Musica Viva Australia (MVA) has announced its 2027 season. Across seven national tours and 49 concerts, the chamber music organisation offers returning favourites, Australian debuts and international collaborations along with four new Aussie works from William Barton, Jane Sheldon, Elizabeth Younan and Alice Chance.

“The beautiful idea at the heart of chamber music is the direct and respectful musical conversation between the artists,” said Artistic Director Paul Kildea.

“Our 2027 concert season expands this principle, fostering artistic collaborations between artists of shared vision across seas and time zones, between outstanding international musicians and the cream of Australia’s music-makers.”

The season kicks off in February with the Australian debut of French harpist Bertrand Cullier, who reunites with violinist Julia Fredersdorff and her ensemble, the Tasmanian-based Van Diemen’s Band. Together, their program spans from the 17th century with Purcell, Handel and Locke to the modern era, with a brand-new work from Jane Sheldon inspired by William Byrd.

Across April and May, three international music luminaries team up for a program of Romantic masterpieces in The Romantics. Andreas Ottensamer, Principal Clarinet of the Berlin Philharmonic, Australian cellist Sharon Grigoryan and Croatian-Austrian pianist Dejan Lazić perform works by Schumann, Scarlatti, Bartók and Mendelssohn in a program bookended by Brahms’ Clarinet Trio.

Esmé Quartet. Photo suplied

Following its acclaimed 2024 tour, the Esmé Quartet returns to MVA’s stages for a performance of string quartets by Amy Beach, Schumann, and Beethoven and American-Korean composer Juri Seo’s river at the end of the mind. Written especially for Esmé, the 2025 work offers a set of variations on a traditional Korean song Mother, Sister /엄마야 누나야.

The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge also featured in MVA’s 2024 program with Stravinsky, Duruflé and a new Damien Barber work in tow. In its 2027 appearance, the choir joins forces with Kalkadunga vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and composer William Barton. Barton joins the orchestra for a brand new original work for choir and didgeridoo in a program that also features choral classics and Fauré’s landmark Requiem.

Next, another familiar face: Spanish pianist Javier Perianes has been a regular presence on Australian orchestral stages since 2023. In September, MVA serves up his talents in a rare and intimate solo program. Alongside a brand new work from Elizabeth Younan, Perianes showcases the first part of his five-year solo project, with Schubert’s Wanderer Fantasy at its centrepiece.

Javier Perianes performing with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 2026. Photo © Ken Leanfore

“Javier Perianes has long struck me as a star in the shallows. There is something exquisite – magical, even – about his colouring, the way he takes a limpid phrase of Albeniz, or a more robust strut of Scarlatti, and proceeds to tell the most beguiling of stories,” said Kildea.

In October, French-Italian mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre makes her Australian debut with her partner, returning French lutenist Thomas Dunford, whose 2025 MVA program earned a five-star Limelight review earlier this month. Together, the two perform French song from Satie, Charpentier, Debussy, Offenbach and more. They’ll also deliver the world premiere of a new work by composer Alice Chance, setting words by Australian poet Verity Laughton.

Lea Desandre & Thomas Dunford. Photo © Julien Benhamou

The season closes in November with the Berlin-based Vision String Quartet, who also returns after a 2023 Aussie debut with MVA. It brings with it Mozart’s String Quartet K. 575, Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 8, and original works from its album, Spectrum.

MVA will also announce the program for its 2027 Sydney Morning Masters series on 21 October.

“It is a season of beguiling artistic encounters. Dig into any of the national tours and you will discover a rich vein of the best music and musicians in the world,” said Kildea.

“We invite you to discover it all with us – the musicians you’ve only ever heard on radio, the music you love passionately or will hear for the first time. Be entranced, be transformed, as we step onto the world stage.”

More about Musica Viva Australia’s 2027 season can be found here.