Australian Youth Orchestra Summer Music Festival Set For January 2025

The Australian Youth Orchestra will transform Adelaide/Kaurna Country into a hub of orchestral excellence from 11-18 January 2025 with its Summer Music Festival, showcasing 250 of the nation's most promising young classical musicians aged 12-26. All performances will take place at the University of Adelaide's Elder Hall, in the heart of the city's cultural precinct.

Festival Highlights

• Seven extraordinary concerts: 11, 16, 17, and 18 January 2025 at Elder Hall, University of Adelaide

• World-class creative direction by Monica Curro (Melbourne Symphony Orchestra)

• Internationally acclaimed conductors Alexander Briger AO (Australian World Orchestra), Natalia Luis-Bassa (Royal College of Music), and Andrew Haveron (Sydney Symphony Orchestra)

• Composer-in-residence Jessica Wells

• Host and musical storyteller Ed le Brocq

• Special guest Richard Wigley leading professional development sessions

Interactive Festival Experience For the first time, AYO partners with Carclew to create an immersive arts playground from 16-18 January.  The Festival Hub on the University of Adelaide's North Terrace campus lawn will feature:

• Interactive musical installations

• Hands-on instrument-making workshops

• Meet-the-musician sessions

• Refreshments and Sweet Treats

• Pop-up performances

• Creative arts activities for all ages

Festival Programme Highlights

1. VICTORY IN AMBER (Saturday 11 January, 4:00pm, Elder Hall) A romantic and defiant concert featuring music "capable of stirring the world"

2. CINNAMON ROSE (Saturday 11 January, 7:30pm, Elder Hall) Travel through time with the sparkle of Strauss's waltzes and the spicy, foot-tapping beats of Márquez's Danzón No. 2.

3. GREEN FIELDS (Thursday 16 January, 7:30pm, Elder Hall) A bouquet of hand-picked chamber works awaits, each piece chosen to surprise and delight.

4. THROUGH THE PRISM (Friday 17 January, 6:30pm, Elder Hall) Prepare your senses for the freshest sounds in orchestral music, guided by composer-in-residence Jessica Wells.

5. CLASHING COLOURS (Friday 17 January, 8:00pm, Elder Hall) Red and green, blue and orange, Brass and Percussion. A fun and irreverent concert.

6. FIRES OF INDIGO (Saturday 18 January, 4:00pm, Elder Hall) With twilight's brush, the orchestra paints elemental magic featuring Sibelius's Symphony No. 2.

7. COLOURBURST (Saturday 18 January, 7:30pm, Elder Hall) A kaleidoscopic finale featuring works by Hyde, Britten, Ortiz, and Prokofiev.

The 2025 Summer Music Festival promises a kaleidoscope of musical experiences, from the romance of Strauss to the drama of Dvořák and the Nordic beauty of Sibelius. Audiences will be transported to the battlefields of Eastern Europe with Janáček's Taras Bulba and explore contemporary gems by Mexican composers Gabriela Ortiz and Arturo Márquez.

AYO CEO Kimbali Harding said, "The AYO Summer Music Festival opens up the concert series at the heart of National Music Camp to audiences of all ages and experiences. It's a vibrant showcase of Australia's musical future, right in the heart of South Australia with diverse artists and music from around the world. Founded by John Bishop, the first Director of the Elder Conservatorium of Music, National Music Camp is an annual event which has a long history in Adelaide. We're thrilled to offer Adelaide audiences a chance to experience the passion and skill of our country's finest young musicians in a relaxed and welcoming environment."

Creative Director Monica Curro said, “The festival will be an incredible experience. At National Music Camp, you will step into an immersive world of orchestral and chamber music for two of the most intense and inspiring weeks young musicians will ever have, guided by the best conductors and tutors from Australia and around the world.”

Running alongside the Summer Music Festival, AYO presents REPLA.Y.O (16-19 January 2025), a unique reunion project bringing together AYO alumni and friends at the University of Adelaide. This special initiative offers former AYO musicians the chance to reconnect, relive, and replay their orchestra experience.

Special guest conductor Guy Noble, commemorating AYO's historic 1984 Ambassador Tour, leads this warm reunion during National Music Camp. Alumni will have the opportunity to:

• Reconnect with fellow musicians from across the decades

• Perform alongside today's promising young artists

• Experience an accessible programme featuring Beethoven, Johann Strauss Jr, Tchaikovsky, and Jessica Wells

• Participate in a long weekend of music-making and memories

The project culminates in a free public performance, celebrating the organisation's rich legacy and the enduring spirit of AYO's musical community.

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