At the end of Franz Schubert’s song cycle Die Winterreise, a beggarman stands barefoot on the outskirts of a village playing his hurdy-gurdy to those who pass by without listening. The traveller asks the question: ‘Strange old man, shall I go with you? | Will you turn your hurdy-gurdy to my songs?’ It is a humble end to 24 songs that map an entire emotional landscape with painterly flashes of colour and nuance.
What if we reimagined the work from a uniquely Australian point of view?
Musica Viva Australia’s 2022 production of A Winter’s Journey was a joyous collaboration in tricky times, and I jumped at the chance to bring Allan Clayton and Kate Golla back once again for this wholly unique recreation of Schubert’s masterpiece. Directed by Lindy Hume and framed with David Bergman’s brilliant animation of glowing images by pre-eminent Australian artist Fred Williams, it is at once familiar and unexpected, and a perfect introduction to our 2026 concert season.
International collaborations like A Winter’s Journey are close to my heart and an important component of our program. Lloyd Van’t Hoff, a wonderful Australian clarinettist and FutureMaker, joins the Doric Quartet on its welcome return to Australia, performing Thomas Adès’s Alchymia, one of the most outstanding chamber works of our time. Genevieve Lacey collaborates with the Grammy Award-winning Latvian Radio Choir in a program celebrating the particular sound and music of the Baltics, including a new work from Ēriks Ešenvalds, a setting of a text from the renowned Australian writer, Alexis Wright. And though now a treasured part of the Australian music scene, Timo-Veikko Valve joins Kristian Winther and Aura Go – another FutureMaker – in a program that includes one of the best piano trios ever written, that by Ravel.
My job is incomplete if we do not bring to Australia artists you may not otherwise encounter. In 2026 these include the incomparable American-Canadian violinist Leila Josefowicz with her long-term recital partner John Novacek, in a most sensuous program of early-twentieth-century masterpieces. Paul Lewis focuses his beautiful mind on the music of Mozart and his bedfellows, while cellist Nicolas Altstaedt returns to Australia with the outstanding French lutenist Thomas Dunford, surveying scores from Marais to Pärt.
Morning concerts in Sydney, and a significant spread of commissions – from Melody Eötvös, Charlotte Bray, Hollis Taylor and Jon Rose, Aristea Mellos, and Stephen Hough as well as Ešenvalds – complete a season of verve, beauty and optimism.
As I invite you to walk with the hurdy-gurdy man and fly with the swan, I must also acknowledge your part in this uplifting journey. It is you, our subscribers, who allow us to curate our year with confidence and imagination, finding opportunity in the unusual and solace in the familiar. This is your season. I welcome your support and participation in 2026.
Paul Kildea
Artistic Director
A Winter's Journey. Allan Clayton MBE & Kate Golla
Beethoven's Ghost. L-R: Kristian Winther, Timmo-Veikko Valve & Aura Go
Doric String Quartet & Lloyd Van't Hoff. L-R: Maia Cabeza, John Myerscough, Emma Wernig, Ying Xue & Lloyd Van't Hoff
Leila Josefowicz & John Novacek
Nicolas Altstaedt & Thomas Dunford
Paul Lewis: Mozart+
Latvian Radio Choir & Genevieve Lacey