Cairns Colossal explored pivotal moments in the history of Gimuy, now known as Cairns, and the concert opened with the well-rehearsed and disciplined Gondwana indigenous children’s choir. Directed by the artistic director and conductor Lyn Williams, the children sang Storm Bird and Birinyi by the late Guddu Gugu and the choir’s ownership of the music impressed.

The commitment showed in the eloquent lines, the clarity of diction and expressive tone. The body percussion and expressive moves were proudly unified. On another occasion, the choir could benefit from extra resonance through a judicious use of amplification.

Beethoven is a compositional giant who looms large over the world’s concert stages and justifiably so, but maybe he wasn’t convinced about his Sextet for Two Horns and String Quartet in Eb Major, Op. 81b. Probably written in 1795, the work lay around gathering dust before it was published in 1810. In the form of a mini concerto for two horns and string quartet and there are three movements.

Acclaimed horn players Stefan Dohr and Ben Jacks are a dream duo, the pick of the crop. Naturally, the AFCM’s artistic director Jack Liebeck is keen to show off their exceptional skill. These were especially revealed in the expressive second movement where the string accompaniment is minimal. Dohr and Jacks’ virtuosity and glowing lyricism impressed but this Sextet is never going to set the world alight. Beethoven does doom and rage, heartache and rebellion so much better than the hollow cheeriness of this Sextet.

Sam Wu in Cairns. Photo © Brian Cassey

Composer-in-residence Sam Wu’s Along the Pacific Flyway references the bar-tailed godwit, a bird that hangs out on Cairns’ Esplanade. Every year, it flies an epic 6,000 miles between Alaska and Australia or New Zealand. Wu relates to this migratory avian as he also lives a liminal existence travelling between Australia, the United States and China, the three countries he calls home.

The Orpheus Quintet’s performance was thoughtful, polished and cinematic. The shaping of Wu’s melancholic tuneful swirls evoked a flock of birds wheeling in the sky. The Quintet admirably emphasised the textural contrasts, the shift from smoothly gliding melodies to a bubbling percussive stretch powered by bassoon.

Karin Schaupp’s incarnation of Turina’s Sevillana (written in 1923) burned with rhythmical vitality and expressed the poetic fervour of this Andalusian dance. The meandering lyrical lines had an animated direction the Rasgueados (strummed chords) had convincing Flamenco attitude.

Alexander Sitkovetsky. Photo © Frontrow Foto

Faure’s Sonata No. 1 in A Major for Violin and Piano is a popular staple on concert programs. Husband and wife team Alexander Sitkovetsky and Wu Qian projected a marvellously lithe performance cast in a welter of sensual, variable colour. Pianist Wu Qian’s capacity to deliver phenomenal virtuosity at the softest whisper is extraordinary, the duo’s dovetailing at speed while executing a feathery tone is almost supernatural.

This was an entertaining program of diverse music performed at the highest level.

The Australian Festival of Chamber Music continues until 1 August.