Trinity College musical prodigy to hold orchestral performance

A CLASSICAL music prodigy from Trinity College will take charge of a 160-piece orchestra for the first time at a performance on November 28.

Trinity College Year 12 student Luís Tasso Santos, who plays more than seven instruments, started composing his first large orchestral composition recital program last year.

The 17-year-old has also written compositions for the school’s chorale, string orchestra, wind orchestra and the Mercedes College selection choir.

Luís said large-scale recitals were rare in the Perth orchestral scene. “It is usually written compositions that are kept chambered music but my forte is orchestral music and I would like to bring that to a contemporary audience because I feel that it is really undepreciated sometimes,” he said.

“New compositions of orchestra are not usually premiered and you have lots of composers who do not get their works premiered.”

Luís said the preparation for the performance was challenging because the members were working with new music.

The Heathridge resident said his works were inspired by 20th century greats such as Alfred Schnittke and he only listened to classical songs.

He said he was working on a piece that integrated vocals into an orchestra.

“I have added two tenors and two sopranos into the orchestra, not singing anything in particular but they are just creating sounds in general to integrate into the orchestra as opposed to treating them as a separate entity like it usually is,” he said.

“I do not think that has ever happened before.”

Luís will be conducting the orchestra at Trinity College Gibney Hall on November 28 from 6 to 8.30pm.