Over three star-filled summer nights in February 2025, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra will continue its more than 60-year tradition of performing free outdoor concerts at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl.

The majesty and magnificence of the MSO will fill the city’s ultimate outdoor venue, treating audiences to spectacular symphonic performances that will showcase the virtuosic talents of some of the finest contemporary and classical composers.

The 2025 free summer series opens with Cybec Assistant Conductor Leonard Weiss leading the MSO for Journeys and Adventures featuring stories of exploration, playful moments and rip-roaring showstoppers! A Symphonic Showcase, led by Principal Conductor Benjamin Northey rounds out the season with two world premieres and a program filled with passion and drama.

Chief Conductor Jaime Martín makes his debut at the Bowl conducting a program featuring acclaimed Czech composer Antonin Dvořák, legendary American composer George Gershwin and French composer Maurice Ravel’s best-known work Boléro.

“It is an absolute thrill to make my debut in this iconic concert series at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. These free concerts are an extraordinary gift to Melburnians and visitors to this wonderful city,” says Chief Conductor Jaime Martín. “They are a celebration of music, community, and Melbourne’s vibrant summer spirit. Sharing the joy of live orchestral music with such a diverse audience, under the stars in this beloved venue, is truly special.”

On Wednesday 5 February, audiences at the Bowl will embark on a musical odyssey with conductor Leonard Weiss and the MSO journeying from the rolling Appalachian hills to the stunning Blue Mountains, cruising down grand European rivers and into a galaxy far, far away. Journeys and Adventures features a thrilling orchestral exploration of crowd favourites including John Williams’ music from cinematic blockbusters Star Wars and E.T, Tchaikovsky’s balletic suite from Swan Lake, Edvard Grieg’s masterpiece Peer Gynt, and the galloping rhythms of Rossini’s William Tell Overture.

On Saturday 15 February, Jaime conducts at the Bowl: Dvořák, Gershwin and Ravel promises a blissful evening of fabulous music in the great outdoors and a not-to-be-missed opportunity to see the MSO’s much-loved Chief Conductor Jaime Martín.

Dvořák's Third Symphony will rise like a gentle breeze through the summer evening, painting a vivid musical landscape with lush orchestral colours. Then, as the darkness deepens, Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue emerges, bringing together classical sophistication and jazzy spontaneity, performed by pianist Andrea Lam. Finally, Ravel's mesmerising Boléro will build inexorably to a climactic crescendo, drawing audiences in with its hypnotic melody and relentless rhythm.

On Saturday 22 February, Principal Conductor Benjamin Northey and the MSO deliver a Symphonic Showcase featuring two masterpieces of 20th-century orchestral music and two works receiving their world premiere. 20-year-old rising piano star Reuben Tsang, who won the 2024 Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition, opens the concert with audience favourite, Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto, featuring thunderous chords and moments of extraordinary lyrical beauty. Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra follows with a brilliant exploration of orchestral colour and complexity, giving each section of the MSO a chance to showcase their remarkable virtuosity. The evening will also premiere new works from Cybec Young Composer in Residence Klearhos Murphy and the MSO’s inaugural Cybec First Nations Composer in Residence, James Henry.

All three concerts will be broadcast live on MSO YouTube and ABC Classic with presenters Mairi Nicholson, Megan Burslem and Alice Keath playing Masters of Ceremonies.