When Dutch conductor Antony Hermus steps onto the podium with the Australian Youth Orchestra this season, it won’t just mark a reunion — it will signal a journey into music that dares, questions and speaks straight to the human spirit. “This will not be just a concert – it will be a journey into the human spirit,” the conductor tells AYO ahead of the Sydney and Darwin concerts in July.
Hermus, who is Chief Conductor with the Belgian National Orchestra, last conducted AYO in 2018, touring Melbourne and Bendigo in a program featuring Mahler, Ravel and Mendelssohn. Now, for the Brave New Worlds concerts, he returns to Australia for the first time since, leading the orchestra in performances in Sydney and Darwin.
“Yes, this is my first time back since 2018, and I am thrilled,” Hermus says. “There is something very special about Australia: the openness, the energy, the kindness of people. It connects very naturally to how I like to make music.”
Featuring Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 (Eroica), Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 (with AYO alumna and cello soloist Charlotte Miles) and Brett Dean’s Testament, the program brings together three powerful works that explore courage, identity and the compulsion to create, even in the face of adversity.
A tale of two cities cities – and two worlds
Performing in both Sydney and Darwin adds another layer of meaning to the tour. Hermus is keenly aware of how atmosphere and audience shape the way music unfolds in the moment.
“Sydney is always electric. It gives me the sense of a big cultural city that is truly alive. And I’m incredibly curious about Darwin. It’s a completely different atmosphere, and I love that contrast.”
Antony Hermus
For Hermus, different spaces and audiences bring different energy into the room — something that inevitably influences the music. “That always affects how a concert feels and how the musicians play,” he says. “That’s what makes live performance so special.”
‘Journey into the human spirit’
While the repertoire spans more than two centuries, Brave New Worlds is designed to resonate far beyond those already steeped in classical music. And while the works are monumental, their emotional core is unmistakably human.
Beethoven’s Eroica, written in 1804 and often described as one of the most influential symphonies ever written, stands at the centre of the program. Hermus describes it as a bold act of self-definition: “It’s about courage, about breaking boundaries, about becoming who you are. You can hear a composer redefining the symphony in real time.”
Listeners, he suggests, should tune into the tension between struggle and triumph. “It’s like watching someone fight for their identity.”
Where Beethoven wrestles openly with destiny, Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 operates in a shadowed world of irony and unease. Composed in Russia in 1959 during the Soviet rule, Shostakovich wrote the work for his friend Mstislav Rostropovich, who amazingly committed it to memory in four days. It’s creation was influenced by the harsh realities of the period.
“This is not just a concerto. It’s a human voice trying to stay free.”
Antony Hermus on Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No.1
Moments of biting sarcasm sit alongside passages of striking vulnerability. “There is always something beneath the surface,” he says. “Brutality next to moments of almost unbearable intimacy.” For audiences, the result is music that feels urgent, personal and unsettling — in the best possible way.
Charlotte Miles on Shostakovich
Completing the program is Brett Dean’s Testament, a contemporary work that looks back to Beethoven from a modern perspective. Its source is Beethoven’s Heiligenstadt Testament, a deeply personal letter written in 1802 as the composer confronted the devastating reality of his increasing deafness.
“Brett Dean transforms this into sound,” Hermus explains. “You sense the physical and psychological fragility, the despair, but also the will to continue, to create, to speak.”
Taken together, Hermus sees the three works as chapters of a single story. “They explore struggle, identity, and the need to express something essential,” he says. “This will not be just a concert — it will be a journey into the human spirit.”
A moment that stops time
Asked if he has a favourite moment in the program, Hermus laughs — “That’s always an impossible question…” — before admitting that one passage stands apart.
“The funeral march in Beethoven’s Eroica is something extraordinary,” he says. “Time almost stops there. It’s not just mourning — it’s reflection, dignity, and acceptance.”
When played with complete focus, he believes the effect goes beyond sound. “The entire hall becomes silent in a very special way.”
High-voltage energy on stage
Hermus is widely respected for his work with youth orchestras around the world, and his connection with young musicians is a defining feature of his artistry.
Interestingly, he doesn’t see a vast divide between working with youth orchestras and professional ensembles.
“With professional orchestras, you build on experience, refinement and depth. With youth orchestras, you build on potential and discovery.”
Antony Hermus on working with youth orchestras
What young musicians bring, he believes, cannot be manufactured. “They don’t play safe — they go all in. The commitment is total. The highs are higher, the risks are bigger, and the honesty is absolute.”
For audiences, that intensity is palpable. “As a conductor, you give young musicians permission to be bold,” Hermus explains. “And as an audience, you feel that immediately. It’s like high-voltage energy on stage.”
With Brave New Worlds, Antony Hermus and the Australian Youth Orchestra invite audiences in Sydney and Darwin to experience music that is fearless, searching and deeply alive — regardless of whether it’s their first orchestral concert or their hundredth.
“This music still speaks to us because it’s about being human,” Hermus says. “And that’s something we all understand.”
