JAZZ IN THE DOMAIN

This year's Jazz in the Domain is entitled "El Barrio", named after the pulsating Eastside community in New York City located to the south of 125th Street that gave rise to boogaloo, Latin soul and salsa.

With its irrepressible energy, El Barrio is a unique urban melting pot of cultural and musical identity. Importing musical styles from the Caribbean and Latin America and fusing them with the distinctive Afro-American, Italian and Jewish fabric of New York City, it has become the influential epicentre of Spanish-language popular music.

Following the huge success of last year's Noite Brasil, Sydney Festival 2008 pays tribute to the original sound of New York old school 'salsa dura' under the baton of the legendary pianist, arranger and producer Oscar Hernández.

The Domain Stage will be filled by the sensational Spanish Harlem Orchestra, the standard bearers of contemporary Latin music. The 13-member, Grammy Award winning, all-star ensemble, has updated the tradition of Latin dance music, reintroducing the feverish excitement of New York City salsa to music lovers worldwide.

Dizzying percussion, sharp horn riffs and powerhouse guest vocals are all treated with Hernández's enticing, body-shaking arrangements. Special guests for the evening will include trumpeter Jon Faddis of whom "Dizzy" Gillespie said "He's the best ever, including me!"

Conductor Jonathan Stockhammer leads the Sydney Symphony on a surprising and enchanting journey through some of music's most colourful and powerful chapters.

An evening of music to escape into, the repertoire has been conceived as a flowing, hypnotic odyssey sweeping from the romance of Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream to Stravinsky's wild and exotic ballet The Firebird. Along the way unexpected contributions from John Adams, Benjamin Britten and Antonín Leopold Dvor¡ák make up a dramatically charged evening encompassing both the familiar and the new.

Jonathan Stockhammer has worked with renowned orchestras around the world and led acclaimed productions of operas including Faustus, Carmen and Die Fledermaus. An astonishingly versatile conductor, Stockhammer combines his broad experience with contemporary music ensembles with a unique and impassioned approach to classical symphonic works and opera. Traversing a musical bandwidth from fine to nuclear, Symphony in the Domain 2008 is set to sweep you away.

Check The Daily Telegraph for information on the day of each concert or check back to this page. It is recommended to use public transport - call 131 500 or head to www.131500.net for information.

Limited spaces will be available for RTA Mobility Parking Scheme Permit Holders and must be booked by calling 02 9235 3733.

Patrons are reminded of the following guidelines:

• No pegging into the ground or reserving of unattended areas
• No high chairs or beach umbrellas
• No plastic sheeting or ice on the grass as this kills the lawns
• The Domain Series concerts are Waste Wise Events so please recycle using the waste system provided and help save our environment.

No need to BYO :: A whole range of food and drinks will be available from early afternoon through to the end of the evening. Wine and beer will be available at the Festival bars.

Ride your bike to the concert! Bike racks will be available compliments of The Department of Environment and Climate Change. For more information about Jazz in the Domain and Symphony in the Domain, click here.