Go on a fascinating tour of the building guided by City of Adelaide's passionate and knowledgeable volunteers.

Learn about the building's architecture, world famous organ, history, and Colonel William Light: British military officer and the first Surveyor-General of the Colony of South Australia.

In the Tradition of the Last Night Of The Proms, The Band of the South Australia Police combine with Graduate Singers and soloist Mark Oates to present an evening in traditional “Promsarian” style.

In the majestic settings of the Adelaide Town Hall, you will be treated to some of the most iconic British musical fare! Dress to the nines, sing along, throw streamers and blow party horns – it promises to be a great night for all! Suitable for the whole family

Pinchas Zukerman - Director/Violin 
Amanda Forsyth - Cello 
Benjamin Northey - Conductor

Elgar - Chanson de matin 
Elgar - Chanson de nuit 
Avner Dorman - Double Concerto* 
Tchaikovsky - Symphony No.5

They’re back! Pinchas Zukerman and Amanda Forsyth clearly love Adelaide as much as Adelaide loves them – this time they’re bringing a specially-composed double concerto written to celebrate Zukerman’s 70th Birthday to share with us in a world premiere.

Expect a dynamic piece perfectly suited to the expressive personalities of the duo, because Avner Dorman (originally from Israel, like Zukerman) makes a point of composing music for people, not just instruments!

Two soulful songs-without-words from Elgar open the concert, and to complete the evening, Zukerman conducts Tchaikovsky’s triumphant Fifth Symphony.

Lean in for the hushed tones of the beginning – this is a tale of fate and passion, told with fervour by a master storyteller.

The blazing finale makes it perfect music for a winter’s night.

*World Premiere, co-commissioned by the ASO, Boston Symphony Orchestra and National Arts Centre, Ottawa

Save the date! 

Join Adelaide Town Hall and EPICURE for our Wedding Open Day.

The Adelaide Town Hall provides the perfect canvas upon which to build your dream wedding. Featuring stunning reception and ceremony locations with iconic photo opportunities, our breathtaking venue caters for every aspect of your special day.

The Open Day will provide the perfect opportunity to view our iconic venue in a range of beautiful and creative wedding settings for the ultimate inspiration for your big day.

We invite you to enjoy a glass of bubbles on arrival while you wander through our Auditorium, Banqueting Room, Meeting Hall and wedding party retreats.

Our dedicated wedding coordinators are available to speak with you to discuss your wedding ceremony or reception. Our favourite suppliers will also be joining us to complete the wedding planning process at the Adelaide Town Hall! 

All welcome. No bookings or registration required to attend. 

Where: Adelaide Town Hall
When: Sunday, 7 July 2019
Time: 11:00am–3:00pm

See you there!

★★★ SPECIAL OFFER ★★★
We are offering our couples who book their wedding at the Open Day a complimentary night at the Adina Hotel*
*Terms and conditions apply

Join the Facebook event.

JOIN NOW

Founded in the fifteenth century, the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge is arguably the world’s most famous choir and the pre-eminent representative of the British church music tradition. Their distinctively pure tone has been honed over centuries in the vaulted stone arches of the College Chapel.

Comprising 16 boys (the youngest aged seven) and 15 male university students, the Choir remains a major force by balancing unmatched history and tradition with continual growth and choral excellence.

The repertoire in this program reflects this breadth by showcasing pieces from the Renaissance to the present day.

This tour heralds the arrival of the Choir’s new Director, Daniel Hyde.

Program:

PURCELL I Was Glad Ross
EDWARDS New Work (World Premiere)*
INZI Lo, the Full, Final Sacrifice
WESLEY The Wilderness
PARRY I Was Glad

*Commissioned for Musica Viva and the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, by Jennifer Seabrook, celebrating Ray Turner’s 75th birthday and his lifelong love of music.

