Ensembles - Continuo

Accademia Arcadia

Accademia Arcadia is a Baroque chamber ensemble of high originality. Known simply as Arcadia, this company was formed by Jacqueline Ogeil in 2001 to explore the trio sonata, cantata, early opera and grand liturgical music genres.

Its annual performances in the Woodend Winter Art Festival have been a popular feature, including liturgical gems with the outstanding chamber choir Ensemble Gombert. As well as the Baroque operas, first Australian performances with original instruments include Domenico Scarlatti cantatas, Haydn’s Harmoniemesse and Vivaldi’s Vespers.

Affinity Quartet

Since winning the ANAM Chamber Music Competition in their inaugural year, Affinity Quartet has established itself as one of Australia’s leading string quartets. Their international touring has included critically acclaimed performances in Europe at the Amsterdam String Quartet Biennale, Festival Les Voix Intimes Belgium, Fondazione Cini Venice, Mirabell Palace Salzburg; and in the UK at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Southbank Centre, City Music Society, and Prussia Cove International Musicians Seminar.

Arcadia Winds

Awarded a fellowship at the Australian National Academy of Music upon their formation in late 2013, they became Musica Viva Australia’s inaugural FutureMakers musicians from 2015–17. They have brought their brand of energetic, joyful and spontaneous performance to festival stages in almost every state and territory in the country; concert halls across mainland China; and listeners around the world through broadcasts of the BBC Proms Australia chamber music series. And they have revelled in musical partnerships with internationally renowned performers including the Australian String Quartet; piano virtuosi Lambert Orkis, Paavali Jumppanen and Anna Goldsworthy; and woodwind masters Ole Kristian Dahl and Thorsten Johanns.

Artamidae Quartet

Established in 2018 at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, the Artamidae Quartet comprises violinists Fiona Qiu and Donica Tran, violist Harry Swainston and cellist Nadia Barrow. As graduates the Quartet were winners of the Ross Peters 4MBS Chamber Music Prize and had the privilege to perform in masterclasses with members from the Borodin, Emmerson, New Zealand and Australian String Quartets.

The Artamidae Quartet are currently continuing their studies at the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM), where they are mentored by Sophie Rowell, Head of Chamber Music (Strings).

Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO)

Australian Chamber Orchestra

Founded by cellist John Painter in November 1975, the ACO has travelled a remarkable road to become one of Australia’s most dynamic performing arts organisations.

Since taking up the leadership of the ACO in 1990, Artistic Director Richard Tognetti has transformed the Orchestra into a major cultural export, performing over 100 times per year in concert halls around Australia and the world.

Charisma Ensemble

Charisma was founded by clarinettist Roslyn Dunlop and cellist Julia Ryder in 1995 to explore and develop music for clarinet and cello. David Miller joined the group in 2003. The group has premiered many works and enjoys an international reputation for lively and virtuosic music-making, receiving critical acclaim for tours in Australasia and Europe. Charisma moves easily across all kinds of musical boundaries – from classical to blues, avant-garde to tangos, and minimalist to multimedia works. The marriage of styles has led to performances in unconventional venues such as jazz clubs, art galleries, bars and open spaces as well as traditional concert halls.

Clinch Saxophone Quartet

One of the long standing members of the original Peter Clinch Saxophone Quartet was saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, composer and lecturer Lachlan Davidson. Early 2020 Lachlan came in contact with two outstanding Victorian performing artists: baritone specialist Sara Ann Beale and alto saxophonist Martin Hemingway. Two exceptional saxophonists and lecturers, trained in the superb tradition Peter Clinch had set up at Melbourne’s VCA, two young people who had already set up a colourful and inspired career of teaching and playing in many genres (classical, contemporary, folk-music, funk). The fourth member was an absolute newcomer to the scene: Dutch tenor saxophonist Niels Bijl. Member of the world famous Aurelia Saxophone Quartet for 17 years, with an international career as a performing artist, spanning 20 years and 4 continents, and a brand new resident of Victoria since January 1st 2020.

