Brahms' Triumph Morning Symphony (2025)

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Johannes BRAHMS Academic Festival Overture (10 mins)

Johannes BRAHMS Symphony No. 4 (40 mins)
Allegro non troppo
Andante moderato
Allegro giocoso
Allegro energico e passionate

Asher Fisch conductor

Asher Fisch appears courtesy of Wesfarmers Arts.

A New Look for WASO in 2025

Welcome to our final classical concert for 2024. Thank you for being a part of what’s been a very special season for WASO. As we close the chapter on another momentous year of performances, we look ahead to an exciting and vibrant program for 2025. This year we celebrated the glorious acoustics of our beloved Perth Concert Hall with epic works such as Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben, Beethoven’s Symphony No.9, excerpts from Wagner’s Ring and, of course, our unforgettable performances of Mahler’s Symphony No.8. We also had the pleasure of expanding the orchestral music canon by presenting the world premieres of new music by Australian composers James Ledger, Lachlan Skipworth, Olivia Davies and Holly Harrison. With the Perth Concert Hall redevelopment set to commence early next year, we are thrilled to announce our 2025 season.

Presented in a range of iconic venues across Perth, we’re excited to be bringing you a collection of classic works in new places and ways, while continuing to produce world-class entertainment for Perth audiences. If you love our Masters and MACA Classics series, you will enjoy thrilling classical repertoire at UWA’s iconic Winthrop Hall. Morning Symphony subscribers will find a new home in the comfort of the Heath Ledger Theatre at the State Theatre Centre of WA. A Baroque Series, New Music Series and special events will all be enjoyed throughout our city.

I am delighted to return for my 12th season with this wonderful orchestra, and look forward to welcoming you to experience an exciting new season with us in 2025.

Asher Fisch
Principal Conductor & Artistic Adviser
Asher Fisch appears courtesy of Wesfarmers Arts.

VIOLIN
Laurence Jackson
Concertmaster
Riley Skevington
Assoc Concertmaster
Semra Lee
Assistant Concertmaster
• MACA
Alexandra Isted
Principal 1st Violin
Zak Rowntree*
Principal 2nd Violin
Kylie Liang
Assoc Principal 2nd Violin
• The Baker Family
Kate Sullivan
Assistant Principal 2nd Violin
Sarah Blackman
Stephanie Dean
Amy Furfaro
Rebecca Glorie
• Rosalind & Lyndsay Potts
Beth Hebert
Emma Hunt
• Ulrich & Gloria Kunzmann
William Huxtable
Sunmi Jung
Christina Katsimbardis
Kathryn Lee
Karen Matoba^
Andrea Mendham
• Dale & Michael Kitney
Akiko Miyazawa
• MIMI
Lucas O’Brien
Melanie Pearn
Louise Sandercock
• Unnamed
Jane Serrangeli
• Philip & Frances Chadwick
Cerys Tooby
Teresa Vinci°
Samantha Wickramasinghe
• The Baker Family

VIOLA
Daniel Schmitt
Alex Brogan
Kierstan Arkleysmith
Nik Babic
• Maryllis & Paul Green-Armytage
Benjamin Caddy
• Future Logic
Alison Hall
Rachael Kirk
James Munro
• Roger Jennings
Elliot O’Brien
Helen Tuckey
• Gina Humphries

CELLO
Rod McGrath
Isaac Davis
Melinda Forsythe^
Jeremy Garside
• Brian & Romola Haggerty
Shigeru Komatsu
• Unnamed (2)
Nicholas Metcalfe
• The Gregg Family
Anna Sarcich^
Tim South

DOUBLE BASS
Andrew Sinclair*
John Keene
• Janet Holmes à Court AC & Gilbert George
Robin Brawley
Christine Reitzenstein
Mark Tooby
Giovanni Vinci

