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The Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) has announced a new digital season commemorating 30 years of fearless artistic leadership from Richard Tognetti. Launching on Monday 15 June, the season will showcase Tognetti’s enduring legacy as a renowned performer, composer, director and as a creative force for the internationally celebrated Orchestra over the last 30 years. Programmed across the Orchestra’s website and social platforms, the week-long digital offering will include premiere performances, re-broadcasts of the Orchestra’s most cherished concerts, new music, guest artists and artist interviews.

On World Music Day (Sunday 21 June), the ACO will conclude the week of celebrations with the online premiere of their breathtaking performance of the cinematic collaboration with BAFTA-nominated Sherpa Director Jennifer Peedom, Mountain, which premiered at the Sydney Opera House in 2017.

ABC Classic has partnered with the ACO and will also celebrate the 30th anniversary with a program of live performances, artist interviews, archival footage and curated playlists, programmed to take place across its radio, online and social platforms throughout the week. As part of the celebration week, Richard Tognetti and the Orchestra will perform live in the ABC Classic studio on Thursday 18 June at 1pm, for the first live classical broadcast at the ABC since lockdown began earlier this year. The Orchestra will perform Brahms’s rich and emotive String Sextet No.2 in G major alongside the achingly beautiful Cavatina from Beethoven’s String Quartet in B flat major, Op.130, both arranged for strings.

Since his appointment in 1990 as the enfant terrible from Wollongong, Tognetti has endlessly experimented with the musical form, honoring the music of the past while lifting chamber and orchestral music into sublime new realms. In light of the restrictions on mass gatherings and venue closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Tognetti (who is no stranger to film) has retooled and found himself increasingly behind the camera, working as producer, editor and audio engineer to continue to bring the music of the ACO to its international audience during lockdown.

Following the cancellation of the celebratory The Four Seasons & Beyond national tour, Richard Tognetti will now celebrate his 30th Anniversary as Artistic Director of the ACO away from the concert hall stage, with an innovative digital programme celebrating his tenure.

“Over the past few months, the Australian Chamber Orchestra has been committed to providing engaging musical experiences to our national and international audiences at home during lockdown. Our first digital season, the ACO HomeCasts series has reached over 1.5m people, tuning into over 20 performances. Whilst we wait to tread the boards of our beloved concert halls once again, I am thrilled to celebrate my 30 years as Artistic Director with the Orchestra with this special anniversary program culminating in the online premiere of one of our most celebrated performances, the epic cinematic documentary Mountain.”

Available on the Orchestra’s website and social platforms, the season launches on Monday 15 June with a brand new ACO HomeCast of Richard Tognetti performing music for solo violin by JS Bach. On Tuesday 16 June, Tognetti will premiere his new original song The Other Way, with a performance by Satu Vänskä on vocals, Richard Tognetti on electric violin and Slava Grigoryan and Midnight Oil’s Jim Moginie on guitar. A never before released performance of Tognetti’s arrangement of Szymanowski’s String Quartet No.2 from the ACO’s acclaimed and hugely popular 2019 Indies & Idols tour will be broadcast on Thursday 18 June. On Saturday 20 June, audiences will be able to tune in to a re-broadcast of Tognetti’s thrilling performance of Beethoven’s majestic Violin Concerto, filmed at Sydney Opera House in 2018. The season will also include excerpts from two films exploring Richard Tognetti’s other passion – surfing: Musica Surfica (first released in 2007) and The Reef. Plus some of Richard’s proudest moments mentoring and performing with talented young musicians as part of the ACOs acclaimed Learning & Engagement program.

The online premiere of the ACO’s breathtaking cinematic collaboration with director Jennifer Peedom, Mountain, narrated by two-time Academy Award nominated actor Willem Dafoe, will conclude the week-long celebration on Sunday 21 June. Filmed in 2017 at the Sydney Opera House premiere as part of the Sydney Film Festival, this is the first time this live performance has been released, and will be available for 48hrs only, celebrating World Music Day. A breath-taking exploration of humanity’s obsession with mountains, wilderness and the sublime force of high places, the documentary is set to live music by Arvo Pärt, Vivaldi, Beethoven and Richard Tognetti. Mountain received universal critical acclaim upon its premiere in Australia, before touring to London for its UK premiere at the Barbican. The film-only version of Mountain is currently available worldwide on streaming and On-demand platforms.

For more visit: aco.com.au