Concert 4 2025 Queen Symphony SOLD OUT

The feature work is Queen Symphony in 6 movements by Tolga Kashiff, transcribed by Eric Somers.

Date: Saturday 8.00pm 30th August 2025

Venue: Iwaki Auditorium, 130 Southbank Blvd, Southbank VIC 3006. Audience entry is through ABC Southbank, 120 Southbank Blvd,, Southbank.

Bookings: SOLD OUT.

To download a poster click here.

To download the program as a PDF click here.

Below is the program in order of performance, soloists biographies and a link to another page with the program notes of the Southern Voices Melbourne bracket.

PROGRAM

CELLO SOLOIST: Sean Chen

Residing in Melbourne, Australia, Sean Chen is a cellist currently studying at Monash University. Sean commenced cello at age five and is under the tutelage of Blair Harris this year following studies with Chien-Hsiu Ong previously.  He is a first-year student undertaking a double degree of Law (Honours) and Music, and has so far performed in the Monash Strings Sinfonia alongside Ngairre and Paul Grobowsky, and in the Monash Academy Orchestra, where he has been under the baton of Rachel Beesley and Warwick Stengårds. 

Sean has participated in masterclasses with Wilma Smith and members of the Australian String Quartet amongst others, and most recently performed the complete Dvorak Cello Concerto across three performances in country Victorian venues with the Melbourne Grammar Symphony Orchestra in late 2024.

PIANO SOLOIST – Stuart Newstead

Stuart is during the day a “superman” in the area of research at Monash University’s Accident Research Centre as a Professor and the Director of MUARC. He is a statistician by training and has developed specific expertise in a wide range of safety research areas with a numerical focus. For the Grainger Wind Symphony, Stuart is the section manager for the percussion section, percussionist, keyboard harpist and pianist. Stuart is a life member of the GWS. Stuart has a wonderful capacity to decipher, learn, and perform challenging music of a wide range of styles at an excellent standard. He also accomplishes this in a short amount of time.

Like many of his Grainger Wind Symphony colleagues, Stuart Newstead realised early on that working as a musician was a tenuous way to earn a living, and that as a music teacher he would just scare the students. Instead he took on a main stream career as a scientist using his music as an engaging and rewarding hobby. Reflecting his life long obsession with collecting various qualifications and their associated post-nominals, Stuart studied piano for over thirteen years with the late Mack Jost, following in the footsteps of Melbourne musical greats such as Paul Grabowsky and one Roland Yeung. Although not rising to the lofty heights of Grabowsky (or even Yeung), Stuart was none the less successful in obtaining further post-nominals in the form of AMEB Licentiate and Trinity College London Fellowship level performance diplomas.

PROGRAM NOTES FOR EACH MOVEMENT OF THE QUEEN SYMPHONY

QUEEN SYMPHONY BY TOLGA KASHIF transcribed by Eric Somers

For information about the composer click here

1. Adagio Misterioso – Allegro con Brio – Maestoso – Misterioso – Allegro

The Radio Gaga motive and Show Must Go On refrains form the motivic base for the movement, and wrapped themselves in a stark landscape of layered strings – inspired by Brian May’s distinctive layered guitar writing. Kashif had images of eternal struggle against the odds, powered by the lyric One World, One Vision. By contrast, I Was Born To Love You appears as a ‘fuel’ for salvation. 10’29”

2. Allegretto – Allegro Scherzando – Tranquillo

The lyrical Love Of My Life, gave rise to a classical / pastoral piano concerto treatment, which invaded by Another One Bites The Dust and Killer Queen as a tongue-in-cheek portrayal of a menacing duo conjuring up a storm! 8’09”

3. Adagio

The yearning Who Want To Live Forever is a elegiac dialogue between violin and cello, against a mournful orchestral landscape. This is concluded by a short epilogue which points to resolution at the conclusion of the symphony. 8’.03”

4. Allegro Vivo – Moderato Cantabile – Cadenza – A Tempo Primo

Bicycle Race inspired this frenzied movement in which Kashif visualised the video of the song. The twist here, though, is that the participants escape into the city centre where chaos ensues. 10’13”

5. Andante Doloroso – Allegretto – Alla Marcia – Moderato Risoluto – Pastorale – Maestoso

This opens with a parade of great Queen movements: Mama, Just Killed A Man…, We Will Rock You, Scaramouche – all characterised in a stylistic costume that culminates in the triumphant We Are The Champions and a reprise of Who Wants To Live Forever. 13’28”

This bears an unofficial title, “Homage”, which is based on a further recapitulation of Who Wants To Live Forever. Tolga Kashif hopes this is self-explanatory. 8’27”

See more program notes on The Queen Symphony below.