FLUTE
Andrew Nicholson
Mary-Anne Blades
• Unnamed

PICCOLO
Sonia Croucher

OBOE
Liz Chee
• Ruth E. Thorn and Michael & Helen Tuite
Leanne Glover^

COR ANGLAIS
Jonathan Ryan
• Joshua & Pamela Pitt

CLARINET
Som Howie

BASS CLARINET
Alexander Millier

BASSOON
Jane Kircher-Lindner
• Meg O’Neill, Chase Hayes & Vicky Hayes
Adam Mikulicz
• Meg O’Neill, Chase Hayes & Vicky Hayes

CONTRABASSOON
Chloe Turner

HORN
★ Rod & Margaret Marston
David Evans
Eve McEwen
Robert Gladstones
Principal 3rd Horn
Ysolt Clark^

TRUMPET
Jenna Smith
• John & Nita Walshe
Martin Baker^
Koominka°

TROMBONE
Joshua Davis
• Dr Glenda Campbell-Evans & Dr Ken Evans AM
Liam O’Malley
Assoc Principal Trombone
• Dale & Greg Higham

BASS TROMBONE
Brett Page^

TUBA
Chloe Higgins

TIMPANI
Alex Timcke
• Jean & Peter Stokes

PERCUSSION
Brian Maloney
François Combémorel
Assoc Principal
Percussion & Timpani
• Jim & Freda Irenic
Cara Daily^

Asher Fisch
Principal Conductor & Artistic Adviser

A renowned conductor in both the operatic and symphonic worlds, Asher Fisch is especially celebrated for his interpretative command of core German and Italian repertoire of the Romantic and post-Romantic eras. He conducts a wide variety of repertoire from Gluck to contemporary works by living composers. Asher is now the longest serving Principal Conductor of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO), commencing his tenure in 2014. His former posts include Principal Guest Conductor of the Seattle Opera (2007- 2013), Music Director of the New Israeli Opera (1998-2008), and Music Director of the Wiener Volksoper (1995-2000).

Born in Israel, Asher began his conducting career as Daniel Barenboim’s assistant and Kappellmeister at the Berlin Staatsoper. He has built his versatile repertoire at the major opera houses such as the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, and Semperoper Dresden. Fisch has conducted at leading American symphony orchestras including those of Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, and Philadelphia. In Europe he has appeared with the Berlin Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, and the Orchestre National de France, among others.

In addition to his concerts with WASO, Asher’s 2024 season includes Aribert Reimann’s Lear at the Teatro Real de Madrid, Carmen at the Wiener Staatsoper, and Dialogues des Carmélites at the Israeli Opera. Guest engagements with orchestras include a return to the Queensland Symphony in Brisbane. His recent seasons featured Lohengrin and La forza del destino at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Cavalleria Rusticana & Pagliacci at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre and concerts with the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, Queensland Symphony, Sydney Symphony, and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.

Asher’s award-winning recordings include Bruckner’s Symphony No.8, Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde and tenor Stuart Skelton’s first solo album “Shining Knight” - all recorded with WASO - and Ravel’s L’heure espagnole with the Munich Radio Orchestra. In 2016, the complete Brahms symphonies with Asher Fisch and WASO were released on ABC Classic to great acclaim. His recording of Wagner’s Ring Cycle with the Seattle Opera was released in 2014. His first Ring Cycle recording, with the State Opera of South Australia, won ten Helpmann Awards, including best opera and best music direction. Asher Fisch is an accomplished pianist and has released a solo recording of Wagner piano transcriptions for the Melba label.

Asher Fisch appears courtesy of Wesfarmers Arts.

Allan Meyer
WASO Principal Clarinet

Allan Meyer has been Principal Clarinet with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO) since 1990. His distinguished career has seen him perform in many parts of Australia, as well as in the USA. He has been guest Principal Clarinet with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, USA.

Allan was born in Perth and studied with WASO’s former Principal Clarinet, Jack Harrison. A Masters graduate of the University of Western Australia (UWA), he completed post-graduate studies in London with John McCaw, Antony Pay and Jack Brymer.

After 7 years with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Allan returned to Perth as Principal Clarinet of WASO. He has appeared as soloist in the Masters and Classics Series, Mostly Mozart Series, Symphony Under the Stars, and with the WASO Chamber Players. Allan teaches at the Conservatorium of Music at UWA, and he has also performed and taught at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA.

