We’re thrilled to launch the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra Season 2026.
Our year begins in February, with The Wolfe Brothers and Gaming Music 2.0. We’re performing these showstoppers in Hobart and in Launceston, making a long-awaited return to the beautifully refurbished Albert Hall.
Chief Conductor and Artistic Director Eivind Aadland opens our Federation Concert Hall Series on 18 March with Mahler’s Symphony No 1, the ‘Titan’.
‘In this enormous work, Mahler redefines what a symphony is. He says a symphony should be like the world, it should embrace everything,’ Eivind says.
The 18 March concert also features French pianist Cédric Tiberghien performing Ravel’s Concerto for the Left Hand in D.
In November, Eivind leads the TSO in another monumental work, Shostakovich’s Tenth. Also in this concert is a new work by globally renowned composer Sally Beamish for our Principal Clarinet, Andrew Seymour.
‘We have a very exciting program that I think our audiences will enjoy,’ Eivind says. ‘I strongly believe in the power of music to be uplifting and life-affirming. A live concert can take us away from our everyday worries.’
Across the year, we’ll host international stars playing some of the most loved music of all time –
- Spanish pianist Javier Perianes performing Mozart,
- New Zealand pianist Sylvia Jiang performing Shostakovich,
- American violinist Benjamin Beilman performing Mendelssohn,
- Australian Vienna-based soprano Eleanor Lyons singing Mozart and Beethoven, and
- German cellist Maximilian Hornung performing Haydn.
Acclaimed artists making their TSO debuts include –
- Norwegian conductor Tabita Berglund,
- Japanese conductor Nodoka Okisawa,
- young Eurovision star, Austrian violinist Leonhard Baumgartner, and
- Serbian-French violinist Nemanja Radulovic.
TSO musicians also shine as soloists in diverse programs ranging from timeless masterpieces to modern works of genius. See –
- Concertmaster Emma McGrath, Principal Tuba Rachel Kelly and Principal Piccolo Lloyd Hudson in our 6pm Series,
- Principal Clarinet Andrew Seymour in the Australian debut of a work by Scotland’s Sally Beamish,
- Principal Cello Jonathan Békés performing Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto, and
- Principal Trumpet Fletcher Cox, making his mainstage solo debut (alongside Sylvia Jiang) with Shostakovich’s Concerto for Piano, Trumpet and Strings.
Our musicians return to Longford’s Woolmers Estate after another sell-out Music at Woolmers Series in 2025.
In 2026, we replicate these much-loved chamber music concerts in Hobart with Music at The Hedberg.
Hobart’s St David's Cathedral and Launceston’s St John’s Church are filled with glorious sound in February and October with our Brass and Percussion concerts.
St John’s also once again hosts the TSO Chorus and, throughout 2026, we’ll be bringing our laid-back Live Sessions gigs to venues across regional Tasmania.
‘We’re proud to launch an incredibly rich and full year of musical experiences, which will take place right across the island,’ our CEO Caroline Sharpen says.
‘This season fits beautifully with our theme of Feel More. We will undoubtedly feel more when we experience the orchestra performing the monumental symphonic writing of Mahler and Shostakovich and when TSO musicians take the stage as soloists.’
Caroline explains that 18-year-old Austrian violinist Leonhard Baumgartner won the Eurovision Young Musicians competition in Norway in 2024, under the baton of TSO’s Chief Conductor.
‘Eivind conducted that competition and was staggered by the talent of this young man – promptly inviting him to Hobart to perform Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. We're very proud to present his Australian debut in 2026,’ Caroline says.
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