Sydney Chamber Choir Sings Fauré’s Requiem
2025-04-05 17:00 (Australia/Sydney) | St James’ Church, King Street, 173 King Street, Sydney, NSW, 2000, Australia
Sydney Chamber Choir celebrates the warmth and wonder of the choral sound with Gabriel Fauré’s sublime Requiem. Blending the pure lines of Gregorian chant with the elegance and intensity of his own melodic genius, wrapped in delicate yet sensually lush harmonies, Fauré re-invented the Requiem in the image of love. Under the direction of Sam Allchurch and with Thomas Wilson at the organ this is an this is an intimate musical afternoon that speaks straight to the heart with courage and honesty.
The choir will also sing Mendelssohn’s celebratory motet Jauchzet dem Herren (Praise the Lord) and two exquisite motets from Australian composer Brooke Shelley, Heavenly Father and Praise the Lord.
Read our review of Sydney Chamber Choir’s Mozart’s Requiem.
The performers: Sydney Chamber Choir/ Sam Allchurch | Conductor/ Angela Brun | Soprano/ Andrew O’Connor | Baritone/ Thomas Wilson | Organ
The program : Gabriel Fauré Requiem/ Felix Mendelssohn Jauchzet dem Herren (Praise the Lord)/ Brooke Shelley Heavenly Father and Praise the Lord
Tickets: https://events.humanitix.com/scc2025-faure-requiem
or call SCC Box Office 1300 661 738

Luminescence Sings Gesualdo's Tenebrae
2025-04-05 19:30 - 20:30 | ACO Pier 2/3, The Neilson, Hickson Road, Dawes Point, NSW, 2000, Australia
Luminescence Chamber Singers presents Gesualdo’s Tenebrae, a program of music featuring Carlo Gesualdo’s Tenebrae Responsories, which will tour to regional NSW (Braidwood, South Coast and Wollongong), Canberra between 22 March and 4 April, culminating in a Sydney performance on 5 April.
Written in 1611, more than 400 years later, the music of Carlo Gesualdo still seems strikingly avant-garde. Composed for his own private use during his final years, and likely unheard during his lifetime, Gesualdo’s Tenebrae Responsories are of unmatched intensity. This is music at the end of an epoch; at once steeped in and a radically unsettling subversion of the traditions of the sixteenth century.
The first set of Responsories for Maundy Thursday (Feria V) evoke Christ’s abandonment, betrayal, and death. Gesualdo’s dramatic settings reflect the angst of the passion story, alongside his own bloody encounter with death – in 1590 he murdered his wife Maria d’Avalos and her lover Fabrizio Carafa, Duke of Andria, when he discovered them ‘in flagrante delicto’. Gesualdo’s punishment was as self-inflicted as the crime. His status as prince saved him from criminal persecution; instead he saw out his days living as a recluse, tormented by grief and guilt.
Translating literally to ‘darkness’, the plural form of ‘Tenebrae’ is fitting; it implies a multiplicity, all-encompassing shadows; a plunge into the twin darkness of deeply personal grief and of universal sorrow.
Luminescence Chamber Singers is a professional vocal ensemble based on Ngunnawal and Ngambri country (Canberra, ACT). The group has emerged as one of Australia’s most exciting professional ensembles, championing the unbound expressive potential of our original instrument: the human voice.
The program: Carlo Gesualdo, Responsoria et alia ad Officium Hebdomadae Sanctae spectantia (1611)
Feria quinta (Maundy Thursday): In monte Oliveti/ Tristis est anima mea/ Ecce vidimus eum/ Amicus meus osculi/ Judas mercator pessimus/ Unus ex discipulis meis/ Eran quasi agnus innocens/ Una hora non potuistis/ Seniores populi consilium
Miserere mei, Deus
Bookings
1 hour no interval

Bach Akademie Australia Showcases The Countertenor
2025-04-06 17:00 | City Recital Hall, 2 Angel Place, Sydney, NSW, 2000, Australia
Bach Akademie Australia welcomes its first international artist, acclaimed GRAMMY-nominated American countertenor Reginald Mobley, renowned for his purity of tone and deeply personal musicality. Mobley performs cantatas of solace and profundity, including Bach’s great solo vocal cantatas Ich habe genug (I have enough) BWV 82, and Widerstehe doch der Sünde BWV 54 while the orchestra will shine in Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor.
The program: J.C. Bach Lamento Ach, dass ich Wassers gnug hätte/ J.S. Bach Orchestral Suite No.2 in B minor/ J.S. Bach Cantata Ich habe genug BWV 82/ A. Vivaldi Salve Regina R.616 (Antiphona)/ J.S. Bach Cantata Widerstehe doch der Sünde BWV 54.
The performers: Reginald Mobley – Countertenor/ Madeleine Easton – Artistic Director/ Bach Akademie Australia
Bookings
or call 8256 2222
Read our review of the BAA’s most recent concert Bach’s Christmas Oratorio from December 2024.

