A once in a lifetime performance is heading to Sidney Myer Music Bowl with Tim Rogers joining forces with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra amid a massive lineup.
There are iconic moments in history where artists give the performance of a lifetime – look to Michael Jackson premiering his signature Moonwalk on Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, Freddie Mercury’s Live Aid legendary performance in 1985, Idina Menzel’s standout Tony Award winning origination of Elphaba in Wicked and Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake performed by The Kirov Ballet.
In July, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra launched the Performance of a Lifetime campaign, which encouraged Victorian’s to step up to the vaccination stage, with the standing ovation received at the 90 per cent collective effort milestone.
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To say thank you, the MSO are turning the campaign into a live two show event at Sidney Myer Music Bowl on Monday 13 and Tuesday 14 December 2021.
Performance of a Lifetime is an intertwining of the band room, the playhouse and the theatres as a line-up of star studded singers and performers unite to reignite the fire in our cultural city’s belly.
Hosted by Double J’s Zan Rowe and conducted by Benjamin Northey, the MSO will be joined by a magnetic line-up of Australia’s best talent including Rhonda Burchmore, Kate Ceberano, Emma Donovan, Felix Riebl, and Josh Piterman.
That on-stage charisma, however, is elevated by You Am I and Hard-Ons’ frontman, Tim Rogers, who will be coming off the back of Hard-Ons album release I’m Sorry Sir, That Riff’s Been Taken. The debut collaborative effort shot to number one vinyl and number four album on the ARIA charts during release week.
“We’re already onto the next one writing songs for that. Actually the day before the MSO shows, I’m recording with the Hard-Ons. We have some incredible new songs and it’s been really fun collaborating with them and writing more,” Rogers explains.
Whilst music momentum is back this month, Rogers’ knows too well the shared creative industry sentiment of mental and financial strain the past nearly two pandemic years has generated as highlighted in the Performance of a Lifetime campaign, having himself traded his cuban heels and bold suits for the tradie steel cap boots and high-vis uniform.
“Financially it was difficult but at least as, for lack of a better term, creatives I felt fortunate somewhat that we had the opportunity to write and read and research,” he says.
“Thankfully my tiny little flat is a library so it was a good time to stop really. I was trying to stop touring a few years ago because I caught myself in a circle of bad behaviour, so now that there is work around, whether it’s labouring jobs or music jobs, like working with Project Animo dance company and the MSO, it means you have to be light on your feet.
“Now that the calendar is filling up we’re not really complaining about much, I can tell you that.”
Always the pivoter, the all-rounder artist certainly is not complaining about stepping back in front of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra to give his performance of a lifetime, joining his fellow musicians and theatrical actors.
“I’ve worked with the orchestra quite a bit and know the conductors quite well and some soloists, and was just up here with the Opera Australia Orchestra and Ballet, and it’s a thrill,” he continues.
“Playing in front of an orchestra is quite something else which is why we encourage people who haven’t seen an orchestra to see one live because it is a very different experience to hearing it on radio or on record. Stepping in front of an orchestra is very cinematic.
“Being in front of the brilliant musicians is being part of a team to bring that shimmer and energy. It’s quite something. I feel quite charged and enthused. It makes me want to dance!”
Performance of a Lifetime won’t only be a special experience for arts industry workers, the MSO are also giving back to Victorian frontline workers, with 200 tickets donated for each show. Performance of a Lifetime will be the experience of a lifetime. Don’t miss out.
