Now in its 20th year, and its first with author/pianist Anna Goldsworthy as Artistic Director, South Australia’s Coriole Music Festival continues to solidify its position as a unique and intimate occasion where young talent, be it locally based or from further afield, inventive programming and music lovers convene for something very special. Over a series of three generous recitals the audience was treated to a diverse platter of chamber music, lieder cycles, and even a Bach cantata. Amongst familiar names and the more specialised, the work of two young composers, London-based Luke Styles and the talented award-winning local, Jakob Jankowski, was also aired.

Lucinda Collins and Konstantin Shamray at the 2019 Coriole Music Festival. Photo © Coriole Music Festival

Styles’ On Bunyah, a song cycle in its Australian premiere, proved to be rather appropriate due to its setting by the recently departed Les Murray. Lasting for nearly 40 minutes, the work is a fine example of modern Australian composition with beauty found in a neo-tonal idiom, rather than resorting to Sculthorpian bird mimicry and the like. Tenor Michael Smallwood gave an affecting performance, delivered with the clearest of diction and beauty...