Piers Lane Plays Chopin Nocturnes
2025-04-10 18:00 - 19:30 | Utzon Room, Sydney Opera House, Circular Quay East, Sydney, NSW, 2000, Australia
Pianist and Artistic Director of the Sydney International Piano Competition will perform a recital of music by Chopin in the Utzon Room of the Sydney Opera House in April.
Presented by Piano Plus Australia and the Sydney International Piano Competition, this concert promises to be an enchanting evening of Chopin’s best loved Nocturnes played by one of Australia’s most celebrated concert pianists.
Bookings

Salut! Baroque's Baroque Spirit
2025-04-13 15:00 | Sydney Conservatorium of Music, 1, Conservatorium Road, Sydney, NSW, 2000, Australia
Salut! Baroque are delighted to present the second concert in their 30th anniversary year, Baroque Spirit.
Reflecting the variety and diversity in styles across regions and time periods, Baroque Spirit highlights composers’ thirst and curiosity in exploring new styles. Apart from one piece, the music on this program was composed within a 150-year period but is all remarkably different in character. This multicultural mix contrasts the familiarity of a Bach Chorale Prelude with Scottish, English and Irish folk melodies, Moldavian dances written in a Turkish idiom, and Spanish guitar music that hints at West-African influences.
Linking the past with the present, the concert begins with the Allegretto from Palladio (1995) written by Sir Karl Jenkins in the year Salut! Baroque began! Baroque Spirit explores the common ground between all these different styles and presents them in a way that both informs and entertains.
Concerts in Sydney and Canberra: Canberra: Friday 11 April 2025, 7.30pm, Wesley Church, Canberra
Sydney: Sunday 13 April 2025, 3.00pm, Sydney Conservatorium of Music
Performers: Sally Melhuish and Alana Blackburn, Recorders; John Ma and Julia Russoniello, Baroque Violin; Brad Tham, Baroque Viola; Tim Blomfield, Bass Violin, Violoncello Piccolo; Jude Hill, Baroque Double Bass; George Wills, Baroque Guitar; Jack Peggie, Percussion; Monika Kornel, Harpsichord
The program: Jenkins Allegretto from Palladio (1995)/ Erlebach Ouverture-Suite No.6 in G minor (1693)/ de Murcia Folias Gallegas/ Rameau Ouverture from opera Zoroastre (1749)/ Gow Lament (1805)/ O’Carolan James Betagh, Jig to James Betagh/ Playford Wallom Green from The English Dancing Master (1651)/ Telemann Ouverture-Suite in B-flat major TWV 55:B8/ Cantemir Moldavian Dances (1700)/ Orme Sonata in F major from 8 Sonates à trois Parties (1700)/Anonymous Hungaricus 58 (1730)/ de Murcia Cumbées/ Pla Sonata in D minor/ Bach Chorale Prelude Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 639 (c1708)/ Bach Concerto in D minor, BWV 1043 (1731) (arr. Teddy Bor)
Bookings
Read our review of Salut! Baroque’s The Genius.

Autumn Piano School Returns In 2025
2025-04-14 09:00 - 2025-04-17 17:00 | New England Conservatorium of Music, Faulkner Street, Armidale, New South Wales, 2350, Australia
The Autumn Piano School (APS) returns in 2025 following the success of the inaugural edition. Piano+ and the New England Conservatorium of Music are once again holding this event in the beautiful autumnal setting of Armidale, NSW from 14-17 April 2025.
In the 2025 edition, participants will attend a range of daily workshops, seminars and masterclasses in a welcoming and relaxed atmosphere. Students can also choose to have one-on-one lessons with teachers of their choice. They’ll have the unique opportunity to learn from some of Australia’s most outstanding pedagogues and pianists, who will generously share insights from their international careers. The Autumn Piano School is a perfect platform for artistic growth, inspiration, and connection.
New in 2025 is a concerto opportunity when a selected senior student enrolled in the Autumn Piano School 2025 will be given the opportunity to perform one movement of a concerto from a preselected list, accompanied by the Sydney Youth Orchestras’ (SYO) Peter Seymour Orchestra conducted by Stephen Williams.
The Autumn Piano School 2025 is designed to accommodate pianists of every level through four different streams: Junior Student, Senior Student, Adult, and Pedagogy.
Full information
Autumn Piano School 2025 – Piano+

Megalong Music Festival Chamber Concerts
2025-04-18 17:00 - 2025-04-20 11:00 | Megalong Community Hall, Megalong Road, Megalong Valley, New South Wales, 2785, Australia
The Megalong Music Festival (MMF) announces its inaugural chamber music concerts, taking place from April 18th to 20th, 2025, in the heart of the NSW Blue Mountains’ stunning Gundungurra country.
Over the Easter weekend, attendees are invited to escape the city, and immerse themselves in these exceptional musical offerings against the breathtaking backdrop of the Megalong Escarpment. Young and old, family and friends, locals and visitors, will gather at the Megalong Community Hall to experience the vibrant joy of live, collaborative music making.
Led by Artistic Director Asmira Woodward-Page, the festival will feature distinguished Australian and international guest artists performing alongside emerging talents. The MMF is committed to nurturing the next generation of musicians through its 2025 Fellows Program for Piano and Strings, seeking to foster collaborations between generations of talent, culminating in a showcase of vibrant and dynamic performances.
A celebrated violinist, chamber musician, and winner of the Concert Artists Guild Competition in New York, Asmira Woodward-Page is joined by violinist Kristian Winther, pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute, double bassist David Campbell, viola player Lisa Grosman and cellist Timothy Nankervis.
Festival Highlights include: ● Friday Frolic: April 18th, 5:00 PM/ ● Saturday Sunset: April 19th, 5:00 PM/ ● Sunday Farewell: April 20th, 11:00 AM
All concerts will be held at the Megalong Community Hall. Programs include dance-inspired works, newly minted compositions by the 2025 cohort of artists, and pieces by composers such as Ross Edwards, Josef Haydn, Michi Wiancko, Astor Piazzolla, György Ligeti, Dimitri Shostakovich, Rebecca Clarke, John Adams, Christopher Theofanidis, Claude Debussy, Robert Schumann, Reena Esmail, Antonin Dvořák, Anne Cawrse, Fanny Mendelssohn, and Felix Mendelssohn.
Bookings
Image credit: © Megalong Music Festival / Gabriel Hutcheon