Collide

Collide unites three international artists, Yasmin Rowe, Yelian He and Joseph Lallo, into an exciting ensemble that splashes new colours on the classical works you love, as well as introducing new music by fantastic composers. Through the unique combination of Saxophone, Cello and Piano, Collide features works by Joseph Haydn, Max Bruch, Keyna Wilkins, Nikolai Kapustin, Svante Henryson and more. Whether it’s rearranging works by beloved composers or working with composers on premieres – Collide infuses life, energy and artistry into every performance.

The Consort of Melbourne

Consort of Melbourne

The Consort of Melbourne is Melbourne’s premier vocal ensemble, comprising eight of this city’s finest chamber singers under the artistic direction of Steven Hodgson. Typically performing a capella (unaccompanied) with one singer per part, The Consort of Melbourne champions both historic and contemporary repertoire, bringing 1000 years of vocal music to life with an intimacy and verve that leaves audiences spellbound. Our programmes include celebrated masterpieces heard alongside lesser-known gems, exploring the full expressive potential of human voices combined.

Croissants and Whiskey

Combining four of Melbourne’s most versatile and in demand musicians, Croissants and Whiskey brings a new energy to old instruments.

An unconventional blend of Harpsichord, G Violone, Baroque Viola, and Recorders creates new and unexpected timbres, blending the sonorous with the sharp, and making the old new again. Performing both baroque and modern compositions, Croissants and Whiskey is currently commissioning new works from diverse Australian voices, including an upcoming recording of Elizabeth Younan’s The Fertile Crescent for the ABC Composer Commissioning Fund.

Daphnis Ensemble

Daphnis Ensemble is an exciting Melbourne-based chamber ensemble. We perform traditional and contemporary works for piano, cello, and more!

Duo Chamber Melange

Duo Chamber Melange is a wonderful partnership between internationally acclaimed musicians, Ivana Tomaskova (violin) and Tamara Smolyar (piano).

Each of them has produced numerous recordings for national and international broadcasters and performed in many prominent venues across three continents.

A number of composers have written music for them as soloists and chamber musicians.

Duo Eclettico

Duo Eclettico was formed by Justin Kenealy and Coady Green to explore the wealth of repertoire available for this unique combination of instruments. Kenealy and Green share a passion for programming important existing repertoire, dazzling new transcriptions, and working with composers to further the breadth of repertoire for this ensemble.

ELISION Ensemble

Elision Ensemble

ELISION has been celebrated for its unique instrumentarium, close and longterm artistic relationships with composers, its virtuosity, and the ability and deep commitment of its musicians to renegotiate and re-invent performance practice and technique.

ELISION has commissioned over 200 new works, including repertoire classics such as Liza Lim’s Mother Tongue, co-commissioned with the Ensemble Intercontemporain and Festival d’Automne à Paris. ELISION has performed all over Australia and Europe. The group’s discography extends to twenty-two compact discs including recordings made at the Deutschlandfunk, Radio Bremen and BBC Maida Vale Studios for release on HCR, KAIROS, NEOS, NMC and MODE, reviewed to acclaim in Gramophone, The Wire, New York Times, the Sunday Times and BBC Music Magazine.

Ensemble 642

Formed in 2016, Ensemble 642 is Hannah Lane (baroque harp) and Nicholas Pollock (theorbo, lutes, baroque guitar). The ensemble explores the unique sound world of rare, early plucked string instruments, performing music from the late-sixteenth to early-eighteenth centuries, both as a duo and in collaboration with leading vocalists and instrumentalists. Inspired by a mutual fascination and passion for the art of basso continuo—an improvisatory practice fundamental to the performance of baroque music—and by their desire to pursue musical experimentation based on historical sources, Ensemble 642 creates innovative concert programs in collaboration with the finest early music performers in Australia and beyond, bringing to life exquisite music that hasn’t been heard for hundreds of years with the aim of sharing the spirit and emotion of baroque music with contemporary audiences.

