Gethin drew music of aching beauty
a consummate musician who knows how to get the best out of her players
Gethin’s conducting is superb
Media
November 2021 The Sleeping Beauty (WA Ballet)
“The West Australian Philharmonic Orchestra under conductor Jessica Gethin played exquisitely, teasing out the explicit leitmotifs so that you could, as Torres suggested, have closed your eyes and know who or what was coming.”
REVIEW | LIMELIGHT MAGAZINE
November 2021 The Sleeping Beauty (WA Ballet)
“Conductor Jessica Gethin expertly leads the West Australian Philharmonic Orchestra through Tchaikovsky’s rich and colourful score, with musical motifs for each character as the painstakingly restored costumes, wigs and set add to the onstage magic.”
REVIEW | THE WEST AUSTRALIAN
REVIEW |
“Leading the orchestra was conductor Jessica Gethin, whose energy and enthusiasm at front and center very much set the stage for the show. Gethin’s joy to be conducting such a set of classics was clear to see, energetically and confidently directing the full orchestra, further captivating the audience and providing the stage with another star.”
OCTOBER 2021 Disney on Concert (WEST AUSTRALIAN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA)
REVIEW | THE WEST AUSTRALIAN
“WA Symphony Orchestra handles the joyful music of composer Leo Delibes with flair under the baton of conductor Jessica Gethin in this production inviting audiences to lose themselves in the whimsicality.”
COPPÉLIA / WA Ballet / West Australian Symphony Orchestra
REVIEW | LIMELIGHT MAGAZINE
“The West Australian Symphony Orchestra under Jessica Gethin was mellifluous and compelling.”
COPPÉLIA / WA Ballet / West Australian Symphony Orchestra
REVIEW | DANCE AUSTRALIA
“Coppélia is best known for its rich musical score by Léo Delibes, and conductor Jessica Gethin certainly rose to the occasion. The West Australian Symphony Orchestra performed the composition (with its iconic leitmotifs) with gusto and vigour.”
COPPÉLIA / WA Ballet / West Australian Symphony Orchestra
REVIEW | CANBERRA CITY NEWS
“George Gershwin’s “An American in Paris” closed the concert… It is magnificent in structure, was superbly played by the orchestra, including excellent trumpet solo work from section leader Brendon Tasker and delivered with a realism and conviction that had the audience once again in raptures of delight with deafening applause and many callbacks for conductor Gethin. Throughout the concert, Gethin held the orchestra in tight command. Entries and cadence points were all very finely executed, with a dynamic range of immense proportions.”
AUGUST 2021 CANBERRA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
12 October 2020, SeeSaw
“The exquisite sound from the players seemed to move Gethin as much as her gestures moved them. It was a thrill to witness this collaborative process unfold in real time; Gethin’s approach gave the piece the clarity and spaciousness it demands.”
https://www.seesawmag.com.au/2020/10/homegrown-classical-collaboration-a-thrill-to-witness
12 October 2020, Limelight
“Gethin and WASO opened the symphony with a sonorous singing cello line and a delicious descending brass line, and the ensuing textural build up was masterful.”
9 October 2020, West Australian Newspaper
“Changes in mood and tempi were well handled, drama subsiding smoothly back to the opening figure in warm strings; fading to a sublime duet in clarinet, supported by horns”.
2 October 2020, West Australian Newspaper
“Gethin was the calm centre of the storm, hanging on to deliver the first of many perfectly judged cadences – a hallmark of this reading, and vital to such an episodic saga.”
7 October, 2020 Starfish
“At times an enthusiastic and accomplished Gethin almost danced on the podium as she urged her musicians on to ever greater brilliance and gusto.”
http://www.thestarfish.com.au/2020/10/07/waso-roars-back-with-carmina-burana/
October 2020, The Starfish
“Then it was on to Antonín Dvořák’s marvellous Symphony No. 8. Conductor Jessica Gethin put in a sparkling performance on the podium, leading her charges through this symphonic favourite.”
https://www.thestarfish.com.au/2020/10/15/swept-away-to-places-sublime-by-waso/
3 October, 2020 Limelight
“Conductor Jessica Gethin set a crackling tempo with an abundance of energy, and every section of the overture – from the lyrical middle section to the woodwind solo passages – was carried with cheerful momentum right until the end. Particularly impressive was the orchestra’s ability to maintain both a warmth of sound and pinpoint accuracy, with the final flourish of the overture balancing the two beautifully.”
https://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/reviews/carmina-burana-west-australian-symphony-orchestra/
5 October 2020, Seesaw
“Gethin’s knack at elevating expressive character meant the miniatures that opened the program were exquisite. There was a sublime calm generated by the silken winds and strings in “Morning – Mood” from Grieg’s Peer GyntSuite No 1, and Gethin’s weighty but forward leaning momentum made “Death of Ase” intensely moving.”
https://www.seesawmag.com.au/2020/10/orchestra-returns-in-full-force
Australian Arts Hub
“Under the baton of Jessica Gethin, a consummate musician who knows how to get the best out of her players… Gethin’s conducting is superb. She is energetic to the nth degree, but not a skerrick of that energy is wasted. And the orchestra responds with dedication and sheer hard work… evident from the opening bars of Bernstein’s Overture to Candide.”
The West Australian Newspaper
“This was one of the most exciting and moving performances of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony I’ve ever had the pleasure of hearing; swift, crisp and shapely, with plenty of colour and nuance… In the famous second movement especially, conductor Jessica Gethin controlled the ebb and flow of tension with goosebump-inducing artistry … the standing ovation that followed was more than deserved.”
Australian Arts Hub
“Conductor Jessica Gethin drew music of aching beauty from the orchestra, the opening bars combining with a yearning phrase of violas and ‘celli, these two figures interweaving and finally, expanding to include the full orchestra, the movement ending with rapturous sigh of the violins…. the woodwind brought some pause, in further contrast to the dominant whirling rhythms, before the tutti led to an exhilarating conclusion and the capacity audience to its feet.”
Australian Arts Hub – September 2019
‘One of the stand-out aspects of the evening’s performance was the joy of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra with Jessica Gethin conducting the ballet (Giselle)…’
X Press Magazine review – October 2018
“While atop her podium, waving, hooking, slashing and poking her baton like a wizard casting spells to summon the heavenly, and sometimes slightly more demonic, sounds of the orchestra, Gethin was a performance on her own. Oozing elegance and grace throughout …. she looked like a force to be reckoned with.”
Malaysian Philharmonic – Symphony for our World review – October 2018
“Jessica Gethin’s conducting was lithe and exuberant, and the choir gave everything a more gargantuan pacing and atmosphere that pierces through even the simplest of scenes.”
Australian Arts Hub – November 2011
“The star of the evening was undoubtedly the gifted conductor, Jessica Gethin… Gethin conducts like there’s no tomorrow. Like a well-trained dancer, she moves her arms not from the shoulder but from the spine. Her movements are graceful and refined, with no waste of energy, and she seems to relate to every player as an individual. She drew some truly elegant playing, turning them into the makings of a fine orchestra.”