This program defies the depths of Canberra winter with a celebration of the human spirit: its sacred fragility and transcendent imagination. They open with a world premiere from Miriama Young, an Australian and Aotearoa / New Zealand composer and sound artist. This new work follows Young’s Kinds of Blue, commissioned and premiered by the CSO in 2023, under the baton of Jessica Cottis. Daughters of Elysium takes its title and inspiration from Friedrich Schiller’s ‘An die Freude’ (Ode to Joy). The paradisal Elysian Fields held great significance in the ancient Greek imagination, a blissful conception of the afterlife that persisted through the centuries. Beethoven drew on Schiller’s poetry, especially for the fourth movement of his Symphony No. 9, one of the greatest works in the classical repertoire. This final movement defies symphonic categories, the massed voices inspiring hope and calling everyone to live in peace and harmony. This performance marks the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, one of the most profound triumphs of musical and human expression.