Allan has enjoyed performing the Mozart Concerto many times with WASO. He has also premiered a number of works including the Australian premiere of Richard Mills’ Concerto for Clarinet and Violin and world premieres of Andrew Shultz’s Maali, James Ledger’s Clarinet Quintet, and Blackwood by Iain Grandage and Kevin Gillam. Blackwood was commissioned by Jody Harrison and especially written for Allan, Sara Macliver and Graeme Gilling.

Allan Meyer’s Chair is supported by Leanne & Sam Walsh AO through the Duet program.

Johannes Brahms
(1833-1897)

Academic Festival Overture, Op.80 Brahms had never been a formally enrolled university student, but in 1853 he’d had a rattling good time leading a student-style existence in Göttingen, singing drinking songs with the local student population. In 1880, after receiving an honorary doctorate from the University of Breslau, the by-now-famous composer responded with a concert overture in honour of the occasion. But rather than writing an ‘academic’ work, Brahms set out to complete a jovial piece based on the convivial aspects of student life which he had known firsthand.

Brahms took four of his favourite student drinking songs and worked them into a free sonata structure using the largest and most percussion-dominated orchestra that he had ever employed. He noted that it was ‘a very boisterous potpourri of student songs à la Suppé’ – a reference to Suppé’s opera Flotte Bursch, which is constructed in the same way.

The four songs on which the work is based are Wir hatten gebauet ein stattliches Haus (We had built a stately house), which is introduced in chorale-like fashion by the brass; Der Landesvater (The father of our country), heard first on the second violins; the undergraduate initiation song Was kommt dort von der Hoh, introduced by bassoons over pizzicato figures in the violas and cellos; and finally, a full orchestral version of Gaudeamus igitur, a medieval student song that Suppé had also used in Flotte Bursch. The fun starts right at the beginning, with a pompously solemn opening, rapidly giving way to the high spirits which characterise the piece as a whole.

Abridged from a note by Martin Buzacott © Symphony Australia

First performance:
4 January 1881, Breslau, composer conducting.

First WASO performance:

6 July 1951. Rudolf Pekárek, conductor.

Most recent WASO performance:
4-5 August 2017. Simone Young AM, conductor.

Instrumentation:

piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, strings.

Johannes Brahms
(1833-1897)

Symphony No.4 in E minor, Op.98
Allegro non troppo
Andante moderato
Allegro giocoso
Allegro energico e passionato

In 1885 Brahms, as was his wont, convened a group of trusted friends to listen to a play-through of the Fourth Symphony, with the composer and his friend Ignaz Brüll at the piano. Feedback from knowledgeable people had been invaluable throughout his career, and on this occasion the listeners included the conductor Hans Richter and the critic Eduard Hanslick. But this time the response was a baffled silence. Even Hanslick, Brahms’ greatest supporter in print, tried to joke that he felt like he had been ‘beaten up by two intelligent people’ at the end of the first movement. Later, after the work’s politely-received Viennese premiere, a less well-disposed wit composed a verse to the theme of the first movement to the effect that Brahms had run out of ideas.

The Third Symphony had, of course, enjoyed an unqualified success and it says much for Brahms’ artistic integrity that he was prepared to take a quite different approach in the new work; that the Fourth was written over not one but two summers suggests that Brahms had to work hard at it.

So, what baffled the listeners in the first movement? In fact the ‘run out of ideas’ guy was wrong, but nevertheless onto something, in that a large chunk of Brahms’ first theme consists of practically no material: two chains of thirds (and sixths, their inversion) are sounded in a rhythm that consists entirely of a repeated short-long pattern.

Eventually a more elaborate motif is sounded, but then immediately repeated in sequence. The thirds provide the basis for a fanfare-like transition into the second theme, and here again Brahms goes against convention with a melody that is not, as expected, ‘lyrical’ but is much more assertive, sounded in the orchestra’s tenor register, and again based on sequences of a repeated rhythmic cell (long, long, short, short, short). Fragmentary patterns of thirds provide the accompaniment.