Thaddeus Huang - Conductor 
Mark Gaydon - Bassoon 
Graham Abbott - Presenter

Mozart - Lucio Silla: Overture 
Jolivet - Bassoon Concerto 
Mozart - Symphony No. 36 ‘Linz’

Mozart and miracles go together. He was writing operas in Milan as a teenager – Lucio Silla blew the Italians away. Ten years later: a warm welcome in Linz, a hastily organised concert – but what to play? In four days, Mozart composed a spirited new symphony for the local orchestra. Scarcely believable? So is the virtuosity of Jolivet’s jazzy Bassoon Concerto!

The ASO continues its tradition of concerts for young and old inspired by glorious picture books. This soaring family concert inspired by FArTHER – the beautiful and poignant story by Grahame Baker-Smith about a young boy bewitched by his father’s unrelenting passion to fly – features music by Paul Rissmann set to stunning animations by Victor Craven.

Join the ASO and Young Adelaide Voices as we journey skywards this August. Paul Rissmann - Composer & Presenter Young Adelaide Voices - Chorus Suitable: Ages 8-12 Image: Grahame Baker-Smith

Dalia Stasevska - Conductor 
Louis Lortie - Piano

John Adams - The Chairman Dances from 'Nixon in China' 
Ravel - Piano Concerto in G 
Rachmaninov - Symphonic Dances

It’s all too easy to be swept off your feet. Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G might just be the coolest concerto going around: jazzy, suave and neat, a product of the Roaring Twenties. And who better to glide through the dreamy waltz of its Adagio than Louis Lortie?

The dance begins when Finnish-Ukranian conductor Dalia Stasevska gives her downbeat and John Adams’ “foxtrot for orchestra” shuffles in with its mesmerising mix of urbane rhythms and nostalgic Hollywood strings. The evening culminates in the Symphonic Dances of Rachmaninov, with the composer’s trademark melodic gifts enriched by the impulse for physical movement. The vigorous steps of its finale, a dance of life and death, will leave us all breathless.

Ives, String Quartet no 1 From the Salvation Army Nigel Westlake, String Quartet no 3* (World Premiere) Debussy, String Quartet op 10 The music of Charles Ives is made of pictures from a long-lost America, depicted with such vivid immediacy that they seem absolutely alive.

Through the magic lantern of his musical imagery, this New England world appears like a nostalgic dream – white-painted churches in autumn forests filled with congregations joyously chanting hymns and spirituals.

Not dissimilar to the inquisition that Ives undertakes, Claude Debussy’s quest to liberate sensuality led to a revolution in French musical identity.

His string quartet replaces rigid thematic structures with a free flow of colours, motifs and gestures in the search for melodic rapture, realising his decadent dictum, ‘Pleasure is the Law.’

The vibrant colour and energy for which Nigel Westlake is renowned make his eagerly-awaited new work a splendid companion to Debussy and Ives.

Croatian-born pianist Dejan Lazić rejoins Richard Tognetti and the ACO for a celebration of Mozart’s symphonies and concertos, capped by one of Mozart’s formative influences, Joseph Haydn.

Mozart’s Violin Concerto No.3 is one of Richard Tognetti’s calling cards, with his signature energy and crispness adored by audiences both here and overseas. Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.14 is full of invention and considered the first of his mature concertos. In this program we hear it alongside Dejan’s original arrangement of the Allegretto grazioso from Mozart’s Piano Sonata K.333.

The program is bookended by two great symphonies: Mozart’s Symphony No.25 and the work that directly influenced it, Haydn’s Symphony No.39 ‘Tempesta di mare’. Mozart is known for his rigorous Classicism, but this symphony, instantly recognisable as the dramatic opening of Miloš Forman’s 1984 film Amadeus, is almost “romantic” in its power.

Like Mozart’s symphony, Haydn’s was written when the “Sturm und Drang” movement was strong, and its passion and drama still captivates audiences today.

