Sydney Symphony Orchestra announces 2019 Season

The Sydney Symphony Orchestra today announces its 2019 Season, the first developed under the joint leadership of Chief Conductor and Artistic Director, David Robertson, and newly appointed Chief Executive Officer, Emma Dunch.

"In partnership with Chief Conductor and Artistic Director David Robertson, I am delighted to announce the Sydney Symphony Orchestra's 2019 Season, with its future-focused new artistic initiatives and appointments," says Dunch. "I could not ask for a better collaborator than David Robertson in developing these plans and setting a dynamic new pace for Australia's flagship orchestra. We will celebrate his valedictory season and extraordinary legacy as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director throughout 2019, while jointly introducing a host of new artistic projects that we have planned together for the continued enjoyment of our patrons and subscribers."

"Working with the extraordinary Sydney Symphony Orchestra over these past five years has been a musical dream, and an incredibly rewarding journey," says Robertson. "In the 2019 season, I have the great fortune to celebrate music, the music-making of the amazing musicians of the Orchestra, and a spectrum of composers that has defined our time together, ranging from the genius of Mozart, to Grieg and Ravel, to Britten and Gershwin, and dear friends like John Adams and Wynton Marsalis. A grand finale of the season, including André Previn and Tom Stoppard's show-stopper, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, and American Harmonies, featuring works by Adams, Copland and Rouse, will be a special celebration. What a wonderful honour it has been for me to be part of Sydney and its premiere orchestra, to showcase the tremendous talent of the musicians at home and around the world on tour, and how happy I feel to know that 2019 is not a farewell, but a new beginning - I look very much forward to returning in 2020 and 2021!"

Following an acclaimed tenure with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director since 2014, David Robertson will present nine programs of massive works in his gala-culminating season with the Orchestra.

Robertson and the Orchestra open the year with Richard Strauss' Thus Spake Zarathustra, paired by popular demand with a return performance of the oboe concerto (co-commissioned by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra) from Australian composer Nigel Westlake, performed by Principal Oboe Diana Doherty, and Percy Grainger's mighty The Warriors - an Australian work that Robertson has wanted to conduct for more than 20 years (8, 9 February).

The following week, Robertson highlights the virtuosity of the Sydney Symphony's principal musicians by presenting the Australian premiere of a Sydney Symphony co-commissioned work for principal soloists plus orchestral ensemble, Steve Reich's Music for Ensemble and Orchestra, matched with Bartók's magnificent Concerto for Orchestra. (13, 15 16 February).

On 21, 22 and 25 February, Robertson joins Wynton Marsalis and his Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO), who make their long-awaited return for the Australian premiere of Marsalis' latest composition, The Jungle - Symphony No. 4, inspired by New York City's busy "concrete jungle." For these performances, the JLCO musicians will join the Sydney Symphony onstage. Marsalis and his Orchestra will also perform one stand-alone concert on 23 February, The Music of Count Basie and Duke Ellington.

In June, Robertson returns to lead gala performances featuring Schubert's Symphony No. 8 (Unfinished) and Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24 K.491 with guest soloist Lang Lang (27, 29 June).

In July, Robertson's focus turns to vocal music as he leads mezzo-soprano Susan Graham in Canteloube's Songs of the Auvergne, paired with the mighty Saint-Saëns' Symphony No. 3 (Organ Symphony) (18, 19 July).

Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes in concert (25, 27 July) will star Stuart Skelton (tenor) and Nicole Car (Soprano) in the leading roles.

In August, Robertson launches the Sydney Symphony's new Keys to the City Festival (see further details below) (3-9 August), while in November, he returns for two weeks of celebratory farewell concerts and events.

The Sydney Symphony Orchestra announces new artistic appointments and multi-year artistic cycles

Alongside David Robertson, Chief Conductor and Artistic Director, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra will welcome back internationally renowned conductors Vladimir Ashkenazy, Donald Runnicles and Simone Young in new roles next year. Ashkenazy, Runnicles, and Young will each launch multi-year artistic cycles of their own curation in 2019 that will run through 2020 and 2021, and take audiences on unique, themed aural journeys over multiple performances across several seasons.

Returning as Conductor Laureate - a title bestowed for the first time in Sydney Symphony history - Vladimir Ashkenazy will celebrate 50 years since debuting with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra as a soloist in 1969, and launch a series of epic works in Vladimir Ashkenazy's Masterworks. Accepting the first-ever Principal Guest Conductor title with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Donald Runnicles will explore the connections between spirituality and music in works by the great composers in Music of Inspiration. Renowned as an interpreter of Romantic and late-Romantic music, Simone Young returns as an esteemed Guest Conductor and will present Visions of Vienna, a program inspired by the Austrian capital city and known for its significant role in classical music.

Following his official farewell season in 2019, David Robertson will return regularly with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 2020 and 2021 to curate special programs of diverse repertoire across a wide spectrum spanning centuries, styles and ideas.

The International Convention Centre's Darling Harbour Theatre will be the venue for a new Sydney Symphony Orchestra event, the Keys to the City Festival. Taking place from 3-9 August, the Festival will feature acclaimed pianist Kirill Gerstein, and mark the occasion of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra adding the ICC Sydney, Darling Harbour Theatre to its growing list of performance venues.

