When director Mark Gogoll asked me if I'd like to be a part of the concert extravaganza to close down, for renovations, the magnificent Concert Hall at the Victorian Arts Centre, I asked if we could close the concert with a huge wrecking ball smashing through the walls.

Unfortunately this idea was rejected; nonetheless, we do have the magnificent forces of the 71-strong Melbourne Youth Orchestra, the Australian Girls' Choir, and some of Australia's favourite artists, including Silvie Paladino, David Hobson, Rachael Beck and Ian Stenlake, in one big final hurrah for this magnificent venue.

Hamer Hall, when it was built twenty-eight years ago, was state-of-the-art, but as performance styles and acoustics have changed, and so have the performance pressures placed on a venue like this.

I'm thrilled to be conducting the MYO (whose string section performed so well on last year's Carols by Candlelight on Channel Nine) and of course it'll be great to work with Silvie, David, Rachael and Ian - so if you're in Melbourne, why don't you join us?

http://www.theartscentre.com.au/