Willoughby Symphony Orchestra Announces 2027 Season Lineup

Artistic Director and Chief Conductor Professor Dr. Nicholas Milton AM announced Willoughby Symphony Orchestra’s 2027 Season at The Concourse, Chatswood. Featuring internationally acclaimed soloists, beloved orchestral masterworks, Australian composers, spectacular choral performances and family-friendly productions, the 2027 Season promises an extraordinary year of music at the orchestra’s home, the Pat Reilly Concert Hall at The Concourse, Chatswood. 

Professor Dr Nicholas Milton AM said at the launch: “It brings me so much joy to share the Willoughby Symphony Orchestra’s extraordinary 2027 Season. Whether you are a long-standing audience member or joining us for the first time, this Season offers a rich and varied musical journey filled with passion, colour and musical storytelling. “

Recognised as one of Australia’s leading community orchestras and renowned for performances of professional calibre and exceptional artistic quality, Willoughby Symphony Orchestra opens its 2027 Seasonin February with Fate. The concert features Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 alongside Tchaikovsky’s dramatic Symphony No. 4. Described as an exhilarating performer with faultless technique and fearless command of the piano, internationally acclaimed and multi-award-winning pianist Konstantin Shamray returns to perform with the orchestra.  

In May, Associate Conductor Dr Sarah Penicka-Smith leads Sea and Stars, which includes the world premiere of a new Australian work by Belinda Blades and music by Beethoven and Vaughan Williams, performed with the Willoughby Symphony Choir. The program also showcases the winner of the 2027 Willoughby Symphony Young Composer Award, a 23-year initiative and an industry pathway for emerging orchestral composers funded by a private benefactor through the Civic Place Trust. 

July’s Highland Cathedral brings Scottish-inspired music to life with celebrated saxophonist Amy Dickson, the Scots College Old Boys Pipes and Drums and Sibelius’ powerful Symphony No. 2. In a new move, Willoughby Symphony Orchestra will shift their Saturday night performance to a 5pm twilight time, reflecting changing audience preference during the colder months.

In September, audiences are taken on a musical journey with Pines of Rome, featuring internationally acclaimed Australian virtuoso trumpeter Dominic Longhurst performing Arutiunian’s Trumpet Concerto alongside Respighi’s spectacular tone poem Pines of Rome. 

The season culminates in November with one of the greatest choral works ever written – Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana – performed by the Willoughby Symphony Orchestra and Choir under the baton of Professor Dr Nicholas Milton AM. 

Special concerts include a lavish Opera Gala featuring international violinist Rosa Donata Milton, soloists from Pacific Opera and the Willoughby Symphony Choir, while the much-loved Spirit of Christmas concert returns in December to conclude the year in festive style. 

Dr Milton said: “We are especially excited to continue our commitment to inspiring future audiences with two 50-minute weekend performances designed to delight and welcome audiences of all ages to the magic of live orchestral music.“
The Willoughby Symphony Orchestra will present two interactive family productions: the world premiere of Rosie the Clown Joins the Orchestra, a delightful introduction to orchestral music for young audiences, and Firebird for Families, an accessible retelling of Stravinsky’s magical ballet designed to captivate the young and young at heart. 

“The Willoughby Symphony Orchestra has been bringing our community together through music for 60 years,” said Mayor of Willoughby City Council, Tanya Taylor at the launch event. ”Supporting our orchestra is one of the many ways we can help strengthen Chatswood’s place as the cultural heart of the North Shore.”

2027 SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
2027 Season Concerts

Fate
Saturday 20 February at 7pm & Sunday 21 February at 2pm
Professor Dr Nicholas Milton AM, Artistic Director and Chief Conductor
Konstantin Shamray, Piano

Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36
 
Sea and Stars
Sunday 16 May 
Dr Sarah Penicka-Smith, Associate Conductor
Willoughby Symphony Choir
 
Melody Eötvös, Hic Svnt Dracones
Winner of the 2027 Young Composer Award
Ludwig van Beethoven, Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage, Op. 112
Ralph Vaughan Williams, Serenade to Music
Belinda Blades, While It Lasts
Ralph Vaughan Williams, Toward the Unknown Region
 
Highland Cathedral
Saturday 24 & Sunday 25 July 
Professor Dr Nicholas Milton AM, Artistic Director and Chief Conductor
Amy Dickson, Saxophone
Scots College Old Boys Pipes and Drums
 
Anna Clyne, PIVOT
James MacMillan, Saxophone Concerto
Ulrich Roever and Michael Korb, Highland Cathedral
Jean Sibelius, Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 43
 
Pines of Rome
Saturday 25 & Sunday 26 September 
Professor Dr Nicholas Milton AM, Artistic Director and Chief Conductor
Dominic Longhurst, Trumpet
Willoughby Band
 
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Capriccio italien, Op. 45
Alexander Arutiunian, Trumpet Concerto in A-flat major
Aram Khachaturian, Masquerade Suite
Ottorino Respighi, Pines of Rome
 
Carmina Burana
Saturday 6 & Sunday 7 November 
Professor Dr Nicholas Milton AM, Artistic Director and Chief Conductor
Willoughby Symphony Choir
 
Igor Stravinsky, Suite from “The Firebird”
Carl Orff, Carmina Burana

Special Concerts

Opera Gala
Saturday 14 & Sunday 15 August 
Professor Dr Nicholas Milton AM, Artistic Director and Chief Conductor
Rosa Donata Milton, Violin
Soloists from Pacific Opera
Willoughby Symphony Choir

Family Concerts

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