One of American's most celebrated and popular composers comes to Sydney to conduct his own music and Respighi's spectacular Pines of Rome.

John Adams' music keeps turning up in Sydney: we've given the Australian premieres of nine of his creations, and two of those were Sydney Symphony commissions. But 2013 will mark his first appearance with us as conductor, and Sydney audiences will be the first in the world to hear a brand new commission: a saxophone concerto for American virtuoso Timothy McAllister.

The new concerto will be a surprise, but we can tell you that Adams' Violin Concerto is an exhilarating showpiece, with long, soaring melodic lines and the intense physicality you might expect from a concerto commissioned by two orchestras and a ballet company.

The concert comes to a celebratory close with the opulent colours of Respighi's Pines of Rome - a favourite with audiences everywhere.