The Sydney Symphony Orchestra Announces its 2018 Season

A Pulitzer Prize-winning violin concerto, the visceral thrill of taiko drumming and the world premiere of a new cello concerto by Australian composer Brett Dean are just some of the delights in store for audiences in the Sydney Symphony Orchestra's 2018 season, announced today.

For his fifth year as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director, David Robertson has again invited some of the world's best soloists and conductors to perform with the SSO, including pianists Emanuel Ax, Nelson Freire and Jean-Yves Thibaudet, violinists Anne-Sophie Mutter, Renaud Capuçon and Lisa Batiashvili, and cellist Alban Gerhardt. Russian pianist Yulianna Avdeeva will make her Australian debut in a recital presented by the SSO.

"Our 2018 season features breathtaking music celebrating the virtuosity of the musicians and the versatility of an ensemble at the top of its form," Robertson says.

"We will open the season with a Mozart Celebration with my dear friend pianist Emanuel Ax who will perform six of the great Mozart concertos. Audiences who attended his Beethoven concertos in 2014 will know they are in for a treat!"

"A two-week Brahms mini-festival held in August will feature the first of his two piano concertos, his double concerto for violin and cello, and the large-scale 'chamber music' that is his Fourth Symphony - offering a rich insight in to the world of this composer. "

In a worldwide celebration of the centenary of American composer Leonard Bernstein, the SSO will perform the best of his music written for the stage and screen. Audiences can expect musical theatre highlights from Candide to West Side Story under the baton of legendary film music conductor John Wilson, with vocalists Lorina Gore, Kim Criswell and Julian Ovenden.

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