Under the baton of Chief Conductor Simone Young, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra opens its 2026 season with a bold, cross century program anchored by Mahler’s Song of the Earth and brought to life by a stellar line-up of international soloists.
Song of the Earth will be performed by internationally acclaimed tenor Simon O’Neill and mezzo soprano Alexandra Ionis, followed by French superstar pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet in Qigang Chen’s Er Huang for piano and orchestra.
Mahler’s early 20th-century reflections on life and loss extend into Chen’s contemporary sound world, where the textures and rhythms of Peking opera emerge, bridging more than a century of musical expression.
Simone Young has opened each of her seasons as Chief Conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra with one of Mahler’s symphonies to rave reviews. She continues this tradition in 2026 with the vast and moving Song of the Earth, a symphony in all but name.
The work ends with an extraordinary fade out, as a contralto sings ‘everywhere, forever…forever and ever,’ capturing the way music lives around us and in our memory – the perfect way to launch the 2026 season.
Tenor Simon O’Neill and mezzo-soprano Alexandra Ionis will bring Mahler ’s meditation on life, loss and renewal to life with both technical brilliance and emotional depth.
O ’Neill, a New Zealand native, is one of the world ’s leading heldentenors, performing with the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, Teatro alla Scala and at the Bayreuth and Salzburg Festivals.
He has sung Siegfried throughout the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s multi-year Ring Cycle project, with the Sydney Morning Herald praising his “astonishing stamina and commanding maturity.”
Ionis, a Moldova-born, Berlin-based mezzo-soprano, made her Bayreuth Festival debut in 2024 and appeared as Fricka in Die Walküre with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra the same year. The Sydney Morning Herald highlighted her “formidably firm contralto voice … with an even velvety finish of burgundy richness.”
The evening continues with Qigang Chen’s Er Huang, performed by Jean-Yves Thibaudet, one of the world’s most celebrated pianists. Thibaudet has appeared with major orchestras worldwide and collaborates across jazz, opera, film, fashion and visual art.
“Jean-Yves Thibaudet, who is just one of the most delightful piano soloists on the circuit, is one of those extraordinary pianists with a huge repertoire,” says Simone Young.
“He had this idea to combine Mahler’s Song of the Earth with this remarkable work by Qigang Chen. I have to admit, I didn’t know it, but I listened to it and found so much in it that is contemporary, but also Mahler-esque and French Impressionistic, and all those wonderful things.”
In 2026, Young will mark thirty years since her first performance with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. The season will also see the conclusion of the Orchestra’s multi-year journey through Wagner’s complete Ring Cycle under her direction, following her historic appearances at the Bayreuth Festival as the first woman and first Australian to conduct the full cycle.
With sweeping emotional arcs and a line-up of world-class soloists, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s 2026 Season Opening Gala promises an unmissable event in Sydney’s cultural calendar.
Simone Young conducts Mahler’s Song of the Earth
Concert Hall – Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point, Sydney
Performance: 25 – 28 February 2026
Information and Bookings: www.sydneysymphony.com
Image: Simone Young conducts the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the 2025 Opening Gala (supplied)