Ensemble Apex has got a brand new bag for 2025, and it’s only going bigger from here.

The ensemble is set to present the inaugural Apex Festival on 11–12 October at Sydney’s Lower Town Hall, and with it, the group is turning over a new leaf, says Artistic Director and conductor Sam Weller.

Sam Weller. Photo © GabrielleMary Photography

Weller’s musical figure is ever on the rise. This year, he was selected as one of six winners in the International Conducting Competition Rotterdam, which will see him undertake a year-long development program ahead of the finals next June. His conducting work keeps him in the Netherlands for nine months of the year, and then calls him back to Australia during the Dutch summer.

“I love coming back so much. I love the people here, and I love our music scene as well. It’s small and contained, but I think there’s so many amazing creatives here, and that’s such a big source of inspiration for me overseas as well,” Weller says. “It really fuels me, coming...