Artistic Director Eugene Ughetti’s 2026 program is deeply rooted in place, from site-specific bell works at Parliament House and the National Carillon to chamber and choral premieres.
Anna-Louise Cole sings Wagner Lieder and Strauss’s Four Last Songs, the Australian String Quartet surveys British music from Purcell to Britten and Rebecca Clarke, and Switzerland’s Ensemble Contrechamps delivers a meditative performance of Jürg Frey’s Récit des sensations fragiles at Snow Concert Hall. Luminescence Chamber Singers unveils a program built around a bespoke vocal-processing system, while The Rite of Spring closes the festival in Stravinsky’s own arrangement for two pianos and percussion

Limelight Editor’s Choice

Begin your Sunday with breakfast and a journey into sound, meditation and the divine. Internationally acclaimed accordionist James Crabb, one of the world’s foremost classical accordionists, leads an intimate morning recital in the austere and serene Chapel of the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture. The performance extends into a reflective conversation with CIMF Artistic Director Eugene Ughetti, exploring how music and artistic practice intersect with spirituality.

The program traces spiritual expression across centuries. Ross Edwards’ Water-Spirit Song invokes the purity and renewal of natural ritual. J. S. Bach’s chorale prelude Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesus Christ offers a direct, heartfelt plea of devotion shaped through profoundly simple counterpoint. Sofia Gubaidulina’s De Profundis, inspired by Psalm 130, draws the listener ‘out of the depths’ toward transcendence through sound, struggle and ascent. Astor Piazzolla’s Ave Maria brings a modern, lyrical gesture of Marian reverence before the journey returns to home with Edwards with Water-Spirit Song II.