Perhaps the most celebrated string quartet ever to emerge from the USA, the Emerson String Quartet is making its first Australian tour in over 19 years. Founded in 1976 and with only one personnel change in all that time, the ensemble has stacked up more than 30 recordings and countless awards. With such a pedigree, it is no surprise that the Emersons play with masterly warmth and ease: a spontaneous confidence and joy. Naturally enough, a master string quartet has chosen to play two programs of great masterpieces. Mozart wrote with his audience very much in mind, and his quartets are full of attention-grabbing highlights and dreamy slow movements, while the vitality of folk music shapes the quartets of Dvořák. Shostakovich’s Fifth Quartet did not appear until after the death of Stalin, when its icy, wintry darkness could at last be safely brought into the light. Artists: Eugene Drucker- violin Philip Setzer - violin Lawrence Dutton - viola Paul Watkins - cello Program: MOZART String Quartet no 21 in D major, K575 DVOŘÁK String Quartet no 10 in E-flat major, op 51 SHOSTAKOVICH String Quartet no 5 in B-flat major, op 92 Presented in association with Brisbane Festival. Tour supported by the Musica Viva Amadeus Society

Douglas Boyd - Conductor 
Anthony Marwood - Violin

Cathy Milliken - New Work [World Premiere] 
Schumann - Violin Concerto 
Dvořák - Symphony No.9 'From the New World'

There are many reasons why Dvořák’s Ninth Symphony continues to be a favourite: the melding of Bohemian and American musical influences, the sublime Largo, the dramatic arc linking all four movements. It became an instant hit at its premiere 125 years ago.

Such things can happen at premieres – so don’t miss the new work by our Composer in Association, Cathy Milliken! Anthony Marwood then brings his customary flair and originality to Schumann’s Violin Concerto, a piece that was hidden away for 80 years by those who feared it presaged something of the composer’s subsequent mental collapse. In fact, it’s delightfully tuneful music, especially the violin and cello dialogue of the slow movement, and its final Polonaise has a beguiling simplicity.

Guy Noble - Conductor 
Gisele Blanchard - Soprano 
Mario Bellanova - Baritone

Verdi - La forza del destino: Overture 
Puccini - Gianni Schicchi: O mio babbino caro 
Wagner - Lohengrin: Bridal March 
Mascagni - Cavalleria rusticana: Intermezzo

"This series is all about the music we know and love, in an informal setting that leaves everyone with a spring in their step: audiences and musicians alike" Emma Gregan, French Horn

“Put on the costume, and the face in white powder. The people pay, and laugh when they please.” Leoncavallo, Pagliacci

Opera is iconic, emblematic and not for the faint-hearted. Tonight’s program reminds us why great arias continue to touch us, even so many years after they were composed. And how, a night at the Opera, can stir a myriad of emotions to sustain and enliven us. 

Early music has rarely sounded as chic or brilliant! The four musicians of French ensemble Nevermind – combining flute, violin, viola da gamba and harpsichord – met and founded their group while they were students in Paris, with each of them sharing a love of the Baroque and traditional chamber music. A breath of fresh air in today’s classical music scene, they are rewriting the rule-book on period-instrument concerts with a thoroughly engaging mix of virtuoso expertise and unpretentious charm. Delighting audiences across Europe in prestigious festivals and concert series and making their Australian debut with Musica Viva, Nevermind is disarmingly relaxed and unpretentious and thoroughly dedicated to the universal appeal of good music. Artists: Anna Besson - flute Louis Creac’h - violin Robin Pharo - viola da gamba Jean Rondeau - harpsichord Program: MARAIS Trios for the King’s Bedtime: Suite IV F COUPERIN Les Nations: L’Espagnole TELEMANN Paris Quartet no 4 in G minor, TWV43:g1 QUENTIN Quartet Sonata op 15 no 3 GUILLEMAIN Quartet Sonata op 12 no 3 Presented in association with Melbourne International Arts Festival.

Bach holds a special place in the heart of every ACO musician. In this program, the ACO explore his genius with an impressive line-up featuring Richard Tognetti, Erin Helyard, Brett Dean and ACO Principal Cello, Timo-Veikko Valve.

Richard Tognetti’s solo violin opens the program. Its pure, captivating tone sets the scene before giving way to the vibrant lyricism of the Sonata in A major for violin and harpsichord. A favourite of Richard’s and audiences alike, his recording of the complete Bach Sonatas for violin and harpsichord won an ARIA Award for Best Classical Album.

