In the first heavy-hitter of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra’s mainstage Federation Concert Hall Series, Chief Conductor and Artistic Director Eivind Aadland will take on Mahler’s First Symphony, Titan, on 18 March. It’s a work, he says that “redefines what a symphony is”.

“[Mahler] says a symphony should be like the world, it should embrace everything.”

Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. Photo supplied

It’s all part of his master plan for the TSO’s 2026 season, which, under the theme Feel More, weaves together some of Aadland’s favourite music with “collaborations with exciting new guest artists, and the joy of welcoming back treasured musical friends.”

“Each program has been created to give the wonderful musicians of the TSO the freedom to shine, while also honouring our place in the cultural life of Lutruwita / Tasmania. I look forward to the year ahead, when orchestra and community come together in performances that are deeply rewarding and life-affirming,” said Aadland.

Mahler’s Titan program also features French pianist Cédric Tiberghien, who returns following his 2025 appearance to perform Ravel’s Concerto for the Left Hand.

Tiberghien, who also takes on Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G in Ravel, Mahler and Beethoven on 25 March, is the first of a string of acclaimed international guests to appear in the TSO’s 2026 season.

New Zealand pianist Sylvia Jiang features in A Midsummer Night’s Dream on 1 May, performing Shostakovich’s Concerto for Piano, Trumpet and String Orchestra with TSO Principal Trumpet Fletcher Cox. The program also includes musical tributes from Weber and Mendelssohn inspired by the titular Shakespeare classic.

Nemanja Radulovic. Photo supplied

Following this, Serbian-French violinist Nemanja Radulović makes his TSO debut in Prokofiev’s Second Violin Concerto on 30 May, alongside works by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood and Brahms.

Preceded by Melody Eötvös’s The Saqqara Bird, German cellist Maximilian Hornung is the soloist for Haydn’s Second Cello Concerto on 26 June, and American violinist Benjamin Beilman tackles Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor on 24 July.

After performing Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto with the TSO in August, Spanish pianist Javier Perianes takes on Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 in Brahms, Mozart and Beethoven on 31 July.

Finally, rising young Austrian violinist Leonhard Baumgartner makes his Australian debut on 28 November with Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D.

Aadland’s own music and film project Over Seas makes its Australian debut on 22 August at Federation Concert Hall. It places the TSO “in conversation” with video art by Elina Brotherus, which dives into bodies of water around the world. Paired music includes works by Mazzoli, Dowland, Holly Harrison and Pärt, as well as the world premiere of Swedish composer Jacob Mühlrad’s Resil.

Holly Harrison. Photo © Sally Tsoutas

There are a few other exciting premieres in store. The TSO is a co-commissioner (alongside the Adelaide, West Australian and Queensland symphony orchestras) of Holly Harrison’s new Concerto for Classical Accordion, which arrives in Tasmania with accordion virtuoso James Crabb on 1 October.

A brand-new work by Sally Beamish, also co-commissioned by the TSO, has its premiere on 14 November on a program headlined by Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony, with Principal Clarinet Andrew Seymour featuring.

Australian presence throughout the season begins with Harry Sdraulig’s piccolo concerto Icarus, the title work of a program for 12 March. Conductor Ingrid Martin, who began as Assistant Conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra last month, will be homebound to conduct Vaughan Williams’s Tuba Concerto on 4 June, and soprano Eleanor Lyons performs a series of concert arias by Mozart and Beethoven in Beethoven’s Pastorale on 7 November.

The multi-sensory, boundary-pushing Obscura at The Odeon will also return in 2026, as will the TSO’s Live Sessions, Music at the Hedberg, Music at Woolmers and Family Concerts programs.

More about the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra’s 2026 season can be found here.