Milestone
Celebrating the life of the legendary photographer William Yang.
Having reached his milestone 80th birthday, pioneering artist William Yang reflects on his extraordinary life in this epic new performance. Yang’s iconic photographs and captivating stories are complemented by a haunting score performed live with orchestra.
Internationally acclaimed Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin — a long-time friend and collaborator of Yang’s — composed a moving score especially for Milestone, and will perform live on stage alongside the Orchestra for this performance.
Yang is a trailblazing champion of Asian–Australian culture internationally. He documented the birth of Australia’s LGBTQI+ rights movement from the early days of Sydney’s Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras to the devastating impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and 90s. Unassuming, evocative and honestly examined, Yang looks back on his vast archive of photography, contemplating five decades of social change and the evolution of Australia’s bohemian artist community.
Milestone is Yang’s most ambitious and personal performance to date. Don’t miss this one-night-only encounter with a legend of Asia-Pacific performance sharing his stories of immigration, sexuality, creativity and family..
Credits
Creator/Performer/Co-director William Yang
Composer Elena Kats Chernin
Dramaturg/Co-director Tessa Leong
Orchestrator Lyle Chan
Production Manager Neil Simpson, Aiden Brennan
Lighting Designer Sammy Read
Technical Director Daniel Herten
Producer Fenn Gordon for Tandem
Auspiced by Performance Space
Acknowledgments
Commissioned by Asia TOPA, Arts Centre Melbourne, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Festival and Contemporary Asian Australian Performance.
Milestone is supported by Playking Foundation and the Robert Salzer Foundation, with additional support from Creative Australia and City of Sydney.
Thank you to Lyle Chan & Jackie Thomas-Piccardi; Jeff Khan, Tam Nguyen & the Asia TOPA team; Olivia Ansell, Rosa Coyle-Hayward & the Sydney Festival team; Sandi Woo & the CAAP team.
Upcoming Performances
No public performances currently scheduled Check back soon!
“Yang has produced a body of work that speaks a universal language, inviting us to forget about those differences that are only skin deep and reflect on the things that are truly important.”
The Sydney Morning Herald
“Milestone is an intimate, often heartbreaking and regularly hilarious portrait of a life as only William Yang could tell it. A truly life-affirming work, Yang creates a beautiful tapestry of both individual and collective humanity with this moving late-career masterpiece of storytelling that’ll have you thinking about all the photos you’re yet to take.”
City Hub
“deceptively simple… casually intertwines personal and familial histories with socio-political movements, including the inception of the Sydney Mardi Gras Parade, the scourge of AIDS, and the fight for marriage equality. In spite of all the pain and grief Yang has been dealt, there’s a great sense of gratitude; he’ll have you enthralled…”
Time Out
Previous Seasons
2025
Sydney Festival
Roslyn Packer Theatre
Walsh Bay, NSW
Conducted by Simon Bruckard
*World Premiere
Asia Topa
Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne
Southbank, VIC
Performed live by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra , conducted by Benjamin Northey
Brisbane Festival
QPAC, Concert Hall
South Brisbane, QLD
Performed with Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra , conducted by Simon Bruckard
OzAsia Festival
Adelaide Town Hall
Adelaide, SA
Performed with Ensemble Lumen , conducted by Luke Dollman
Seoul Performing Arts Festival
Arko Arts Theater Grand Theatre, Seoul
Images
