Tickets
Performance cancelled
Due to unforeseen circumstances, this concert will not proceed.
Dates
Thursday 26 September 2024
7:30pm at Hamer Hall Cancelled
Performance cancelled
Due to unforeseen circumstances, this performance will not proceed. Ticket holders will be contacted by the MSO Box Office.
Program
Nigel Westlake / Lior Compassion
Nigel Westlake / Lior / Lou Bennett Ngapa William Cooper
Featuring
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Nigel Westlake conductor
Lior vocals
Dr Lou Bennett AM vocals
About this performance
Following their highly-acclaimed 2022 performance, composer Nigel Westlake and singer-songwriter Lior reunite with the MSO for an evening of song and symphony.
Westlake’s and Lior’s beautiful seven-movement song cycle Compassion was created after the tragic death of Westlake’s son. Using the strengths of their individual artistry, Westlake and Lior express the wisdom of compassion through a meeting of contemporary and classical music. The work draws on ancient Hebrew and Arabic poems, proverbs and texts that provide insights into a world struggling with divisiveness and how the main tenets of compassion can provide relief to this tension.
Ngapa William Cooper is a continuation of that rich collaboration between Westlake and Lior, now working alongside performer and academic Dr Lou Bennett AM. With Westlake leading from the podium, these acclaimed artists will bring their dynamic stage presence to this new orchestral work.
Ngapa William Cooper explores the strength and compassion of Yorta Yorta activist Uncle William Cooper. In 1938, Cooper led the Australian Aborigines’ League through the streets of Melbourne in the only non-Jewish protest worldwide against the events of Kristallnacht in Nazi Germany. Performed in English and Yorta Yorta language, it is a celebration of a man who left behind a legacy of resistance, solidarity and empathy.
Duration: approx. 2 hours including interval
Ngapa William Cooper was commissioned by UKARIA with support from Ulrike Klein AO and the Adelaide Festival as part of Finding Our Voice, which was supported by Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (RISE) Fund, an Australian Government initiative. Symphonic realisation commissioned by The Australian Youth Orchestra.
