A man wearing a black t-shirt and glasses holding a violin against a magenta coloured background.

Pekka Kuusisto Legends & Luminaries

  • Classical Music
  • Australian Chamber Orchestra
  • Concert Hall
  • Run time: 120 minutes, including interval Subject to change
  • Seating map

Singular artist Pekka Kuusisto makes his long-awaited return to direct the Australian Chamber Orchestra in music that transcends age and time

Pekka Kuusisto returns to the Australian Chamber Orchestra after nearly a decade to direct music from four prodigious talents. Kuusisto is an artist unbound by convention, who embodies an artistic freedom that is unexpected and thrilling. As a renowned virtuoso and boundary- crossing composer, he pushes the limits of performance into exciting new realms, championing contemporary music with an openness and warmth that captivates audiences. 

Mozart is the original prodigy. His effervescent opera The Magic Flute is filled with sparkling lyricism and the Australian Chamber Orchestra will play some of its most loved tunes. Nico Muhly’s Shrink, written especially for Kuusisto’s extraordinary talents, is a big, glittering violin concerto that plays with smaller and smaller intervals as it bristles with intensity. Kuusisto is a great admirer and frequent collaborator with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ellen Reid. Hear the Australian premiere of her West Coast Sky Eternal, a work that wrestles with the disconnect between the business of living and the majesty of sky, land and sea. 

Felix Mendelssohn’s precocious talents were evident as a child and began to outstrip even Mozart as a teen. His Quintet in B-flat major harnesses a fierce energy and lively power – a perfect match for the effusive style of the Australian Chamber Orchestra and Kuusisto.

Presented by the Australian Chamber Orchestra

Event details

Program

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 
(arr. Kuusisto) The Magic Flute, K.620: Selections 

Nico Muhly 
Shrink: Concerto for Violin and Strings* 

Ellen Reid 
West Coast Sky Eternal (Australian Premiere) 

Felix Mendelssohn 
(arr. strings) String Quintet No.2 in B-flat major, Op.87

*Co-commissioned by the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Melbourne Recital Centre, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra with the kind support of the MCO Foundation, and Scottish Chamber Orchestra. 

Artists

Pekka Kuusisto 
Director & Violin

Australian Chamber Orchestra

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Attending this event

Plan your visit

Address

Sydney Opera House
Bennelong Point
Sydney NSW 2000
Australia

Getting to the venue

The Opera House is a 7-10 minute walk from Circular Quay, and is easily accessible by car, train, ferry, lightrail, bus, bike and on foot.

Location and access

Concert Hall

The Concert Hall is located beneath the largest of Sydney Opera House’s roof sails, filling the upper levels of the west side of the building. Best accessed through the covered concourse. 

All Sydney Opera House foyers are accessible, with lifts to the main and western foyers. The public lift to all foyers is accessible from the corridor near the escalators on the Lower Concourse and also in the Western Foyer via the corridor on the Ground Level (at the top of the escalators).

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