MCO Opens 2025 Season with Mozart, Matt Laing and More
On 6 and 9 March 2025, Melbourne Chamber Orchestra launches its Orchestral Season at Melbourne Recital Centre with Daybreak – a program that pairs the special alchemy of the MCO with the warm virtuosity of clarinettist David Griffiths.
The program features an enchanting new work by the ensemble’s own violist/composer Matthew Laing, followed by the Mozart Clarinet Concerto starring David Griffiths on his new basset clarinet. MCO also showcases George Walker, the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music, before finishing with the beauty and wonder of Ravel’s String Quartet in an arrangement for string orchestra.
MCO Artistic Director Sophie Rowell looks forward to a concert that “celebrates the rich aural soundscape of our chamber orchestra.”
“The colour palette possible for 16 strings and basset clarinet is limitless, especially with this repertoire, and it is a source of endless fascination for me,” she says.
“Continuing with what is becoming an MCO tradition, to open our season with a world premiere by a local composer, I am excited to showcase our own Matt Laing.
“A stalwart of MCO for many years, Matt’s unique musical voice is well-informed by his inner knowledge of our ensemble – a perfect match. Our musical year begins with the day unfolding, full of optimism and promise for what is to come.”
Describing his new commission, Laing says: “This waking moment is a multilayered, textural work depicting a sunrise over water from land as a metaphor for change from a singular, physically grounded vantage point.
“It also balances the predictable inevitability of sunrise with the unpredictability of how it might manifest on any given day, through its composition and the inherent nature of a delicately balanced work for 16 individual voices.”
Rowell continues: “I am thrilled that we will be joined by David Griffiths, a clarinettist whose exquisite sense of melody makes time stand still. This will certainly come to the fore in Mozart’s magnificent masterpiece.
“It will also be wonderful for our audiences to hear this concerto played on the instrument for which Mozart originally wrote it. The burnished timbres of the basset clarinet add depth to one of the most beloved classical works.”
Griffiths says: “I am extremely excited about my upcoming performances with the MCO. I’ve always loved the MCO dating back to 2004 when I first moved to Melbourne. I’ve also had a long history of playing chamber music with Sophie, so bringing us all together for the first time is going to be a treat!
“The size of the ensemble enables a nimble and flexible approach, like making big chamber music together. I can’t wait to embark on musical explorations together with freedom and energy, and to hopefully capture the true operatic essence of Mozart’s writing.”
After interval, MCO celebrates the music of George Walker, the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. His reflective work, Lyric for Strings, contains echoes of American folk songs, which are especially moving as it was written for his grandmother who had just passed away.
Rowell adds: “A theme running through our 2025 Season is our attention to hidden gems, bringing neglected pieces back to the concert platform. George Walker’s Lyric for Strings is a poignant tribute to his grandmother, a poetic outpouring of emotion.
“When talking about Ravel’s iconic String Quartet, one tends to run out of superlatives,” she says. “It is textural, evocative, mesmerising, striking …and the list continues. This version for string orchestra highlights all those qualities and amplifies them. It is a glorious way to end this concert and to welcome in Season 2025 for the MCO.”
Melbourne Chamber Orchestra presents Daybreak at Melbourne Recital Centre on Thursday 6 March at 7:30pm and Sunday 9 March at 2:30pm.
Subscriptions and single tickets are available via our website or by calling the MCO Box Office on 9119 1599 during business hours.