The Metropolitan Orchestra 2025 Young Instrumentalist Festival
2025-05-04 10:00 - 17:00 | Ashfield Town Hall, 260, Liverpool Road, VAUCLUSE, New South Wales, 2131, Australia
The Metropolitan Orchestra presents its TMO Junior, 2025 Young Instrumentalist Festival, open to primary and high school students of all standards playing wind, brass, strings or piano.
Unlike an Eisteddfod, there are no rankings awarded or winners announced. Each student is on their own musical journey, all of whom we want to celebrate. Each performer will receive written feedback from our highly experienced adjudicators, along with a TMO Young Instrumentalist Medal.
Providing a welcoming, non-competitive performance opportunity for young musicians in a supportive environment, young musicians of all ages and abilities are invited to play one piece, either solo or with accompaniment. Performers will be allocated a session along with similarly aged/skilled musicians, where they will get to perform their chosen piece on-stage. Each session will be a total of one hour in duration, with adjudications and medals presented immediately at the end of each session.
OFFICIAL ACCOMPANIST An official accompanist will be provided free of charge for the performance if needed.
WHERE AND WHEN? Sunday 4 May – Ashfield Town Hall – 5 Session times between 10am-5pm
SESSION TIMES There will be 5 sessions throughout the day between 10am and 5pm. Musicians of a similar age and standard will be grouped together. Participants will be advised of their session time 2 weeks prior to the event.
ENTRY FEE The entry fee for each performer is $45. Audience members attend FREE.
CLICK HERE TO ENROL TODAY
Or Visit www.metorchestra.com.au/event/yif25/
ENTRIES CLOSE Friday 4 April 2025. Places are strictly limited.

Parrwang Lifts The Sky
2025-05-09 13:00 - 2025-05-11 19:00 | Sydney Conservatorium of Music, 1, Conservatorium Road, Sydney, NSW, 2000, Australia
Parrwang Lifts the Sky is a captivating dreamtime story for all ages. Presented by the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, it features a cast of classical voice students and the SCM Chamber Orchestra. Deborah Cheetham Fraillon directs this production of her own presented music and libretto conducted by Aaron Wyatt.
Did you know that the Magpies created the first dawn?*
A long time ago…. The sky was a blanket on the land.
The earth was in darkness and the people were afraid. It was a very sad state of affairs and would have stayed that way except for the courage of Parrwang the Magpie. Tjatja and Koki are young, adventurous and tired of living in the dark. When they manage to climb to the highest branches of an ancient gum tree they discover an exciting new world and a steadfast friend in Parrwang – who decides to help the young humans lift the blanket of darkness from the ground. A plan is devised – but can Parrwang convince Mr Waa, Bunjil and the Great Council of Birds to agree?
Parrwang Lifts the Sky is based on an original story from Wadawurrung Country told to the children of the Wathaurong by community Elder, the late Uncle David Tournier.
Featuring a cast of Sydney Conservatorium of Music classical voice students and the SCM Chamber Orchestra, Parrwang Lifts the Sky is a captivating dreamtime story for all ages.
Bookings
Image credit Billy-Jay O’Toole

Omega Ensemble's Distant World
2025-05-17 14:00 - 19:00 | ACO Pier 2/3, The Neilson, Hickson Road, Dawes Point, NSW, 2000, Australia
Omega Ensemble’s Distant World takes you from Arvo Pärt’s meditative Spiegel im Spiegel with each note meticulously placed, to Jabra Latham’s powerful Fire Music, inviting you to consider the state of our planet and our place within it.
Featuring a transportive world premiere by Melbourne-based composer Miriama Young, as well as Peteris Vasks’ anguished Piano Quartet, this performance is a call for personal reflection and global action.
There are two concerts in Sydney at the The Neilson, ACO on the Pier and one in Melbourne at the Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre. Tour dates 13 – 17 May 2025.
Bookings

Handel's Samson
2025-05-17 19:00 | Christ Church St. Laurence, 812 Railway Square, Sydney, NSW, 2000, Australia
The Pacific Opera Studio partners with The Muffat Collective to present Handel’s towering oratorio Samson.
This tale of strength, betrayal, and redemption brims with soaring arias, dramatic choruses, and richly expressive orchestration. Handel’s epic tells of the biblical hero Samson, his fall from grace, and his ultimate triumph over his enemies. Hear the celestial soprano aria Let the bright Seraphim made famous by Dame Kiri Te Kanawa at the wedding of (then) Prince Charles and Princess Diana.Pacific Opera Studio Young Artists will be conducted by Artistic and Music Director Peter Coleman-Wright AO joined by Baroque music specialists The Muffat Collective, to present this epic work.
Bookings

