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Experience infinite possibility and extraordinary kinetic energy when the world-renowned cellist directs the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

In the hands of Nicolas Altstaedt music is alive and centuries of tradition collapse into a single moment of profound clarity.

Altstaedt is one of the world’s most exhilarating musicians, and his boldness, emotional depth and fierce musicality find a natural partner in the Australian Chamber Orchestra, an ensemble that shares his curiosity and delight in the act of music-making.

This program sweeps from the Baroque to the present, yet in the hands of Altstaedt and the Australian Chamber Orchestra it is one statement. At its heart is CPE Bach’s Cello Concerto in A major, a virtuosic showstopper of vivid emotion, sharp contrasts and unexpected turns of rhythm. The concert culminates in a string orchestra arrangement of Beethoven’s String Quartet Op.135, his final complete work and a piece of monumental foresight that holds the future of music within it.

Altstaedt and the Australian Chamber Orchestra are master storytellers, unwavering in their pursuit of musical grace and adventure. They hold the future and the past in equal measure. Here they celebrate composers who pushed the limits of their time, and reached for something beyond it.


Altstaedt has technique to burn, near perfect intonation, superb control of extreme registers and harmonics… so impeccable is his rhythmic nuance, that one hung on every note as if they were the words of a master storyteller.The Australian


The Australian Chamber Orchestra is one of the most acclaimed chamber orchestras in the world. Led by their pioneering Artistic Director Richard Tognetti, the Orchestra is defined by its exceptional virtuosity and an irrepressible sense of adventure and curiosity.


This performance is available as a part of an Australian Chamber Orchestra 2027 Subscription. Single tickets go on sale to the general public Fri 9 Oct.

  • Felix Mendelssohn
    String Symphony No.4 in C minor 
    Giacinto Scelsi
    Chukrum: I.
    Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
    Cello Concerto in A major, Wq.172
    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
    Adagio and Fugue in C minor, K.546
    György Kurtág
    (arr. strings) Ligatura – Message to Frances-Marie (The Answered Unanswered Question), Op.31b
    Ludwig van Beethoven
    (arr. strings) String Quartet in F major, Op.13

  • Nicolas Alstaedt
    Guest Director & Cello 
    Australian Chamber Orchestra

  • This concert is recommended for children ages eight and above, or for younger children who can happily sit through a two-hour concert.