Molly Meldrum conducts Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum ticked ‘conduct a symphony orchestra’ off his bucket list yesterday when he hopped up to lead the Melbourne Symphony at Hammer Hall.
The music legend led the orchestra – all wearing cowboy hats to match his classic Stetson – through The Real Thing, the Aussie rock’n’roll track Molly produced for Russell Morris in 1969.
“Looking down on the musicians, 90 of ‘em, I thought back to my mum and my grandma who took me Myer Music Bowl concerts and gave me such an appreciation of the classics,” Molly said.
“It was amazing, just surreal.”
The event was a surprise – Molly was set up to believe he was going to part of a photoshoot celebrating 500,000 visitors to the Australian Music Vault, of which he is a patron, arriving yesterday accompanied by Michael Gudinski.
Arts Centre CEO Claire Spencer said: “Molly’s generosity of spirit is incredible and this is our way of saying thank you for all that.’’
Gudinski added: “That Melbourne has become a great music capital has a lot to do with this man. We love you, Mr Meldrum.”
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