Australian Chamber Orchestra

Young, charismatic, and innovative, the 17-member Australian Chamber Orchestra has inspired other new ensembles with its collaborative ethos -- it has no conductor -- and innovative approaches. Steeped in a history but always looking to the future, ACO programs embrace celebrated classics alongside new commissions and adventurous cross-artform collaborations. The ACO was founded in 1975 by cellist John Painter. The group took on its current emphasis in 1990 when Richard Tognetti. Since then, the ACO has performed classical repertoire, newly commissioned pieces, and collaborations with a wide variety of artists both within the classical sphere and beyond. The ACO's recording career began in 1987 with an album of Australian music and expanded rapidly after Tognetti's hiring. In 2017, the ACO released an album pairing music by Mozart with that of Radiohead keyboardist Greenwood, the first Australian-produced classical vinyl for two decades.