Ensemble Françaix

Ensemble Françaix is thrilled to share with listeners the joy of mixed ensemble collaboration, inspired by the wit and vibrancy of the 20th-century neoclassical French composer Jean Françaix. The Melbourne-based group was founded in 2016 by oboist Emmanuel Cassimatis (MSO, MCO), bassoonist Matthew Kneale (MSO, TSO, OV, Arcadia Winds) and pianist Nicholas Young (Finalist ABC Young Performers Awards 2011), who together form the ensemble’s core as a ’double-reeded’ piano trio. The ensemble incorporates further emerging and established Australian performers as guest artists according to the instrumental needs of each concert program, crafting unique sound palettes for each recital experience that especially celebrate the neglected virtuosity and versatility of woodwinds.

Ensemble Gombert

Ensemble Gombert is Melbourne’s outstanding chamber choir, noted for its pure intonation and historic approach to choral sound and style. Named after Nicolas Gombert (c. 1495 – 1560), who has been largely ignored in the twentieth century despite an exemplary reputation amongst his contemporaries, the Ensemble specialises in a cappella performance of Franco-Flemish music of the High Renaissance.

Ensemble Liaison

Described by Limelight magazine as a ‘national treasure’, Ensemble Liaison is one of Australia’s leading internationally acclaimed ensembles. They are renowned for their captivating and engaging performances, appealing to audiences from all walks of life. They presented their first concert series at The Edge, Melbourne, in 2007 and have become known as a tour de force, recognised for imaginative and innovative programming, setting the trend for brilliant collaborations with leading artists. They have performed across Australia and New Zealand, including a ten-concert tour for Chamber Music New Zealand, and appearances at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Government House, UKARIA, Musica Viva Australia, Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville, Port Fairy Spring Music Festival and the Woodend Winter Arts Festival, and in 2012 gave a series of festival performances in Central Europe. Critics have hailed their performances with superlatives such as ‘spellbinding’, ‘flawless’, ‘a revelation’, ‘moving’ and ‘joyous’.

Fidelio Quartet

The Fidelio Quartet has been described as one of the most exciting forces on Melbourne’s Concert stage, offering a depth of intimacy with the performance of Beethoven. Each member of the Fidelio Quartet has an enviable reputation among the finest artists in Australia.

Firebird Trio

Firebird Trio – like its mythical counterpart which shone magically through the darkness – sheds light on music from all epochs. Founded in 2010, Firebird Trio has performed nationwide to critical acclaim, with a vibrancy of imagination that echoes its name. Described by The Australian as “an ensemble of immense energy and focus” and praised in The Age for their “togetherness, charisma and playfulness”, Firebird Trio has performed around Australia including for Musica Viva, Noosa LongWeekend Festival, Coffs Harbour Music Society, Camberwell Music Society, Macedon Music, Melbourne Recital Centre, 3MBS Marathon and ABC Sunday Live. Their performances are regularly heard on ABC Classic FM and 3MBS FM.

Flinders Quartet

Thibaud Pavlovic-Hobba (violin), Wilma Smith (violin), Helen Ireland (viola) and Zoe Knighton (cello)

Flinders Quartet (FQ) is instantly recognisable as one of Australia’s most loved chamber music ensembles. A quartet for the twenty-first century, FQ approaches its third decade with acknowledged musical skill and maturity. The group’s dynamic and stirring performances of a full spectrum of repertoire have audiences and critics articulating their esteem, and the quartet is a highly-respected force in Australian chamber music.

Forest Collective

Forest Collective is a not for profit artist collective focusing on contemporary classical music, dance and collaboration.

We commission, create, and present various art forms, often giving independent artists a platform to develop their practice and reach new audiences. Under the direction of composer and conductor Evan J Lawson, Forest Collective is run by a team of creative practitioners who strive to enrich audiences through multidisciplinary, innovative, collaborative, experimental, and traditional art forms from early career and established artists.

We pride ourselves on giving a voice to underperformed and underrepresented artists.

Genesis Baroque

Genesis Baroque is a Melbourne-based period chamber orchestra founded by Artistic Director and violinist, Jennifer Kirsner, and directed by baroque violinist Lucinda Moon. The ensemble comprises some of Australia’s finest historically-informed performers, and aims to explore the spontaneity, imagination, and richness of music from the 17th and 18th centuries through its intimate concerts at the Abbotsford Convent and regional performances across Victoria.

