Canberra Symphony Orchestra has announced its 2021 season, with a program that will feature “works that transport us, light up our imaginations, and dive into the depths of powerful forces that shape our experience,” said incoming Artistic Advisor Jessica Cottis.

Canberra Symphony Orchestra Artistic Advisor Jessica Cottis. Photo © Gerard Collett

Cottis takes over artistic leadership of the orchestra from outgoing Chief Conductor and Artistic Director Nicholas Milton, whose 15-year tenure with the CSO ends in December, while Simon Hewitt comes on as Principal Guest Conductor.

The program includes well-loved classics such as Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, Mahler’s Fourth Symphony and Stravinsky’s Firebird, as well as Australian music by the likes of Holly Harrison, Richard Meale and Elena Kats-Chernin.

Soprano Lorina Gore will be CSO’s 2021 Artist in Focus, joining the orchestra for Kurt Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins, while other guest artists on the season include violinist Courtenay Cleary, pianists Jayson Gillham and Sine Winther and flautist Sally Walker.

As announced earlier this month, soprano and composer Deborah Cheetham will take over curation of...