Our grand finale to the night will feature one of Beethoven’s most iconic works. Four iconic notes open one of the most recognisable heartbeats in music. Composed amid Beethoven’s worsening deafness, this symphony charts a journey from darkness to triumph and celebration. This piece features heroic brass fanfares, variations on the famous motifs and  showcases the power of a full orchestra.

One of the most beloved violin concertos, Bruch’s masterpiece is known for its lyrical melodies and passionate intensity. Expect soaring melodies and technical virtuosity of the soloist violin, played by our co-convenor Ann Carew.

Written in 1954 for a Soviet state celebration, this short dazzling overture bursts with brass fanfares, racing strings, and irrepressible energy. It’s musical adrenaline—fast, bright, and exhilarating. You’ll be sitting on the edge of your seat.

Aerial Dances imagines the freewheel and wonder of a falcon caught in mid-flight. Inspired by the eager, tumbling rhythms of Gerard Manley Hopkins’ poem The Windhover, the piece juxtaposes bright, airy, orchestral colour with driving, dance-like patterns. Central to the piece’s progression is the clarinet melody; it careens and emerges from wispy string figures, its sense of gesture and life passed through the orchestra in tumbles of melodic fragments. Fazing chords in the brass, piano, and percussion appear gradually behind these melodies, bringing out slowly shifting colours. This hazy freedom soars to a second theme with the strings,  while mischievous woodwind and tambourine patterns dance above. Momentum builds from this point onwards, supported by quick harmonic shifts and a driving drum rhythm that bursts into a fully-fledged orchestral dance speeding toward its arresting conclusion.

The Windhover – Gerard Manley Hopkins

I caught this morning morning's minion, king-
    dom of daylight's dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding
    Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding
High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing

In his ecstasy! then off, off forth on swing,
    As a skate's heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding
    Rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding
Stirred for a bird, – the achieve of, the mastery of the thing!

Brute beauty and valour and act, oh, air, pride, plume, here
    Buckle! AND the fire that breaks from thee then, a billion
Times told lovelier, more dangerous, O my chevalier!     

   No wonder of it: shéer plód makes plough down sillion
Shine, and blue-bleak embers, ah my dear,
    Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold-vermilion.

Read more about Lui’s works on https://www.abigaillui.com

Abigail Lui is a composer, violinist, and first year medical student inspired by the stories that help us make sense of the world. As Queensland Chamber Orchestra’s Emerging Composer-in-Residence (2025), a recipient of ABC Classic’s Composer Commissioning Fund (2024), and winner of Adelaide Chamber Music School’s String Quartet Composition Prize (2022), she is fast gaining a reputation for expressive and intuitive writing that’s equally lucid in concert hall and community. 

2024 has seen her string quartet Colour of Time recorded by Amiti Quartet for ABC Classic, piano trio Wayfarers recordedby Cerulean Collective for release through Corella Recordings, and lyric-writing commission composed in collaboration with Elena Kats-Chernin. She has taken part in composition programs with the Australian Youth Orchestra (2024-25), Queensland Youth Orchestra (2023), Topology (2022-23), and Singapore-based choir Vox Camerata (2022-23) and holds a Bachelor of Music (Class I Hons) and Science, majoring in composition and violin performance, from the University of Queensland.

Ann Carew is a final year medical student at the University of Notre Dame, studying across both Sydney and Melbourne. Before commencing her MD studies in 2023, Ann completed a Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours and a Master of Philosophy (Violin Performance) at the University of Queensland where she studied with Associate Professor Adam Chalabi.

Ann has been a violinist with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra since 2019 and continues to regularly perform with them. She has also worked with Camerata-Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Q, Opera Queensland, and Southern Cross Soloists as a professional violinist and violist. She has been an invited guest to perform at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music as part of the Amiti String Quartet and has been a participant of all the Australian Youth Orchestra programs. Other international highlights include playing at the New York International Music Festival in Carnegie Hall, attending the New York University Winter Strings Conference, and playing with the Xi’an Symphony Orchestra (China).

Since starting medicine, she has been concertmaster and committee member of the NSW Doctors’ Orchestra; and has been principal first violin of Corpus Medicorum in Melbourne. Outside of performing, Ann teaches violin, viola, and harp to a wide range of students. She is looking forward to continuing both professions for many years to come.

Dr Lucas D. Lynch is Music Director and Executive Director of Ballet Theatre Queensland, and a conductor, pianist, composer and producer. He also serves as Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Cadenza Chamber Players.

Formerly co-owner and producer of the theatrical partnership Lynch & Paterson, his productions have included Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, The Pirates of Penzance, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Phantom of the Opera, Oklahoma! and the Australian premiere of Beethoven’s ballet The Creatures of Prometheus.

Lucas has served as guest conductor with Brisbane Philharmonic and, since 2019, has worked extensively with Queensland Ballet as guest pianist and assistant conductor for productions including Dangerous Liaisons and the 60th Anniversary Gala. He has also been a regular class pianist for Queensland Ballet, Queensland University of Technology, The Australian Ballet, The Royal Ballet School and the Bolshoi Ballet Academy.

Appointed Music Director of Ballet Theatre Queensland in June 2023 and Executive Director in September 2023, Lucas has played a central role in shaping the organisation’s artistic direction. He composed the original full-length scores for Snow White and Alice in Wonderland, crafting richly textured musical landscapes that support narrative storytelling and deepen the choreographic vision. Lucas D. Lynch's work is characterised by scholarly depth, artistic versatility and a sustained commitment to excellence across performance, composition and leadership.

Follow Lucas’ works through his social media pages:

IG @lucasdlynch
FB @maestroldl

Emily Su is a multiple prize-winning violinist known for her love of performing and recognized as one of Australia's leading young musicians. She graduated first in her department from the Royal Academy of Music in London with a Master of Arts (Dist.). Praised for her “great musical intelligence and ability to connect with audiences”, Emily has won several major competitions in Australia including the 2021 Great Romantics Competition at the Melbourne Recital Centre, the 2021 Australian Youth Classical Music Competition, and a prize at the 2022 Dorcas McClean Violin Competition. She frequently performs as soloist across the globe with orchestras including the Siletz Bay Music Festival, Australian Chamber Orchestra Academy, Geelong Symphony, Penrith Symphony, Ku-ring-gai Philharmonic orchestras.

Beyond her solo career, Emily is highly sought after as a chamber and orchestral musician. She held the prestigious position of Emerging Artist with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and was the youngest concertmaster of the Australian Youth Orchestra. Emily was further recognised for her impeccable clarity as a concertmaster in London, where she led the Royal Academy Chamber Orchestra and worked closely with the principal musicians of the Berlin Philharmonic in Strauss’ Metamorphosen. Recently, Emily has been guest first violinist with the internationally acclaimed Affinity String Quartet.

When she’s not busy performing, Emily is a medical student on the Gold Coast where she is passionate about teaching anatomy and organising educational events as Director of Surgical Skills for one of Australia’s largest student surgical societies.

To be announced