In his final year as Artistic Director, Roland Peelman has chosen to open the festival with William Barton, Persian tar player Hamed Sadeghi and Belgian jazz pianist Bram De Looze, as well as Lior and Nigel Westlake’s Compassion. Guitar virtuoso Pavel Ralev, violist Florian Peelman, France’s Trio Karénine and Dudok Quartet Amsterdam all make an appearance, as do Bach Akademie Australia and Luminescence Chamber Singers, in what promises to be an exciting week in the nation’s capital.

Limelight Editor’s Choice

Written for the King of Prussia, Mozart’s last Quartet leaves not a trace of the personal and material struggles of his final years. Classically poised, and generously conceived for the cello playing king, the work exudes musical happiness and blissful contentment. The joy of making music together, of playing string quartet, and having fun, is equally pervasive in the work of both Holly Harrison and the Polish master Bacewicz, whose work is enjoying a welcome resurgence. While Bacewicz embraces the traditional pedigree of the string quartet, Harrison injects theatricality and modern verve.

Forever searching for meaning behind the notes, Holland’s Dudok Quartet Amsterdam, also on their first tour to Australia, aims to show how music affects people.