Arrive in Adelaide and make your way to the hotel. Renaissance Tours or your travel agent can assist you with your flights and other travel arrangements, including a private transfer to the hotel, a room category upgrade and pre-tour accommodation.

Tour arrangements commence at 16:00 with a talk by your tour leaders, Mairi Nicolson and Phillip Sametz. After a welcome drinks reception, walk to the Festival Theatre for Béla Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle. Directed and designed by acclaimed Italian director Romeo Castellucci, this production makes its Australian premiere at the Adelaide Festival following its debut at the Salzburg Festival in 2022. Russian-American conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya leads the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, with Swedish baritone John Lundgren as Duke Bluebeard and German mezzo-soprano Christel Loetzsch as Judith.

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Begin this morning with a talk by Mairi and Phillip on the upcoming days’ performances, followed by the remainder of the morning at leisure.

In the afternoon, transfer to Her Majesty’s Theatre for a performance of a contemporary dance double bill by choreographer Tao Ye and his Beijing-based company, TAO Dance Theater. Part of his Numerical Series, these contrasting works explore the astounding possibilities of human movement through precision, repetition and shifting choreographic patterns.

In the evening, visit the Art Gallery of South Australia for a private, after-hours tour of the Floating Worlds: Prints from Osaka & Kyoto exhibition. Explore the theatre, fashion and entertainment of Japan’s historic Kamigata region through intricate woodblock prints depicting Kabuki actors, samurai warriors, celebrated beauties and landscapes. After the tour, enjoy dinner in the gallery’s atmospheric covered atrium.

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Enjoy the morning at leisure before transferring to Elder Hall for a matinee performance by Ensemble Lumen, a chamber music group formed in 2025 by faculty members from the Elder Conservatorium of Music.

After some time at leisure in the afternoon, walk to the Adelaide Town Hall for a performance featuring charismatic cellist Giovanni Sollima and the renowned Italian ensemble Il Pomo d’Oro. The program places Vivaldi’s music within the context of his native city’s historic connections with the eastern Mediterranean and Asia. It also features Sollima’s Il Concerto Perduto, composed in 2021 and inspired by the surviving orchestral viola part of an otherwise lost Vivaldi cello concerto.

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Begin this morning with a pre-performance talk by Mairi and Phillip before enjoying the rest of the day at leisure. You may wish to attend events included in the Adelaide Writers’ Week, which coincides with the Adelaide Festival (not included in tour arrangements).

After dinner, transfer to St Peter’s Cathedral for the Australian debut of Latvian a cappella vocal ensemble Latvian Voices, performing alongside the Adelaide Chamber Singers. Founded in 2009 by singers from the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, the ensemble has performed internationally at prestigious venues including Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, Leipzig’s Gewandhaus and Washington’s Kennedy Center.

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After a morning at leisure, transfer to Elder Hall for a matinee performance by two of Australia’s finest ensembles, the Australian String Quartet and the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, performing works by Elgar, Beethoven, Hindson and Cawrse.

Tonight, walk to the Dunstan Playhouse and attend Taverna Miresia, a theatre work conceived and directed by Mario Banushi. Inspired by his family’s Albanian restaurant and the death of his father, the production explores memory, grief and family relationships through dreamlike scenes in which familiar domestic spaces become surreal.

Combining elements of Greek tragedy, ancient Balkan rituals and cinematic imagery, the performance features Greek singer Savina Yannatou, whose vocals range from an Albanian lullaby to improvised laments, with an original score by Greek composer Jeph Vanger.

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Following a morning pre-performance talk, transfer to Elder Hall for a solo recital by Italian cellist Giovanni Sollima. Bringing together his own compositions, traditional Armenian melodies and music by JS Bach, the program spans centuries and crosses several musical traditions.

After the performance, return to the hotel for the remainder of the afternoon at leisure before dinner at a local restaurant.

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The morning is at leisure before attending an all-Bach concerto performance by Il Pomo d’Oro, accompanied this time by dynamic American organist Cameron Carpenter.

In the early evening, enjoy an early dinner at the hotel before transferring to Her Majesty’s Theatre for the last performance of the tour, K.

Directed by acclaimed Australian director Barrie Kosky and performed by the renowned Berliner Ensemble, K. is inspired by Franz Kafka’s novel The Trial. This production follows Josef K., arrested without explanation and drawn into a bewildering world of bureaucracy and elusive justice. Combining dance and song, Kosky explores Kafka’s Jewish heritage through a theatrical blend of comedy and tragedy. German actor Kathrin Wehlisch stars as Josef K., accompanied by a live band under musical director Adam Benzwi, with music ranging from Bach and Schumann to Yiddish vaudeville.

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Tour arrangements conclude after breakfast.

For those returning home today, make your own way to Adelaide Airport. Renaissance Tours or your travel agent can assist you with your flights and other travel arrangements, including any additional nights’ accommodation either before or after the tour, a room category upgrade and a private airport transfer.

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