On 23 November Amy Dickson gives the UK premiere of Matthew Hindson’s Concerto for Soprano Saxophone and Orchestra with the Sydney Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra conducted by Roger Benedict, as part of a European tour. The UK premiere will take place as part of a five-concert European tour on 23 November. Dickson premiered the piece in 2019 in Hobart with Benjamin Northey and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.
Hindson’s 28-minute concerto was commissioned by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, through the philanthropic support of the TSO Commissioning Circle. It is cast in three movements. The first movement makes use of several extended techniques, which reappear throughout the concerto: slapping the keys, bending pitches, and a cadenza with choreographed movements for the soloist. A slow middle movement is more subdued and improvisatory in character before reaching intense lyrical heights; a burlesque-like third moment makes for a virtuoso finale.
Dickson and the Sydney Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra will perform at the Royal Northern College of Music (23/11), the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (24/11), LSO St Luke’s (25/11), the Passionkirche Berlin (30/11), and the Mendelssohn Hochschule in Leipzig (1/12).
Dickson is also scheduled to give two performances of the Concerto in November 2023 with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Benjamin Northey. In 2020 Dickson also premiered Hindson’s 3-minute piece Heroes for solo soprano saxophone, inspired by the work of healthcare professionals during the pandemic. The concerto was written in close collaboration with Hindson, with extensive input from the saxophonist throughout the writing process, described by the composer in Limelight magazine in 2019.