For violinist Kate Suthers, beginnings are as much about curiosity as they are about courage. So it feels apt that her first year as Artistic Director of the Coriole Music Festival takes that idea as its theme.

“In a chamber music sense, beginnings provide a clear focus to strings,” Suthers says. “In a broader human sense, they can speak to works full of youth, naivety, curiosity and simplicity.”

Coriole Music Festival Artistic Director Kate Suthers. Portrait © Jamois

That philosophy is threaded through the 2026 program, which unfolds over Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 May at Coriole Vineyards, nestled among the rolling hills and vines of McLaren Vale. Presented by the McLaren Vale Music Festival Association, the weekend promises a heady blend of world-class music, fine food and Coriole wines, long the hallmark of this much-loved South Australian festival.

Drawing on her extensive professional contacts (prior to becoming Concertmaster of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra in 2022, she worked extensively in the UK), Suthers has assembled an enviable lineup of collaborators from Australia and abroad....