Australia Ensemble UNSW has announced its 2026 season – four major concerts that promise a mix of chamber music classics, Australian premieres and new discoveries. The program will again be staged in the Sir John Clancy Auditorium at UNSW, where the ensemble has been based since its founding in 1980.

The new season ranges from Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale to Ravel’s Piano Trio. Guest artists include internationally acclaimed pianist Piers Lane, who will appear in the final program of the year, as well as Andrea Lam, Natalie Chee and Timothy Young.

David Griffiths, Dimity Hall and Julian Smiles – Australia Ensemble UNSW. Photo © Keith Saunders

Opening on 14 March, the first concert sets The Soldier’s Tale – Stravinsky’s theatrical masterpiece – alongside works by Elena Kats-Chernin, Nino Rota and a youthful Shostakovich.

A 6 June program pairs Beethoven’s Archduke Trio with Brahms’s autumnal Clarinet Trio, Harry Sdraulig’s Hat-Trick and Pēteris Vasks’s meditative Lonely Angel.

On 12 September, Australia Ensemble brings a cosmopolitan blend of Mozart, Debussy and Ravel’s contemporaries, with Jean Françaix’s ebullient Dixtuor at...