Looking over the seasons of Australia’s chamber ensembles for the year ahead, it’s always exciting to see what each group has programmed and how they plan to play with audience expectations, in a bid to push away from predictability and ensure that they keep things fresh. This also means we’re seeing more and more works by female or First Nations composers. It certainly suggests a terrific year ahead; audiences will be spoiled for choice with some enormously creative programs lighting up concert halls across the country. Here are some of the highlights.

Discussing the 2024 Musica Viva Australia season, Artistic Director Paul Kildea says he loves chamber music, but wants “to take a sideways view, almost like looking at it through a kaleidoscope”. As you might expect, the result is a very eclectic year of music.

The season opens in February with a true rarity – a performance of William Bolcom’s fantastic, cabaret-ish songs performed by soprano Anna Dowsley in a concert titled Long Lost Loves (and Grey Suede Gloves). Excitingly, there’ll also be more than a few international guests touring the country, including the German-based Esmé Quartet, which makes its Australian debut in April performing music by Debussy, Mendelssohn, Webern and Australian composer Jack...