Welcome to the fourth concert of the year with the North Sydney Symphony Orchestra! This concert features the world premiere of Andrew Howes' Lyrebird Concerto for soprano saxophone and orchestra, with the talented Alice Morgan as soloist, and the ever-popular The Planets suite by Holst.

Andrew Howes is a Sydney-based composer whose work has been performed by ensembles including the Sydney and Queensland Symphony Orchestras, the Australian and Sydney Youth Orchestras, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Omega Ensemble, the Flinders, Enigma, Kristian Winther and Nexas Quartets, the Bowerbird Collective, Voces8, the Song Company, and Moorambilla Voices, with whom he has been involved over 14 years and 4 studio albums. 2025 saw his works premiered at Bundanon & the Utzon Room, the Art Gallery of NSW, Phoenix Central Park, Sydney Town Hall, Broken Hill Civic Centre, the Opera House Steps, King Island, Mutawintji National Park, and on season 12 of ABC’s Back Roads. The ACO gave live performances of Adam Elliot’s Academy Award nominated feature film, Memoir of a Snail, the score for which he co-orchestrated with its composer Elena Kats-Chernin. As SYO’s composer in residence, he composed two new orchestral works, alongside 15 collaborative works with Australian contemporary music artists.

Alice Morgan is a Sydney/Eora-based saxophonist whose performance experience spans across Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Austria, and Italy. Alice graduated from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music with First Class Honours, and in 2021 was nominated for the Freedman Fellowship. She has appeared as concerto soloist internationally with the Resonance Ensemble in Tony Ryan’s Concerto for soprano saxophone and orchestra in Christchurch, New Zealand, and locally with Ensemble Apex in Jacques Ibert’s Concertino da Camera. Alice has frequently appeared as Guest Principal Saxophone with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. In 2026, Alice will perform in the semi-finals of the ABC Young Performers’ Awards, presenting a program of works all written by female composers. Alice was named Ensemble Offspring’s Hatched Associate Artist in 2024, which culminated in a performance of six world premieres in the Sydney Opera House Utzon Room. She collaborates regularly with the Bowerbird Collective in chamber music festivals in the Megalong Valley and King Island, Tasmania. Alice has been a featured musician on ABC Classic performing live as Performer of the Week on Drive Live, and also on Duet with pianist Tamara Anna-Cislowska. Alice has presented masterclasses at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and the University of Auckland. Alice is a full-time member of the NSW Police Band, performing in educational and concert settings across the state. Alice proudly champions Australian music, having premiered works by many of Australia’s leading composers. 

Many listeners will be familiar with Gustav Holst's The Planets - interestingly, he advised that there was no programmatic element to it, and just the subtitles should be sufficient to guide the listener. Holst's own imagination had been influenced by a wide range of music, from English folk songs to the romanticism of Saint-Saëns and to the harmony and orchestral scale of Stravinsky. Each planet evokes a vastly different scene, and although Holst’s musico-spatial explorations may not be cosmic, but they are brilliant, dramatic, and picturesque enough to fit into almost anyone’s concert hall horoscope.

 Book tickets now for what will be a very popular performance!