All of which is to say that Brahms was writing in, to the Viennese, a disturbingly abstract and ‘modern’ way. Haydn, of course, and Beethoven – especially in the Fifth Symphony – had worked in just this way, and it is no accident that such rigorous design attracted the approval of Schoenberg in his 1933 lecture, Brahms the Progressive. But it put Brahms out of step with current musical fashion in Vienna.

The piece is frequently intensely contrapuntal (and thus requires a ‘classical’ orchestra), reflecting Brahms’ lifelong love of the Baroque, but there are profoundly poetic moments. The recapitulation of the first movement’s main theme should, by convention, be a rhetorically powerful moment of arrival; Brahms instead dwells on a distant but radiant C major chord and then, radically, continues to develop his themes.

The second movement is in what has sometimes been called Brahms’ ‘bardic’ manner. The young Richard Strauss, who regarded the ‘gigantic work’ as ‘new and original in its greatness of conception and invention, its genius in treatment of form’, captured the slow movement’s essence in his image of a ‘funeral procession moving across moonlit heights’.

This movement, which relies heavily on mysterious wind scoring and the occasional archaic inflections of the Phrygian mode, could not offer a greater contrast to the scherzo, with what Karl Geiringer calls its ‘sturdy gaiety’. In two, rather than three, beats to a bar, it has a rustic air, but its most curious feature is the way in which Brahms, again creating music out of nothing, offers a serious of monolithic chords, octaves apart, that interrupt the rhythmic drive of the movement towards its end. These chords, however, also pave the way for the finale, in which Brahms abandons any vestige of classical precedent, instead using the Baroque form of the passacaglia, in which a repeated harmonic pattern, or ground, serves as a vehicle for variations. Brahms’ ground is a series of rhythmically equal chords (adumbrated at the end of the scherzo) over which he elaborates a movement unlike anything heard in symphonic music before.

In 1886, Vienna’s response was tepid, partly as Hans Richter’s rehearsals were inadequate. But by then the work had enjoyed triumphant success in 14 German and Dutch cities under Hans von Bülow. Vienna finally embraced it, and the mortally ill Brahms, at the last concert the composer was able attend before his death in 1897.

© Gordon Kerry 2015

First performance:
25 October 1885, Meiningen.

First WASO performance:

14 July 1951; Rudolf Pekárek, conductor.

Most recent WASO performance:
27/29 November 2020; Peter Moore, conductor.

Instrumentation:

two flutes (second doubling piccolo), two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, percussion, strings.

Cellist Tim South will retire from the West Australian Symphony Orchestra in December 2024 after 36 years with the Orchestra. On his retirement, Tim will become WASO’s longest-serving emeritus cellist.

Tim joined WASO in 1988, the same year that he obtained a Bachelor of Arts in music from the Victorian College of the Arts and toured Europe with the Australian Youth Orchestra. For more than three decades, Tim’s dedication has helped WASO bring outstanding musical experiences to audiences across the state.

Since joining WASO, Tim has taught cello at Churchlands Senior High School and Perth Modern School, and continued to be active as a chamber musician. Off-stage Tim has pursued interests in web development and photography, and he’s even been known to take to the sky with his pilot’s license!

Of his passion for aviation and career in music, Tim said “Both involve learning on an ongoing basis, memorising complex tasks, plus a great sense of satisfaction over what you've accomplished.”

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Tim for his contribution to WASO and congratulate him on an exceptional career.

Tim South’s final WASO performance with his distinctive carbon fibre cello is The Cat Empire with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra on December 5-7.

Engage | Excite | Experience | Educate

From the centre of Perth to the furthest corners of the state, we have provided the soundtrack to life in WA since 1928.

As the State Orchestra, Perth’s first and finest, WASO is the largest employer of performing artists in Western Australia and reaches two million people with musical experiences each year on stage, in our community, and online.

From concert halls to classrooms, hospitals to aged care, we bring joy, inspire learning, and nurture participation in our community, because everybody deserves the opportunity to experience live music. Every year, through community and leading industry partnerships, we engage a new generation of young and emerging artists to help secure a bright future for music in Australia.

