AYO Young Symphonists

Pure Energy

Five spectacular works for orchestra, performed by the country’s best school-aged musicians. 

Auditioned from across the nation, the Young Symphonists program is composed of Australia’s rising classical music stars. This year they will unite in Canberra, culminating in a concert at Canberra Grammar School. With the finesse of a professional ensemble, these young musicians invite you into the wonderful world of classical music. Whether you’re an orchestral regular, or it’s your first time at the concert hall, this concert is a thrill from start to finish. 

Young Symphonists is conducted by Carlo Antonioli, an Australian conductor who has previously held the positions of Cybec Assistant Conductor at the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Assistant Conductor at the West Australian Symphony Orchestra.  

This is a program centered around three radiant works by women. Maria Grenfell’s powerful River, Mountain, Sky paints an impression of Tasmania’s natural glories, from pastel dawns to crystal clear rivers. Welsh composer Grace Williams is an unsung hero of the classical music world, and her Fantasia on Welsh Nursery Tunes is a flowing collection of Welsh folk tunes. Australian composer Holly Harrison’s Splinter is grooving, a patchwork of innovative sounds and distorted melodies, all with a touch of sassy attitude.  

The concert’s grand finale is a romantic touch of reminiscence, with favourites from Tchaikovsky’s iconic Swan Lake. Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain opens the evening with a bang and an electric display of virtuosity. 

Young, passionate, and helping to turn the tide on orchestral programming, these young musicians prove that the future of Australia’s classical music scene is bright. 

REPERTOIRE

MUSSORGSKY arr. Rimsky-Korsakov Night on Bald Mountain

Maria GRENFELL River Mountain Sky

Grace WILLIAMS Fantasia on Welsh Nursery Tunes

-Interval-

Holly HARRISON Splinter

TCHAIKOVSKY Swan Lake, Suite op.20a (selections)

Artist:

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Carlo Antonioli

Conductor

Carlo Antonioli

Conductor

Carlo Antonioli is one of Australia’s most dynamic young conductors and is currently the Cybec Assistant Conductor Fellow at the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. He is one of five conductors selected for the Australian Conducting Academy in 2023-2024, and was previously the Assistant Conductor at the West Australian Symphony Orchestra.

For the MSO, Carlo’s engagements have included concerts at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl and Melbourne Town Hall, Ears Wide Open presentations at the Melbourne Recital Centre, regional tours and Classic Kids concerts. In addition to assisting MSO Chief Conductor Jaime Martín and WASO Principal Conductor Asher Fisch, he has assisted many prominent guest conductors in Australia including Vasily Petrenko, Sir Mark Elder, Sir Andrew Davis, Karina Canellakis and Mark Wigglesworth, as well as Vladimir Ashkenazy and Chief Conductor Simone Young at the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Rapidly establishing himself both with Australia’s leading symphony orchestras, and with vibrant, cutting-edge ensembles, some of Carlo’s most recent and upcoming engagements include working with the Queensland, Tasmanian and Canberra Symphony Orchestras, Orchestra Victoria, Book of Longing (Philip Glass), The Loser (Lang) and To Hell and Back (Heggie) for the Australian Contemporary Opera Company, the Australian, Sydney and Melbourne Youth Orchestras, the Australian National Academy of Music, Ensemble Apex, Australian Doctors Orchestra and the Stonnington Symphony. Carlo is also a composer and member of the Sydney-based Dreambox Collective.

A recipient of the Alan Bellhouse Memorial Award for Conducting and the Ada Thompson Prize for Postgraduate Students, Carlo completed a Master of Music Studies (Conducting) at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 2017 and a Bachelor of Music (Performance) with First Class Honours in 2015.