Following the success of three weekend performances with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, which drew over 6,000 concert-goers, the ambitious tour will see the band collaborate with premier orchestras in each state throughout the first half of next year.
Each concert will feature orchestral arrangements representing two decades of development in adapting The Whitlams’ catalogue for the concert hall. Eight composers have contributed arrangements that expand on intimate moments in each track with orchestral dynamics, creating what Tim Freedman describes as being “hit over the head with a velvet hammer.”
State by state, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra will perform at the State Theatre for the first time in over a decade, whilst the Queensland Symphony Orchestra returns to QPAC, where they memorably performed with The Whitlams on the night of Kevin Rudd’s 2007 election victory. The West Australian Symphony Orchestra will celebrate 21 years since their last Whitlams collaboration at King’s Park in March 2004, when ducks famously settled on the pond during “Breathing You In,” and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra will take the stage with the band after the Easter weekend.
Regional audiences are also getting special attention, with Newcastle experiencing The Whitlams plus orchestra for the first time. The band is hiring buses to transport over 30 Sydney Philharmonic musicians to the Civic Theatre, acknowledging Newcastle’s unwavering support since the mid-1990s. Further north, Toowoomba’s 44-piece Concert Orchestra will fill the Empire Theatre with local talent in June.
The orchestral programme originated with Richard Tognetti’s vision in 2003, when he developed strings, piano and drums arrangements that toured nationally with the Australian Chamber Orchestra. The West Australian Symphony Orchestra expanded this concept in 2004, commissioning full symphonic arrangements that utilised the complete four-piece band lineup.
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Peter Sculthorpe’s arrangements form the concert centrepieces, including the oceanic celebration “Out the Back,” co-written with Freedman and featuring a seven-minute string interlude inspired by Duke Ellington. His interlocking string melody for “Ease of the Midnight Visit” has been expanded for woodwinds and strings specifically for this tour.
The repertoire features contributions from Australia’s most respected arrangers, including Benjamin Northey, Brett Dean, Iain Grandage, Sean O’Boyle, Daniel Denholm, Jamie Messenger, and Julie Symonds. Each brings distinctive stylistic elements, from Northey’s Hitchcockian menace to Messenger’s sweet strings and Grandage’s dynamic instrumental passages.
Fresh additions include Daniel Denholm’s full treatments of “Nobody Knows I Love You” from Sancho (2022) and “Fallen Leaves” from Kookaburra (2024). Jamie Messenger has reworked “Beauty in Me” from Little Cloud (2006) as an orchestra-and-voice-only rendition, emphasising the fragility of its narrative about a young woman caught between self-doubt and determination.
The Whitlams
Orchestral Tour Dates
Australia 2026
Presale: Tuesday, September 9th at 10am AEST
General onsale: Thursday, September 11th at 10am AEST
Tickets available here
Friday, January 30th
State Theatre, Sydney
Saturday, January 31st
State Theatre, Sydney
Friday, February 27th
Wrest Point, Hobart
Friday, March 6th
QPAC, Brisbane
Saturday, March 7th
QPAC, Brisbane
Saturday, March 14th
Civic Theatre, Newcastle
Saturday, April 11th
Festival Theatre, Adelaide
Saturday, June 6th
Empire Theatre, Toowoomba
Saturday, June 13th
Riverside Theatre, Perth
