AYO Summer Music Festival
Music that will move you
Experience the fantastical and the unexpected when AYO Summer Music Festival makes an epic return 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.
From Beethoven, Stravinsky and Ravel ballets to operas by Rossini and Borodin, avant-garde pantomimes, choral masterpieces and Ancient Greek comedies, prepare to be transported to new sonic realms filled with a joyous eruption of movement, choral splendour and dreamlike drama – and meet a curious cast of enchanted characters along the way.
Enter the Greek gods in Beethoven’s Creatures of Prometheus and Stravinsky’s neoclassical ballet Apollon Musagète, kung fu fighters in this year’s composer-in-residence Thomas Green’s Sounds of Char Gow, a malevolent puppet in Petrushka, Bartok’s Miraculous Mandarin, litigious wasps and a real-life Cinderella.
And in a National Music Camp first, the Summer Music Festival will feature two choral works – Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances and Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloe Suite 2 – both famed for their soaring, lush melodies.
From early 19th-century composers we are also heralding the work of living contemporary voices who provide fresh perspectives and explore new musical territories in a diverse program set to fuel your imagination.
Float away with the undulating textures and layered lines of British composer Thomas Ades’s maritime-inspired Shanty – Over the Sea, reimagine night roadworks with Australian composer Holly Harrison’s energetic, percussion-driven Hi Vis, enjoy Jessie Montgomery’s study in rhythmic vitality in Strum and celebrate the vivid blues of Australia’s skies and seas in Naomi Dodd’s playful and jubilant orchestral fanfare, Cerulean Dances.
Hear 200 AYO musicians bring stories to life, prepare to be transported to new sonic realms and be moved by music at its best.
Pricing
- Early Bird – $5 (available until 30 November)
- Single Concert – $10
- Festival Pass (all 7 concerts) – $40
- Festival Pass (students + concessions) – $30
WHERE: Elder Hall, Adelaide / Kaurna
WHEN: 10 – 17 January
Festival Lineup (subject to change)
Orchestral Concert I
10 January, 4pm ACDT
From Greek mythology and Macbeth to a Miraculous Mandarin and kung fu fighters, step into a world where myth meets movement and sound becomes story. From epic battles and haunted dreams to lavish orchestral drama and quiet introspection, this concert serves up high drama, power plays and lingering harmonies.
BEETHOVEN The Creatures of Prometheus Overture
Anna CLYNE Sound and Fury
Thomas GREEN The Sounds of Chow Gar (orchestral premiere for string orchestra)
Fanny MENDELSSOHN String Quartet in E-flat major
BARTÓK The Miraculous Mandarin Suite
Orchestral Concert II
10 January, 7.30pm ACDT
Lyrical dances, ancient airs, folk rhythms and undulating textures from Beethoven to Borodin meet the urban vibrancy of night roadworks and surreal sea shanties. Tune in, float away and let the music move you.
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 4
RESPIGHI Ancient Airs & Dances Suite No. 3
Thomas ADÈS Shanty – Over the Sea
Holly HARRISON HiVis
BORODIN Polovtsian Dances
Brass + Percussion
15 January, 7.30pm ACDT
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
16 January, 5.30pm ACDT
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
16 January, 7.30pm ACDT
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 III
17 January, 4pm ACDT
Get ready for all the feels as a vibrant interplay of rhythm and emotion unfolds.
From Jesse Montgomery’s shimmering strums and the playful charm of Schubert and Beethoven to theatrical shadows and dazzling colour of Stravinsky’s Petrushka dive headfirst into a kaleidoscope of plot twists to keep you on your toes.
SCHUBERT transcribed by Dmitri Sitkovetsky Quartettsatz
Jessie MONTGOMERY Strum
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 8
Thomas GREEN Music for Imaginary Anime
STRAVINSKY Petrushka (1947)
Orchestral Concert IV
17 January, 7.30pm ACDT
Buzzing energy, bold moves and soaring voices collide. From effervescent operatic overtures and choral glow to balletic elegance and orchestral drama, expect epic vibes, sweeping emotion and metamorphic moments in this AYO Summer Music Festival finale and celebration of song and dance.
ROSSINI La Cenerentola Overture
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS The Wasps Overture
STRAVINSKY Apollon musagète
Naomi DODD Cerulean Dances
RAVEL Daphnis et Chloe Suite No. 2