Immerse yourself in the enchanting resonance of baroque harp and lute as Ensemble 642 transports you to seventeenth century Spain and Italy with music by Kapsperger, Ribayaz and rare gems from anonymous manuscripts. 

Delve into the Baroque’s fascination with emulating the human voice as two virtuosi transport you to a time when instruments spoke the language of the heart. From spellbinding diminutions on 16th century madrigals to emotive and melodic 17th century arias, their performance recreates the rich tapestry of vocal expression. Be enchanted by the beauty and emotional depth of music by D’India, Rognoni, Caccini and others, as harp and recorder weave harmonious tales of love, longing, and pure artistry.

Take a journey through history as ROK Duo perform at the Adelaide Holocaust Museum.

Former leaders of the Radom Chamber Orchestra in Poland, Marcin Krol and Lucjan Szalinski will transport you to the heart of 19th and 20th century Eastern Europe, invoking the spirit of prewar Jewish Poland with their soul-stirring music.

Refreshing Impressions features pieces by J S Bach refined and revised from earlier compositions, including a prelude from his Well-tempered Keyboard and a suite of assorted dances for the recorder, adapted from solo works for other instruments. Bach’s remarkable Sonata in G minor BWV 1030b for obbligato harpsichord and baroque oboe is another reconstruction.

A reflective, free concert, for Good Friday. Featuring a short baroque cantata retelling the story of Peter’s denial of Jesus; and the magnificent ‘Son of God’ Mass by James Whitbourn, for Choir, Organ & Soprano Saxophone.

The Passion of Christ has inspired composers for centuries. We start our 2024 Orchestral series delving into some of the riches of the Baroque period including selections from Scarlatti’s Stabat Mater and Handel’s Brockes-Passion.

Celebrated for his visionary interpretations of J.S. Bach, Víkingur Ólafsson, one of the world’s leading pianists, makes his Australian debut at Adelaide Festival with Bach’s monumental Goldberg Variations.

The 2024 Season opens with a brilliant program of variety, virtuosity and soaring melody. Bringing together again the dynamic duo of Alexandra Osborne and Clancy Newman, who together stunned audiences in 2023, we present a combination of trios and duos

Goldner String Quartet has curated a superb collection of works for this program, opening with music by rising Australian stars Harry Sdraulig and Christine Pan. This is followed by the Australian premiere of the latest quartet from Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks, his sublime String Quartet No. 6. In a remarkable celebration of their 30th and final year, the Quartet will also perform the Goldner Variations, a series of 30 short variations by Australian composers on Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ode to Joy.

Join soprano Janet Hattam and pianist Nerissa Pearce for a nonsensical, storytelling, classical music jaunt with the whimsical help of J. Michael Diack, Debussy, Kabalevsky and Peter Warlock with special guest artist pianist Stephen van der Hoek to enthral with Mozart's Twelve Variations on "Ah vous dirai-je, Maman"

Marta & Matej Sutora of Adelaide Virtuosi Trio are honoured to present another spectacular music evening introducing more inspiring compositions.

Celebrated for his visionary interpretations of J.S. Bach, Víkingur Ólafsson, one of the world’s leading pianists, makes his Australian debut at Adelaide Festival with Bach’s monumental Goldberg Variations.

This program explores how music can engage with the contemporary world as a medium for conveying important messages about nature and political issues. Pieces from Australian composers Ella Macens, Peter Sculthorpe, Paul Stanhope and Matthew Hindson are brought together with a wonderful work on the theme of nature from New Zealand composer Gareth Farr.

Songbirds celebrates the breathtaking virtuosity of Australian birdsong with original chamber works commissioned by Australia’s leading new music ensemble – Ensemble Offspring. Performed by Lamorna Nightingale (flute), Jason Noble (clarinet) and Claire Edwardes (percussion), Songbirds captures the familiar sounds of nature’s own musicians, virtuosic avian displays and Indigenous musical perspectives on these beguiling creatures of the sky.

Music that echoes birdsong and the sounds of the natural world is at the core of this special new program from Adelaide Chamber Singers, led by Artistic Director Christie Anderson.