Selby & Friends Triptych
2025-05-19 19:00 | City Recital Hall, 2 Angel Place, Sydney, NSW, 2000, Australia
Selby & Friends’ upcoming Triptych tour features the extraordinary talents of special guest artists, Australian violinist and Queensland Symphony Orchestra 2025 Artist-in-Residence Kristian Winther and Naumburg-Award winner cellist Clancy Newman, who join Artistic Director and pianist Kathryn Selby in a fascinating and diverse program of piano trios by Lera Auerbach, Robert Schumann and Bedřich Smetana. The program tours to Sydney, Turramurra, Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide and the NSW Southern Highlands from 10th May to 19th May.
Concerts in Sydney are on Saturday, 10 May: Turramurra at 2:15pm at Turramurra Uniting Church and on Monday, 19 May: Sydney at 7:00pm at the City Recital Hall.
Soviet-born Austrian-American Lera Auerbach is a sought-after composer and musician whose music is performed in the world’s leading concert halls. Opening the program is her piano trio Triptych – This Mirror Has Three Faces (2011) which, in the composer’s words, portrays her interest in “exploring the individuality of the three instruments within the form of one piece.” Following is Robert Schumann’s tempestuous, final Piano Trio No. 3 in G minor, Op. 110, from his highly productive 1851 oeuvre, and, closing the concert, is the moving popular Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 15 by Bedřich Smetana, the “father of Czech music”.
Tickets start at $60 | www.selbyandfriends.com.au or at the door.
Tour dates and venues:
Saturday, 10 May: Turramurra @ 2:15pm – Turramurra Uniting Church
Tuesday, 13 May: Melbourne @ 2:00pm and 7:00pm – Primrose Potter Salon, Melbourne Recital Centre
Friday, 16 May: Canberra @ 7:00pm – The Chapel, Charles Sturt University, Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture Saturday,
17 May: Bowral, NSW Southern Highlands @ 4:00pm – Bowral Memorial Hall
Sunday, 18 May: Adelaide@ 2:15pm – Elder Hall, University of Adelaide
Monday, 19 May: Sydney @ 7:00pm – City Recital Hall

Alexander Yau Plays Beethoven Ravel and Liszt
2025-05-24 19:00 - 21:00 | The Independent Theatre, 269, Miller Street, North Sydney, NSW, 2030, Australia
Sydney-born pianist Alexander Yau makes his debut recital at the Independent Theatre performing works by Beethoven, Ravel and Liszt. Alexander Yau is a pianist who continues to seek deep and meaningful interpretations of the great works in classical music and present them to a broad audience in their truest and purest forms. He is a sincere artist and thoughtful musician, who puts his flawless technique to showcasing the genius of the great masters.

In this concert, the multi-award winner and graduate of the Juilliard School will take us into the poetic and fantasy world of piano music which contains direct references and allusions to other art forms, summoning the marriage of poetic ideas and musical thought. He will open the concert with two evocative and rather ‘fantasia-like’ Sonatas Op. 27 by Beethoven, no. 2 being the famous ‘Moonlight Sonata’ and then proceed to Ravel’s fiendishly difficult yet the most intricate and formidable piano work, Gaspard de la nuit, based on the 3 poems by Aloysius Bertrand.

In the second half of the program, Alexander will take us into the journey of Liszt, in a selection of divine and highly passionate works from his Harmonies Poétiques et religieuses and Années de pèlerinage, Year 2 Italy.

2025 marks an important year for Alexander in which he has commenced his position as Associate Lecturer in Collaborative Piano Faculty at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Alexander has performed major concertos including those of Rachmanninpf and Brahms in with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the SBS Youth Orcgestra and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. He has performed chamber music and solo recitals at the Lincoln Centre NYC, Villa Reale and Teatre Commune di Atri in Italy, in Grieg’s home in Bergen, Oslo, Takamatsu, Canberra Music Festival, the Phoenix Central Park and City Recital Hall in Sydney. In 2022 he released his first album in collaboration with clarinettist Deborah de Graff, featuring his own compositions and works by other Australian composers. Alexander is also a fine clarinetist, vocalist, composer, music arranger and conductor. He and pianist Ching Pong (Dono) Ng, co-founded the Nikolai Medtner Chamber Orchestra, where Alexander conducted the Shostakovich Piano Concerto no. 1 and Tchaikovsky Serenade for Strings at its inaugural concert.
The program: Ludwig van Beethoven Sonata no. 13 in E-flat major Op. 27 no. 1 “Sonata quasi Fantasia” / Sonata no. 14 in C-sharp minor Op. 27 no. 2 “Moonlight” / Maurice Ravel Gaspard de la nuit /
—-Interval—-
Franz Liszt Harmonies Poétiques et religieuses, S. 173 – Funerailles, – Benediction de dieu sans la solitude, Années de pèlerinage, Year 2 Italy, S. 161, – Sonetti 104 del Petrarca, – Après une lecture du Dante: Fantasia Quasi Sonata
Alexander Yau, piano.
The performance runs for approximately 100 minutes, inclusive of a 15-minute interval
Bookings

Vivaldi And Vieira From River City Voices
2025-05-28 20:00 - 22:00 | St Patrick’s Cathedral, 1, Marist Place, Parramatta, New South Wales, 2150, Australia
River City Voices presents Vivaldi’s Gloria (RV 589) and the Australian premiere of Brazilian Composer Amaral Vieira’s Stabat Mater in a combination of an Australian premiere, one iconic classic, and Western Sydney’s best performers.
Parramatta’s St Patrick’s Cathedral will ring to the sound of 70 choristers from Parramatta’s flagship choir River City Voices. Glorious choruses and sparkling orchestration, showcase the young musicians of Western Sydney Philharmonic, all conducted by Dr Sarah Penicka-Smith with soloists soprano Sandra Partridge, alto Angelique Tot, tenor Elias Wilson and bass Benjamin Caukwell.
Tickets: Adult $60 | Concession $45 | Under 30 $30 | Under 18 $18 – a booking fee applies.
Bookings
Image: Dr Sarah Penicka-Smith conducting River City Voices and Western Sydney
Philharmonic. Photo credit: Grant Leslie

Bach Akademie Australia Presents The Class of ’85, Sydney Concert
2025-05-30 19:30 | St James’ Church, King Street, 173 King Street, Sydney, NSW, 2000, Australia
The chances of three musicians of global significance being born in the same year are infinitesimal. However in 1685, that’s exactly what happened. Domenico Scarlatti, Georg Frideric Handel and Johann Sebastian Bach were The Class of ’85 and their overwhelming and enduring influence on music cannot be overstated.

