The South Pole is a realm rarely touched by human footsteps, shrouded in an aura of mystery and inaccessibility. Yet, within this frozen landscape, lie untold tales and forgotten histories, waitig to be unearthed.

Antarctica, a collaborative endeavour between Mary Finsterer, Tom Wright and Sydney Chamber Opera company, delves into the complex dimensions of the southern continent, blending historical, mythical and scientific narratives into a captivating musical odyssey. Through the outstanding compositions of Australian Finsterer, audiences are taken to an ethereal realm, where the allure of Antarctica unfolds through a fusion of classical and contemporary musical elements, weaving together the exploits of a cartographer, a natural scientist and a philosopher, each driven by their own aspirations and curiosities.

The genesis of Antarctica was a symposium at the University of Tasmania in 2017, where Finsterer and Wright collaborated with scientists from the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, through the Creative Antarctica Program.

First performed at the 2022 Holland Festival and in Australia at the 2023 Sydney Festival, this is a rare opportunity to see this groundbreaking work for the first time in Tasmania with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Jack Symonds.

The world’s oldest poem. Opera’s most cutting-edge artists.

Opera Australia, Sydney Chamber Opera and Carriageworks present Gilgamesh, in association with Australian String Quartet and Ensemble Offspring.

The ancient and contemporary collide to dazzling effect in this world premiere.

The Epic of Gilgamesh is humanity’s oldest epic written poem. Emerging from ancient Mesopotamian mythology, it tells of a restless young king who, through experiences of love and loss, becomes a better person. His unexpected love for a half-man, half-animal leads him wide-eyed into mysterious realms.

Gilgamesh’s story sings to us across millennia, and this brand-new opera uncovers all that remains strikingly relevant: its approach to mortality, sexuality and our relationship with nature. This is the first opera in English based upon this foundational part of civilisation.

Composed by Sydney Chamber Opera Artistic Director Jack Symonds and brought to Carriageworks’ vast performance space by visionary director Kip Williams (Sydney Theatre Company’s The Picture of Dorian Gray), Gilgamesh is an epic that must be experienced.

Singing scorpions share the stage with a Bull of Heaven and oracles interpreting the flood which swept the Earth.

This is Opera Australia’s first collaboration with Sydney Chamber Opera, a company renowned for presenting “an astonishing new vision of what contemporary opera can achieve” (Time Out). Two outstanding chamber music ensembles bring a collective virtuosity to this colourful new score: Australian String Quartet and Ensemble Offspring.

Symonds conducts a cast of Australian contemporary opera specialists. Jeremy Kleeman and Mitchell Riley play Gilgamesh and the beast Enkidu, joined by Jane Sheldon, Jessica O’Donoghue and Daniel Szesiong Todd.