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Ready, Set, Listen! is our brand new series of 30-minute concerts specially created for students in K–2 and featuring beloved children’s entertainer Emily Who.

Each performance centres around a piece of core classical repertoire arranged for a smaller ensemble, specially adapted for young ears and imaginations.

These playful, engaging concerts are packed with musical concepts, introducing students to the building blocks of music through storytelling, movement and interactive fun.

Program to contain music from:

HOLST arr. Hansen

The Planets

Artists

Emily Who

Presenter

Emily Who is an Aussie children's performer – singing songs that are perfect for preschoolers!  She recently released her fourth album with a fifth coming out this year! 

She regularly performs live shows across Sydney including for Sydney Fringe Festival, the Spot on Kid Festival at Riverside Parramatta, and Vivid Sydney. She writes and presents annual children’s classical music concerts for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Youth Orchestras and Ku-ring-gai Philharmonic Orchestra as well as many other ensembles across Australia.

In 2023 Emily received the award for Best Children’s Performer NSW - overall winner AND people’s choice. She was also nominated for Best Album at the Major Minor Music Award.

In 2024 she performed as part of the Artist Meets Early Years program at the Visioni Festival in Bologna, Italy, and toured to preschools across London.

Emily Who music is written and produced by: Emily McKnight, Robin Gist (ToneMaster Productions) and Peter Bailey.

Set and Props team: Lucy-Rose and Sarah Tyler

Merch manager: Susanna Sowden

Live Shows assistant: Edward McKnight

Tim Hansen

Arranger

Tim Hansen is a multi-disciplinary artist, with a professional career spanning 20 years in the fields of music and theatre. He is a composer, songwriter, cabaret performer, actor, educator, and advocate for the Arts as a vital means for social justice and social cohesion. He currently lives on Wiradjuri country in Australia.

Tim’s style draws from a lifetime of eclectic music tastes and a deep fascination for how music ‘works’. As a result, Tim’s music and songs can trace their lineage to anything from German cabaret to 21st Century Post-Minimalism, from contemporary music theatre to classic jazz, the most bubble-gum of pop to the weirdest experimental music. If it works, it works.

Much of Tim’s work is a fusion of music and theatre, and his biggest works draw from his two strengths. “The Sharpest Piece” (2017), a song cycle commissioned by Hourglass Ensemble, a gothic work about a woman who believes she is made of glass. “Airlock” (2018), a cabaret of original songs about the end of the world, written in response to the Same-Sex Marriage plebiscite in Australia that year. “Schapelle Schapelle” (2019), a comedy musical about the media’s role in dehumanising the controversial drug-smuggler Schapelle Corby. “Fast Cars” (2023), a comedy with music examining the world-famous Bathurst 1000 V8 car race and the nostalgic place it holds in the town of Bathurst. He currently performs original tunes under his cabaret alter-ego, Tim Handsome.

A core component of Tim’s practice is engaging with young people, and he believes that access to music education and artistic expression is a fundamental right of every young person. He is currently engaged with Musica Viva as part of their “Musician in the Classroom” program, working in a primary school in an area of socio-economic disadvantage, teaching the teachers how to teach music to their students. He was composer in residence at Santa Sabina College for seven years, and has tutored with a number of youth-arts organisations around Australia including Australian Theatre for Young People, Music for Everyone, and Canberra Youth Theatre.

Tim is a passionate believer in the arts as a means to address issues of social justice, and has worked with organisations such as Milk Crate Theatre and Shopfront Youth Theatre to do so. By giving artistic access and therefore a voice to segments of the community that are forced into invisibility, such as those who have experienced homelessness, discrimination, or stigmatism due to mental health issues, Tim believes we can make steps towards healing those wounds and move forward as a society to address larger issues that affect us all, such as wealth inequality and climate change. 

Tim actively promotes art, music and celebration in the wider community, through producing festivals and large-scale arts events. He is currently program manager for Percussion Australia, managing Taikoz and Synergy Percussion, co-founder of two new music collectives in New York (W4 New Music and ExhAust New Music), and has produced one-off events in Sydney, Canberra, and NSW Central West. Tim also ran in the 2019 NSW State Election with Keep Sydney Open, a campaign designed to put political pressure on the incumbent government to address the decline of the music industry in Sydney due to poor arts policy.

In 2018 Tim was a finalist in the Vanda and Young Songwriting competition, one of 40 shortlisted artists from over four thousand entries. Residencies include Artist in Residence at the Red Rattler Theatre, the New Musicals Australia program at the Hayes Theatre, composition fellow at the Bang on a Can Summer Institute, the Norfolk Contemporary Music Festival, the Avaloch New Music Institute, and twice artist-in-residence at Hill End, NSW.

Tim holds a BA (Communications) Theatre/Media (1st Class Hons) from CSU, a BMus (Music Composition) from ANU, and a MMus (Music Theory and Composition) from NYU.

Pricing

  • Student: $15 each
  • Accompanying teacher: 1 teacher free* for every 15 students
  • Additional teacher: $15

How to Book

Request a quote below and we will send a quote for you in 5 business days over email. Once confirmed, we will send you an invoice that you can organise payment through your school via direct deposit, cheque or credit card.

We understand that final attendance numbers can vary. Changes to your booking can be made no later than 8 weeks prior to the first performance date by emailing schools@sydneysymphony.com or calling (02) 8215 4600.

Tickets will be emailed to you approximately a week ahead of the performance, please remember to bring these with you on the day of the concert.

GET A QUOTE

More Information

Arrival Time

Please ensure you arrive at least 30 minutes before the start of the concert. If your school is delayed on the day, please contact the Sydney Opera House Box Office on (02) 9250 7777.

Ticket Collection

Tickets will be emailed to you approximately a week ahead of the performance, please remember to bring these with you on the day of the concert.

Schools Bags

School bags are not permitted at the venue. Please ensure the students leave their bags at school. Storage for school bags is not available.

Risk Assessment

For any questions regarding the Sydney Opera House risk assessment please contact their Box Office on (02) 9250 7111. Otherwise, you can read more here.

Accessibility

Sydney Opera House is committed to providing access to quality educational arts experiences for students and teachers with disability and specific needs. Read more here.