Sydney Symphony Orchestra
Season 2024
Living Sound. Find Your Moment.
Join Chief Conductor Simone Young and a dazzling roster of guest artists in performances that unleash the power of music that is totally alive.
Every Sydney Symphony performance is unique. Each is an opportunity to experience a musical story as it unfolds around you. Make those moments yours.
February
Simone Young conducts Mahler’s Fifth Symphony
In a celebrated Sydney tradition, Chief Conductor Simone Young opens the Sydney Symphony Orchestra's season with one of Mahler's sublime symphonies in a concert of passionate and electrifying music.
March
Schumann’s Second Symphony with Simone Young
Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s Chief Conductor Simone Young presents warm, gleaming works by Robert Schumann and Peggy Glanville-Hicks.
Simone Young conducts Gurrelieder
Arnold Schoenberg's Gurrelieder is a musical tapestry of monumental scale, requiring an orchestra of over 140 musicians and a chorus of more than 200.
Víkingur Ólafsson performs Bach’s Goldberg Variations
In his first Australian appearances, Víkingur Ólafsson performs Bach's complete Goldberg Variations at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall.
Beethoven’s Third Symphony
Breaking boundaries with size, scale and emotional content, Beethoven shot the music world into a new century with this, his ‘Heroic’ symphony
Donald Runnicles conducts The Protecting Veil
Principal Guest Conductor Sir Donald Runnicles has created a program of inspiring, uplifting music for the spirit, with works by Wagner, Tavener and Mendelssohn.
April
Mendelssohn’s Octet
Join the string musicians of the Sydney Symphony for a truly sparkling evening of music in the Sydney Opera House Utzon Room.
Singin’ in the Rain
Experience one of the greatest movies of all time, Singin' in the Rain, live in concert with the Sydney Symphony.
Osmo Vänskä conducts the music of Sibelius
This is a program of original and profound music with elemental forces, raging outside and within.
May
A musical Tempest with John Bell
Shakespeare's plays have inspired composers for centuries, and none more so than The Tempest.
Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony
Indulge in the intoxicating richness of Russian Romanticism with these performances of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No.5, with its passionate melodies and beautiful orchestration.
When George met Arnold
When George Met Arnold combines a newly created film with live performance to tell the story of the remarkable relationship between two of the greatest composers of the 20th Century.
Dvořák & Bernstein
Rich and colourful expressions of America shine through in this heart-warming program.
Joyce Yang performs Grieg’s Piano Concerto
Grieg's Piano Concerto and Dvořák's New World Symphony are both expansive, phenomenal works. And thrilling to hear live.
June
The Sydney Symphony Orchestra with the Australian String Quartet
In a unique presentation, the superb Australian String Quartet will join the Sydney Symphony to perform the mesmerising Absolute Jest by American composer John Adams.
The Splendour of the Baroque
Baroque music overflows with its precise, crystalline beauty, and when performed by a chamber ensemble each instrument has space to sing.
Vaughan Williams & Shostakovich
Shostakovich's fifteen string quartets are some of the finest works for small ensemble, and alongside those of Haydn and Beethoven, are indispensable.
Alexander Melnikov performs Shostakovich
Pianist Alexander Melnikov brings his impressive Russian energy to Shostakovich's First Piano Concerto. Principal Trumpet David Elton weaves a tender, sombre magic in its delightfully wistful passages.
July
Dalia Stasevska conducts Sibelius’ Fifth Symphony
Experience the stunning musical landscapes of the far north in this enchanting program.
Saint-Saëns’ Organ Symphony
Pulling out all the stops. It's curious to think an expression used by everyone from fashion designers to footballers was derived from something as historic as the organ.
The Sydney Symphony Orchestra with Jess Gillam
Jess Gillam may only be 25, but the British saxophonist is already a star.
Janáček, Ravel & Piazzolla
The writing is anything but juvenile, richly textured and deceptively complex, bursting with enthusiasm and virtuosity.
Wata: a gathering for songmen, improvising soloists and orchestra
Musicians of the Sydney Symphony and guest improvising soloists weave in and out of the songs led by Daniel Wilfred and David Wilfred, guided by Grabowsky's powerful orchestration.
August
Augustin Hadelich performs Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto
Violin sensation Augustin Hadelich returns with Mendelssohn's exquisite Violin Concerto, led by Chief Conductor Simone Young.