PROGRAM NOTES FOR THE FANFARE

CEREMONIAL FANFARE BY JOHAN DE MEIJ

6. Andante Sostenuto

he Ceremonial Fanfare was originally written for orchestral brass and percussion, commissioned by The Orchestra Osaka Symphoniker from Osaka, Japan. The world premiere performance took place on April 12, 2005 at The Symphony Hall in Osaka, conducted by maestro Heiichiro Ohyama.In April 2009, the combined brass sections of the New York Philharmonic and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra gave an impressive performance in New York City. The concert commemorated the Henry Hudson Quadricentennial and 400 years of friendship between The United States and The Netherlands.

PROGRAM NOTES FOR MADAMA BUTTERFLY

MADAMA BUTTERFLY by GIACOMO PUCCINI ARR. CHRISTIAN JANSSEN

‘Madama Butterfly’ is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It is based on the short story ‘Madame Butterfly’ (1898) by John Luther Long. The original version of the opera, in two acts, had its premiere on 17 February 1904 at ‘La Scala in Milan. After several revisions success ensued, starting with the first performance on 28 May 1904 in Brescia.
Dutch arranger Christiaan Janssen used some of the most beautiful music from ‘Madama Butterfly’ to compile a suite for Symphonic Band.

Many of Puccini’s operas feature realistically drawn female characters that meet a tragic end, but none of these stories is more poignant than that of Cio-Cio-San, the title heroine of Madama Butterfly. This tale of a young Japanese geisha and her marriage to an American naval officer explores themes of devotion and irresponsibility, fidelity and justice. Cio-CioSan’s journey takes her from innocence and happy anticipation through failing hope to calm acceptance of the tragic destiny that her personal code of honor demands. But she is no frail victim. Her optimism in the midst of even the darkest of circumstances makes her a heroine in every sense of the word. It is Cio-Cio-San’s touching mixture of sweetness and anguish, vulnerability and courage that elicits some of Puccini’s most emotionally expansive and heartbreakingly tender music.

SOUTHERN VOICES PROGRAM NOTES click here

PROGRAM NOTES BACKGROUND THE QUEEN SYMPHONY

London born Tolga Kashif is regarded as one of the most diversely talented musicians of his time. He studied conducting and composition at the Royal College of Music, then later Bristol University with Derek Bourgeois. His professional debut was with the London Philharmonic, after which he has been a frequent guest with the Royal Philharmonic, City of London Sinfonia, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Northern Sinfonia. In 1992 Tolga Kashif was appointed as Associate Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra.

In 2001 Tolga Kashif was commissioned by EMI Classics to compose a symphony piece based on the music of the legendary group Queen. The Queen Symphony was released in 2002, and received its world premiere at the Royal Festival Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by the composer. Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor attended the performance, as did Freddie Mercury’s mother Jer Bulsara, and the CD has been a great success, featured regularly in international Classical Top 10s.

The Queen Symphony is an integrated work for orchestra and choir in which Tolga Kashif hoped to express the original essence of the great music of Queen. In seeking to reinvent rather than purely orchestrate it, he found that this music inherently contains the language of the modern classical genre.

The project has been more of a continuation of an onward journey since his early teens when he was first exposed to the music of Queen. Along with their contemporaries David Bowie and Genesis (to name but two), Queen were part of a radical new wave challenging the boundaries of popular music. They were the embodiment of a raw artistic expression that presented itself through meticulously created recordings and performances. In many respects Queen’s music is embedded in the juxtaposition of classic and rock genres; the sound may be rock-orientated but, when stripped down to the bare components, the core contains as valid a thematic basis for symphonic treatment as any work in this genre.

It is hard to put into words the composition factor in this work, but improvisation and visualization were at the heart of the process. Initial research soon revealed unexplored depths of meaning and lyricism within the Queen lyrics and melodies.

Beginning sketching, the original themes began to coalesce into longer-form passages, while also taking on different contexts and characterizations. The original Queen recordings naturally suggested an orchestral/choral canvas. Layered guitars resembled orchestra layers; the diversity of solo expression in both voice and guitar – from extreme lyrically tenderness to rhapsodic exuberance – suggested the language of concerto or opera.

The harmonic and melodic structures were reminiscent of classical form, with intelligently woven counterpoint, while the chord progressions ranged from Medieval to Romantic influences. As well as main themes, a subtext of secondary ones presented itself: the innocent piano figure from Bohemian Rhapsody, the riff from Another One Bites the Dust, the unmistakable turns of phrase in the guitar playing of Brian May.

In 2005, Dutch arranger Erik Somers initiated the idea to transcribe the entire symphony for concert band. The transcription received its premiere in spring 2007.

We do hope you you have enjoyed our special concert. We have enjoyed preparing it. Please come to our next concert on Saturday 7.00pm 25th October in Blackburn – Grainger and Berlioz with vocal soloist Stephen Coutts.