The Australian World Orchestra (AWO) will celebrate 15 years of ambitious programming, and visionary collaborations in 2026 with a bold new three-part program, conducted by Artistic Director and Chief Conductor Alexander Briger AO.
Following the success of the 2025 concerts of Mahler’s 4th and 5th symphonies performed back-to back, the AWO will triumphantly return in August 2026 to Melbourne and Sydney for two special anniversary performances.
Described by Riccardo Muti as “the most flexible orchestra I have ever conducted” the AWO will bring together the finest players from home and across the globe to present two monumental classic pieces, Stravinsky’s Petrushka and Shostakovich’s Symphony No.10, in conversation with the world premiere of Jonathan Mills’s Songs for a Stranger, performed by Australian tenor Michael Petruccelli.
For Briger, the Australian World Orchestra’s 15-year anniversary program symbolises the extraordinary artistic collaboration and deep respect and commitment for classical music in Australia. “It is a real joy to be celebrating our 15th anniversary of bringing an incredible repertoire of music to Australians played by this country’s finest musicians,” says Briger.
“The AWO stands as one of the nation’s great cultural ambassadors – an orchestra that celebrates imagination, tradition, connection and the enduring power of musical artistry on the world stage. This year’s three mighty works showcase the musical complexity and vibrant energy that the Australian World Orchestra brings to every performance.”
First performed in 1911, Stravinsky’s kaleidoscopic ballet Petrushka, bursting with rhythmic energy and orchestral colour, remains one of the composer’s most vivid and inventive scores. In contrast, Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10 stands as one of the great post-war symphonies, a vast emotional landscape that moves from darkness and oppression to fierce defiance and ultimately, a sense of liberation.
In a special collaboration Jonathan Mills and Alexander Briger will present Songs for a Stranger, a new orchestral song cycle expanding upon Mills’s celebrated opera Eucalyptus based on the novel by Murray Bail.
Combining two existing songs with two newly composed for the AWO, the work unfolds as a sequence of musical meditations exploring landscape, love and the spaces that connect them. Songs for a Stranger is the fourth work exclusively commissioned by the AWO from an Australian composer.
“It’s wonderful to be given the opportunity to write music for such a renowned and multi-faceted orchestra. Alexander Briger has a real commitment to Australian culture,” said Jonathan Mills.
“He’s allowed me to compose a suite of songs that focus on love and an exploration of how people perceive the world. I feel somewhat privileged to be able to write music for the Australian World Orchestra to be performed in this country.”
The Australian World Orchestra will perform its 2026 anniversary season, TRILOGY: Stravinsky, Mills and Shostakovich, at Hamer Hall – Arts Centre Melbourne on Wednesday 19 August and the Concert Hall – Sydney Opera House on Thursday 20 August 2026. Tickets go on sale Wednesday 10 December 2025. For more information, visit: www.australianworldorchestra.com.au for details.
Image: Artistic Director and Chief Conductor Alexander Briger AO – photo by Helga Salwe