David graduated from Melbourne University Institute of Education with a Bachelor of Education in Music Pedagogy and later completed a Master of Arts in Performance on double bass from Monash University where he studied with Steve Reeves, Mariyan Brysha, Geoff Kluke and Neil Jowsey. He freelanced in many jazz bands that accompanied artist including Dame Kiri Te Kanewa and Peter Allan as well as playing with the State Orchestra of Victoria and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in their Symphony in a Day program.

David played and recorded extensively with the Cotton Club Orchestra and for recordings by contemporary Australian composer Felix Werder, television and radio jingles, and the feature film “Romper Stomper” and Gippsland Country artist Steve Messer. David has toured throughout Europe including concerts in England, Italy, Germany, Singapore, Belgium, and Austria and studied conducting with Peter Clinch, Barry Bignall, John Hopkins AM, OBE and Graham Abbott. He studied singing in Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne and New Zealand with Ann Marie Speed, Stephanie Marko, Helen Tiller, and Jo Estill. David has been musical director for over 80 shows included Oliver! Fiddler on the Roof, Wizard of Oz, Mikado, My Fair Lady, Singing in The Rain, Oklahoma! Cats, Carmen, Seussical, Shrek, Little Shop of Horrors, Wicked, Beauty and the Beast, Into the Woods and Les Misérables.

He conducted the Latrobe City Youth Band on two tours of China and Japan.

David co-founded Class Act Productions with friends and between 2015 to 2019 Class Act were involved with Manhattan Concert Productions were our young performers had the opportunity to perform in a Broadway show. David was also a member of the MSO Regional Teachers Forum, Orchestra Victoria mOVe schools’ program steering committee, Latrobe Regional Arts Forum, Latrobe City Sister Cities Committee and has recently retired after 30 years as a Leading Teacher/Learning Specialist at Lowanna College in Newborough.

David was awarded an OAM in the 2012 Australia Day Honours for his services to Music Education and the Performing Arts.

GIPPSLAND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Concert Master
Jayne Nielson
Violin I
Suzanne Ercoles, Edward Pople, Kieran Brown, Liz Ellis
Violin II
Adelle McArdle, Tonya Hackett, Gill Oscar, Caroline Scott
Viola
Katarina Yalizis, Alison Dunn, David Maligan, Luke Tang
Cello
Gillian Murray, Louise Hesketh, John Ferwerda, Laura Gibb, Pam Sheehan, Rachel Arthur
Double Bass
Heather McColl

Flute

Beth Frank, Liz Wallace, Priscila Sella

Oboe

Jill Lawrence, Les Dunn

Clarinet

Fiona Moldrich, Greg Frank, David Steele

Bassoon

Andrea Fail, Liz Radcliffe

French Horn

Kees Dogger, Anthony Gardiner, Lisa Harnden, Maddi Caldwell

Trumpet

Tina Thompson, Joseph Bonicci

Trombone

Tim Armstrong, Anthony Lucas, Alison Landmeter

Tuba

Ross Cameron

Timpani

John Claxton

Steve Reeves was appointed Principal Bass with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 1989, a position he held until his retirement in 2019. Prior to this, he served as Associate Principal Bass with Orchestra Victoria and Principal Bass with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, and Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

As a freelance musician, Steve has performed in the United States with orchestras in New York, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania, as well as in Holland and Norway. He values opportunities to perform chamber music and appear as a soloist, including his 2019 performance with the Gippsland Symphony Orchestra of the Bottesini Double Bass Concerto No. 2. He now makes a long-awaited return to perform the Koussevitzky Double Bass Concerto in F-sharp minor.

For many years, Steve taught double bass at the Victorian College of the Arts, Australian National Academy of Music, and Monash University. He currently teaches at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music.

He began his studies in Adelaide with John Foster, continued in Sydney with Max Claxton and Dave Ellis, and later studied internationally at the Hartt School of Music with Gary Karr and Leslie Parnas, at Juilliard School with Eugene Levinson, at the Norwegian State Music School with Knut Guettler, and at the Sweelinck Conservatorium with Anthony Woodrow.

Steve has had a long association with the International Society of Bassists, presenting at several conventions as a recitalist, educator in the Young Bassists Program, competition judge and chair, and headline presenter at the 2009 convention in Pennsylvania. In 2012, he was invited to the Texas Christian University International Bass Festival, where he presented a recital, masterclasses, and served as co-chair of the orchestral competition.

This performance is dedicated to the memory of Gary Karr, an influential American double bassist who elevated the instrument as a solo voice through his expressive tone and lyrical playing style, and who founded the International Society of Bassists, inspiring generations through his performance, teaching, and advocacy.

