SYDNEY SYMPHONY PRESENTS THURSDAY 5 MARCH 2020, 8PM FRIDAY 6 MARCH 2020, 8PM SATURDAY 7 MARCH 2020, 8PM SYDNEY TOWN HALL Ben Folds The Symphonic Tour Ben Folds artist Nicholas Buc conductor Sydney Symphony Orchestra Program to be announced on the night, including: Jesusland Erase Me Zak and Sara Landed This performance will have one interval of 20 minutes and will conclude at approximately 9.50pm. n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n Audio by Sounds and Motion Lighting by Silver Bullet Productions About the Artists Ben Folds Ben Folds is widely regarded as one of the major music influencers of our generation. The multi-platinum selling singer-songwriter has created an enormous body of genre-bending music that includes pop albums with Ben Folds Five, multiple solo albums, and numerous collaborative records. His last album was a blend of pop songs and his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra that soared to #1 on both the Billboard classical and classical crossover charts. For over a decade he’s performed with some of the world’s greatest symphony orchestras, and currently serves as the first ever Artistic Advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center. In addition to solo rock and orchestral touring, Folds has recently written his critically- acclaimed memoir A Dream About Lightning Bugs, which debuted as a New York Times Best Seller, and is described as a collection of interrelated essays, anecdotes and what Folds refers to as “cheap lessons” about art, life, and music. He is also no stranger to television, having been featured for five seasons as a judge on NBC’s critically-acclaimed a capella show The Sing Off. He continues to appear in cameo roles on cable and network TV shows, and composes for film and TV. An avid photographer, Folds is a member of the prestigious Sony Artisans of Imagery, has worked as an assignment photo editor for National Geographic, and was featured in a mini documentary by the Kennedy Center’s Digital Project on his photographic work. An outspoken champion for arts education and music therapy funding in public schools, in 2016 Ben held the distinction as the only artist to appear at both national political conventions advocating for arts education, has served for over five years as an active member of the distinguished Artist Committee of Americans For The Arts (AFTA), and serves on the Board of AFTA’s Arts Action Fund. He is also Chairman of the Arts Action Fund’s ArtsVote2020 national initiative to advocate for a greater commitment to the nation’s creative economy through improved public policies for the arts and arts education, and hosts a podcast series of interviews on arts policies with current 2020 presidential candidates. Nicholas Buc conductor Nicholas Buc is a composer, Continuing his passion for music and film, he conducted the conductor, arranger, violinist and live-in-concert world premieres of John Williams’ Star Wars: The Last Jedi pianist. He studied Composition and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Hans Zimmer’s The Lion King, at the University of Melbourne, Alan Menken’s Beauty and the Beast, Nicholas Hooper’s Harry Potter where he received the inaugural and the Half-Blood Prince™ and Alexandre Desplat’s Harry Potter and Fellowship of Australian Composers the Deathly Hallows™ Part 2. Other live film concerts he has conducted Award. As the recipient of the Brian include Pixar In Concert, Star Trek, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Back to the May Scholarship for Australian Future, Casino Royale, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, Psycho, film composers, he completed Star Wars: Episodes IV, V, VI and VII and the first six Harry Potter films. a master’s degree in Scoring for He has conducted all of the major Australian symphony orchestras Film and Multimedia at New York as well as the Minnesota Orchestra, Houston, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, University, receiving the Elmer Austin, Grand Rapids and Madison symphony orchestras in the US. Bernstein Award for Film Scoring. He also makes regular appearances in Asia, conducting the Tokyo, He has composed music for film Hong Kong, Malaysian, Osaka and Taipei Philharmonic orchestras. and television, with some of his work being screened at festivals and He is currently finishing up writing a major theatrical