Brett Dean features as both composer and performer in this program. Commissioned by the ACO and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, his Approach (Prelude to a Canon), was written as a prologue to Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No.6, leading directly into what he calls the “close, contrapuntal companionship” of the voices in Bach.

Bach’s inventive Brandenburg Concertos are one of his many crowning achievements. The Sixth Concerto is the most intimate of all and a striking and elegant finale to the famous suite.

Pinchas Zukerman - Director/Violin

Beethoven - Egmont: Overture 
Mozart - Violin Concerto No.5 'Turkish' 
Elgar - Enigma Variations

Now, this is music with personality! But whose is it? Elgar’s Enigma Variations are inspired by real people, friends of the composer – a diverse company whose portraits come alive each time they are performed. Pinchas Zukerman is an ideal host, generous and gregarious, bringing them all together for a convivial evening with us.

Zukerman’s own chance to shine comes in the assured elegance and seemingly endless melody of Mozart’s Fifth Violin Concerto. But Mozart’s mercurial temperament also shows through – look out for playful digressions in the rondo!

Enjoy Beethoven’s ‘Egmont’ Overture as a sort of aperitif or antipasto before all these guests arrive!

A new classical supergroup of four leading European soloists, the Skride Piano Quartet is sweeping through the northern hemisphere like a breath of fresh air – and is now bringing its dazzling energy to Australia. Sisters, soloists and regular duo partners, Baiba and Lauma Skride sought out two of their favourite chamber music colleagues in Lise Berthaud and Harriet Krijgh. Piano quartets are less often heard than piano trios, but the simple addition of a rich-toned viola seems to inspire composers to create music of outstanding lyricism. Together these stunning virtuosi play with a palpable sense of joy, mutual respect and endless invention. Artists: Baiba Skride - violin Lise Berthaud - viola Harriet Krijgh - cello Lauma Skride - piano Program: BEETHOVEN Piano Quartet no 1 in E-flat major, WoO 36 Graeme KOEHNE New Work* (World Premiere) BRAHMS Piano Quartet no 1 in G minor, op 25 *Commissioned for Musica Viva

The final concert in the ACO's National Tour Season is a big, exuberant celebration. They open with the Australian Premiere of American composer Andrew Norman’s Gran Turismo, revving up for a showdown by two of the most important names in the romantic era.

Johannes Brahms and Antonín Dvořák were close friends, spiritually as well as professionally. Brahms embraced his rich Germanic music tradition, while Dvořák was carving out a new sound, rooted in the music of his own homeland. Brahms admired the young composer’s dazzling melodic and rhythmic skills and championed his work on an international scale.

Richard Tognetti and Principal Cello Timo-Veikko Valve perform Brahms’s Double Concerto, the composer’s last orchestral work. Brahms’s aim in combining the two solo instruments was to create a deeply sonorous and wide-ranging string sound. Dvořák’s Symphony No.8 expresses a kaleidoscope of emotions and manifests the composer’s love of nature and Czech folk music. Pushing the very concept of a “chamber orchestra” to even greater heights, it’s an explosive finale to our 2019 Season.

Mark Wigglesworth - Conductor 
Mark Gaydon - Bassoon 
Dean Newcomb - Clarinet 
Adrian Uren - Horn

Wagner - Die Feen: Overture 
Mozart - Sinfonia Concertante 
Tchaikovsky - 'The Nutcracker' Act II

A fairy-tale feast… with plenty of dessert!

For starters, a charming ‘Fairy Overture’ dished up by the 20-year-old Wagner. Then four friends, principal wind players of the ASO, share the delights of a Sinfonia Concertante attributed (partly because it’s so good) to Mozart. A lively dinner conversation in cheerful company…

Act Two of The Nutcracker takes place in the Kingdom of Sweets, where there are dances in celebration of chocolate, tea and coffee. With favourites such as ‘Waltz of the Flowers’ and ‘Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy’, Tchaikovsky’s memorable score is magic for the ears. If there’s an aural equivalent of a sweet tooth, this is the fix, and it’s the perfect way to leap into December!