Fanny Mendelssohn was a highly gifted 19th-century composer, pianist, and intellectual figure of the German Romantic era, and the older sister of Felix Mendelssohn.

Despite the limitations placed on women composers at the time, she produced over 400 works, including piano music, songs, chamber works, and orchestral pieces. Although much of her music was initially published under her brother’s name or not at all, her reputation has grown significantly in recent decades, with scholars and performers recognising her as an important composer in her own right.

Her Overture in C (1830s) is one of her most substantial orchestral works and demonstrates a confident command of form, orchestration, and dramatic contrast. The piece follows a sonata-style structure, with a bold and energetic opening theme contrasted by more lyrical material, showing both Classical influence and Romantic expressiveness. The overture highlights her skill in handling orchestral colour and thematic development, and it stands as strong evidence that she was capable of composing on the same large-scale level as her contemporaries, despite having far fewer opportunities for public performance.

Serge Koussevitzky (1874–1951) began his musical life in Russia as a double bassist, studying at the Moscow Conservatory where he quickly established himself as a formidable virtuoso. At a time when the double bass was rarely heard as a solo instrument, he transformed perceptions through his technical brilliance and rich, singing tone, touring widely across Europe as a recitalist.

His career expanded significantly after he inherited wealth through marriage, enabling him to found his own publishing house and conduct orchestras, particularly in Paris, where he promoted contemporary music. In 1924 he was appointed music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, a position he held for 25 years. There, he became one of the most influential conductors of his time, known for his commitment to new music and for commissioning and premiering major works by composers such as Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Prokofiev, Maurice Ravel, and Aaron Copland. His founding of the Tanglewood Music Center further cemented his legacy as a mentor to generations of musicians.

The Concerto for Double Bass in F-sharp minor, Op. 3 (1902) reflects Koussevitzky’s background as a virtuoso performer and remains a defining work in the instrument’s repertoire. The first movement opens with a broad, lyrical theme that immediately places the bass in a singing, almost vocal role, exploiting the upper register of the instrument with expressive phrasing and long melodic lines. The central Andante is intimate and reflective, featuring delicate orchestration and sustained cantabile writing that highlights tonal warmth and control. The final movement is more animated and dance-like, incorporating lively rhythms and technically demanding passagework, including rapid string crossings, shifting, and articulation. Throughout the concerto, Koussevitzky demonstrates a deep understanding of the double bass’s capabilities, balancing virtuosic display with musical substance. While rooted in the late Romantic tradition, the work also reflects his aim to elevate the double bass to equal footing with more established solo instruments, and it continues to be a cornerstone of advanced study and performance today.

Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88 by Antonín Dvořák stands as one of the most joyful and richly expressive works of the late Romantic orchestral repertoire. Composed in 1889 during a period of personal contentment, the symphony was written at Dvořák’s country retreat in Vysoká and reflects his deep connection to the Czech landscape, folk traditions, and a sense of natural spontaneity. Dvořák, one of the leading figures in Czech national music, was born in the village of Nelahozeves near Prague and rose from modest beginnings to international prominence.

After early struggles, his career was transformed with the support of Johannes Brahms, who helped bring his music to wider attention.

Dvořák’s style is defined by lyrical melodies, rhythmic vitality, and the influence of Slavic folk idioms—absorbed into his music rather than directly quoted—qualities that are especially evident in this symphony. By the time of its composition, he had achieved artistic maturity and recognition, allowing him to move beyond traditional symphonic models toward a freer, more rhapsodic style.

He himself described the work as “different from the other symphonies, with individual thoughts worked out in a new way,” and it radiates warmth, optimism, and a distinctly pastoral character.

The first movement opens with a sombre, reflective theme in the cellos, soon giving way to a bright and exuberant flute melody. This contrast between introspection and vitality shapes the movement, which unfolds with a sense of organic freedom rather than strict adherence to classical sonata form.

The second movement evokes the Bohemian countryside in a lyrical, almost tone-poem-like manner, with gentle wind writing and expansive string passages suggesting birdsong and the quiet beauty of nature, occasionally interrupted by more dramatic but fleeting episodes.

The third movement, an elegant waltz-like scherzo marked Allegretto grazioso, blends nostalgia with rustic charm, its graceful main theme contrasted by a more animated central section and an increasingly lively coda. The final movement begins with a bold trumpet fanfare and develops into a set of variations on a noble theme, combining symphonic development with dance-like energy and rich orchestral colour. Moving through a wide range of moods—from playful to majestic—the symphony concludes with an exhilarating and triumphant coda, affirming Dvořák’s unique voice and his celebration of national identity, nature, and musical freedom.