Season Preview: Your guide to the arts in 2020

The Canberra Symphony Orchestra has announced its 2020 season, New Spaces, which boasts an emphasis on new works and early career composers. Not only will it be Chief Conductor and Artistic Director Nicholas Milton’s farewell season after a 14-year tenure, 2020 also marks the CSO’s 70th anniversary.

Chief Conductor and Artistic Director Nicholas Milton

“I feel deeply honoured to have been part of the rich and vibrant history of the Canberra Symphony Orchestra,” Milton said. “We have shared extraordinary moments on stage, and I am proud of all that we have together accomplished.”

Speaking of the new season, the conductor said, “New Spaces celebrates our unique orchestral landscape. It expresses the passion, virtuosity and daring of our orchestra.” Milton’s successor will be announced in 2020.

New works will be a pillar of the CSO’s Australian Series, a collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery curated by composer Matthew Hindson. Featuring several commissioned works and world premieres, as well as a new piece by the winner of the 2020 Sue W Chamber Music Composition Prize, audiences can expect to hear...