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Our 2026 Founders' Fund Project - MICMC Piano Trio Commission
The Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition (MICMC) is a prestigious quadrennial event that brings the world’s best young chamber ensembles to Melbourne to compete for $150,000 in prizes. The tenth MICMC will be held 2-9 July 2027. Eight piano trios and eight string quartets present concert programs over a six day period of rounds and semi-finals. Prize-winners are announced and prizes awarded at the end of the two Grand Final concerts.
For each competition, two local composers are commissioned to write new works, one for string quartet and one for piano trio. The appropriate work must be included in the program of each competing ensemble, so each new piece is performed eight times.
MICMC Artistic Director Wilma Smith has commissioned Melbourne-based composer Nicole Brady to write the piano trio for MICMC 2027. Continuo Community is excited to be supporting MICMC by raising the funds for that commission as our 2026 Founders’ Fund Project. This new work will travel with the competitor piano trios back to their home countries and around the world, extending our reach beyond local ensembles and audiences.
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Here is Nicole’s vision for the new work:
“The piece I’m proposing to write is called Decoders. The concept is decoding and interpretation as a broad physical phenomenon. How a performer decodes a score into sound, how players read each other across a stage, how listeners decode what they hear back into meaning. The trio works as three ‘inputters’ passing through, against, and around each other. Stylistically it’ll be rhythmic and virtuosic with serious technical and ensemble challenges, including gestural/choreographic moments. Structurally I’m pulling from video-game logic including speedruns, save points, NPC layers, a recursive form that loops and resets. Ginastera’s piano sonata no. 1, Andrew Norman’s Play, Alexander Schubert’s Scanners, Samuel Barber’s piano concerto (plus the piano trio repertoire, particularly Brahms) are reference points. What this gives the jury is clear ground to differentiate the different piano trios, how the ensemble locks in, precision, commitment to the gestural elements, deep felt states, and the interpretive choices each group brings.” — Nicole Brady, May 2026
Donate to our 2026 Founders' Fund project — MICMC piano trio commission
About the Founders' Fund
In October 2025 we launched our Continuo Community Founders’ Fund — a fund-raising initiative that allows us to support chamber music in more ways, more often.
The Continuo Community Founders’ Fund allows our supporters greater flexibility – we welcome all donations, large or small.
Past Founders' Fund Projects
In 2025, our first Founders’ Fund project supported a commission by Cameron Lam for Inventi Ensemble. This very special commission was for a work to be performed in concerts at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre for staff, visitors and patients.
Cam wrote the work in four movements, and a new movement is being premiered in each of four performances in 2026. You can watch a video of the first movement here. We’re delighted to be part of bringing comfort and pleasure to cancer patients and their carers.