This is AYO’s summer Playlist. Vividly brought to life by the 200 outstanding young musicians, aspiring orchestral managers, sound engineers and broadcast hosts of the Australian Youth Orchestra's National Music Camp, the AYO Summer Music Festival is a celebration of music not just to listen to but to experience played across seven unforgettable concerts.

The Summer Music Festival is led by National Music Camp Creative Director Lachlan Bramble (ASO) and an internationally-acclaimed artistic team, each with a summer Playlist of their own to share. Conductor Emilia Hoving brings music connected to her Finnish heritage, including works by Jean Sibelius, Kaija Saariaho and Outi Tarkiainen; Maestro Alexandre Bloch explores the colours and imagination of France through music by Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel; while Japanese violinist and string ensemble director Aiko Goto shines a light on composer Yasushi Akutagawa, alongside music by Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin.

REPERTOIRE

(subject to change - for updates visit ayo.com.au/hear-us)

ORCHESTRAL CONCERT 1 | 4pm 16 January

IVES The Unanswered Question

MAHLER Totenfeier

BARTOK Dance Suite

Elena KATS-CHERNIN Moon Feather Magic

TCHAIKOVSKY String Serenade in C Major

ORCHESTRAL CONCERT 2 | 7.30pm 16 January

VIVALDI Sinfonia in C from L’Olimpiade

AKUTAGAWA Triptyque for String Orchestra

Maria GRENFELL Rock Hopping

DEBUSSY La Mer

SAARIAHO Ciel d’hiver

SIBELIUS En Saga

Maria GRENFELL Stealing Tutunui

BRASS & PERCUSSION | 7.30pm 21 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 22 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 acclaimed composer Maria Grenfell, these young composers are the vanguard of Australian music. Say you heard them here first!

CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERT | 7.30pm 22 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.

ORCHESTRAL CONCERT 3 | 4pm 23 January

PURCELL The Double Dealer Suites

STRAVINSKY Concerto in D for Strings

BERNSTEIN West Side Story Symphonic Dances

BRAHMS Symphony No 2

ORCHESTRAL CONCERT 4 | 7.30pm 17 January

RAVEL Valses nobles et sentimentales

TRADITIONAL Wood Works excerpts

Maria GRENFELL Clockwerk

VERESS Four Transylvanian Dances

TARKIANINEN Midnight Sun variations

PROKOFIEV Romeo and Juliet (Excerpts from Suite 1 and 2)

The ultimate mixtape: save with a multipass and hear seven concerts for the price of four!