Apeiron Baroque
Apeiron Baroque (https://apeiron-baroque.com/) is an Early Music ensemble based in Canberra and led by its co-founders, John Ma and Marie Searles
Taking cues from other genres of music; Apeiron presents high-quality concerts that are honest, raw, and passionate in a casual and relaxed atmosphere. Performances are designed to be entertaining, informative, and accessible to all ages and backgrounds.
CHILDREN'S CONCERT 2026: Concert 1
Sunday 22 March 2026
Pre-concert concert catering for young children and families (Bookings essential, NO DOOR SALES)
30 minutes of music, and instrumental show and tell in a relaxed and informal setting. Perfect for young ones who are curious about music but might not have the attention to sit through the full main concert!
NOTE: Due to the tight timing of our whole concert day, we begin promptly AT 3pm.
Companion Card accepted, please contact us for information.
Wesley Uniting Church
2026 Season (Concert 1): 3-on-3
Sunday 22 March 2026
Concert 1 for our 2026 Season
From the outer urban backstreet cul-de-sacs and roundabouts of Canberra... a Baroque ensemble configuration rears its head, 3 violins-3 continuo.
Just off the top of your head, what is a piece for 3 violins and continuo? Pachelbel’s Canon probably springs to mind, but we will show you a few more things! And with a beefed up continuo section with extra theorbo/guitar/lute and cello/gamba… we probably should showcase a few things for those instruments as well and not let the violin divas hog the spotlight!
Music by Pachelbel, Telemann, Finger, Vierdanck, Schmelzer, Marais, Hervelois, Krieger, Balbestre, Roncalli, and Barsanti!
With guest artists: Jared Adams (Violin), Isaiah Bondfield (Violin), Anton Baba (Cello/Gamba), George Wills (Theorbo/Guitar)
Wesley Uniting Church
CHILDREN'S CONCERT 2026: Concert 2
Sunday 7 June 2026
Pre-concert concert catering for young children and families (Bookings essential, NO DOOR SALES)
30 minutes of music, and instrumental show and tell in a relaxed and informal setting. Perfect for young ones who are curious about music but might not have the attention to sit through the full main concert!
NOTE: Due to the tight timing of our whole concert day, we begin promptly AT 3pm.
Companion Card accepted, please contact us for information.
Wesley Uniting Church
2026 Season (Concert 2): Afternoon Hours
Sunday 7 June 2026
Concert 2 for our 2026 Season
Music for traverso (aka flute played by Sally Walker) and a full complement of strings (and harpsichord…)! This will be the concert that we are finding most difficult to program… as the current shortlist of pieces that we have for this ensemble configuration (and sub-configurations) is standing at well over 15 hours! Some heavy culling of music wishes will have to be done in the coming month… rest assured, anything we cut goes back into the future shortlist! Don’t ask how long that is…
With guest artists: Sally Walker (Traverso), Lauren Davis (Violin), Clara Teniswood (Cello), Henry South (Bass)
Wesley Uniting Church
CHILDREN'S CONCERT 2026: Concert 3
Sunday 23 August 2026
Pre-concert concert catering for young children and families (Bookings essential, NO DOOR SALES)
30 minutes of music, and instrumental show and tell in a relaxed and informal setting. Perfect for young ones who are curious about music but might not have the attention to sit through the full main concert!
NOTE: Due to the tight timing of our whole concert day, we begin promptly AT 3pm.
Companion Card accepted, please contact us for information.
Wesley Uniting Church
2026 Season (Concert 3): The Green Piper
Sunday 23 August 2026
Concert 3 for our 2026 Season
Simon Rickard is a former graduate of the Canberra School of Music, and is a professional gardener and writer! He has written books about Heirloom Vegetables and Australian Ornamental Gardens… and he will be giving a gardening-themed presentation alongside our Baroque Music! But, he is also a professional musician… and he has promised to bring along some interesting and unusual Baroque instruments as well!
With guest artists: Simon Rickard (Presenter/Musette)
Wesley Uniting Church
CHILDREN'S CONCERT 2026: Concert 4
Sunday 8 November 2026
Pre-concert concert catering for young children and families (Bookings essential, NO DOOR SALES)
30 minutes of music, and instrumental show and tell in a relaxed and informal setting. Perfect for young ones who are curious about music but might not have the attention to sit through the full main concert!
NOTE: Due to the tight timing of our whole concert day, we begin promptly AT 3pm.
Companion Card accepted, please contact us for information.
Wesley Uniting Church
2026 Season (Concert 4): Distracted Minds
Sunday 8 November 2026
Concert 4 for our 2026 Season
For our last concert of 2026, we have two of Australia’s leading Early Music specialists from Melbourne! Adam Masters (oboe) and Tim Willis (violin) are regular performers and soloists with all of Australia’s Early Music groups… and we will also have Ben Hoadley (bassoon) joining us again for a double reed splurge!
With guest artists: Adam Masters (Oboe), Tim Willis (Violin), Ben Hoadley (Bassoon)
Wesley Uniting Church
Early Music Day: Splatterfest!