work, TROT. theatres around Australia, Asia and the US. In 2007 he was nominated Written with lyricist Gordon Lindsay, it is a new musical based on for “Best Original Song Composed for the Screen” in the APRA-AGSC Charles Dickens’ much-loved David Copperfield. He also recently Screen Music Awards, and in 2015 was winner of the NYU Film Scoring completed a new ballet score, Kazka, for Lehenda Ukrainian Dance Competition. Company, which toured throughout Australia, Canada and the US. SYDNEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Founded in 1932 by the ABC, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra has reflect the Orchestra’s versatility and diverse appeal, and have included evolved into one of the world’s finest orchestras as Sydney has become concerts with Human Nature, Ben Folds, The Whitlams, Burt Bacharach, one of the world’s great cities. Dianne Reeves, George Benson, John Farnham, Sting, Tim Minchin, In 2020, as the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall undergoes Kenny Rogers, Natalie Cole, Olivia Newton-John, Idina Menzel, Dame renovations as part of the Sydney Opera House Renewal program, the Kiri Te Kanawa and Tina Arena. More recent highlights include concerts Sydney Symphony Orchestra returns to their original home, the Sydney with Josh Groban, Diana Krall, Lea Salonga, Conchita Wurst and Paloma Town Hall - one of the best acoustic venues in the heart of the city. Faith, and tribute concerts for David Bowie and George Michael. The Sydney Symphony Orchestra also performs regularly at other They also celebrate the role of the symphony orchestra in movies, venues around Sydney and tours NSW and internationally, and it is well television and video games with concerts such as Final Fantasy, on its way to becoming the premier orchestra of the Asia Pacific region. Star Trek, The Music of John Williams, The Wizard of Oz, Bugs Bunny, Their concerts encompass masterpieces from the classical Gladiator, The Godfather, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Raiders of the repertoire, music by some of the finest living composers, and Lost Ark, Babe, the Harry Potter film franchise, Amadeus, Star Wars, collaborations with guest artists from all genres. These collaborations and James Bond films Casino Royale and Skyfall. sydneysymphony.com THE MUSICIANS FIRST VIOLINS VIOLAS FLUTE HORNS PERCUSSION Sun Yi Justin Williams Joshua Batty Alex Miller* Rebecca Lagos Associate Concertmaster Acting Associate Principal Guest Principal Principal Lerida Delbridge Principal Katie Zagorski° Rachel Silver Timothy Constable Assistant Concertmaster Sandro Costantino Jenny McLeod-Sneyd* Tim Brigden° Fiona Ziegler Rosemary Curtin OBOES Emily Newham† Hugh Tidy° Assistant Concertmaster Jane Hazelwood Diana Doherty Sophie Cole Stuart Johnson Principal TRUMPETS HARP Claire Herrick Felicity Tsai Shefali Pryor David Elton Genevieve Lang* Nicola Lewis Amanda Verner Associate Principal Principal Guest Principal Alexandra Mitchell Leonid Volovelsky Eve Osborn° Simon Sweeney* Alexander Norton David Johnson° PIANO Léone Ziegler CELLOS CLARINETS Susanne Powell* Riikka Sintonen° Kristy Conrau James Burke TROMBONES ° = Contract Musician Fenella Gill Principal Ronald Prussing * = Guest Musician SECOND VIOLINS Elizabeth Neville Christopher Tingay Principal † = Sydney Symphony Fellow Kirsty Hilton Christopher Pidcock Alexander Morris Nick Byrne Principal Adrian Wallis Principal Bass Clarinet Christopher Harris Simone Young Emma Jezek David Wickham Principal Chief Conductor Designate Assistant Principal BASSOON Alice Bartsch DOUBLE BASSES Matthew Wilkie TUBA BOARD OF DIRECTORS Victoria Bihun Kees Boersma Principal Emeritus Steve Rossé Terrey Arcus AM Chairman Emma Hayes Principal Jordy Meulenbroeks† Principal Geoff Ainsworth AM Shuti Huang David Campbell Melissa Woodroffe* Andrew Baxter Monique Irik Richard Lynn TIMPANI Kees Boersma Wendy Kong Mark Robinson Ewen Crouch AM Maja Verunica Acting Principal Emma Dunch CEO The men’s tails are hand tailored by Catherine Hewgill Sydney’s leading bespoke tailors, Follow us on social media… The Hon. Justice AJ Meagher G.A. Zink & Sons. facebook.com/ @sydneysymphonyorchestra Karen Moses sydneysymphony John Vallance @sydsymph Geoff Wilson Printed by Suite A Level 1, Building 16, Fox Studios Australia, Park Road North, Moore Park NSW 2021 Telephone: +61 2 9921 5353.