
Hidden Thoughts III: Stories of Awe
Narrator + Voices + Orchestra. 45 minutes. (2024)
Text compiled: Katy Abbott with Maureen Johnson.
Stories of Awe will be premiered by Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, August 9 + 10, 2024 in Hamer Hall, Melbourne.
Contribute A Story To The Music

Please contribute to this work by submitting a story. Stories are collected anonymously and you will be guided through this short questionnaire: bit.ly/stories-of-awe
Based on the stories of anonymous participants, this piece sets individual stories and the collective voice to music, capturing and delivering the very human experience of awe.
The stories tell of unexpected encounters, of finding the extraordinary in the ordinary, of being moved by music, art, nature, kindness and courage.
Collective effervescence, spiritual awakenings, the delicacy and complexity of nature and the infinitesimal self within it.
MSO 2024 Season Brochure

Hidden Thoughts III: Stories of Awe uses the research of Professor Dacher Keltner as its starting point.
Keltner (Professor of Psychology at UC Berkeley) outlines the Eight Wonders Of Awe:
Moral Beauty
Collective Effervescence
Art
Music
Design
Spiritual Awe
Being Close To Life/Death
Epiphanies
Nature
Performances
2024 Metropolis Festival
August 9 + 10, 2024
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra/Benjamin Northey with Pamela Rabe, Sunny Kim and Andrew O’Connor
Hamer Hall, Melbourne. 7:30pm
Bookings for this concert
(and to see all three Hidden Thoughts works in the 2024 Metropolis Festival).
Also, Max Richter’s Vivaldi Recomposed.