2027 Featured Artists

Firebrand pianist Ronan Apcar and trailblazing saxophonist Alice Morgan join forces in a program that celebrates joy and ebullience.

Spanning a vast spectrum of repertoire ranging from film music to ragtime to jazz, the pair highlight their virtuosity in a showcase of music full of rhythmic vitality and vivid musical colours.

ARIA award-winning guitarist Karin Schaupp, celebrated worldwide, brings a program spanning centuries and styles, from timeless works by Bach, Schubert and Tárrega to brilliant Australian works by Joe Chindamo, Richard Charlton, and brand new pieces written especially for Karin by Ross Edwards, Phil Moran and Tara Lynam. With her playing described as “beyond comparison” (Rhein Main Presse, Germany) and “electrifying” (Australian Stage), this is a rare opportunity to experience up close the unmatched artistry of Karin Schaupp, and enjoy anew the exquisite beauty of the solo guitar.

The music of the Metin Yilmaz Quartet unfurls like a breath from the mountains — carried by the mystical voice of the Bilûr/Kaval, the ancient flute of Metin’s homeland.

Featuring Metin Yilmaz on Bilûr/Kaval flute, along with Matt McMahon (piano/keyboard), Jodie Michael (drums), and Steve Elphick (double bass), the quartet shapes a sound that is both contemporary and timeless, blending Anatolian and Kurdish traditional music with jazz improvisation, reflecting a fusion of cultural heritage and contemporary expression.

The Fantastical Life of Daniel Solander is a vibrant and captivating musical journey that glimpses Cook’s 1770 voyage through some uncommon perspectives – those of Swedish botanist Dr Daniel Solander, the ship's quirky scientific advisor, and the continent’s First Nations peoples.

This performance includes an optional opportunity for a local volunteer to join as actor/narrator.

A cello and piano recital built around sonatas by two powerhouse German romantic composers, Johannes Brahms and Richard Strauss. Both in F Major, both written in the 1880s, towards the end of Brahms's compositional life and the very beginning of Strauss's. Brahms’s Sonata reflects the depth, structural mastery, and introspective lyricism of a composer nearing the end of his creative life. In contrast, Strauss’s early Sonata reveals the bold sweep and emotional expansiveness of a young composer on the brink of reshaping late Romantic music. 

Sonya Lifschitz is an award-winning Ukrainian-Australian pianist, performance-maker, pedagogue, artistic researcher, and cultural leader at the forefront of classical and contemporary art music. 

This program interweaves Philip Glass’s sublime Metamorphosis with Nocturnes by Chopin and Scriabin, Tchaikovsky’s luminous White Nights, and George Crumb’s ethereal Dream Images. Moving between lush Romantic lyricism and Glass's characteristically hypnotic minimalism, the program traces a reflective arc through night, dreams, and transformation. The recurring return to Glass creates a unifying thread, while the surrounding works illuminate resonances across centuries exploring the patterns and shifting colours of the nocturnal imagination.

Rosie Gallagher (flute), Chris Pidcock (cello), and Lee Dionne (piano) present Salon de Virtuosi. A chamber program spanning Bach, Mendelssohn, and a reimagined selection of songs by Alma Mahler and Alban Berg.