AS the baton lifts on the Fremantle Chamber Orchestra’s latest world premiere this weekend, it could be to announce the arrival of Australia’s next major classical talent.
The work itself is a 13-minute Concerto for Violin and Viola, and while 16-year-old composer Ellie Malonzo has had pieces played by the orchestra previously, it marks the emergence of the child prodigy’s own “voice” for the first time.
Malonzo said she’d previously channelled the styles of composers such as Bach or Mozart in her work, but believes the concerto captures a sound uniquely her own.
Heavily inspired by the Greek myth of Icarus, Malonzo’s composition follows the dramatic arc of flight, freedom and downfall, with the ensemble capturing the soaring intensity of the myth through dynamic textures and emotion.
Malonzo said composing had been an “intrinsic goal” for her career, despite once seeming just “a figment of my imagination”.
• Fremantle Chamber Orchestra will give Ellie Malonzo’s Concerto for Violin and Viola it’s world premiere this weekend. Has the prodigy unleashed a major new voice for classical music?
She created her first tunes as a child, with her mother sitting beside her and transcribing the notes as she sang.
Malonzo said it fostered an “addiction to writing my own work”.
Although this weekend’s concerto only took three weeks to complete, Malonzo said she spent almost a year searching for the right concept and direction.
Being a well-seasoned performer, Malonzo says the most nerve-wracking part of the premiere is not stepping onto the stage, but the audience’s response to the composition.
Malonzo hopes they leave the performance emotionally moved, something she said can only be captured in live performances.
Malonzo believes orchestral music still holds an important place in society because of that ability to create a shared emotional experience.
While recordings can capture technical precision, live performances allow audiences to connect deeply with compositions, creating a shared experience of passion, vulnerability and intimacy between performers and listeners.
FCO founder Hans Hug says the concerto showed Malonzo’s growth as a performer and composer “finding her own voice and identity”
She made her debut as a soloist with the FCO at just 12 years old and has since gone on to perform with orchestras across Australia and internationally.
Also on the bill for this weekend’s performance is Corelli’s Concerto Grosso 11, Gesualdo’s O Vos Omnes, Mozart’s “Londron” adagio, Svendson’s Romance and Bottesini’s Andante Sostenuto.
Fremantle Chamber Orchestra
Saturday May 16, St Patrick’s Basilica Fremantle, 2.30pm
Sunday May 17, PHC Synagogue, Menora, 3pm
Tix from trybooking.com, calling 0438 933 250 or paying at the door.
by GRETTA SEIVER WHYTE