Madeleine Easton is Artistic Director of the Bach Akademie Australia in this program, presented in Sydney and in Chatswood, featuring Handel’s rich Concerto Grosso in B flat major, Op.6 No.7, Domenico Scarlatti’s Salve Regina with mezzo soprano Hannah Fraser, and J.S. Bach’s magnificent secular cantata Non sa che sia dolore BWV 209 with soprano Susannah Lawergren, this program celebrates the supreme craftsmanship, versatility and imagination of these three titans of Western classical music.

Program
D. Scarlatti – Salve Regina in A major SANT Hs 3514 (Nr. 5)
J. P. Rameau – Les Boréades, Acte 4 ͤ. Scene 4 ͤ. Entrée [de Polimnie]
J.S. Bach Orchestral Suite No.3 in D major BWV 1068
G.F. Handel Concerto Grosso Op.6 No.7 in B flat major HWV325
J.S. Bach Cantata ‘Non sa che sia dolore’ (He knows not what sorrow is) BWV 209

Friday May 30 at 7.30pm St James’ Church, King Street
Saturday May 31 at 2.30pm Our Lady of Dolours, Chatswood

Tickets
https://www.bachakademieaustralia.com.au/events
or call 1300 785 377
Read our review of Bach Akademie Australia’s Christmas Oratorio.

Bach Akademie Australia Presents The Class of ’85, Chatswood Concert
2025-05-31 14:30 | Our Lady of Dolours, 94A Archer Street, Chatswood, NSW, 2067, Australia
The chances of three musicians of global significance being born in the same year are infinitesimal. However in 1685, that’s exactly what happened. Domenico Scarlatti, Georg Frideric Handel and Johann Sebastian Bach were The Class of ’85 and their overwhelming and enduring influence on music cannot be overstated.

Madeleine Easton is Artistic Director of the Bach Akademie Australia in this program featuring Handel’s rich Concerto Grosso in B flat major, Op.6 No.7, Domenico Scarlatti’s Salve Regina with mezzo soprano Hannah Fraser, and J.S. Bach’s magnificent secular cantata Non sa che sia dolore BWV 209 with soprano Susannah Lawergren, this program celebrates the supreme craftsmanship, versatility and imagination of these three titans of Western classical music.

Program
D. Scarlatti – Salve Regina in A major SANT Hs 3514 (Nr. 5)
J. P. Rameau – Les Boréades, Acte 4 ͤ. Scene 4 ͤ. Entrée [de Polimnie]
J.S. Bach Orchestral Suite No.3 in D major BWV 1068
G.F. Handel Concerto Grosso Op.6 No.7 in B flat major HWV325
J.S. Bach Cantata ‘Non sa che sia dolore’ (He knows not what sorrow is) BWV 209

Friday May 30 at 7.30pm St James’ Church, King Street
Saturday May 31 at 2.30pm Our Lady of Dolours, Chatswood

Tickets
https://www.bachakademieaustralia.com.au/events
or call 1300 785 377
Read our review of Bach Akademie Australia’s Christmas Oratorio.

Pastoral Fantasies: A Baroque Journey through Italy and Germany
2025-06-08 15:00 - 16:30 | Mosman Art Gallery, 1, Art Gallery Way,, Mosman, NSW, 2088, Australia
Pastoral Fantasies: A Baroque Journey through Italy and Germany will take you to music by Telemann, Corelli, Locatelli, Handel and Bach, in a musical exploration of pastoral Italy and Germany in the Baroque era.

Performers Adele Ohki (Baroque Violin), Melissa Farrow (Baroque Flute), Rosemary Quinn (Baroque Cello), and Anthony Hamad (Harpsichord), will unravel the intricate beauty of these composers in a fresh and authentic setting.
Bookings

Phoenix Collective Makes A French Connection
2025-06-14 14:00 | Hunter Baillie Presbyterian Church,, Cnr Johnston St and Collins Street, Annandale, NSW, 2038, Australia
Phoenix Collective presents French Connection featuring the music of Chevalier de Saint-George, Guillaume Connesson and Maurice Ravel.
French chamber music has long been lauded for its complexity and sophistication, and nowhere is this better exemplified than in Ravel’s masterly string quartet. In this concert, PCQ pairs the Ravel with the work of the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, a darling of the eighteenth-century French court whose eventful life recently became the subject of the movie Chevalier. The first string quartet of Guillaume Connesson, a modern-day inheritor of Ravel’s nuanced style, completes the program.
Sydney concert 14 June, 2 pm
Concerts also in Wesley, Canberra on 14 June, 7 pm and at the Central Coast Conservatorium on 15 June at 2 pm.
The program: Chevalier de Saint-Georges String Quartet/ Guillaume Connesson String Quartet/ Maurice Ravel String Quartet
Bookings