In this first of their three concerts, the focus is on uplifting Australian works from the 2000s by Nigel Westlake, Ross Edwards, Elena Kats-Chernin and Carl Vine. This will be one of the final performances of the Quartet in Adelaide.

In this concert, audiences will witness Feldman’s take on the Rothko Chapel, where visitors often complain the paintings are indistinguishable from the background. Janáček reflects on how love (or the possession of another) fails to enable us to escape the mundanity of existence. Beethoven closes with fear and anxiety at the “unbearable lightness of being”, posing the question “must it be?” and answered with the affirmation “yes, it must be”.

This is a reflection on gratitude – or a lack of it – in music. Beethoven’s Heiliger dankgesang, a hymn of thanks to God on recovering from illness, is juxtaposed with the thankless task of composing for Rebecca Clarke: critics decided that she not only had not written it herself but that she didn’t even exist. A new work by Jakub Jankowski explores instances when composers have stolen from one another. Does anything ever come from Nothing?

Arbor Wind Ensemble, some of Adelaide's finest woodwind players under the baton of Alex Roose, present masterworks of late Romantic wind music. The serenades by Dvořák and Richard Strauss are considered to be among the finest music written for this combination of instruments. The luscious harmonies ring through the vibrant acoustic of Epiphany Church.

A reflection on longing, from the tormented lovelorn woman of Janáček’s Kreutzer Sonata to Schubert’s yearning waltzes. Arvo Pärt charts the path of Sarah’s infertility – the absence that defines her – as it transforms into the presence of Isaac.

The program is empty for this short outdoor experience in UKARIA’s stunning gardens. Six musicians each briefly bring music of their choice, unknown to each other and to the audience. The ticket price includes beverages and canapés.

Bach gazed into the beyond and witnessed the ultimate Being; Ligeti and Shostakovich saw only a void. Bach’s music reflected the music of the spheres; Ligeti composed ex nihilo. For Shostakovich, a Funeral was the final end; for Bach, it was an approach to the throne of God.

Performed by Chloe Lankshear, Emma Woehle, Louis Hurley, David Greco, Richard Tognetti, Satu Vänskä, Kristian Winther, Caleb Wright, Sharon Grigoryan & Donald Nicolson.

The title of this concert quotes from King Lear, a play reflecting on the recent introduction of Nothing into European thought – an idea then imposed on Australia as terra nullius. Rhyan Clapham (Dobby) raps into life the consequences of Nothing on Indigenous identity and history. Beethoven’s Archduke, imbued with a redemptive power exemplified by Murakami, captures the miraculous moment of transcendence as the composer descends into aural oblivion.

A meditative experience that brings us as close to musical Nothing as we dare, while asking the question of whether ultimate fulfilment can be found in that liminal space. Just four musicians on stage – master percussionist David Jones, Carmen Warrington, violist Hanna Lee and violinist Kristian Winther – interspersed with musings from actor Katherine Tonkin.

Performed by David Jones, Carmen Warrington, Hanna Lee, Kristian Winther & Katherine Tonkin.

Massenet’s meditation empties our minds and Satie’s Relâche plays on the idea of a cancelled performance. Beethoven’s Cavatina has been sent into the Nothingness of outer space on the Voyager Golden Record, while his Grosse Fuge was regarded by its first audiences as unintelligible.

Performed by Richard Tognetti, Satu Vänskä, Hanna Lee, Li-Wei Qin, Konstantin Shamray, Katherine Tonkin & Craig Jeffrey.

This special concert performance previews a major excerpt from a new opera by Nicholas Lens, a Flemish composer from Belgium, with a libretto by J.M. Coetzee, based on his extraordinary novel Elizabeth Costello.

Join mezzo-soprano Anna Dowsley and pianist Michael Curtain for an evening of storytelling over the piano, inspired by the work of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer William Bolcom.

Long Lost Loves (and Grey Suede Gloves) is a new concert from Musica Viva Australia, written and directed by Constantine Costi and devised by Paul Kildea and Ian Dickson AM.