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Devonté Hynes: Selected Classical Works with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra

Conducted by Matthew Lynch

Australian Exclusive29 May 2024

In the Concert Hall

Contemporary Music

Singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Devonté Hynes, the sonic architect behind Blood Orange and some of the brightest pop of the millennium, teams up with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra to bring his futuristic classical sound to Vivid LIVE.

The polymath musician is a whole new model of artist, daubing his signature sensibility over music, film, dance and everything else he touches.

The New York Times

A pop savant leads the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in his Vivid LIVE debut

A singer, songwriter and producer with a gift for moving between R&B, indie and experimental jazz, Devonté Hynes has helped shaped the vanguard pop of an era, collaborating with a roster of artists that includes Solange, Carly Rae Jepsen, Kylie Minogue, Sky Ferreira, FKA Twigs, A$AP Rocky, Haim, Florence and the Machine and Mariah Carey – to name just a few.

As Blood Orange, the London-born artist released four acclaimed full-lengths, including Cupid Deluxe (2013), Freetown Sound (2016), and Negro Swan (2018), combining his love of classic ’80s funk, electro soul, hip-hop, West African pop and chilled-out R&B to sublime effect. In between, the classically-trained musician composed soundtracks for films by Luca Guadagnino (Call Me by Your Name), Rebecca Hall (Passing) and Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver), performed alongside the legendary Philip Glass, and wowed critics and audiences with Fields (2019) his future-facing, Grammy-nominated foray into classical music.

Returning to Australia for the first time in more than a decade, Hynes makes his long-awaited Vivid LIVE debut in the Concert Hall, where he’ll be joined by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Hynes’ music explores the complexities and ambiguities of 21st century identity, delving into memory, trauma, depression and anxiety, as well as the triumphs of vulnerable communities, including people of colour and the queer and trans communities, and where they intersect.

Don’t sleep on this chance to see one of the millennium’s most captivating and original performers, taking to the stage for one night only.

Presented by Sydney Opera House

Conducted by

Matthew Lynch

British/German conductor, Matthew Lynch, enjoys a busy international career. The 2022/23 season saw him make debuts with, among others, the London Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Concert Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Ulster Orchestra, and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

In the 2023/24 season he will be returning to London’s Southbank Centre to perform Beethoven’s Eroica with the Chineke! Orchestra and making debuts with, the Philharmonia, the London Mozart Players, Sinfonia Viva, and the French chamber orchestra, Le Balcon.

A keen advocate of contemporary classical music, Matthew is a regular collaborator of the composers Max Richter and Devonté Hynes and has performed their music with ensembles internationally. These collaborations continue into the next season, with concerts at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris and the London Coliseum.

Other information

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