National Capital Orchestra presents

Mozart Clarinet

Following the pre-concert talk at 2:15 pm the National Capital Orchestra under guest conductor Alan Cook will present a program that takes us from modern day Australia to Europe and Russia of the 18^th and 19^th centuries.

Opening the concert is Orchestral Equations by Melbourne-based composer May Lyon whose music explores themes from deep human emotions, history and mythology, through to mathematical concepts.  Acclaimed soloist Eloise Fisher will join us in Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A major K622, a staple of the clarinet repertoire and a wonderful example of the composer’s genius.  After the interval the energetic Polovtsian Dances from the opera Prince Igor by Alexander Borodin lead us to the gorgeous Antar Symphony by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, a work with a mystical story from the composer who also brought us the incomparable Scheherezade.

The NCO is very pleased to welcome Alan Cook, a conductor, opera coach and musicologist with many years of experience across a wide range of operatic and symphonic repertoire who, on the podium, is described as giving “…clear direction…. producing a lush, richly-coloured soundscape”.  During a ten-year sojourn in Europe, Alan performed in many countries including Austria, Italy, Spain, Ukraine, and Russia among others as both accompanist and conductor. He was Principal Guest Conductor of orchestras in Ukraine and Russia for an extended period during which time he developed an expertise in Russian repertoire and language.

Australian-Israeli clarinettist Eloise Fisher is the award winner of prizes from numerous prestigious competitions, including the Beijing International Music Competition, the Australian Music Foundation in London, and the International Competition of UFAM in Paris.  She received her Doctorate in Musical Arts from The Juilliard School in New York, where she also won the Richard F. French Prize for an outstanding dissertation.  She has performed as soloist with the China National Philharmonic and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, playing concertos by Mozart, Françaix and Weber. Since her return to Australia in 2018 she has enjoyed performing with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra and is on staff at the Australian National University.

Pre-concert talk at 2.15pm for approximately 25 minutes.

Performance commences at 3pm

RUNNING TIME: 2 hours approximately
INTERVAL: 20 min