AYO Summer Music Festival
Event description
Experience the fantastical and the unexpected when AYO’s Summer Music Festival returns to Adelaide in 2026. Led by internationally renowned conductors Alan Buribayev and Andrea Quinn, AYO alum Glenn Christensen (QSO) and under the guidance of NMC Creative Director, Monica Curro (MSO), this vibrant celebration of song, dance and storytelling features everything from ballet and orchestral suites to contemporary Australian works. Hear Beethoven, Stravinsky, Ravel, Rossini and Borodin alongside avant-garde pantomimes, Kung-Fu fighters, Ancient Greek comedies and choral masterpieces. For the first time in AYO National Music Camp history, two choral works - Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances and Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloe Suite 2 - will be performed by a 100-strong choir while Composer-in-Residence, Dr Thomas Green, has been inspired by the fluidity and accuracy of Chow Gar Tong Long and Yang style Tai Chi. Hear over 200 AYO musicians bring stories to life, prepare to be transported to new sonic realms and be moved by music at its best.
REPERTOIRE
(subject to change - for updates visit ayo.com.au/hear-us)
CONCERT I | 4pm 10 January
BEETHOVEN | Creatures of Prometheus Overture |
|---|---|
Anna CLYNE | Sound & Fury |
Thomas GREEN | The Sounds of Chow Gar (orchestral premiere for strings) |
Fanny MENDELSSOHN | String Quartet in Eb Major |
Thomas GREEN | The Sounds of Chow Gar (orchestral premiere) |
BARTÒK | The Miraculous Mandarin Suite |
CONCERT II | 7.30pm 10 January
BEETHOVEN | Symphony No. 4 |
|---|---|
RESPIGHI | Ancient Airs & Dances Suite No. 3 |
Thomas ADÈS | Shanty – Over the Sea |
Holly HARRISON | Hi-Vis |
BORODIN | Polovtsian Dances |
BRASS & PERCUSSION | 7.30pm 15 January
Get ready to turn up the volume as beats and brass battle it out in an explosive evening of pure joy. A highlight of the AYO Summer Music Festival, this concert showcases the thrilling power of percussion and the bold brilliance of brass. Hear trombones and timpani go head-to-head, cymbals sing alongside trumpets, and bass drums shake the stage as the ensemble unleashes a sonic spectacle. It’s rhythm versus resonance in this celebration of sound that will leave you breathless.
COMPOSITION SHOWCASE | 5.30pm 16 January
Prepare your senses for the freshest sounds in orchestral music in this exclusive concert with world premieres by AYO NMC Composition participants. Mentored by prize-winning composer Dr Thomas Green, these young composers are the vanguard of Australian music. Say you heard them here first!
CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERT | 7.30pm 16 January
Conversations between friends. Enjoy an intimate night out and experience a range of exquisite, hand-picked chamber music pieces spanning centuries, performed skillfully by the talented musicians of the AYO NMC Chamber Ensembles.
CONCERT III | 4pm 17 January
SCHUBERT | Quartettsatz |
|---|---|
Jessie MONTGOMERY | Strum |
BEETHOVEN | Symphony No. 8 |
Thomas GREEN | Music for Imaginary Anime |
STRAVINSKY | Petrushka (1947) |
CONCERT IV | 7.30pm 17 January
ROSSINI | La Cenerentola Overture |
|---|---|
Vaughan WILLIAMS | The Wasps Overture |
STRAVINSKY | Apollon musagète |
Naomi DODD | Cerulean Dances |
RAVEL | Daphnis et Chloe Suite No. 2 with choir |
Tickets for good, not greed Humanitix dedicates 100% of profits from booking fees to charity
