Moving again to the maximal after presenting 2024’s Chamber Concert series with counter tenor Andreas Scholl, The Australian World Orchestra will be back in full force in 2025, revisiting the works of Gustav Mahler.

Following mesmerising performances of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony in 2023, AWO Artistic Director and Chief Conductor Alexander Briger will lead the Australian World Orchestra in Mahler’s Fourth and Fifth symphonies, an ambitious program (a Mahlerfest, no less) which will see Australia’s best orchestral musicians onstage for over two hours. 

“This concert is a testament to the exceptional quality of the Australian World Orchestra, comprised of the finest musicians from Australia and around the globe,” said Briger. “By performing these two symphonies in one evening, we aim to create an unforgettable experience that celebrates the power of music to transcend boundaries and touch the soul.”

For Briger, that’s no hyperbole. He has been under Mahler’s spell since, as a 12-year-old, he heard his uncle, Sir Charles Mackerras, conduct the Fourth Symphony.

“As soon as the Adagio started, I was hooked,” Briger told Limelight’s Clive Paget in 2023. “That’s when I...