Sarah-Grace Williams in action at Synthony in the Domain 2024. Photo: Supplied: Synthony
With her trademark ponytail, blazer and comfy shoes, Sarah-Grace Williams is in control of Synthony - the musical phenomenon that combines a full orchestra with the biggest dance bangers.
And if you think she's having a good time conducting Synthony, you'd be right.
"From the very beginning of the very first track to the very last track, our Synthony show's an epic ball of excitement," she told RNZ's Nine to Noon.
Over 30,000 people crammed the Auckland Domain to experience Synthony in February. What started as a small show in the Auckland Town Hall is now a regular in cities across Australasia.
Williams has been Synthony's principal conductor since 2019. She's a classically trained conductor leading the Queensland, Adelaide, West Australian, Tasmanian and Perth Symphony Orchestras - as well as the Auckland Philharmonia.
In 2009, she founded her own orchestra - The Metropolitan Orchestra - based in Sydney. Its annual seasons include a variety of events - from its popular Met Concert seasons to its cushion concerts for kids.
She loves breaking barriers, she says.
"Oh, I absolutely love it. I love the fact that for this show I am conducting in joggers. I'm wearing trainers. Because you know, it's a dance party.
"So, I don't conduct Synthony the same way I would conduct Mozart. We get to have a lot of fun with this one. There's no point being at a dance party and not having a dance."
She is also conducting the audience, she says.
"What we do is a collaborative process. And we're one gigantic team on stage. And I just feel like my job as conductor is always to unify everyone on stage, inspire everyone on stage.
"In Synthony, it's not just what's on the physical stage, it goes right out into the audience.
"We're all involved in this event together and it's just so wonderful to connect those two realms."
She wants to bring the orchestral experience to a new audience, an audience that might feel intimidated by a traditional experience.
"Our orchestral world is hundreds of years old. And there's wonderful, wonderful repertoire written in our historical orchestral canon, which we should continue to present and it's wonderful.
"But that potential audience don't come to our concerts because they don't know what to do. They don't know the rules. They don't know when to clap, they don't know what they're meant to wear and there are barriers, and there's things that stop people coming to our concerts, whereas we need to be creative and adaptive and find ways to connect with an audience to remain relevant in a modern society."
The musicians also enjoy playing with Synthony, she says.
"It's a lot of fun. It's not just a ho-hum, we're sitting here not playing very much on stage. Sometimes in this crossover world, an orchestra can be underutilised, I call it fancy window dressing, very expensive window dressing. They look great, but you can't really hear them.
"But in a show like Synthony, that certainly isn't the case. It really is all about the orchestra. And we actually have a tagline that says 'it's a symphony orchestra, but not as you know it'."
Sarah-Grace Williams will be back in New Zealand next week for Synthony's newest incarnation - Synthony Pride.