Golden Gate Brass

Golden Gate Brass brings a joy and energy to its playing that is nothing short of inspiring. Michael Olsen (trumpet), Fletcher Cox (trumpet), Aidan Gabriels (horn), Jackson Bankovic (trombone) and Jason Catchpowle (tuba) formed the band while studying at the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM), and this meeting of young musical minds has proven to be a winning combination ever since.

Inventi Ensemble

Inventi Ensemble have established themselves in Melbourne and are a leading force in Australian chamber music. Award winning performances in Australia’s leading concert halls and at festivals around the country have led to an enthusiastic following of their innovative programming and outstanding performance style. Inventi performances can range from a duo or trio, through to a chamber orchestra of 20 players. They are one of the most prolific chamber ensembles in Australia, with over 40 diverse concerts in their 2019 season. Inventi is an exciting voice in Australian music.

Invictus Quartet

“We are four individuals whose lives were brought together when we first formed as a string quartet for a music ensemble elective at university. However, we quickly realised that our mutual love and appreciation for string quartet would last far beyond a semester and decided to make this a lifetime commitment. We love exploring the unparalleled classical string quartet repertoire as well as collaborating with artists from all walks of life – from contemporary composers to R&B and neo-soul music producers – we strive to create music that will resonate with people in any way. Our goal is to share this ever evolving world of music with everyone.”

Joe and Zoë Duo

Zoe Black and Joe Chindamo are routinely described as edgy and a welcome new and unique voice to Australian Chamber music: their music is inclusive because it is informed by the rigour of classical music and the excitement and urbanity of jazz.

Their concert performances and two CD releases REIMAGININGS and DIDO’S LAMENT have met with highest acclaim from critics and peers.

The duo is also committed to presenting new music, much of which is composed by Joe Chindamo.

Islay Trio

Melbourne based Islay trio was founded in 2019 by Rollin Zhao (violin), Caleb Salizzo (piano) and Daniel Chiou (cello).

KIAZMA Piano Duo

KIAZMA Duo

Described as ‘masterful’, ‘positively ecstatic’ and ‘profoundly moving, subtle and exuberant’, the KIAZMA Piano Duo brings together the infectious musical synergy of pianists Aura Go and Tomoe Kawabata. Equally at home in two-piano and four-hand repertoire from the baroque to the present day, KIAZMA is passionate about sharing the unique combination of intimacy, intricacy, dynamism and power that each medium has to offer. The pair has recorded a highly-praised CD, Five Rocks in a Japanese Garden, which features first recordings of works by five of Japan’s foremost contemporary composers. KIAZMA has presented regular concert series at the Melbourne Recital Centre since 2016, a regional tour in 2018 and has undertaken ambitious projects such as a new take on J.S. Bach’s The Art of Fugue. As performer-composers, the duo is developing a new collaborative work with acclaimed director/designer Clare Britton and dancer/choreographer Kristina Chan. KIAZMA is committed to the performance of new, rarely-performed and undervalued repertoire.

Klara Quartet

Four of Australia’s best musicians come together in this new, exciting chamber music ensemble.

Musicians

Rachael Beesley, violin
Simon Oswell, viola

Luke Severn. cello
Andrea Katz, piano

La Compañia

La Compañia unfailingly embodies repertoire with a unique blend of precision, flexibility and joyful musicality. The celebrated Renaissance band unearths some of the most beautiful and fascinating music of the 16th and early 17th centuries with virtuosity and flair.

Ludovico’s Band

Ludovico's Band

Ludovico’s Band is one of Australia’s most dynamic baroque bands. Taking its name from the influential 16th century Spanish harpist, Ludovico, the band is acclaimed for its performances of music from the 16^th to the 18^th centuries, including the great works from the Italian and Spanish baroque.

Formed in 2002, the ensemble emerged from the desire to create a predominately plucked basso continuo band, while highlighting the solo repertoire of early plucked instruments. Led by Marshall McGuire (harp) and Tommie Andersson (theorbo/lute), it includes Ruth Wilkinson and Samantha Cohen.

