A gin bar in the hallowed space of a synagogue? Beanbag seating for classical recitals? Vladimir Fanshil’s Live at Yours venture has never been interested in doing things the conventional way. 

Fanshil speaks to Limelight from his home in Vienna. The weather in the Austrian capital is appalling, he says. “Seriously, it is the worst most of us can remember, weeks and weeks of grey and cold,” he says. “I can’t wait to get back to Australia.”

Over the next half hour of conversation, Fanshil – a conductor, entrepreneur and tireless impresario – unpacks his most ambitious Live at Yours season to date, one that feels less like traditional touring concert series and more like act of reinvention.

Live At Yours at the Great Synagogue, Sydney. Photo supplied

Live at Yours was born from an instinct to innovate, he says. “In Australia, if you want something to happen, you have to make it happen yourself. There isn’t any government support for the promotion of excellence. I’ve even stopped applying for grants,” Fanshil says bluntly. “We have to rely on private sponsorship and box office. We get by, but we always have to be on the front foot, offering something new.”

For example, this year sees the launch of Live at Yours Up Late – a series of late-night performances with a pop-up cocktail bar and – if all goes to plan – ‘listening lounge’-style beanbags. 

“It’s part of a bid to coax Sydney out of its early-to-bed habits, Fanshil says. “In Vienna, coffee houses are open until 9pm and then they start serving wine. It’s seamless and conversation flows. That’s where culture lives. We need more of that. Sydney has to get over this ‘early-to-bed’ thing that’s developed in the past few years.”

Vladimir Fanshil. Portrait supplied

Created with his partner, soprano Eleanor Lyons, Live at Yours began as a series salon-style concerts in private homes. In just a few years it has grown into a multi-city series presenting major international artists in grand-yet-intimate venues. 

This year’s season includes three international stars making their Australian debuts – violinist Sergey Krylov, pianist Lucas Debargue and sopranist Maayan Licht – with each artist performing concerts in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide and masterclasses in partnership with the Sydney Conservatorium and regional centres including Castlemaine.

The “accidental” synagogue circuit

Live at Yours’ close association with synagogue venues was not strategic at first – it was opportunistic.

“In 2020 we had a City of Sydney grant and had to present in the CBD. We tried galleries, even a coffee roastery,” Fanshil recalls. “Then we did one concert at The Great Synagogue because I had a connection. It went off. The acoustics were beautiful. The atmosphere – extraordinary.”

Sydney’s Great Synagogue, built in the late 1870s, seats around 550, with audiences sitting close together on wooden benches. Live at Yours concerts frequently sellout every seat. “It’s intimate but grand,” Fanshil says. “But most of all, it has soul.”

Melbourne followed, with concerts at Toorak Synagogue drawing crowds of up to 1000 before security concerns temporarily forced a move to the Melbourne Recital Centre. Audience feedback was swift.

“People wrote to me saying, ‘Don’t change the venue – that’s what makes it special.’ These heritage spaces create atmosphere. They’re places of communion.”

In the wake of social and political tensions that have reverberated across Australia, those spaces have taken on added meaning.

“In times of division, coming together in a synagogue or a church – sitting close, listening – that’s one of the most human things we can do,” he says. “Some people are mourning, some celebrating, some just enjoying music. But we’re together. Music is the superglue of humanity.”

Live at Yours in 2026

Sergej Krylov. Portrait supplied

First up in the Live at Yours season is violinist Sergej Krylov, widely regarded as one of the most compelling violinists of his generation – a player of electrifying virtuosity and probing musical intelligence.

A regular guest with the London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, DSO Berlin, Budapest Festival Orchestra and NHK Symphony, Krylov performs on the 1710 Stradivari Camposelice. Its distinctive, singing voice has become inseparable from his artistic identity.

“Krylov has this extraordinary combination of fire and depth,” he says. “He’s not just a virtuoso – he’s a thinker. When he plays Ravel or Franck, you feel the architecture, but you also feel this daring imagination. And when you hear that Stradivarius from five metres away, not from the back of a 2000-seat hall … That changes everything.”

Lucas Debargue. Portrait © Felix Broede

If Krylov represents virtuosity grounded in classical tradition, pianist Lucas Debargue embodies a more unconventional path.

Debargue’s international ascent began at the 2015 Tchaikovsky Competition, where critics and audiences were stunned by the originality of his musicianship. Unlike many laureates, he arrived not from a rigid conservatory pipeline but from a background equally nourished by literature, painting and jazz.

“I first heard him after the Tchaikovsky Competition,” Fanshil recalls. “I was working around the Mariinsky [in St Petersburg] at the time. His Ravel – I’ve never heard anyone play it like that. It was beyond belief.”

Since then, they’ve struck up a personal relationship, says Fanshil. “By chance, I met his girlfriend who lives in Vienna, and I said, Can you give me his number? I called him, and half an hour later we were talking and I invited him to Australia – just like that. No agents, no complex arrangements. We had dinner only last week.” 

In recital, Debargue is known for meticulous craft coupled with fearless imagination. He’s also a fine jazz player, Fanshil adds. “He’ll be playing his variations on Gershwin’s Summertime to end his concerts. Honestly, his performances feel less like presentations and more like explorations.”

Maayan Licht. Portrait © Nelya Agdeeva

Sopranist Maayan Licht brings yet another dimension to the Live at Yours season.

Fanshil first heard the Israeli-born singer in Vienna. “He was the superstar of the evening,” he says. “His coloratura is mind-blowing.”

Licht’s career straddles opera stages and social media platforms. A charismatic presence with a substantial online following, he pairs fearless virtuosity with theatrical flair. When Fanshil approached him – via Instagram, at first, then over coffee – Licht agreed immediately. He has never performed in Australia before.

“He’s extroverted, he’s bold, he’s funny,” Fanshil says. “But the technique is extraordinary.”

Licht’s Sydney and Melbourne concerts (with harpsichordist Neal Peres Da Costa, violinist Julia Fredersdorff and cellist Anton Baba) are already attracting interstate bookings – including one couple flying from New Caledonia.

“It shows there’s appetite for something different,” Fanshil says.

Satu Vänskä. Portrait supplied

The season concludes with the Satu Vänskä Trio, led by the Finnish-Australian violinist known to Australian audiences through her long tenure with the Australian Chamber Orchestra. The trio’s programming blurs classical and contemporary boundaries, bringing the ensemble’s trademark intensity into Live at Yours’ close-quarters format.

For Fanshil, chamber music sits at the heart of the project.

“When you present chamber music the way it was originally intended – close, conversational, salon-scaled – it feels humane,” he says. “You’re not projecting across a vast auditorium. You’re sharing.”

Beauty against the noise

The logistical juggling behind Live at Yours is immense but Fanshil’s motivations remain largely unchanged from those early days creating salon experiences. 

“We’ve lost a lost of the beauty in the world,” he says quietly. “I feel that strongly. What we’re trying to do is restore a little of that beauty.”

In a time of political tension and cultural fragmentation, Live at Yours is an invitation to proximity and connection. “In times like this,” Fanshil says, “where there’s division and friction, coming together to listen is powerful. It’s basic. It’s human.”

“If we can bring people together for 80 minutes and make the world slightly more beautiful – that’s enough for me.”

For more information on the 2026 Live at Yours season, visit liveatyours.com.au