Australian Haydn Ensemble's Artistic Director Skye McIntosh. Photo © Helen White

In a packed year, there are old works, new works and collaborations aplenty – in fact, just about everything but the kitchen sink (and maybe even that too if you keep an eye out). Here are some of the chamber music highlights to look out for.

Australia Ensemble UNSW says bonjour in March with an all-French program featuring pieces by Messiaen, Fauré and Ravel, performed with pianist Andrea Lam as guest artist. Its May concert leaps between fairy tales, unrequited love and jazz-inflected harmonies with music by Brahms, Robert Schumann, Vaughan Williams and Nikolai Kapustin’s ultra-jazzy Cello Sonata No. 2. In August, it touches on nature and the human condition with Arensky’s Piano Trio No. 1 and Crumb’s Vox Balaenae, as...