Session 2
Meet @ the Market
This program is all about energy, variety and personality.
Program
Igor Stravinsky ‘Pas de deux’ and ‘Marche-conclusion’ from Danses Concertantes
Carl Nielsen 'Allegretto' from Flute Concerto
Soloist: Lisa-Maree Amos, Section Principal Flute
Paul Stanhope Apollo
Ludwig van Beethoven ‘Adagio molto - Allegro con brio’ from Symphony No. 1 in C, Op. 21
Book now
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Melbourne / Naarm
Friday 4 September 2026, 7:00pm
Blackwood Box
Meat Market
Corner of Blackwood Street and Tyrone Street, North Melbourne
Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung Country
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Ticket Price Range
Adult: $45
Concession: $35
Under 35: $35
3-Concert Season Pass: $120
It opens with Stravinsky’s Danses Concertantes: music that feels like a witty, abstract ballet, full of twists, playful rhythms and bursts of colour. It’s lean, stylish and packs a punch. Next comes Nielsen’s Flute Concerto, a piece that feels both charming and mischievous. It’s music that sings, sparkles and teases, and it gives the flute a rare starring role. Bringing it to life is Lisa-Maree Amos, Orchestra Victoria’s Section Principal Flute, whose sound is equal parts radiant and agile. Paul Stanhope’s Apollo grounds the program in the present, blending a tribute to the Apollo space missions with a nod to Stravinsky’s clear-lined style. The evening closes with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1. Picture a bold young composer throwing down a gauntlet to the world. This symphony is personal, playful, dramatic and brimming with confidence: to us it represents the spark that ignited everything Beethoven would later become.
On the podium is Umberto Clerici, a conductor known for his warmth, humour and fearless musicality.
About the Works
Stravinsky – Danses Concertantes
Composed in 1941 and 1942, while he was living in Los Angeles, Stravinsky’s Danses Concertantes was originally conceived as concert music, though its title and spirited character invite movement. Commissioned by the Werner Janssen Orchestra, it unfolds as an abstract ballet expressing vivid motion and elegant wit. Stravinsky’s expert chamber orchestrations pulse with kinetic energy across five movements, bookended by playful marches. Expect contrapuntal clarity, clipped textures and instrumental characters that leap and swirl in a joyful athleticism.
Carl Nielsen – Flute Concerto
Nielsen’s Flute Concerto (1926) was composed for Holger Gilbert-Jespersen and premiered in Paris to warm acclaim. With two contrasting movements, it blends structural logic and tonal clarity with charm and vivacity. Nielsen said, “The simplest is the hardest, the universal the most lasting … being brilliantly unique.” The concerto’s broad lyricism and scherzo-like interplay offer a sumptuous canvas for the featured soloist.
Paul Stanhope – Apollo
Australian composer Paul Stanhope’s Apollo, for wind octet and bongo, continues the thematic thread of homage and wonder. The title of the work is both a tribute to the Apollo Space Program and an homage to Stravinsky’s music, in particular the ‘Apollonian’ characteristics that so deeply occupied him, which prioritised restraint and order over the late-Romantic predilections for emotion and excess.
Beethoven – Symphony No. 1 in C, Op. 21
On 2 April 1800, an entrepreneurial young Beethoven hired the Imperial Court Theatre in Vienna to present a program of works and firmly establish himself as Ludwig-the-Composer to the Viennese public. His program included his Septet and pieces by Mozart and Haydn. However, the crown jewel of the program was his First Symphony, which to this day represents such a powerfully original statement of music that it makes the revolutionary achievements of his later symphonies seem inevitable.
About the Artists
Umberto Clerici, Conductor
Conducting this richly varied program is Umberto Clerici, whose dynamic presence spans both orchestral leadership and instrumental mastery. In addition to his role as Chief Conductor of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Umberto's recent conducting engagements include Elgar’s Cello Concerto with Steven Isserlis for the Volksoper Vienna, and debuts with Orchestra del Teatro Massimo in Palermo and Orchestra Regionale Toscana. Umberto has also curated a three-week series with the Sydney Symphony for the Symphony Hour programs, and returned to the podiums of the Dunedin, Melbourne and West Australian Symphony Orchestras.
Stéphanie Kabanyana Kanyandekwe
Stéphanie Kabanyana Kanyandekwe is a Rwandan-British composer, arts and culture strategist and broadcaster working between Narrm/Melbourne and Rwanda. Her research-based practice explores how culture is constructed and archived through experiential narratives, shaped by her tertiary training in composition and performance practice. Multiple forms of synaesthesia—sound/colour/texture, auditory-tactile, and spatial sequence—add a neurodiverse dimension to her polycultured identity. Stéphanie’s ongoing research on the global history of art music, which began in 1999, underpins her work in graphic scores, artworks, and a musical conversation series where audiences become active participants in a multisensory live space. This scholarly curiosity also drives Passenger, her weekly show on ABC Classic and the Listen app, inviting national and international listeners on an audio voyage matching storytelling with art music from around the world—particularly highlighting non-Western expressions of people and place.
Lisa-Maree Amos, Section Principal Flute
Lighting up Nielsen’s concerto is Lisa-Maree Amos, Section Principal Flute of Orchestra Victoria since 2007. Her storied international career includes performances with the BBC Symphony at the Proms and the Boston Symphony, seasons with The Royal Ballet at Covent Garden, and more. Amos’s refined artistry and vivacious tone promise to bring Nielsen’s flute lines to compelling life.
Hear the Repertoire
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Concert Partners
Supporters
Thank you to our Southbank Circle members Lady Southey AC, John & Gaye Gaylard, Peter Griffin AM & Terry Swann, and Dr Karen Wayne OAM & Dr Victor Wayne, whose generosity and leadership has enabled Southbank Series to take place.
These programs were developed in a studio managed by the City of Melbourne’s Meat Market tenancy program.