The Sydney Symphony Orchestra celebrates the reopening of the iconic Sydney Opera House Concert Hall in late July under the direction of its new Chief Conductor, Australian-born, internationally acclaimed Simone Young. Globally renowned for her unparalleled artistry on the podium, Simone becomes the Sydney Symphony’s thirteenth Chief Conductor, the first Australian-born conductor to hold the position since 1991 and the third Australian to hold the title.
Closed since 2020, the Concert Hall has undergone major acoustic renewal and improvements to its public spaces. Simone Young conducts Mahler 2 marks the Sydney Symphony’s return to the venue that it has called home since its opening in 1973.
Featuring Mahler’s symphony, also known as the Resurrection, 100 musicians of the Sydney Symphony with 190 members of the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and an all-star cast including Australian Nicole Car (soprano) and Michelle DeYoung (mezzo-soprano, US) will fill the Concert Hall with music once again.
The performance will also include the World Premiere of a new work by renowned First Nations composer William Barton, featuring the Gondwana Indigenous Children’s Choir and the Sydney Children’s Choir. Connecting the new and the old, Barton’s Of the Earth will include clapsticks made from the floorboards of the old Concert Hall.
This major cultural event also coincides with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s 90th anniversary.