Lyrebird Brass

Comprising some of Australia’s top brass musicians, Lyrebird Brass is a collective of artists dedicated to performing the finest brass chamber music. The group’s mission is twofold: to engage Australian audiences through exceptional artistry and accessible programming, and to expand repertoire through new commissions with a particular emphasis on Australian music and works by composers from underrepresented demographics. Members have performed across the globe in many of the world’s premiere ensembles, each bringing a unique musical background to the troupe . Lyrebird Brass is the first professional Australian brass ensemble to feature women as core members.

Melbourne Baroque Orchestra

The Melbourne Baroque Orchestra was founded in 2015 by Rosanne Hunt (cello), Shane Lestideau and David Irving (violins), and Greg Dikmans (flute), and enjoys the patronage of Elizabeth Wallfisch.

The orchestra hosts its own annual concert series in and around Melbourne. These near sell-out concerts bring audiences marvellous performances of fine baroque and classical repertoire on original instruments and showcase the outstanding qualities of our local players.

The Melbourne Baroque Orchestra regularly collaborates with the Australian Chamber Choir, the Choir of Newman College and Polyphonic Voices. The support of the Robert Salzer Foundation, Creative Partnerships Australia, and our growing family of generous private donors is gratefully acknowledged.

Melbourne Chamber Orchestra (MCO)

Melbourne Chamber Orchestra

Melbourne Chamber Orchestra is Victoria’s preeminent small orchestra and the leading independent Victorian chamber music organisation. For over 25 years, the orchestra has created a distinctive orchestral practice, with a collegial ethos, exploratory programming, and ambitious regional touring. The orchestra’s Artistic Director William Hennessy AM.

Melbourne Chamber Players

Lauded for its outstanding performances, Melbourne Chamber Players performs cornerstones of the repertoire and rare gems by lesser-known luminaries.

Directed by clarinetist Justin Beere, the ensemble features the next generation of the country’s most compelling music makers.

The ensemble has enjoyed an active life on stage with performances across Melbourne and regional Victoria, including live recordings for 3MBS Radio. Featuring regularly the Melbourne Recital Centre’s “Local Heroes” series, the ensemble looks forward to presenting many cherished pillars of the chamber music repertoire.

Melbourne Guitar Quartet

Formed in 2005, the Melbourne Guitar Quartet (MGQ) is a vibrant guitar based ensemble dedicated to the development of chamber music repertoire for the instrument. Utilising the unique concept of the Guitar Family of instruments (classical bass guitar, baritone guitar, standard guitar, treble guitar and octave guitar), the award-winning MGQ are continuously cultivating ground-breaking arrangements of major works for this idiom.

Melbourne Musicians

The Melbourne Musicians, founded by Frank Pam in 1975, comprises leading freelance players, including string teachers at Melbourne’s foremost private schools, and advanced students from institutions such as the Australian National Academy of Music.

The repertoire is very large, ranging from the 17th century to the present, including works by some Australians and some premieres. There is an emphasis on the best 18th century composers and the orchestra has earned a reputation for excellent performances of Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Haydn and Mozart.

Melbourne Octet

The Melbourne Octet was formed with the aim of presenting contemporary works to audiences both in Australia and internationally, as well as familiar, well-loved repertoire. We bring a combined experience in ensemble singing that allows us to explore rarely heard works, and we aim to provide a platform for Australian composers.

Melbourne String Ensemble

Melbourne String Ensemble is a dynamic youth string orchestra that offers exciting performance opportunities. The Melbourne String Ensemble was founded in 1985 and has a proud history of promoting excellence in music performance. Students perform high quality and challenging repertoire and develop individually as musicians while learning sophisticated ensemble skills in a variety of ensemble settings. Recent major works performed have included Schoenberg’s Transfigured night and Carl Vine’s Smith’s Alchemy.

The Muses’ Delight

The Muses’ Delight are musical explorers who join with guest artists to open a window to the past, illuminating historic works that still spark wonder today, centuries after they were first performed.

Nexas Quartet

Nexas Quartet are committed to sharing the musical diversity of the saxophone, showcasing its versatility and ability to cross genre boundaries. Their utterly startling, adrenaline-fueled precision and virtuosity, paired with their prerogative to share existing and new repertoire make their concerts a pleasure to experience. Nexas Quartet is joined by the incredible talent of harpist Emily Granger providing a unique and largely unexplored sound world of saxophone quartet and harp.

