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"Without music, life would be a mistake." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Australian Chamber Orchestra

Founded in 1975, the Australian Chamber Orchestra is internationally acclaimed as ‘the best chamber orchestra on earth’ (The Times).
Richard Tognetti was appointed artistic director and lead violin in 1989. Under his inspiring leadership, the ACO has performed as a flexible and versatile ‘ensemble of soloists’, on modern and period instruments, as a small chamber group, a small symphony orchestra, and as an electro-acoustic collective. The ACO’s unique artistic style encompasses not only the masterworks of the classical repertoire but also innovative cross-artform projects and a vigorous com- missioning programme.
More than fifty international tours across Asia, Europe and the USA have drawn outstanding reviews for the ACO’s performances at the world’s prestigious concert halls, including Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, London’s Wigmore Hall, New York’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, Vienna’s Musikverein and Wash- ington’s Kennedy Center. Festival appearances include the BBC Proms, Tangle- wood, Ravinia, Edinburgh, Interlochen and New York’s Mostly Mozart.
The ACO’s dedication and musicianship has created warm relationships with such celebrated soloists as Emmanuel Pahud, Steven Isserlis, Dawn Upshaw, Imogen Cooper, Christian Lindberg, Joseph Tawadros, Melvyn Tan and Pieter Wispelwey. The ACO is renowned for collaborating with artists from diverse genres, including singers Tim Freedman, Neil Finn, Katie Noonan, Paul Capsis, Danny Spooner and Barry Humphries and visual artists Michael Leunig, Bill Henson, Shaun Tan and Jon Frank.
The ACO has an extensive, award-winning discography and appears in the television series Classical Destinations II and documentary film Musica Surfica.