Willoughby Symphony Orchestra | Disney’s Frozen in Concert
March 21, 2026, The Concourse, Chatswood, NSW
FROZEN was performed by the Willoughby Symphony Orchestra to the movie soundtrack (a bit strange, I will explain later).
As I entered the huge, cavernous and reverberant concert hall of The Concourse in Willoughby City Council, I couldn’t help but notice that there were lots of young children – especially young daughters – with their mothers, all dressed up in Anna or Elsa costumes. Why was this?
Frozen (the first movie) was being shown in the concert hall. But the Willoughby Symphony Orchestra (WSO) was there as well. One of New South Wales’ premier amateur orchestras.
Wait. Frozen has its own soundtrack. Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel and others sing world-famous chart-topping blockbusters on that soundtrack. Why was the orchestra on stage?
Jessica Gethin bounded onto stage and introduced herself as the conductor. Firstly, she conducted empty space and made a joke about being a silent musician, unable to make any music without an orchestra. Then she explained that all the musical accompaniments had being taken out with amazing technological advancements and the WSO would take over the musical accompaniment using different amazing technological advancements, all in the name of fun. She emphasised that the musicians all wanted to play and enjoyed the process. There was also an interval in the middle of the film, and Jessica came back at the start of the second half to welcome us back before launching into proceedings.
This performance was a very different experience to anything I have seen before. Usually they take out the whole soundtrack so the orchestra can take over, or we watch the film without an orchestra, but this particular experience was half-and-half. Because of this, the timing of the orchestra to the action and the singers was slightly off (especially at the beginning of the film), and the orchestra was definitely too loud at the ff (fortissimo) passages, because they drowned out the lovely vocal lines of Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel.
The WSO must be applauded however. They played brilliantly (as they always do) and they sound like a single homogeneous instrument, rather than a disparate group of sections. Jessica Gethin coordinated them very well and introduced us all to new technology. In addition, the WSO organisers must be congratulated for reaching out to a new kind of audience to bring the younger generation in. Choosing ‘Frozen’ is a brilliant choice, because Frozen has a large fan base and is a really good (though formulaic) movie with a top-notch soundtrack, so the performing musicians can get their mouths and fingers into music of quality and enjoy the sounds that they are creating.
I really hope that this kind of marketing plan succeeds in the future, as this can revitalise the audience of WSO with the younger generation and spark their interest in future orchestral performances. Congratulations on a hugely successful event!
