MSO.LIVE turns to an Australian classic in this performance of Graham Koehne’s Elevator Music, commissioned and premiered in 1997 by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra under Chief Conductor Edo de Waart. As part of an orchestral trilogy along with Unchained Melody and Powerhouse, Elevator Music reflects Koehne’s interest in 1950s pop tunes, cartoons, television, easy-listening music and movie soundtracks, bridging the academic world of contemporary classical music with the high-energy accessibility of pop music. To this end, Koehne blends a post-modernist musical language with a rich suite of allusions to postwar popular orchestral composers such as Les Baxter, Nelson Riddle, and Henry Mancini. Rollicking tunes, colourful orchestration, and relentless momentum make Elevator Music a perennial crowd favourite.