Playing at festival ‘absolutely fantastic’

Wellington-based conductor Brett Stewart and the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra had an exciting time soaking up the major music festival vibes during their Synthony performance at Rhythm & Alps over New Year.

For the second time, Synthony was a headline event at the giant music festival — with Stewart and the DSO players performing for 90 minutes in front of a 15,000-strong crowd.

"It’s incredible how they organise things at those huge festivals, even to coming up with creative ways to bring a bus load of classical musicians in through the festival site and to back-stage," Stewart said.

Although the DSO players and Stewart have done Synthony performances before, it was still an exciting thrill to be up on stage in front of a huge, roaring crowd, with a major light show and pyrotechnics, he said.

"For this performance, we combined the orchestra — who were all mic’d up — with a live band, DJs, vocalists and immersive visuals, it was absolutely fantastic."

The show opened with Richard Strauss’ Fanfare and included adapted versions of electronic dance anthems, along with songs like Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody.

The sight of one enthusiastic audience member holding up a sign reading "Go DSO" had been "wonderful to see, and made us all feel like rock stars", he said.

"Having the audience singing along, dancing and cheering gave us all heaps of energy — we were on a real high by the end.

"And as an added bonus, we were on stage at midnight, when we played the big anthem Losing It by Fisher — that was a lot of fun."

Stewart said being part of performances like Synthony was a great opportunity for the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra, as it gave them exposure to new audiences as well as the players "getting a real kick out of it".

In the midst of the busy schedule, Stewart will return to more traditional orchestra fare with the DSO later in the year when he conducts the two matinee concerts in June, titled "Beethoven, Ritchie & Faure".

The concerts will feature Beethoven's Symphony No.7, the world premiere of Ritchie’s Cello Concerto, and Faure’s Masques et Bergamasques.

brenda.harwood@thestar.co.nz