Orpheus Trio

The Orpheus Trio formed in early 2012. Comprising pianist Helena Kernaghan, violinist Kaori Sparks & cellist Sam Goble, the trio enjoy the challenge of being an interstate, rural dwelling ensemble with members calling Albury & Castlemaine home.

Orpheus have established themselves as one of Australia’s leading regional chamber ensembles, which was assisted by their role as ensemble-in-residence for the 2016-2019 Albury Chamber Music Festival’s. Throughout this time they collaborated with a diverse range of musicians including soprano Merlyn Quaife, clarinettist David Griffiths, and mezzo soprano Sally-Anne Russell.

Ossicle Duo

Ossicle Duo is an award-winning exploratory art music ensemble in Melbourne, made up of trombonist Benjamin Anderson and percussionist Hamish Upton. Since forming in 2018, the ensemble has quickly established itself as a powerful voice in the Australian art music landscape, receiving praise and recognition for their highly polished and compelling performances.

Ossicle Duo present complex and richly layered programs with a strong commitment to Australian voices and emerging composers. They have performed works by internationally recognised composers like Richard Barrett, Kaija Saariaho, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Michelle Lou, Mauricio Kagel, and John Cage, and they have commissioned new works from Australian composers Liam Flenady, Jaslyn Robertson, Jakob Bragg, Matt Laing, and New Zealander James Gardner.

Partridge String Quartet

Partridge Quartet

As Musica Viva Australia’s 2020 – 2022 Futuremaker artists, the award-winning Partridge String Quartet are fast becoming a force within the Australian classical music scene as one of the leading string quartets of its generation.

Peninsula Chamber Musicians

Formed in 2013, Peninsula Chamber Musicians Inc have rapidly developed into an outstanding presence in the artistic landscape of the Mornington Peninsula. Whether performing intimate chamber recitals or as the energetic Peninsula Chamber Orchestra, the group seeks to touch the hearts of concert goers and inspire the next generation of performers. PCM invites Primary and Secondary school students to attend their family friendly and engaging concerts free of charge.

PCM was born from the desire to create opportunities and a sense of place for Peninsula based classical musicians. Now, it draws together highly skilled musicians from across the Peninsula and beyond. PCM has achieved recognition and support from members of Melbourne’s professional orchestral community.

Penny Quartet

Penny Quartet have gained a reputation as a driven and multifaceted voice in Australian chamber music. Founded in early 2014, the group brings a vibrant approach to their performances across the country.

Penny Quartet regularly collaborate and record with various composers and musicians, both independently and as Festival artists. They have been part of the “Local Heroes” subscription series at the Melbourne Recital Centre since late 2017 and are two-time recipients of the MRC Contemporary Masters Award.

PLEXUS

Plexus

Melbourne ensemble PLEXUS brings together the talents of three of Melbourne’s most vibrant and versatile musicians, Monica Curro (violin), Philip Arkinstall (clarinet), and Stefan Cassomenos (piano). The name PLEXUS reflects this ensemble’s devotion to supporting and engaging an ever-growing network of exceptional artists across a variety of disciplines. Since launching in 2014, PLEXUS has commissioned over 100 new works.

Quercus Trio

Quercus is a new Melbourne-based horn trio. Featuring Carla Blackwood (horn), Elizabeth Sellars (violin) and Rhodri Clarke (piano), the trio are particularly interested in championing new and Australian works for the horn, violin and piano combination.
Flexible in its formation, Quercus extends from the trio, celebrating mixed small ensemble chamber music featuring the horn, with a focus on contemporary and Australian repertoire. The trio is currently working towards recording works by Australia composers at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music.

Quartz String Quartet

Acclaimed Melbourne string quartet Quartz unites violinists Kathryn Taylor and Philippa West, violist Merewyn Bramble and cellist Zoe Wallace in refreshing concerts of classical and contemporary repertoire. Frequently collaborating with sought-after Australian artists, Quartz’s vibrant performances are a confluence of Australian musical talent and world-class technique.

