Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra Opens 2018 Season with Pastoral Melodies

Australia's bold and brilliant Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra opens its 2018 season next month with Pastoral Melodies (22 March Melbourne, 25 March Sydney), featuring much-loved idyllic and tempestuous works of Mozart, Mendelssohn, Brahms & Beethoven.

Together with Polyphonic Voices in Melbourne and Sydney Chamber Choir in Sydney and conducted by their iconic artistic director, Richard Gill AO, the orchestra's world-class musicians present their latest "thrilling, committed performances" (Limelight).

The Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra offers unique historically informed performance style on dynamic period instruments.

This first concert series for the year presents not only sweeping full orchestral sounds
but heavenly choral music featuring two of Australia's premier choirs.

The program features Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture ('Fingal's Cave'), Five Songs by Brahms, Mozart's Spaur Messe ('Piccolomini') and Beethoven's sweeping 'Pastoral' Symphony No.6.

Richard Gill offers his erudite, entertaining pre-concert talks 45 minutes before each concert.

Richard Gill said that the beauty of musical sound was uppermost in the Artistic Team's minds when planning the mouth-watering 2018 season. "The word melody, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, was first heard in about 1290.

"Here we are in 2018, over seven hundred years later, still using the word and enjoying the beauty of musical sounds."

Established in 2013, the orchestra has become a vibrant and leading presence on the Australian music scene, providing opportunities for engagement with wide audiences through live performance in major venues as well as radio broadcasts.

The orchestra's commitment to music education is at its core too: the Young Mannheim Symphonists program (most recently held in Melbourne in January) provides young musicians with expert guidance in Historically Informed Performance (HIP). And the concert series Richard Gill Presents - A Voyage of Musical Discovery - in collaboration with renowned Australian contemporary, jazz and baroque ensembles - leads audiences through music from the past and present, taking an in depth look at the most recent contemporary Australian music along with music from the 18th and 19th centuries.

The first 'Voyage' of 2018 will take place at Sydney's City Recital Hall on Tuesday 27 March at 6pm.

To find out more about the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra's season concerts, education programs and performance series and to book tickets or discounted season subscriptions visit www.arco.org.au.

The Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra presents Pastoral Melodies
Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre - Thursday 22 March 7.30pm (with Polyphonic Voices)

Sydney Recital Hall, 2 Angel Place - Sunday 25 March 3pm (with Sydney Chamber Choir)
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) Hebrides Overture Op.26 'Fingal's Cave' (1830)
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) Five Songs Op.104 (1888)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) Spaur Messe KV.258 'Piccolomini' (1776)
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) Symphony No.6 Op.68 'Pastoral' (1808)

Tickets: $25-$95
Bookings and information at www.arco.org.au
Melbourne: www.melbournerecital.com.au (03) 9699 3333
Sydney: www.cityrecitalhall.com (02) 8256 2222