Kammerklang's Hidden Curiosity
2025-06-14 16:00 - 19:30 | Church Street Studios, 62-68 Church Street, Camperdown, NSW, 2050, Australia
Kammerklang’s new Hidden Curiosity series continues championing existing, under-performed, Australian repertoire drawn from an open call for scores.
So much music is commissioned, premiered, and then never touched again – it’s the music industry’s equivalent of fast fashion. Kammerklang’s Hidden Curiosity series is based on sustainability and draws an open call for scores directed at existing Australian underperformed repertoire. Each Hidden Curiosity concert aims to give these works a new life as part of the general repertoire.
For each call, Kammerklang partners with two performers of the same instrument who must build their program from the same collection of music. It is amazing to see how different the programs are each time, showcasing not only the wealth of great music in Australia, but the unique visions of our performers as curators.
Kammerklang’s June concert presents music for viola in double feature with James Wannan’s At First Light at 4 pm on Saturday June 14, and Phoebe Green’s Out of the Shadows at 7.30 pm that day. The concerts also present the work of 23 composers from across Australia.
Sydney Performances: (June 14 Double Feature tickets available)
4pm, Saturday June 14, 2025 | James Wannan (viola) performs At First Light, also featuring music by Angus Davison, Chris Williams, Elizabeth Younan, Natalie Nicolas, Pedro Alvarez, Rhys Little and Cameron Lam Tickets
7:30pm, Saturday June 14, 2025 | Phoebe Green (viola) performs Out of the Shadows also featuring music by Aditya Ryan Bhat, Christine Pan, Dominik Karski, Pedro Alvarez, Emily Sheppard, Flora Wong and Cameron Lam Tickets

Sydney Chamber Opera World Premiere of Muhly Opera
2025-06-20 19:00 - 2025-06-28 15:00 | Carriageworks, 245 Wilson Street, Eveleigh, NSW, 2015, Australia
Sydney Chamber Opera presents the world premiere of Aphrodite by US composer Nico Muhly and Australian playwright Laura Lethlean.
This biting, contemporary opera channels the Aphrodite myth to ask: is our focus on beauty so preoccupying that we remove ourselves from the human connection of attraction? Is it Aphrodite’s fault that the beauty industry has never been more powerful?
Directed by Alexander Berlage (American Psycho), this world premiere features the extraordinary voices of Jessica O’Donoghue (Gilgamesh) and Puerto Rican soprano Meechot Marrero, performed in collaboration with Omega Ensemble.
Duration: Approximately 70 mins without interval

Musica Viva Australia's Northern Lights
2025-06-23 19:00 | City Recital Hall, 2 Angel Place, Sydney, NSW, 2000, Australia
Musica Viva Australia presents the Australian debut of Swedish-Norwegian violin virtuoso Johan Dalene alongside eloquent Australian pianist Jennifer Marten-Smith in a six-city national tour of Northern Lights this June. Northern Lights opens in Melbourne on Tuesday 10 June and concludes in Sydney on Monday 23 June.
Johan Dalene grabbed the world’s attention when he won the prestigious Carl Nielsen
International Competition in 2019. His mix of virtuosity and refreshingly honest musicality has won many accolades, including a Swedish Grammis Award, a Critics’ Circle Music Award, and the title of Gramophone’s 2022 Young Artist of the Year. In 2025, Dalene will play concertos by Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, and Nielson with London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Tasmanian-born pianist Jennifer Marten-Smith joins Dalene for his Australian debut. An accomplished performer who debuted with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra at age 16, Marten-Smith’s extensive career includes working as a repetiteur with the State Opera of South Australia, Opera Australia, and the Staatsoper Hannover.
Together they will perform classic works from the violin and piano repertoire, including Ravel’s Tzigane, a spectacular showpiece powered by Romani fire, Grieg’s Sonata No.2 which dances to Norwegian folk tunes, and an atmospheric nocturne by Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara.
Also featured is the world premiere of Tilted Scales, a new commission from Australian composer Jack Frerer, whose Spiral Sequences dazzled audiences in the Esmé Quartet’s 2024 concerts.
The performers: Johan Dalene, violin/ Jennifer Marten-Smith, piano
The program: Beethoven Violin Sonata in G major, Op. 30 No. 3/ Jack Frerer Tilted Scales (2025) new commission/ Tchaikovsky Souvenir d’un lieu cher/Grieg Violin Sonata No. 2, Op. 13/
Boulanger D’un matin de printemps/ Rautavaara Notturno/ Ravel Tzigane
Dates and times:
Melbourne Recital Centre, Melbourne Tuesday 10 June 7pm, World premiere of Tilted Scales
Llewellyn Hall, ANU, Canberra, Thursday 12 June 7pm
Newcastle City Hall, Newcastle, Saturday 14 June 7:30pm
Adelaide Town Hall, Adelaide, Monday 16 June 7:30pm
Regal Theatre, Perth, Thursday 19 June 7:30pm
City Recital Hall, Sydney, Monday 23 June 7pm
Bookings

Sydney Chamber Choir 50th Anniversary Gala
2025-07-05 15:00 | City Recital Hall, 2 Angel Place, Sydney, NSW, 2000, Australia
The Sydney Chamber Choir conducted by its Artistic Director Sam Allchurch celebrates 50 years of music making with the beauty and the thrill of new music in this gala concert.
The choir will sing the world premiere performances of five specially commissioned pieces by five of the most exciting compositional talents in the country, each exploring a different facet of what ‘love’ can mean.
After that, experience the emotional power of Paul Stanhope’s groundbreaking and award-winning re-imagining of the Requiem mass, its ancient texts enriched with contemporary insights on love, loss, life and hope from poets including Emily Dickinson and Oodgeroo Noonuccal.
Commissioning music has been at the heart of the Sydney Chamber Choir’s music making since its earliest years, and it proud to be creating and sharing new masterpieces – a gift to its fans on its 50th birthday!
Artists: Sydney Chamber Choir/ Sam Allchurch | Conductor/ Brooke Window | Soprano/ Richard Butler | Tenor
The program: Luke Byrne Song*/ Anne Cawrse The Greatest of These*/ Meta Cohen Meteora*/ Nardi Simpson Dharriwa – Narran Lakes Dreaming*/ Paul Stanhope We might be fifty*/ Paul Stanhope Requiem
*World Premiere
Tickets
or call CRH Box Office 8256 2222

