The Wangaratta Symphony Orchestra, in this concert, present the entire Symphony No. 9 in E Minor from The New World by Dvorak. Familiar melodies of Gershwin, Cohan and Sousa evoke the tantalising optimism of early 20th Century America and in Stravinksy's The Firebird, the performance delves into the innovative ambitions demonstrated through music at the turn of the century.

Excitingly, this concert will also feature young local soloists Emma Lang performing on cello, works by Haydn and Dvorak and Timothy Wong presenting an Adagio movement from Mozart on piano.

The highlight (and challenge) for the orchestra in this mid-year period has been developing Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 in E Minor under the guidance of guest conductor, Craig Fullerton. Antonin Dvorak, a composer from a location that today is known as the Czech Republic, was influenced early by music and performed from a young age on many instruments. As his career progressed, he taught music and composed work featuring the folk-inspired, jovial lyricism of his Bohemian homeland. On invitation, he travelled to New York, accepting a position as director of the National Conservatory of Music. The intertwined musical influences of American spirituals, plantation work songs and Czech nationalist sympathies yielded the recurring themes and tones that evoke the intrepid and hopeful spirt of a world in which the creative possibilities of humankind appeared infinite.