Australian Accent – February 2026
Your essential coast-to-coast guide to the Australian music being played on our concert stages this month.
Maddy Briggs is a writer, sound designer and composer who works across theatre, screen, dance and video art. Her work has been featured in VIVID Sydney, MUSLAB’s International Electroacoustic Music Festival, SBS on Demand on BBC Music 6. She was also a 2024 Media Fellow with Bang On a Can.
Your essential coast-to-coast guide to the Australian music being played on our concert stages this month.
"These remarkable artists arrive at a time of reflection," says SDC Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela.
Co-director and cellist Chris Howlett on how the Bendigo Chamber Music Festival gives back to a mighty, art-loving regional community.
The New York-based Australian composer has been honoured with €35,000 and a digital recording release; Jordi Savall takes home the big prize.
FQ commissions three major works over five years from Melody Eötvös to allow "the expressive possibilities of the quartet medium to be fully explored".
The Hansen Little Foundation has ensured the Musica Viva program will continue in 2026 after its Creative Victoria funding was discontinued.
Emerging composer Jessie Leov represents Australia at the festival, with two more works by Australian-born composers in the lineup.
Olli Leppäniemi, Lerida Delbridge and Robert Smith have all earned permanent positions within the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
"A deeply regrettable outcome": Just hours after Adelaide Writers' Week director Louise Adler resigned, the entire event has been shelved.
Committed to championing First Nations music, the new music group makes the move in order to "pass the baton onto the next generation".
Emily Sun, Nexas Quartet and a world premiere by Ross Edwards are among the highlights of a regional festival flush with Aussie talent.
This month’s performance highlights from ABC Classic, independent radio and streaming.
Four Winds offers a rich assortment of classical and contemporary programs, an Easter Weekend program and various exciting collaborative works.