Saturday 6 December 2025
A day for people interested in Early Music to gather, meet, and play together! Led and directed by members of Apeiron Baroque.
Open to all ages and all abilities with the following sessions:
- a gentle morning ensemble (1000-1300) @ A=440Hz
- an afternoon more advanced ensemble (1400-1700) @ A=415Hz
- or do the whole day at a discounted rate!
More information (including repertoire and music) at: https://apeiron-baroque.com/concerts/2025/2025-splatter-1
This is the first of many community facing Early Music events (workshops, ensembles, and masterclasses) that Apeiron is planning into the future.
We can provide transposed parts if you have different pitch instruments. Unfortunately, we are limiting the intake to instruments only (no singers this time).
During the ticket flow, there will be questions to help us better plan the day!
Observers are free entry, please consider a donation!
Limited KEYBOARD tickets due to availability of instruments.
We will email music to your booking email.
Wesley Music Centre
2025 Season (Concert 4): Little Sounds, Great Noises
Sunday 2 November 2025
Sonnets have historically been associated with love and desire, but what inspires a person to write over 150 sonnets? Surely not 150 different loves?
Join Apeiron and our special guest, Duncan Driver, as we pair Shakespeare Sonnets with our Baroque Music!
Music by Westhoff, Telemann, Purcell, Hasse, Hayes, Tartini, Lonati, Geminiani and more!!
Guest Artists: Duncan Driver (Presenter), Rylee de Salis (Soprano)
Companion Card accepted, please contact us for information.
Wesley Uniting Church
CHILDREN'S CONCERT: The Ellery String Quartet
Sunday 2 November 2025
Pre-concert concert catering for young children and families (Bookings essential, NO DOOR SALES)
30 minutes of music, and instrumental show and tell in a relaxed and informal setting. Perfect for young ones who are curious about music but might not have the attention to sit through the full main concert!
NOTE: Due to the tight timing of our whole concert day, we begin promptly AT 3pm.
Companion Card accepted, please contact us for information.
Wesley Uniting Church
2025 Season (Concert 3): The Complete Roll-Bag
Sunday 31 August 2025
The recorder (flauto dolce) is best known in modern times for being a terror in primary school classrooms; but in the Baroque period, it was one of the leading treble instruments. Like all the instruments of that age, it came in a variety of sizes for different pitches, ranging from the tiny sopranino through to the bass recorder.
Join Apeiron and our special guest, Alana Blackburn, as we showcase the full gamut of recorders in the hands of a master player!
Guest Artists: Alana Blackburn (Recorders), Lauren Davis (Violin), Pippa Newman (Viola), Clara Teniswood (cello), Henry South (Double Bass)
Wesley Uniting Church
CHILDREN'S CONCERT: Sounds of the East
Sunday 31 August 2025
Pre-concert concert catering for young children and families (Bookings essential, NO DOOR SALES)
30 minutes of music, and instrumental show and tell in a relaxed and informal setting. Perfect for young ones who are curious about music but might not have the attention to sit through the full main concert!
NOTE: Due to the tight timing of our whole concert day, we begin promptly AT 3pm.
Companion Card accepted, please contact us for information.
Wesley Uniting Church
2025 Season (Concert 2): Something Old, Something New
Sunday 6 July 2025
Concert 2 for our 2025 Season: More details coming soon!
With special guest artists: Susannah Lawergren (soprano), Matt Greco (Violin), Pippa MacMillan (Violone), Michael Bakrnčev (composer).
Companion Card accepted, please contact us for information.
Wesley Uniting Church
CHILDREN'S CONCERT: Something Old, Something New
Sunday 6 July 2025
Pre-concert concert catering for young children and families (Bookings essential, NO DOOR SALES)
30 minutes of music, and instrumental show and tell in a relaxed and informal setting. Perfect for young ones who are curious about music but might not have the attention to sit through the full main concert!
NOTE: Due to the tight timing of our whole concert day, we begin promptly AT 3pm.
Companion Card accepted, please contact us for information.
Wesley Uniting Church
2025 Season (Concert 1): Pluckers and Scratchers
Sunday 23 March 2025
Apeiron’s 2025 season kicks off with two of our colleagues from the south, Hannah Lane and Laura Vaughan, showcasing the unusual sound world of Violin/d’amore, Gamba, Harp, and Harpsichord.
Discover compositions from the Early Baroque period by Buxtehude, Becker, Lawes, Jenkins, Jarzebski, Lawes, Pandolfi, and more!
Guest Artists:
Laura Vaughan (Viola da Gamba)
Hannah Lane (Harp)
WHERE: Wesley Uniting Church, Forrest, ACT
WHEN: Sunday, 23rd March 2025 (4:30pm).
More information: https://apeiron-baroque.com/concerts/2025-chamber-1
Companion Card accepted, please contact us for information.
Wesley Uniting Church
CHILDREN'S CONCERT: Pluckers and Scratchers
Sunday 23 March 2025
Pre-concert concert catering for young children and families (Bookings essential, NO DOOR SALES)
30 minutes of music, and instrumental show and tell in a relaxed and informal setting. Perfect for young ones who are curious about music but might not have the attention to sit through the full main concert!
