It’s unusual for a chamber music concert to open with trombone, and yet it is Harrison Steele-Holmes’ warm burnish of brass that opens the first Sydney Symphony Fellows concert of 2026, announcing the arrival of a new cohort of instrumentalists.

With 13 instrumental fellows joining the ranks this year, in addition to four new conducting fellows, the evening’s concert is the celebratory launch of the SSO Fellowship’s biggest year yet.

Meet the Felows: St James’ Church, Sydney. Photo © Cassandra Hannagan

On an especially hot summer evening, St James’ King Street is already a challenging environment for performers and audience alike. The opening work, Karl Amadeus Hartmann’s lesser-known Dance Suite for Wind Quintet, is an engaging distraction from the heat, performed with agile and confident musicality, particularly in the demanding and well-projected melodic lines of Justin Wang (clarinet) and Sophie Kukulies (trumpet).

This is followed by Erwin Schulhoff’s Concertino for Flute, Viola and Double Bass, one of the highlights of the evening. The delicate refinement of Kara Thorpe’s piccolo resonates warmly throughout the church, supported by an energetic undergrowth of...