Also at the ICC Sydney in 2019, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra expands its Sydney Symphony Presents program, offering patrons more live-to-film experiences at both the Sydney Opera House and the International Convention Centre's Sydney Theatre as the Orchestra performs popular film favourites Harry Potter and the Order of the PhoenixTM in Concert (10, 11, 12, 13 April), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood PrinceTM in Concert (10, 11, 12, 13 July), Star Wars: Return of the Jedi In Concert (7 September), and Star Wars: The Force Awakens in Concert (1 November).

The Orchestra will also celebrate the career of multi-award winning artist Linda Ronstadt, in Celebrating Linda Ronstadt. The concert will feature some of Australia's leading artists performing hits such as Blue Bayou, You're No Good, Don't Know Much, Desperado and It's So Easy (3, 4 May).

In 2019, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra will present three Australian premieres. The Sydney Symphony Orchestra will perform the Australian premiere of Steve Reich's Music for Ensemble and Orchestra, a Sydney Symphony Orchestra co-commissioned piece, where almost every member of the orchestra is a soloist (13, 15, 16 February).

On Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JALC) joins the Sydney Symphony Orchestra for the Australian premiere of The Jungle - Symphony No. 4 (21, 22 and 25 February) a piece written by JALC Artistic Director and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis (see full details on Page 2).

The Sydney Symphony Orchestra's youngest principal musician, Todd Gibson-Cornish (Principal Bassoon) will perform the Australian debut of Christopher Rouse's Bassoon Concerto, conducted by David Robertson. The premiere of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra co-commissioned work will anchor David Robertson's final concert as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (28, 29, 30 November).

In a first for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, David Robertson and the Orchestra will perform Tom Stoppard and André Previn's Every Good Boy Deserves Favour. A blend of theatre and orchestral music, the play tells the story of a political dissident sharing a room in a mental hospital with a madman who thinks that he has an orchestra at his fingertips (22, 23 November).

David Robertson and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra will also perform Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes in concert, featuring an all-star Australian cast including tenor Stuart Skelton, soprano Nicole Car, mezzo soprano Deborah Humble, baritone Michael Honeyman, the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, and American bass-baritone Alan Held. Britten's operatic tragedy tells the story of a tortured outsider and small-town cruelty (25, 27 July).

Further cementing its global reputation, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra is delighted to welcome back international pianist Lang Lang to Sydney. Joining David Robertson and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Lang Lang will perform Mozart's Piano Concerto No.24 K.491 over two special gala performances (27 and 29 June).

Also returning to Sydney, pianist Behzod Abduraimov will perform Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 on 8-9 November.

Mezzo-soprano Susan Graham returns to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, performing alongside David Robertson in Canteloube's Songs of the Auvergne in July.

The world's most acclaimed pianists, including Alessio Bax, Lisa Moore, Geoffrey Lancaster and Paul Lewis will perform recitals at the City Recital Hall, Angel Place.

Renowned Shostakovich expert conductor Mark Wigglesworth will join the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in a concert featuring Shostakovich Symphony No.4. Internationally lauded violinist James Ehnes will perform Khachaturian's Violin Concerto in the same program (28, 30, 31 August).

The Sydney Symphony Orchestra spotlights its own musical virtuosi and expands its chamber music offerings

Recognising the talent of its world-class musicians, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra will turn the spotlight on its own artists in 2019.

Principal Oboe Diana Doherty, for whom the concerto was specifically written, will take the centre stage in Nigel Westlake's Spirit of the Wild - Oboe Concerto (8, 9 February).

Concerts co-created by Concertmaster Andrew Haveron, Associate Principal Trumpet Paul Goodchild, and the Orchestra's Cello section will also feature in the 2019 Season.

Programming additional concerts for its Cocktail Hour series to accommodate audience demand, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra will now increase its early-evening Friday and Saturday chamber music offerings to six concerts each, and three across Sunday throughout the year.

Committed to removing the barriers to music and engaging the next generation of musicians and music-lovers, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra will offer twice as many Family Events and reduce its ticket price to AUD$ 25 for each of its 2019 family concerts.

Newcomers to classical concerts can choose a Kickstart subscription package which highlights popular and accessible concerts within the season. Patrons will also be able to purchase new "Double Gold" and "Triple Gold" multi-year subscriptions, which will freeze prizes for 2020 and 2021 at the 2019 rate, allowing them to continue to join the Orchestra over its multi-year artistic cycles.

A new partnership with the State Library of New South Wales will enable free livestreams of Sydney Symphony Orchestra concerts to be broadcast to regional public libraries in NSW, allowing audiences in communities outside of the metropolitan area to enjoy beautiful music.

"Making music accessible and nurturing the next generation of music-lovers is incredibly important to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra," says Emma Dunch, CEO of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. "The whole family, young and old, should be able to enjoy music, which is why we've reduced our prices for the 2019 Family Events. Our patrons now also have the option to purchase multi-year subscriptions, locking in savings now and allowing patrons more flexibility as they join the Orchestra on its journey."

The 2019 Season will be live on sydneysymphony.com from 18 July, with a priority subscription period until 28 September, 2018. Single tickets will go on sale in November 2018.

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