Name: El Niño: Nativity Reconsidered
Start: 2026-03-12
End: 2026-03-12
Location: Adelaide Town Hall

When

12 Mar

7:30pm

Where

Adelaide Town Hall

Access

Venue & access info here

Tickets

Adult

Premium $149 | A Res $129 | B Res $119

Festival Friends

Premium $127 | A Res $110 | B Res $101

Concession*

A Res $103 | B Res $95

Under 40**

A Res $40 | B Res $40

Full-time student^

A Res $40 | B Res $40

Transaction fees apply
* Pensioner, Health Care Card holder, MEAA/Actors’ Equity member. NOTE: Commonwealth Senior Health and Seniors Cards are ineligible for concession
** Limited capacity, ID required
^ ID required

Duration

1hr 5mins, no interval

Note

Performed in English and Spanish with English surtitles.
Recommended for audiences 12+
Latecomers will not be admitted.

The soaring oratorio El Niño by John Adams, one of the leading composers of his generation, had its Australian premiere at the 2002 Adelaide Festival in a landmark production directed by Peter Sellars.

El Niño: Nativity Reconsidered is a new chamber adaptation of this monumental work, featuring Grammy Award-winning singer Julia Bullock. Hailed as “intimate, affecting and quietly rich with activism” (The New York Times), this distilled rendering centres the maternal voice within what has historically been delivered as a patriarchal narrative.

Arranged by Christian Reif, with a cross-cultural libretto compiled by Peter Sellars, the voices of women and Latin American poets come to the fore, exploring the tension between new life and the reality of suffering and sacrifice.

Composed by John Adams, arranged by Christian Reif and Antonsen Preben, by arrangement with Origin Theatrical on behalf of Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd.

Soprano Julia Bullock
Mezzo-Soprano Margaret Plummer
Countertenor Austin Haynes
Baritone David Greco

Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
Conductor Christian Reif

Adelaide Chamber Singers
Artistic Director Christie Anderson

Image Maria Baranova