How to Train Your Dragon in Concert
DreamWorks’ How to Train Your Dragon is a captivating and original story that combines humour, fire-breathing action, and epic adventure!
Beethoven’s Septet
With its breezy air, six short, characterful movements, and ample opportunity for individual solos, Beethoven’s Septet was understandably a popular party piece.
September
Eumeralla, a War Requiem for Peace by Deborah Cheetham Fraillon
Eumeralla is a work two thousand generations in the making.
Karen Gomyo performs Dvořák’s Violin Concerto
Romance emerges in every tempo. Sometimes it is thrillingly insistent, as in the opening movement of Rachmaninov's Second Symphony.
Donald Runnicles conducts the Duruflé Requiem
For the first time, the Sydney Symphony will perform Duruflé's Requiem.
Donald Runnicles conducts Mahler’s Fourth Symphony
Escape into a world of ethereal melodies and captivating harmonies.
October
Berlioz & Ravel
There are countless chamber works written for the best-known instruments, but what about the more obscure ones?
George Gershwin’s An American in Paris
The Roaring Twenties was a time of heady optimism in Paris. Artists and composers of every genre flocked to the city.
Elgar’s Enigma Variations
There are few pieces like Elgar’s Enigma Variations. And in the hands of Sir Andrew Davis, we will experience every bit of its profound emotion.
Nobuyuki Tsujii in Recital
This expansive program demonstrates Tsujii's endless talent.
Ingrid Fliter performs Chopin
Chopin's glittering First Piano Concerto captures the powerful feelings of youth. Written when he was 20, it's one of two works he composed for orchestra.
November
Simone Young conducts Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony
Sydney Symphony Chief Conductor Simone Young presents three masterpieces that defined their eras and looked forward to the next.
Simone Young conducts Die Walküre
A merciless storm rages over Wotan’s kingdom as his son Siegmund is pursued by brutal enemies in the second instalment of Wagner’s epic Ring Cycle.
Vasily Petrenko conducts The Rite of Spring
Paris in the early 20th century was a cultural explosion of art, literature and music – and the Ballet Russes was entirely reinventing the artform.
Home Alone in Concert
A true holiday favourite, this beloved comedy classic features renowned composer John Williams’ charming and entertaining score performed live to film by the Sydney Symphony.
A Welcome to the 2024 Season from Sydney Symphony Chief Conductor Simone Young
Exhilarating music heard live can be a life-changing experience.
When there are only a few metres between you and the world’s greatest musicians, you can feel the power of the music. The sound waves, the atmosphere. That’s something that only live music can create.
In 2024, discover an extraordinary season of concerts. It is a season full of landmarks and large-scale epics that can only be truly experienced live, alongside music full of the most intimate moments.
We mark 150 years of Arnold Schoenberg with the Sydney premiere of his epic love story Gurrelieder, featuring 125 musicians and 200 singers. We join in the global celebrations for Anton Bruckner’s 200th anniversary, performing his Eighth Symphony – a true cathedral of sound.
You will be able to discover major voices in new music. I am delighted to be directing the Australian premiere of French composer Camille Pépin’s exquisite Violin Concerto. Deborah Cheetham Fraillon’s Eumeralla, A War Requiem for Peace, a powerful reminder of our own history, and Wata by Paul Grabowsky, a song of new beginnings, both receive their Sydney premieres.
World-renowned artists will bring their enormous talent and creativity to Sydney, including Renaud Capuçon, Augustin Hadelich, Víkingur Ólafsson, Alban Gerhardt, Ying Fang, Nobuyuki Tsujii and Ingrid Fliter. Spanish pianist Javier Perianes returns to continue our rediscovery of Beethoven’s piano concertos.
As the year unfolds, you will be able to share in the vision of esteemed conducting colleagues, including Sir Donald Runnicles, Dalia Stasevska, Osmo Vänskä, Vasily Petrenko, Sir Andrew Davis and Eduardo Strausser.
And I am thrilled to continue our multi-year Ring Cycle in concert with Wagner’s Die Walküre, bringing a truly world-class cast of Australian and international singers to Sydney – including Anja Kampe, Michaela Schuster and our very own Stuart Skelton – for this once in a generation event. It is a season full of unforgettable moments that simply must be experienced live. I hope you will join us.
Simone Young AM
Chief Conductor
