to create a new orchestral piece,” Koehne says.

One of Australia’s most popular and respected composers, Graeme Koehne is renowned for his orchestral works, which are widely performed around the world. With 1914 he became the first composer commissioned by the Australian Ballet to write a full evening work, and has had pieces performed by the Houston Ballet, the Komische Oper Berlin and the Sydney Dance Company, among others.

He is currently Professor of Composition at the University of Adelaide, where he was awarded a Doctorate of Music in 2002. In recognition of his contribution to Australian music, Koehne was awarded the Australian Government’s Centenary Medal in 2001 and the Sir Bernard Heinze Award Adelaide Youth Orchestras Inc. from the University of Melbourne in 2004. He was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in the 2014 Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

The flagship of Adelaide Youth Orchestras’ four orchestras, AdYO comprises 80 of South Australia’s most talented young musicians, led by Artistic Director Keith Crellin. Hand-picked by annual audition, each AdYO member is tutored by professional musicians from the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, the SA Police Band and the Elder Conservatorium of Music at The University of Adelaide to nurture their love of orchestra music and ensure performances of the highest quality.

For further details and to download AdYO’s full 2015 season brochure, please visit www.adyo.com.au.

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