Nicola Benedetti performs Marsalis presented by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra Tickets

In a Sydney first, Grammy Award-winning violinist Nicola Benedetti brings her brilliant technique and grace to the music of Wynton Marsalis, one of America’s most captivating composers.

A jazz legend, Marsalis has created a violin concerto that brings together the genius of performer and composer. Jazz, blues and fiddle music – feel the fresh, foot-stomping spirit of America come alive at the Sydney Opera House.

As a teenager, Marsalis was captivated by Stravinsky’s genre-busting, incandescent writing. Inspired by folk stories, the dreamlike The Firebird is one of the Russian composer’s most famous creations, still seductive and thrilling more than a century after its premiere. From near silence, darkness and mystery transform into a soaring melody within its opening minutes. The dark magic of an evil sorcerer hangs over each note, until he is at last vanquished as the work’s finale blazes like a sunrise of joy.