Melbourne Recital Centre has announced its 2026 International Classical Series, Heritage to Horizon, the first shaped by the MRC’s recently appointed Director of Programming, Iain Grandage.

Realised with guest curator Matthew Hoy, the season looks beyond the familiar boundaries of the classical canon, toward music that responds to the concerns of the here and now.

Iain Grandage. Photo supplied

Among the highlights is a collaboration in February between the Brodsky Quartet and William Barton, whose mastery of the yidaki has made him one of Australia’s most recognisable and respected musicians.

In March, Scottish composer Anna Meredith brings her celebrated work Anno to Melbourne. Pairing her own music with Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, Meredith reshapes one of classical music’s most beloved works through her striking electronic language, offering audiences a wholly different lens on a familiar favourite.

Later in the year, Bryce Dessner – of US band The National – takes the stage with musicians from Sydney Symphony Orchestra in September mixing chamber music with the sensibilities of pop and indie rock as well as...