The Whitlams have always been a band with an ear for drama, humour, and heartfelt storytelling, but in 2026 they will present those qualities on a scale that few Australian acts could dream of. The Whitlams Orchestral ’26 tour will see Tim Freedman and band take their celebrated symphonic collaborations around the country, partnering with some of Australia’s most esteemed orchestras for a series of concerts that promise unforgettable performances.
The announcement follows three sold-out nights with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra this week, which more than 6,000 fans set to attend. The band will now join orchestras in every other state across the first half of 2026, extending the magic from capital cities to regional centres including Newcastle and Toowoomba.
The Whitlams’ relationship with orchestral music dates back over 20 years, when Richard Tognetti of the Australian Chamber Orchestra first saw the potential of placing Freedman’s songs in a classical setting. That 2003 collaboration inspired the West Australian Symphony Orchestra to commission full symphonic arrangements the following year, first performed at Kings Park in Perth. The experiment worked so well it became a continuing part of The Whitlams’ career.
Over time, their orchestral shows have grown into a living, breathing body of work. Each tour has added new arrangements, ensuring the program evolves alongside the band’s catalogue. Their landmark four-night run at the Sydney Opera House in 2007 resulted in a live CD, distributed to 100,000 readers of Sunday newspapers in Sydney and Brisbane to coincide with the release of Best of The Whitlams.
Now, with fresh material from their 2020s resurgence (Sancho in 2022 and Kookaburra in 2024), the orchestral project has once again been revitalised. Songs such as Nobody Knows I Love You and Fallen Leaves will join the setlist in sweeping new arrangements by Daniel Denholm.
Each stop on the tour will offer unique moments that reflect the shared history between the band and its collaborating orchestra.
Sydney Symphony Orchestra will return to the stage of the State Theatre for the first time in over a decade.
Queensland Symphony Orchestra reunites with The Whitlams at QPAC, recalling their 2007 collaboration, which was memorably punctuated by election night updates during the Kevin07 campaign.
West Australian Symphony Orchestra marks 21 years since it first invited the band to perform with them in 2004 at Kings Park, where a family of ducks famously joined mid-song during Breathing You In.
Newcastle Civic Theatre will host its first-ever Whitlams orchestral concert, with more than 30 musicians from the Sydney Philharmonic travelling up the Pacific Highway to join the band.
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra adds the Whitlams show to the cultural calendar in the busy gap between the Fringe and Cabaret Festival.
Toowoomba Concert Orchestra will fill the Empire Theatre with local talent, underscoring the band’s commitment to regional audiences.
The Whitlams’ orchestral repertoire has been shaped by some of the finest musical minds in the country, including Benjamin Northey, Brett Dean, Iain Grandage, Sean O’Boyle, Daniel Denholm, Jamie Messenger, Julie Symonds, and the late Peter Sculthorpe. Each has brought their own perspective, from Hitchcockian menace to lush romanticism.
Sculthorpe’s contributions remain the emotional centrepieces of the show. His co-write with Freedman, Out the Back, expands into a joyous oceanic celebration, while Ease of the Midnight Visit—originally written for Tognetti—has been reimagined with strings and woodwinds for this tour. Freedman, who befriended Sculthorpe at the 2001 APRA Awards, has often described their collaborations as some of the most meaningful in his career.
Freedman has also seized the opportunity to refresh the catalogue with new commissions. Jamie Messenger has reworked Beauty in Me from 2006’s Little Cloud into a fragile, orchestral-only arrangement that underscores the song’s themes of youthful self-doubt and resilience.
For Freedman, the attraction of these shows is the way orchestral arrangements magnify both the grandeur and intimacy of his songs. “Every seven years or so we get to be right in the middle of a beautiful storm of strings and brass,” he says.
“It’s the rarest and most powerful way to hear these songs.”
Fans can expect an evening that shifts seamlessly from delicate string passages to full-force symphonic climaxes—what Freedman memorably describes as “being hit over the head with a velvet hammer.”
The Whitlams Orchestral ’26 Tour Dates
Fri 30 & Sat 31 Jan – State Theatre, Sydney, NSW
Fri 27 Feb – Wrest Point, Hobart, TAS
Fri 6 & Sat 7 Mar – QPAC, Brisbane, QLD
Sat 14 Mar – Civic Theatre, Newcastle, NSW
Sat 11 Apr – Festival Theatre, Adelaide, SA
Sat 6 Jun – Empire Theatre, Toowoomba, QLD
Sat 13 Jun – Riverside Theatre, Perth, WA
Pre-sale begins Tuesday 9 September 2025 at 10.00am AEST, with general tickets available from Thursday 11 September 2025 at 10.00am via linktr.ee/WhitlamsOrchestral_2026.
For The Whitlams, the 2026 orchestral tour is more than a series of concerts—it’s a continuation of a uniquely Australian collaboration that bridges the worlds of rock and classical music. And for fans, it promises to be a rare opportunity to hear timeless songs transformed into something even larger, grander, and more moving than ever before.
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