We celebrate our rich classical music heritage with great artists from all over the world and commission and perform new repertoire to renew and expand it.

The Orchestra collaborates widely with major arts companies and independent artists, performing opera to ballet, movies to musicals, jazz to rock. We champion the diversity of music in all its forms, with a team of talented and passionate people who create unforgettable experiences for all West Australians to enjoy.

Asher Fisch is Principal Conductor and Artistic Adviser of our Orchestra and we are proud to call Perth Concert Hall home.

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The Musical Tale of Echo the Gecko

To kick off Term Four, Echo the Gecko (WASO’s inquisitive fly-eating friend) has been adventuring to schools all over Perth. Echo the Gecko has been making young audiences smile for 21 years and what better way to celebrate than performing a completely revamped version of the original concert. Alongside WASO’s Education Chamber Orchestra, Echo the Gecko has featured in family concerts and school incursions across our vast state since 2003, captivating and enriching the lives of children by making orchestral music accessible and fun.

Led by presenter and creator Lee Stanley, and Genevieve Wilkins, the concert is full of adventure, excitement and education about the instruments in the 10-piece ensemble. With stories by Mark Tooby (WASO Double Bass) and original music composed by Joshua Davis (WASO Principal Trombone), the audience members have been dancing and singing as they discover how music is created out of a handful of instruments and musical elements.

Music has always been about more than entertainment — it’s about connection, creativity, and making a difference in the world. A gift to WASO will support the Orchestra’s mission to bring the joy of live music to everyone, including those in underserved communities. Whether it’s inspiring a child’s love for music or bringing the magic of a live performance to a remote region, your gift will help make the world a brighter place. One of the ways you can make a gift is by leaving a bequest to WASO.

Your bequest can support the Orchestra’s wide range of initiatives — from groundbreaking performances and educational outreach to bringing music to those who need it most. Every gift helps to sustain our mission.

For more information about how your bequest can support WASO, please contact our Philanthropy Team on (08) 9326 0014 for a confidential conversation or visit our website.

The importance of our giving community is to be valued and congratulated. You are making a difference to what you see on stage - your commitment is a source of constant inspiration for us.

We are proud to acknowledge our donor family, many of whom give to multiple areas and some who wish to remain unnamed.

Thank you.

Patron of Private Giving
Janet Holmes à Court AC

Recognising gifts received in the last 12 months, which support our inspiring performances and enable us to share music and actuate growth through our education and community programs.

Dr Philip Everall
Pre-concert Speaker

Philip Everall is a bass clarinettist from Perth, Western Australia who has performed in venues such as the Berlin Philharmonie, Carnegie Hall, and Clancy’s Fish Pub. After undergraduate studies in Perth, Philip relocated to pursue a Master of Music from the Amsterdam Conservatorium, and then a Master of Contemporary Performance from the Manhattan School of Music. His teachers included Harry Sparnaay, Michael Lowenstern, and David Krakauer.

As an active freelancer, Philip has performed with ASKO/Schoenberg Ensemble (NL), Sequitur (USA), etica (AUS), and was a founding member of loadbang (USA). Also in demand as an orchestral musician, he has performed with the West Australian, Adelaide, Tasmanian, and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras, as well as Orchestra Victoria and the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.

Philip holds a PhD from Edith Cowan University for his research into modern techniques for bass clarinet, and is Lecturer in Music; Head of Woodwind at the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts.

Introducing our 2025 Season!

Prepare for an exciting musical journey through some of the most iconic venues in Perth as our home, Perth Concert Hall, undergoes renovations.

Experience your classical favourites at our MACA Symphonic Series evening concerts at UWA's magnificent Winthrop Hall or our Matinee Symphony Series daytime performances at Heath Ledger Theatre. Join us for the Baroque Series at His Majesty’s Theatre, our intimate Chamber Music Series at the beautiful Government House Ballroom, or explore bold and contemporary compositions in our new music series at Studio Underground, at the State Theatre Centre of WA.

There’s so much to experience in 2025. Season Brochures are available at Perth Concert Hall from Thursday 28 November.