Rubiks Collective

Rubiks

Rubiks is one of Melbourne’s most dynamic contemporary art music ensembles, bringing together Australia’s most exciting and versatile young performers. Since debuting in 2015, the ensemble has been hailed as “a formidable contribution to Australia’s growing community of contemporary music makers” (Partial Durations) and commended for “incredibly personal, strangely spiritual and ultimately deeply touching” performances (Limelight Magazine). With a particular interest in storytelling and cross-art collaboration, Rubiks has quickly established a reputation for excellence, delighting audiences with their unique programming and dazzling virtuosity.

Salon Project

Salon Project is a Melbourne chamber music ensemble made up of dynamic and friendly musicians that host regular concerts in intimate settings like the salons of yesteryear.

Come and experience the magic of live classical music!

Solstice Trio

Solstice are a contemporary piano trio based in Melbourne. The trio formed in 2015, drawn together by a mutual desire to break the piano trio out of its classical music traditions with new repertoire, new performance venues, and a new audience.

The trio have spent the last five years engaging in genre-crossing collaborations, curating performances which extend the concert experience beyond usual expectations, allowing space for moments of social connection and the sharing of ideas.

Songmakers Australia

Unique in the musical landscape of Australia, Songmakers Australia brings together some of the country’s leading singers and instrumentalists in a diverse repertoire comprising some of the pinnacles of all chamber music.

Under the artistic patronage of Graham Johnson, founding director of the acclaimed London-based Songmakers Almanac, pianist Andrea Katz teams with soprano Merlyn Quaife, mezzo-soprano Christina Wilson, tenor Brenton Spiteri and bass-baritone Nicholas Dinopoulos in inspired programs that feature a dynamic interplay of song and chamber music.

Syzygy

Syzygy Ensemble came into being in the summer of 2009, formed by close friends Laila Engle, Julia Stoppa and Leigh Harrold. Things moved pretty quickly after that – in the following twelve months, Syzygy expanded into a quintet, won first prize in the chamber music section of the Australian Concerto and Vocal Competition, and were the only Australian group selected to compete in the 2011 Gaudeamus International Interpreter’s Award in Amsterdam.

The Parlour

The Palour

Central to the The Parlour’s philosophy is the idea that fine music performance can be enjoyed in a relaxed and intimate environment, often away from the conventions of the concert hall. Salons, drawing-rooms and lounges were once considered legitimate performance venues with a wealth of compositions created for them. These works gain a richer context when exhibited in their intended spaces. The Parlour focuses on the sung story-telling of Art Song and ballad, often spinning a cabaret-like narrative to bring the program together as a collection.

Trio Anima Mundi

International award-winning Trio Anima Mundi is one of Australia’s best-known chamber groups. Since their foundation in 2008 it has become renowned for its ‘Piano Trio Archaeology’ – the unearthing and performing forgotten works – and presenting these ‘findings’ alongside masterpieces of the piano trio genre and freshly-minted contemporary compositions.

Trio Avium

Trio Avium members are Ros Bandt on recorders, Ruth Wilkinson on recorder and equally versatile on the viola da gamba, and Cynthia O’Brien virtuosic on baroque violin.

As the name suggests, Trio Avium specialise in baroque music involving birdsong. They have performed at the Castlemaine Festival, and as far afield as the Victoria International Arts Festival in Malta. They have made a recording titled “Bird Song” with Orpheus Music.

Wattleseed Ensemble

Wattleseed Ensemble brings together some of Australia’s most exciting historical string players with a love of storytelling through music. Combining medieval, baroque, folk, and modern contemporary music, they create fascinating, intimate sound worlds.

Wilma and Friends

Wilma & Friends

Every year violinist Wilma Smith puts together three different groups and appealing programs including beloved masterpieces, premieres and undiscovered gems. Emerging young artists and established colleagues working together produce a musical chemistry that has become a special feature.

Wilma & Friends perform around Victoria, interstate, and in New Zealand but home base is one of Melbourne’s finest chamber music venues, Ian Roach Hall at Scotch College, Hawthorn.

And there’s more?

Not listed?

If you’re a Victorian-based chamber ensemble and not listed here, drop us a line with a link to your website or Facebook page.

If you’re not here it’s not because we don’t love you, it’s because you’re not yet on our radar.