James O'Donnell Organ Recital
2025-07-29 20:00 | Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point, Sydney, NSW, 2000, Australia
Internationally acclaimed James O’Donnell was the Organist and Master of Choristers at Westminster Abbey for 23 years, responsible for the music at numerous significant occasions, from royal weddings to the state funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
O’Donnell makes his debut at the manuals of the Opera House’s magnificent Grand Organ, in a rare organ recital on this, the the world’s largest known mechanical tracker-action pipe organ, designed and built by Sydneysider Ronald Sharp. Standing 15 meters tall and featuring 10,244 pipes, its immense power and versatility, ranging from bold tones to delicate subtleties, will be on full display under O’Donnell’s expert touch. His repertoire will span 17th-century masterpieces to contemporary works.
The program: Johann Sebastian Bach Prelude and Fugue in E flat BWV 552/ Judith Bingham St Bride, assisted by angels/
César Franck Choral I in E/ William Walton Coronation March: Crown Imperial (1937)/ Maurice Duruflé Suite, Op 5 [Prelude, Sicilienne, Toccata]
A note from James O’Donnell
The program opens with one of Bach’s most powerful organ works, with its symbolic representation of the Holy Trinity, before showcasing how French and English composers utilised the sounds of the grand organ with a wide variety of styles and musical forms. Walton’s majestic Coronation March leads into Duruflé’s magisterial Suite with its thrilling final movement.

Sydney University Graduate Choir Sings Reverberations
2025-08-10 15:00 | Great Hall, University of Sydney
Sydney University Graduate Choir and Orchestra under Music Director Christopher Bowen OAM perform Reverberations featuring music by two of Vienna’s greatest composers, Franz Lachner and Franz Schubert.
Schubert’s Mirjams Siegesgesang (Miriam’s Song of Victory) is a tour de force composed in the year of his death at 31 in 1828. It is one of his most demanding roles for a soprano soloist accompanied by a large chorus and orchestra, as Miriam celebrates her brother Moses leading the Israelites through the Red Sea to freedom. The influences of Handel and Beethoven echo throughout this dramatically triumphal cantata, orchestrated by Lachner as a ‘labour of love’ after the composer’s tragically early death.
While Franz Lachner’s fame has not equalled that of his great friend Schubert, here is a rare opportunity to experience his hauntingly beautiful Requiem in F Minor. Composed in 1856 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Mozart’s birth, Lachner’s only Mass for the Dead is a romantic masterpiece. Paying homage to both Mozart and Schubert, it was widely lauded as ‘most perfect of its kind after Mozart’s Requiem’ and this performance is the chance for a contemporary audience to recognise and relish its unfading glory.
Soloists: Amy Moore – Soprano/Elizabeth Cooper – Alto/Richard Butler – Tenor/David Hidden – Bass
Tickets: $65 General Admission/ $45 Pensioners (no Seniors Card)/ $25 Children 16 and under & full-time students
Bookings or purchase at the door from 2:15pm.

PCQ Presents Bella Italia
2025-08-17 14:00 | Central Coast Conservatorium, 45 MannStreet, Gosford, NSW, 2250, Australia
Phoenix Collective Quartet, PCQ presents Bella Italia a program showcasing three different facets of Italy’s rich musical tradition, ranging from the elegance of virtuoso cellist Boccherini’s early quartet to Verdi’s glorious melodies and concluding with Giovanni Sollima’s nostalgic depictions of Italian life.
The rarely played string quartet by Verdi was his only chamber work. Its lush operatic style represents Verdi at the peak of his compositional prowess. Extended cello techniques are the common element between the Boccherini and Sollima works, with each composer featuring the instrument in his own unique style.
The program: Bella Italia Luigi Boccherini – String Quartet op 30 no 4/ Giuseppe Verdi – String Quartet/ Giovanni Sollima – ‘Viaggio in Italia.’
Concerts in Canberra Wesley Music Centre, Fri 15th Aug, 7pm/ Central Coast Conservatorium, Sun 17th Aug, 2pm.
Bookings
Annandale concert cancelled.

A French Rendezvous With The Joubert Singers
2025-08-17 15:00 | Mosman Art Gallery, 1, Art Gallery Way,, Mosman, NSW, 2088, Australia
Join the Joubert Singers for A French Rendezvous as they journey into a world of beauty and spiritual depth exploring the luminous world of French song, from the medieval to new art music, with composers including Fauré, Franck, Saint-Saëns, Boulanger and Ravel.
Conducted by Artistic Director Kurt Ison with soprano soloist Lana Kains and pianist Stacey Yang, the concert will be followed by afternoon tea.
Tickets available online at www.joubertsingers.org.au or click here or at the door.
Adult $45 / Concession $35

Masterclass With Takács Quartet In Sydney
2025-08-19 10:00 - 12:00 | Verbrugghen Hall, Sydney Conservatorium, Macquarie Street, Sydney, NSW, 2000, Australia
Learn from the best as members of the internationally acclaimed Takács Quartet share their experience and expertise with talented early-career artists and young music students in a Sydney masterclass.
Comprising Edward Dusinberre, Harumi Rhodes (violins), Richard O’Neill (viola) and András Fejér (cello) the world-renowned Takács Quartet is now entering its fifty-first season. Harumi Rhodes and András Fejér will run this exclusive masterclass during the ensemble’s national tour of Australia under Musica Viva Australia.
Admission is free but registration is required.
The Takács Quartet’s 2025-2026 season features varied projects including a new work written for them by Clarice Assad, commissioned by a consortium of North American concert presenters, a recently release for Hyperion Records, ‘Flow’ by Nokuthula Ngwenyama, and an album with pianist pianist Marc Andre Hamelin featuring quintets by Florence Price and Antonín Dvořák.
The ensemble’s North American engagements include concerts around the US. Members of the Takács are Artists in Residence at the University of Colorado, and during the summer months join the faculty at the Music Academy of the West, running an intensive quartet seminar there. The ensemble will also begin a new relationship as Visiting Artists at the University of Maryland.

