After 34 years based in Townsville, the Australian Festival of Chamber Music (AFCM) relocated to Cairns following the failure of a long-promised acoustically resonant new theatre to materialise, according to festival organizers. The move to the tropical Queensland city opened up new venues including the Tanks Arts Centre, a heritage-listed multi-arts venue housed in converted World War II naval oil storage tanks, where Berlin Philharmonic principal horn Stefan Dohr observed crocodiles and breaching whales on a day off.
New Repertoire and Environmental Tributes in Cairns
The festival’s relocation prompted the commissioning of new chamber works celebrating the local environment, according to artistic director Jack Liebeck. Australian based in Las Vegas composer-in-residence Sam Wu penned Forest, Ocean, City, a tribute to Cairns-Gimuy that premiered at the opening Gala. Scored for flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello, and piano, the piece channeled a glistening rainforest in the wet season, a gently breathing sea, and urbanity’s darker voice, with pianist Piers Lane executing a pattering element in the upper register to reflect raindrops.
Alongside contemporary works, the festival featured standard repertoire. Violinist Alexander Sitkovetsky led an account of Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik, while Charlotte Miles performed Bach’s Suite no. 4 for Solo Cello on board The Spirit of Cairns lunchtime cruise, unfazed by the hum of the boat.
Did you know? The Tanks Arts Centre, one of the festival’s unique performance venues in Cairns, is housed inside converted World War II naval oil storage tanks.
Multimedia Productions and Indigenous Collaborations
Artistic director Jack Liebeck incorporated Indigenous culture into the programme, according to festival documentation. The Indigenous children’s choir Gondwana performed in ‘Cairns-Colossal’, an evening event charting the city’s 150-year history. Didgeridoo specialist William Barton performed his work Dialogue, an improvised piece designed to communicate between Indigenous and non-indigenous voices.
The festival also presented Wonderful World, created by French cellist Christian-Pierre La Marca. The multimedia ode to nature featured visual imagery by cinematographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand projected onto the back of the stage while an ensemble of string players, branded as the All-Star Orchestra, surrounded the soloist. The programme paired harrowing footage with melodic pieces including Fauré’s Après un rêve, Mancini’s Moon River, and Arlen’s Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
Rare Works and Literary Tributes
Performances also highlighted overlooked historical repertoire. Violinist Alexandra Raikhlina and pianist Kristian Chong delivered a reading of Australian composer Margaret Sutherland’s impressionistic Nocturne for Violin and Piano, composed in 1944. Sutherland’s early compositional ambitions had faced opposition from her husband, a psychiatrist who believed female music creation indicated a mental disorder, according to festival background notes.
Cellist Julian Smiles performed Arvo Pärt’s Spiegel im Spiegel alongside pianist Kristian Chong, generating a prolonged silence from the audience before applause. Later in the programme, tenor Roger Tritschler sang excerpts from Schubert’s Die Winterreise, interspersed with poetry recitations by Stevie Smith, Edgar Allen Poe, John Donne, and Thomas Moore in a programme dedicated to the memory of Australian literary figure David Malouf.
Masterclasses and Mentorship
As part of the festival’s educational programming, University of Queensland violin lecturer Doretta Balkizas coached a string quartet from the University of Melbourne in a masterclass featuring the first movement of Haydn’s String Quartet in B flat, op.76, no.4. Balkizas urged the student musicians to avoid tentative phrasing, advising them to “try breathing out in the spirit you want to convey as you produce a sound.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did the Australian Festival of Chamber Music move from Townsville?
After 34 years in Townsville, the festival relocated to Cairns because a long-promised acoustically resonant new theatre failed to materialise in Townsville.
Who is the artistic director of the AFCM?
Jack Liebeck serves as the artistic director of the Australian Festival of Chamber Music.
Which vocal group is scheduled to perform at next year’s festival?
According to festival announcements, the UK vocal group Voces8 will perform exclusively at the AFCM next year.
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