Perth audiences can experience the sound of royalty fi rst-hand when a piece of music by the royal household’s resident composer is performed on 3rd and 4th of November by the West Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO).

Judith Weir CBE is the first woman to hold the position of Master of the King’s Music, which has been a post in the Royal Household of the UK since 1625. Weir’s Oboe Concerto will be performed by WASO in two concerts at Perth Concert Hall at the start of next month. Weir wrote the concerto in 2018, the same year she composed music for Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee.

• Judith Weir CBE

Being an oboe player, Weir said the work was very personal. “Having played the oboe myself as a young person, the composition of an Oboe Concerto had an almost autobiographical signifi cance for me”, said Weir. WASO co-commissioned the work, and are one of just four orchestras worldwide to have performed the concerto by the high-profi le composer. Leading the performance as soloist will be WASO’s own Liz Chee, another accomplished woman in music. 

Chee has been Acting Principal Oboe of WASO since 2016, and these performances will mark her third time performing in front of the orchestra as soloist. Chee has performed with most of the Australian and New Zealand orchestras, as well as the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.Liz Chee performs Judith Weir’s Oboe Concerto as part of WASO’s concert ‘Beethoven’s Second Symphony’ on Friday 3rd and Saturday 4th November, which also includes music from Beethoven Mozart and Schubert.

Tickets via waso.com.au