Benjamin Northey – Conductor
Emma Eden – Horn

Isaac Shatford - Open
Strauss – Horn Concerto No. 1 in Eb Major Op. 11
Mozart – Symphony No. 40 in G minor K. 550

This musical curation is a celebration of youthful talent. We welcome you to open your ears to the sound world of Ōtautahi-born composer Isaac Shatford. He says of this new commission: “Open is such a fabulous word. It’s exciting – an opening is a beginning, an opportunity. It’s terrifying – openness is uncertainty, vulnerability. This piece balances, fleetingly, on that precarious tipping point.”

Our very own Principal Horn Emma Eden takes centre stage in Richard Strauss’ ebullient Horn Concerto No. 1. Strauss may have only been 18 when he began work on this concerto, but his childhood had included a particularly full immersion into the world of the horn – his father was the Principal Horn of the Munich Court Orchestra.

Mozart wrote his first symphony at the age of eight, and had stacked up many more before his death at the age of just 35. His penultimate No. 40 is one of his most popular symphonies, full of dark passion and swagger. The themes are often used in film, television, and popular culture including the opening phrase becoming one of the most iconic ringtones of the earliest mobile phones.

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