With Artistic Director Wilma Smith at its helm,  the 2024 3MBS Marathon once again showcased some of Melbourne’s best-loved chamber artists. This year’s concert series was inspired by the 150th birthday of Arnold Schoenberg, revolving around the experience of listening to his Transfigured Night.

In the series’ fourth concert, titled Universal, the audience was catapulted across countries and cultures in an eclectic set that was rousing, hypnotic, and passionate by turns.

Collide Ensemble. Photo © Pia Johnson

Collide Ensemble – Yasmine Rowe (piano), Joseph Lallo (saxophone), and Yelian He (cello) – opened the concert with local emerging composer Robert McIntyre’s Phoenix. This bubbling work swept the audience away from the get-go, and the subsequent performance of Milhaud’s cheeky Scaramouche brimmed with equal energy. 

Some people say that all instruments merely aspire to capture the human voice. If this is your yardstick then the Indian veena could very well compete for top place. The Hari Sivanesan Trio – Bala Sankar Shastry and Thabo Mohanakumar (percussion) and Hari...