NOTE: Due to the tight timing of our whole concert day, we begin promptly AT 3pm.
Companion Card accepted, please contact us for information.
Wesley Uniting Church
2024 Season (Concert 4): Sanguine/Melancholy
Sunday 10 November 2024
For our last chamber concert for 2024, Apeiron Baroque will feature dueling violins, Gulliver’s Travels, reflections on Life and Death, and a dialogue between a Sanguineus and a Melancholicus attempting to convince each other through musical interaction!
Music on period instruments featuring works by Abel, Zelenka, Hume, Telemann, Bach, and Janitsch.
With special guest artists, Ella Bennets (Violin), Aaron Reichelt (oboe), and Anton Baba (cello).
Wesley Uniting Church
2024 Season (Concert 3): Hammer Tech
Sunday 18 August 2024
Apeiron is going hi-tech and leaping back into the future… setting our DeLorean time machine to the late 18th century! In this classical-era concert, we will be showcasing the sounds of our Walter-style fortepiano; a predecessor to the modern piano and the model of piano that was favoured by Mozart!
We will also have Ben Hoadley joining us on Classical Bassoon to explore music by composers such as Edelmann, de Nebra, Michl, Fiala, and more!
More information: https://apeiron-baroque.com/concerts/2024-chamber-3
Wesley Uniting Church
2024 Season (Concert 2): Travel and Change
Sunday 9 June 2024
Continuing on from the successful melding of Australian Poetry and Baroque Music last year, Apeiron continues to pair unlikely and interesting combinations of topics with our Early Music performances. Clear and obvious connections are easy, but it is the juxtaposition of seemingly unrelated ideas that produce the true leaps in understanding!
Explore and absorb Philosophical ideas of Travel and Change, presented by Drew Ninnis, whilst listening to Early Music presented by Apeiron Baroque, John Ma and Marie Searles.
Music by Veracini, Blaineville, Handel, JS Bach, Herschel and more!
Wesley Uniting Church
2024 Season (Concert 1): Shipwrecked!
Sunday 21 April 2024
Is Love a Shipwreck?
For our first concert in our 2024 chamber series, we are kicking off with an all-Canberra cast of players! Local countertenor Tobias Cole will be joined by a small band of strings (and harpsichord!) to present stormy vocal works by Baroque composers Ariosti, Vivaldi, Handel, and Hasse.
Of course, we can't let the singers have all the fun! Fans of music without words will also be treated to unusual instrumental gems by Biber, Uccellini, Cazzati, Vilsmayr, and Bononcini!
Wesley Uniting Church
2023 Season (Concert 4): Apeiron X Poetry
Sunday 12 November 2023
The first in a series of cross-concerts mixing Early Music with presentations from a wide variety of non-musical disciplines. Early Music is our passion, and we will invite guest presenters to share their passions and interests!
In this concert, Apeiron will be joined by the hosts of ArtSoundFM's "Poetry on the Radio" (Kimberly Williams and Peter Searles) as well as local poets (Penelope Layland and Jacqui Malins) to present poems from the newly published "Book of Birds" alongside music from the Baroque and Classical eras.
Music by Vilsmayr, Corelli, Uccellini, Eccles, Leonarda, and more!
Wesley Uniting Church
2023 Season (Concert 3): Old Friends
Sunday 13 August 2023
Sometimes you just keep crossing paths with the same people through your life in the most unexpected of places! "Old Friends" is a concert which contrasts the softer sounds of the Viola da Gamba and Viola d'amore in works by Erlebach and Lully against the brilliance of the violin family in works by Corelli.
Highlights include music for a mistuned violin and gamba, a dance of madness, dances from the French court opera, and an early Italian sonata from a composer whose name is cheese!
We will also have a special appearance by Aimee Brown who will present some interesting solo dances from the Baroque period!
Guest Artists: Anton Baba and Aimee Brown
More information at: https://apeiron-baroque.com
Wesley Uniting Church
2023 Season (Concert 2): Too Many Strings
Sunday 11 June 2023
On Sunday 11th June 2023 (from 5pm), Apeiron Baroque invites you to a concert featuring the sonorous alto and tenor registers of the unusual Viola d'amore and the black sheep of the string family, the Viola. Highlights include music depicting a Phoenix and a Chicken, a duo for the 28 strings of two Viola d'amores, a concerto for 4 violas stolen from our diva violin cousins, and a melancholy setting by the most famous composer of all time, Anonymous.
In this second concert of our 2023 series, Apeiron is joined by Karina Schmitz (principal viola with Pinchgut Opera and Australian Haydn Ensemble), and two Canberran musicians, Pippa Newman and Alex Munro on Viola. Music featuring the Viola d’amore and Viola by Telemann, Graupner, Rameau, Huberty, and Anonymous.
For more information: https://apeiron-baroque.com/Concerts/concert-2023-2
Wesley Uniting Church
