“O Fortuna!” – fate and fortune across the oceans and across the centuries.

Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana is the blockbuster of the choral repertoire, the kind of music guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat. Its worldly – and occasionally naughty – texts were assembled by mediæval monks, but its flamboyant music is barely a century old. From the rousing chorus of “O Fortuna!” to the intrepid tenor (the inimitable Kanen Breen) voicing a roasting swan at the top of his range, Carmina Burana will take you on an exhilarating and often visceral journey through the rhythms of life.

We’re also thrilled to present the concert premiere of Elena Kats-Chernin’s Human Waves. With words by fellow-pianist Tamara-Anna Cislowska, it charts stories of struggle and success from the rich tapestry of Australia’s migrant history, finding inspiration in the diversity of cultures and traditions that make up our society.

Murrgumurrgu, by First Nations artist James Henry, takes its title from the Yuwaalaraay name for the ibis, which breeds on the Narran Lakes before coming to Sydney to find food.

PROGRAM

HENRY Murrgumurrgu (Ibis)*†
KATS-CHERNIN Human Waves*†
ORFF Carmina Burana

ARTISTS

Brett Weymark conductor
Kanen Breen tenor
Hadleigh Adams baritone
Festival Chorus
River City Voices
Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra