From Brahms to Billy – ASO’s 2025 musical odyssey
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra is promising something for all music lovers next year, from a performance of Mozart’s Requiem at St Peter’s Cathedral and a whole lot of Brahms at the Town Hall, to a celebration of Billy Joel and a trip Back to the Future.
The 2025 ASO season, unveiled today, opens in early February with Piano Man, a show at the Festival Theatre which will feature new orchestral arrangements by Nicholas Buc of hits by Grammy-winning musician Billy Joel, such as “Uptown Girl”, “She’s Always a Woman” and “Vienna”. The concert will be conducted by Vanessa Scammell, and include singers Jess Hitchcock, Josh Piterman and Alinta Chidzey.
The orchestra says the season will take audiences on a musical odyssey and heralds the start of a new chapter following the recent appointment of British conductor Mark Wigglesworth as its chief conductor, a role he will officially take up at the beginning of the year.
In one of the highlights of the program, Wigglesworth will lead a series of concerts in May showcasing all four symphonies by German composer Johannes Brahms. It follows similar immersive series over the past few years – including 2024’s Rachmaninov, The Symphonies – all of which sold out well in advance.
“I have many, many favourite composers, but if I was only allowed one, it would be Brahms,” Wigglesworth says.
“His music is dramatic and poetic, thoughtful and beautiful – it’s the complete musical experience. The chance to hear all four symphonies together is as special as it is rare.”
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Brahms: The Symphonies will also see British pianist Sir Stephen Hough join the orchestra to perform concertos by Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Grieg, as well as the Australian premiere of his own piano concerto, the world of yesterday.
The ASO’s new chief conductor, Mark Wigglesworth. Photo: Claudio Raschella
ASO chief executive officer Colin Cornish says the new chief conductor’s influence can be seen in the programming of two other special events, both of which Wigglesworth will also conduct.
“Born in Vienna [November 21-22 at Elder Hall] is sure to be a captivating weekend of music celebrating Vienna as the birthplace of orchestral music as we know it,” Cornish says.
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“Another highlight conducted by Mark promises to be an unforgettable performance of Mozart’s Requiem at St Peter’s Cathedral [September 18-19], where the sounds of the orchestra and voices will be amplified by the cathedral’s breathtaking acoustics.”
The ASO’s She Speaks mini-festival – introduced several years ago to shine a light on female composers and help redress the gender imbalance in classical music – will not return in 2025, but two concerts being presented as part of the Adelaide Festival will celebrate women composers from Australia and elsewhere. Titled Light-Song and taking place at Elder Hall, they have been curated by Cathy Milliken and will include the world premiere of new works by Australians Elena Kats-Chernin and Vonda Last.
All aboard the DeLorean for Back to the Future in Concert.
A highlight for movie lovers, families and anyone who’s ever had a yearning to time travel will be Back to the Future in Concert, which celebrates the 40th anniversary of the iconic film starring Michael J Fox, Christopher Lloyd and their famous DeLorean. The movie will play on a large screen at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on November 15 while the orchestra plays Alan Silvestri’s full score, as well as 20 minutes of new music he has since added to it.
Harry Potter fans will also be catered for with the return of that film-meets-symphony live concert series, this time showcasing the score from part one of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on June 7 at the AEC.
Other special events programmed for 2025 range from a performance at UKARIA Cultural Centre in March, to a concert at the Festival Theatre the following month with singer-songwriter Josh Pyke that will celebrate the 20th anniversary of his debut release Feeding the Wolves with music from the album and orchestral arrangements of some of Pyke’s other songs.
ASO’s flagship Symphony Series begins in February with Eternal, which features a program including Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet – apt, perhaps, since the first performance is on Valentine’s Day. Other composers to be showcased throughout the series include Beethoven, Janáček, Elgar, Mozart, Australian Peggy Glanville-Hicks and Ukrainian Théodore Akimenko.
Also returning in 2025 will be the popular Sanctuary Series at Grainger Studio – where audiences are invited to sit or lie back on a yoga mat and listen to tranquil music in near-darkness. Family concerts will include Tale of the Fire Phoenix!, which explores ancient Chinese mythology through music, storytelling and shadow puppetry.
Cornish says the orchestra aims to “create opportunities for all South Australians to experience their orchestra in many different venues and through a range of musical styles”.
“Our 2025 season is filled with opportunities to bring families and friends together, whether seasoned or first-time audience members of the orchestra.”