Ayers Rock Resort is delighted to announce that for the first time the Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) will perform a series of intimate concerts led by Richard Tognetti at Ayers Rock Resort on Friday 30th and Saturday 31st October 2015.

The ACO Uluru Festival will feature special guests ARIA winner William Barton playing didgeridoo and ARIA nominee Steve Pigram lending his soulful voice and rhythmic guitar to harmonise with the ACO.

“The ACO Uluru Festival is an extremely exciting event that offers guests another element to their experience in the spiritual heart of Australia,” said Voyages CEO Andrew Williams.

Limited to a maximum of 380 guests, the performances will take place in the intimacy of the Uluru Meeting Place.  The program will feature three concerts; Friday evening, Saturday morning and Saturday evening.

A highlight of the Friday performance Vox Amoris, is a work composed for Richard Tognetti by esteemed Latvian composer, Pēteris Vasks. The work speaks about the greatest power in the world - love.  Vasks' wish for the piece is for it to "reach the listeners making the world a little brighter and more open to love".  The music of one of the great Baroque composers, Rameau, adds transparency, subtlety and refinement to this program which concludes with some of Tognetti's famous arrangements including Radiohead's How To Disappear Completely, sung by Principal Violin Satu Vänskä, and special guest, William Barton, with his own music on didgeridoo, accompanied by the ACO.

The concert at 11am on Saturday includes works written for the ACO by one of Australia's greatest composers, Peter Sculthorpe, juxtaposed with concertos by the Baroque master of string composition, Vivaldi.  Sculthorpe died in August 2014, and one of his most defining qualities was his ability to create the feeling of the Australian landscape in his music.  This was achieved in part by his study of Aboriginal music, as well as his deep love of landscape, and his concern with issues of conservation.

Saturday evening's concert pairs the music of contemporary Estonian composer of classical and sacred music, Arvo Pärt, with that of the great JS Bach, revered for his technical command, artistic beauty, and intellectual depth. Pärt, the leading exponent of the famous hypnotic Baltic sound, brought us a sort of 'new spiritualism'. His music, beautifully written for strings, is paired with Bach's Art of the Fugue and the A Minor Concerto for Violin, featuring Richard Tognetti.  Steve Pigram, a friend and regular collaborator with the ACO, joins the Orchestra to sing and perform several of his well-known and much-loved songs, including his famous Mimi.

“I always dreamed that I would be able to bring the meditative aspect of post-modernism, that is Arvo PärtandPeter Sculthorpe, into the dreamiest landscape on the planet - the red centre of our glorious land,” said ACO Artistic Director Richard Tognetti.

Three exclusive dining events will complement the concerts over the weekend – a poolside welcome dinner on Friday night including a traditional Welcome to Country and star talk, a long lunch featuring tastes of the Outback and a celebratory gala dinner on Saturday night following the final concert where members of the Orchestra will be present.

Concert packages are available with seating at all three events, starting from $395 per person.

Stay the weekend with Two Night Uluru Packages starting from $276* per person twin share or Three Night Uluru Packages inclusive of breakfast starting from $387* per person twin share. Packages include free daily Indigenous Guest Activities program and return Ayers Rock Airport transfers. BONUS children 15 years and under stay FREE.

For more information go to ayersrockresort.com.au/acoulurufestival or call 1300 134 044.

*Conditions apply, subject to availability. Lead-in rate, based on two adults sharing a room, based at Outback Pioneer Hotel. Valid for travel 1 July – 2 November 2015. Book by 30 April 2015. Children 15 years and under stay free using existing bedding.

About Ayers Rock Resort

Ayers Rock Resort provides a variety of accommodation from the premium Sails in the Desert Hotel, Award-winning Desert Gardens Hotel, self-contained Emu Walk Apartments, the authentic Outback Pioneer Hotel and Lodge and Ayers Rock Campground. Ayers Rock Resort is managed by Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia.

About Australian Chamber Orchestra

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Australian Chamber Orchestra. From its first concert in November 1975 to its first concert of 2015, the Orchestra has travelled a remarkable road.

Inspiring programming, unrivalled virtuosity, energy and individuality, the Australian Chamber Orchestra's performances span popular masterworks, adventurous cross artform projects and pieces specially commissioned for the ensemble. Founded by John Painter, the ACO originally comprised just 13 players, who came together for concerts as they were invited. Today, the ACO has grown to 20 players (three part-time), giving more than 100 performances in Australia each year, as well as touring internationally.

The Orchestra performs all over the world: from red-dust regional centres of Australia to New York night clubs, from Australian capital cities to the world's most prestigious concert halls, including Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, London's Wigmore Hall, Vienna's Musikverein, New York's Carnegie Hall, Birmingham's Symphony Hall and Frankfurt's Alte Oper.

The ACO's dedication and musicianship has created warm relationships with celebrated musicians and artists around the world. The ACO has recorded for the world's top labels. Recent recordings have won three consecutive ARIA Awards and documentaries featuring the ACO have been shown on television worldwide and won awards at film festivals on four continents.

About Richard Tognetti

2015 marks the 25th year of Richard Tognetti's artistic directorship of the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Born and raised in Wollongong NSW, Richard has established an international reputation for his compelling performances and artistic individualism. He began his studies in his home town with William Primrose, then with Alice Waten at the Sydney Conservatorium, and Igor Ozim at the Bern Conservatory, where he was awarded the Tschumi Prize as the top graduate soloist in 1989. Later that year he led several performances of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, and that November was appointed as the Orchestra's lead violin and, subsequently, Artistic Director. He is also Artistic Director of the Festival Maribor in Slovenia.

Richard performs on period, modern and electric instruments and his numerous arrangements, compositions and transcriptions have expanded the chamber orchestra repertoire and been performed throughout the world. As director or soloist, Richard has appeared with many of the world's leading orchestras, including most recently the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the Academy of Ancient Music.

Richard is an acclaimed composer and has also worked on numerous film soundtracks, including The Water Diviner (2015), Russell Crowe's directorial debut.

Richard was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2010. He holds honorary doctorates from three Australian universities and was made a National Living Treasure in 1999. He performs on a 1743 Guarneri del Gesù violin, lent to him by an anonymous Australian private benefactor.

About Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia

Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Indigenous Land Corporation (ILC) and manages tourism and resorts on its behalf. Voyages offers unique experiences and cultural immersion in spectacular locations around Australia including Ayers Rock Resort and Longitude 131° in the Northern Territory, Home Valley Station in The Kimberley in Western Australia and the Mossman Gorge Centre, in Tropical North Queensland. One of the key responsibilities of Voyages is to promote and sustain eco tourism, protecting pristine sites for many years to come. Voyages works collaboratively with local communities to assist them to exercise sustainable environmental tourism practices, respecting and supporting the local Indigenous cultures and offering employment and training opportunities to the local and broader Australian and Torres-Strait Islander Indigenous communities. Profits from all business activities are re-invested in the Indigenous and resort experiences and through the various training and development programs in place around Australia.