Omega Ensemble | Starburst

12th February, 2026, City Recital Hall, Sydney, NSW

David Elton solo trumpet
Vatche Jambazian solo piano
David Rowden solo clarinet

Jessie Montgomery – Starburst

Gerald Finzi – Clarinet Concerto

Dmitri Shostakovich – Concerto No. 1 for Piano, Trumpet and Strings

Lachlan Skipworth – A Turning Sky
World Premiere

Australia’s leading classical trumpeter David Elton was the star billing in the concert by the Omega Ensemble at the City Recital Hall. Elton has been principal trumpet of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra since 2012 and has also held the position of principal trumpet of the London Symphony Orchestra and has played guest principal in numerous leading orchestras in Europe and the USA. He has a flawless technique that was constantly evident in the Shostakovich Concerto No. 1 for Piano, Trumpet and Strings. This is music that bounces, then swaggers, pokes fun at previous music and one feels is a not so gentle dig at the pretensions of the ruling elite in Soviet Russia. It is a concerto that Shostakovich wrote as a vehicle for himself to push his career as a pianist, and here in Sydney we heard a pianist who needs no extra help in bringing his talents to the music public.  Vatche Jambazian was scintillating in the wide ranging piano part. His playing was full of panache and captured the music and the hearts and attention of the audience. Gentle here, maniacal there, his interpretation will last in the memory for a long time. 

Gerald Finzi’s Clarinet Concerto ranks as his most performed and broadcast composition and it comes as no surprise as this is ingratiating music with contrasting moments of drama whilst always firmly in the ‘charm school’ of English music of the first half of the 20th century. Yes there are hints of Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis for string orchestra by Ralph Vaughan Williams but mostly Finzi inhabits a light and breezy music that pleases and the performance by soloist David Rowden and the nine piece ensemble of Australia’s leading string players, expertly led by violinist Emma McGrath, clearly pleased the audience. 

A new work by Australian Lachlan Skipworth, A Turning Sky, is music that would be enjoyed by those who listen to breakfast music on ABC Classic FM. It borrows its ideas from film music of the last 100 years and was a platform for Elton, Rowden and Jambazian to play music that many in the audience lapped up! A hugely successful night for Omega Ensemble.  

Photo credit: Amelia Kain