A World Premiere From Omega Ensemble
2025-08-19 19:00 | City Recital Hall, 2 Angel Place, Sydney, NSW, 2000, Australia
Omega Ensemble presents Elevator Music, a captivating showcase of music for the clarinet featuring legendary British clarinettist, Michael Collins in his first Australian appearance in six years. The three-concert series in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra includes the world premiere of a new work by Australian composer Graeme Koehne.
Michael Collins first captured international attention at the age of 16, winning the woodwind prize at the first BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition in 1978. One of the world’s most recorded clarinettists, Collins holds the title of the most frequently invited wind soloist at the BBC Proms. In recent years, he has performed as a guest conductor with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, and Zurich Chamber Orchestra.
Joining Collins on stage is acclaimed Australian clarinettist, and Omega Ensemble’s Artistic Director, David Rowden. Renowned for his expressive artistry and technical brilliance, Rowden has enjoyed a career spanning over two decades, with performances across the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, South Korea, China, the USA, and Australia.
Together, the duo will perform the world premiere of Graeme Koehne’s Double Clarinet Concerto. Koehne’s latest work is a tongue-in-cheek thriller filled with joyful contrasts, soul searching melodies, and heart-racing rhythms.
Also featured in the program are Grammy-nominated composer Anna Clyne’s Stride and Aaron Copland’s Clarinet Concerto. Using fragments of Beethoven’s Pathétique Sonata, Clyne’s Stride refracts the work’s adored lyricism, in a captivating exploration of tension and release.
Aaron Copland’s Clarinet Concerto is a timeless masterwork that brilliantly showcases the clarinet’s expressive range. Opening with one of the composer’s most tender melodies, the work launches into an energetic cacophony of jazz rhythms and concludes with a thrilling clarinet ‘smear’.
Tickets
The program: Anna Clyne Stride/ Aaron Copland Concerto for Clarinet, Strings, Harp and Piano/ Graeme Koehne Double Clarinet Concerto (World Premiere)
The performers: Michael Collins – Solo Clarinet/ David Rowden – Solo Clarinet/ Omega Ensemble
Concerts in Sydney/ Melbourne, Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre on Saturday August 16th,
7:00pm/ and Newcastle, Newcastle City Hall, 290 King St, 7 pm.

Bach In The Dark With The Bard
2025-08-23 19:00 | Online. See booking link below.
Bach in the Dark presents Bach and the Bard, an hour-long concert which blurs the lines between words and music, connecting the words of Shakespeare to music by Bach, Mendelssohn, Fauré and Max Richter.
Presented by cellist Rachel Scott, harpist (and audience favourite!) Genevieve Lang and actors from Sport for Jove, this marriage of music and words takes you on a journey through all types of sound. There will be moments that make you smile, moments that make your heart beat slower, words and music that are familiar, and things that will be new promising to stay with you long after the livestream stops.
Bookings
Ticket sales will close at 4.30pm on the day of the concert. The stream will also stay accessible for a week after the concert.

Inner West Jazz Fest Returns
2025-08-29 19:00 - 2025-08-30 21:30 | Annadale Creative Arts Centre, 81 Johnston Street, Annadale, NSW, 2038, Australia
Sydney’s grassroots jazz and improvised music event, the Inner West Jazz Fest, returns this August with two nights of cutting-edge performances at the Annandale Creative Arts Centre. Now in its third year, the Inner West Jazz Fest (IWJF2025) presents a bold and generationally diverse snapshot of Australia’s creative music scene, with ten original performances across two stages.
The IWJF’s opening act will be Heaps Grass, an experimental, improvising folk trio comprising Ebony Tait, Lachie Mills and Jack Rosenzweig. This year’s program is highlighting a major new collaboration between acclaimed vocalist Leah Berry and legendary pianist Mike Nock, who will premiere Nock’s instrumental works with lyrics, offering an entirely new perspective on his storied compositional output.
Alongside this, Jack Stoneham brings his newest project Walk, exploring complex improvisational forms with a deeply personal edge, while Laurence Pike presents the debut of Hallucinations, an expansive work that fuses rhythm, electronics and future-facing jazz aesthetics.
Composer and pianist Novak Manojlovic returns with The Ceremony, a ritualistic blend of free improvisation and contemporary composition. Melbourne’s Helen Svoboda, known for her haunting combination of voice and double bass, will perform a solo set, while Miroslav Bukovsky a towering figure in Australian jazz, appears with a string trio for a rare chamber-style performance.
Audiences will also witness the Sydney debut of Dogs of Pleasure, a fiercely energetic duo from Tasmania whose visceral performances blur the line between form and chaos.
WJF is a rare example of a festival driven entirely by musicians and volunteers, without public funding or institutional support. Founded by curators Laurence Pike and Clayton Thomas, and produced by the team behind Johnston Street Jazz, the event is a celebration of musical risk, community energy, and the possibilities of collaboration. Its ethos is clear: place creativity, integrity and experimentation at the centre and let the music speak for itself.
Full program and tickets are available at www.innerwestjazzfest.org Capacity is limited and early booking is recommended.
