Creating an orchestra takes time – it develops slowly through repetition, cooperation, shared risk and shared understanding. There's no shortcut. At ANAM, that process is already embedded; our musicians play together all year, developing their musical language “cooperatively” through chamber music, instrumental classes and lessons. The outcomes show up in the way ANAM musicians perform together on stage. Damien Eckersley, ANAM Deputy Artistic Director, puts it simply:
“With most of the cohort on stage together performing major orchestral works, they're playing not only for the audience but also for each other. There's a healthy sense of pride, shared responsibility for the outcome, and friendly competition involved. The winds, brass and percussion players want to show the strings what they can do, and the strings feel the same way in return.”
On Thursday June 25, the ANAM Orchestra will return to St Kilda Town Hall to perform the Central Park in the Dark concert program under the baton of Richard Tognetti. The program includes a musicians’ bucket-list work, Verklärte Nacht by Arnold Schoenberg. As Max Wung (cello, WA) says:
“It’s historically significant and, in many ways, a masterpiece. Verklärte Nacht pushes the boundaries of late Romantic harmony while still sitting within that expressive, ultra-Romantic world. It feels like it bridges the space between late Romanticism and early modernist expressionism, almost standing right at that turning point in musical language.”
It’s fair to note that many ANAM musicians are still forming their interpretive instincts as they play, which brings a certain dynamism to the sound – something that feels genuinely alive. Across the ANAM 2026 orchestral season, the repertoire moves between different historical moments, testing stylistic control as much as ensemble focus. It is this combination of youthful curiosity and rigorous chamber discipline that defines the ANAM Orchestra today.
Explore the upcoming ANAM Orchestra concerts via the button below, and don’t forget our special ticket offer: receive a 5% discount when booking tickets to two ANAM Orchestra concerts at St Kilda Town Hall, or 10% when booking all three concerts.
ANAM Orchestra Concerts
Words by Oxana Sitchuk.