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

This singular recital offers a rare invitation into Richard Wagner’s inner world, bringing dramatic soprano Anna-Louise Cole and acclaimed pianist Kristian Chong together for some of his most evocative music for voice and piano.

To encounter Wagner in such distilled form is exceptional and to experience a voice of Cole’s sheer power and radiance at close range is extraordinary.

Anna-Louise Cole has rapidly emerged as one of the most compelling Wagnerian singers of her generation. Internationally hailed as a ‘born Brünnhilde’ with a ‘big, warm, flexible voice’ and thrilling top notes, she received a twelve-minute standing ovation for her debut in the Ring Cycle. Critics describe her performances as ‘tremendously appealing’, ‘convincing theatrically, and dazzling vocally’, while German and English reviewers alike praise her clarity of diction and dramatic intensity. Her Sieglinde was noted for its ‘rich, creamy’ tone and ‘astonishing’ power, confirming her place as a true Wagnerian artist with a major future.