• Freo composer Mark Holdsworth. Photo supplied.

YOUNG Fremantle composer Mark Holdsworth is continuing his stellar rise in the world of classical music with a commission to write a festival overture for the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

It will be played at a free concert, commemorating the 90th anniversary of MSO, at Sidney Myer Music Bowl this Saturday (February 16).

Holdsworth had two new works premiered by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra at the end of last year, won the Arcadia Winds Composition Prize for his wind quintette Hellfire, and has also been commissioned to compose music for the prestigious Metropolis New Music Festival in May.

Composing Hellfire for only wind instruments was a change for Holdsworth, who is more at home composing for a 100-strong orchestra.

Hellfire is a musical depiction of hell through literature; a daring piece that tested the metal of the players.

“Everyone was playing on the extreme register…they were running out of breath and still going for it.”

Holdsworth will be heading east for a chunk of this year, having scored a residency with the MSO and commissions for their 2019/20 seasons.

by JENNY D’ANGER