The Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) is celebrating fifty years in 2025 and is one of the most acclaimed chamber orchestras in the world, renowned for their inspired programming, unrivalled virtuosity, energy and individuality. Under the direction of Artistic Director Richard Tognetti, they take audiences on an adventure to create truly transformative experiences.
The Australian Chamber Orchestra are bringing back one of their most groundbreaking, award-winning and popular cinematic collaborations for a series of limited gala performances.
After more than a decade of producing films, Mountain premiered in 2017 as one of our boldest explorations of music and nature. Only three centuries ago, the idea scarcely existed that wild landscapes might hold any sort of attraction. Mountains were places of peril, not beauty. An upper world to be shunned, not sought out. Now they hold us spellbound, drawing us into their dominion, often at the cost of our lives.
Created in collaboration with BAFTA-nominated director and filmmaker Jennifer Peedom (Sherpa 2015, River 2021), Mountain pushed the creative possibilities of presenting music and film live in concert in an innovative new direction. Tognetti and Peedom worked closely to assemble footage and soundscapes that collectively showcased the serenity, magnitude and terror of these jaw dropping landscapes. Music became an equal participant in the cinematic experience.
Mountain is shot by the world’s leading high-altitude cinematographers, with narration by celebrated British writer, Robert Macfarlane and spoken by award-winning actor Willem Dafoe. It is a visceral and immersive musical journey through vistas few have visited, and none have seen quite in this way. Don’t miss this limited opportunity to experience an ACO classic.
Program
Mountain: film live in concert, featuring music by Antonio Vivaldi, Ludwig van Beethoven, Frédéric Chopin, Peter Sculthorpe and Richard Tognetti.
Artists
Richard Tognetti • Music Director • Composer and Violin
Tamara-Anna Cislowska • Piano
Satu Vänskä • Violin & Voice
Jennifer Peedom • Writer, Director & Producer
Renan Ozturk • Principal Cinematography
Robert Macfarlane • Narration Scriptwriter
Willem Dafoe • Narrator
Jo-anne McGowan • Producer
Executive Producers
Paul Wiegard
David Gross
Stephen Boyle
Martyn Myer AO
Concert duration - Approx. 1 hour, 20 mins (no interval)