Australian composer Brett Dean diagnosed with coronavirus ahead of Adelaide Festival concert

Renowned Australian composer Brett Dean was due to perform at Adelaide Festival and is now being treated in hospital.

Australia composer Brett Dean was diagnosed with coronavirus on Thursday evening after he arrived in Adelaide from Taiwan on Tuesday, suffering from a suspected case of pneumonia. Picture: Bettina Stoess

Renowned Australian composer Brett Dean has been diagnosed with coronavirus in South Australia and has been placed in isolation at The Royal Adelaide Hospital just days before he was due to lead the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra in a Beethoven concert on Saturday night.

The 58-year-old was diagnosed late on Thursday evening after he arrived in Adelaide from Taiwan on Tuesday, suffering from a suspected case of pneumonia, the musician’s UK-based agency, Intermusica, confirmed in a statement.

His case takes the number of South Australians with the virus to seven as of Friday morning.

Adelaide is in the grip of what is known locally as Mad March with the Festival, Adelaide Fringe and WOMADelaide music festival in full swing this weekend, with all mass public events still proceeding as planned.

Reggae artist Ziggy Marley was forced to pull out of appearing at WOMADelaide this Sunday but organisers said his sudden exit was unrelated to the virus.

Organisers of the Adelaide Festival stressed on Friday that there was “no risk” to people who had purchased tickets to the Sound of History concert, and said the concert would go ahead as planned, with eminent conductor and composer Richard Mills stepping in.

Adelaide Festival executive director Rob Brookman said the festival was working closely with SA Health to ensure all protocols designed to prevent or limit the spread of COVID-19 are observed.

“The health and safety of the public, our artists and our staff are of paramount importance to the Adelaide Festival and we are following the advice provided to us by SA Health and instituting appropriate measures meticulously,” Mr Brookman said.

“We are obviously very concerned for the health of Brett who is receiving the best of care, and we hope that he has a swift and full recovery.”

Three people in Adelaide who are understood to have been in close contact with Mr Dean have since placed themselves into voluntary quarantine, according to organisers of the festival.

Mr Dean’s agency said they were in the process of contacting “all those” who had worked with the Brisbane-based musician over the past fortnight.

“Intermusica, along with Brett’s publishers Boosey and Hawkes, have taken the necessary steps to inform all those who have worked with Brett in the last 14 days,” the agency said in a statement.

Mr Dean had not yet played with, or been in physical contact with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, an ASO spokeswoman said.

He performed at the National Symphony Orchestra in Taipei, Taiwan last Friday, and was due to appear in Dresden, Germany on March 14.

Vince Ciccarello, Managing Director of Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, said he was sorry to learn of the composer’s diagnosis.

“Brett is a longstanding and close friend of the ASO and we were very much looking forward to collaborating on this wonderful project,” he said.

Mr Dean is one of the world’s most acclaimed conductors and is currently composer in residence at the Orchestre National de Lyon and the Dresden Philharmonic.

SA Health said on Thursday there had been seven cases of coronavirus in South Australia, including an eight-month-old baby boy, whose 40-year-old Iranian mother also has the virus. The baby who had travelled from Iran via Kuala Lumpur before falling ill on arrival in Adelaide is under care in the Flinders Medical Centre. Both mother and baby are in a stable condition.