Melbourne Recital Centre (MRC) will explore music’s capacity to mark life’s beginnings and endings in its 2027 subscription season, First Songs, Last Songs, the first curated by new Chief Curator Iain Grandage.

Bringing together leading international performers and Australian musicians, the program places contemporary voices alongside masterworks from across the centuries, with a particular emphasis on the personal stories and ideas that connect artists and audiences.

Among the season’s highlights are the return of Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson, composer and vocalist Caroline Shaw performing with the Kamus Quartet, and the Leonkoro Quartet joining cellist Umberto Clerici for Schubert’s String Quintet.

Iain Grandage. Portrait supplied

“There is a particular excitement in hearing a living composer perform their own work, and a profound poignancy in encountering a composer’s final masterpiece,” Grandage says.

“First Songs, Last Songs brings those experiences together through extraordinary artists, each with something personal to say. It’s an invitation to spend time with music that moves us, challenges us and connects us to one another.”

The subscription season unfolds across three series: Evening Lights, Morning Stars and Mostly Mozart.

The Evening Lights series opens on 26 February with the Idrîsî Ensemble, which brings ancient and endangered Mediterranean singing traditions into the concert hall.

Víkingur Ólafsson. Portrait © Ari Magg

Víkingur Ólafsson returns to Melbourne in March for a program connecting the intricate keyboard writing of Jean-Philippe Rameau with the colour and atmosphere of Claude Debussy and the repetitive patterns of Philip Glass.

Other highlights include the Australian debut of the Kleio Quartet with pianist Konstantin Shamray in May, followed by a June 2 concert featuring violist Lawrence Power with pianist Simon Crawford-Phillips and a September 22 concert with violinist Jakub Jakowicz, cellist Timo-Veikko Valve and pianist Paavali Jumppanen.

Caroline Shaw. Portrait © Kait Moreno

In October, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and vocalist Caroline Shaw joins the Kamus Quartet to perform her own songs alongside music by Josquin des Prez, Domenico Scarlatti and Ludwig van Beethoven.

The series concludes on 3 November when the Leonkoro Quartet reunites with Umberto Clerici for Schubert’s String Quintet, the composer’s final completed chamber work.

Roderick Williams. Photo © Theo Williams

The daytime Morning Stars series  features three artist partnerships: cellist Natalie Clein with pianist Stefan Cassomenos on 24 March; British baritone Roderick Williams with pianist Timothy Young on 7 July; and violinist Francesca Dego with pianist Andrea Lam on 9 September.

Mostly Mozart returns in partnership with the Australian National Academy of Music, with morning performances featuring Mozart’s Gran Partita and Symphony No. 29 alongside works by Beethoven and Joseph Haydn.

A wider program looks to the future

Beyond the subscription season, MRC’s 2027 program includes International Up Close, which brings international performers into the intimate Primrose Potter Salon. The series ranges from the Baroque repertoire of Les Kapsber’girls to German baritone Benjamin Appl performing Schubert, alongside emerging talent, new commissions and song masterpieces.

Dr Lou Bennett. Portrait supplied.

The Centre has also appointed Yorta Yorta Dja Dja Wurrung songwoman Dr Lou Bennett as Artist in Residence. Building on her collaboration with Aunty Joy Murphy Wandin on the Look Above spectrogram artwork for the Centre’s recently opened third venue, The Beacon, Bennett will help support and showcase the next generation of First Nations musicians.

CEO Sandra Willis says the season reflects music’s ability to preserve memory, express emotion and foster belonging.

“Across our wider program, that belief takes many forms – bringing audiences closer to extraordinary performers, giving artists room to explore and supporting the next generation of musical voices,” she says.

“Together, these experiences strengthen our role as Melbourne’s year-round festival of music and an enduring cultural home within our evolving Arts Precinct.”

Subscriptions for First Songs, Last Songs go on sale on 26 October 2026.