Arboria Chamber Music Festival 2026

Great Value - 1 ticket for all the Festival workshops and concerts on Saturday 3 October and Sunday 4 October 2026 (Does not include children/family events) WORKSHOPS: Sat 3 Oct, 10am: Kathryn McCusker & cellist Melinda Forsythe: Blissful with Bach Guided Meditation, St Barnabus Church Hall. (BYO floor mat, or use chairs provided). Sun 4 Oct, 11am: OMD Workshops: Christmas Carol Workshop, Holy Family Catholic Church Sun 4 Oct, 12pm: OMD Workshops: Angelus, Holy Family Catholic Church Sun 4 Oct, 1pm & 3pm : Lesley Kaye: Sound Meditation - Hear Feel Touch Sound, St Barnabas Anglican Church Hall CONCERTS: Sat 3 Oct, 12pm: Chimera Quintet: The Trout; St Barnabus Anglican Church Sat 3 Oct, 2pm: Darlington Quintet: Celestial Bodies; Kalamunda Library Sat 3 Oct, 4pm: H.I.P. Company: Consort; Kalamunda Library Sat 3 Oct, 6pm: H.I.P. Company: Consort; Zig Zag Gallery Sat 3 Oct, 7:30pm: Freeze Frame Opera: Opera at the Movies; Kalamunda Community Centre - MIRDA Room Sun 4 Oct, 12pm & 2pm: Australian Baroque: Coffee Cantata; Zig Zag Cultural Centre, Seminar Rooms Sun 4 Oct, 1pm: Emma Matthews and Chimera Ensemble: St Barnabus Anglican Church Sun 4 Oct, 4pm: Robert Zielinski; St Barnabus Anglican Church

A ticket for all the chosen concerts on Saturday 3 October 2026. (Does not include Family events). CONCERTS: Sat 3 Oct, 12pm: Chimera Quintet: The Trout; St Barnabus Anglican Church Sat 3 Oct, 2pm: Darlington Quintet with Prudence Sanders (soprano) & Lachlann Higgins (baritone): Celestial Bodies; Kalamunda Library Sat 3 Oct, 4pm: H.I.P. Company: Consort; Kalamunda Library Sat 3 Oct, 6pm: H.I.P. Company: Consort ; Zig Zag Gallery Sat 3 Oct, 7:30pm: Freeze Frame Opera: Opera at the Movies; Kalamunda Community Centre - MIRDA Room

10am: Kathryn McCusker Meditation. Join Kathryn McCusker and Melinda Forsythe (cello) as they take you through a music and mindfulness experience featuring Bach preludes and guided meditation. BYO floor mat, or use chairs provided.

10am & 1pm From mischievously witty director/choreographer Andries Weidemann comes the Big Little Ballet Company with their unique take on a fairy tale favourite. A near-sighted Little Red Riding Hood gets sent to her Granny’s and is duped by the Big Bad Wolf in this hilarious work for young audiences. Perfect for all the family, and littlies aged 4–12. Prams and buggies welcome. Refreshments available, with room for snacks and lunch either side. Session times: 10am & 1pm

11:30am & 2:30pm Mr McGee lives under a tree and gets up to all sorts of mischief. Come and see the West Australian Opera Sings teaching artists and dancers from Big Little Ballet perform 4 of Pamela Allen’s beloved picture books with a magical apple tree, stick puppets, slide whistles, and hilarious choreography. Perfect for all the family, and littlies aged 2–6. Refreshments available, with room for snacks and lunch either side. Mr McGee stories are written and illustrated by Pamela Allen, music by Emma Jayakumar. Sessions 11:30am & 2:30pm

12pm Piano Quintet in A Major (The Trout). Written when Franz Schubert was just a tender 22 years old, the Trout Quintet was commissioned by wealthy patron and amateur cellist Sylvester Paumgartner to be arranged in the unusual combination of piano, violin, viola, cello and double bass. This richness performed by the bass addition frees up the pianist to perform all sorts of lovely treble flourishes in this insanely catchy and tuneful quintet. A wonderful way to launch to our inaugural festival.

2pm Celestial Bodies In 1984 astrophysicist and writer, Carl Sagan, was inspired by the famous photograph of an Earth “suspended in a sunbeam” taken by Voyager 2 before it left our solar system forever. Award winning composer Emma Jayakumar presents a new song cycle inspired by this photograph of the Pale Blue Dot featuring heavenly soprano Prudence Sanders, and powerful Baritone Lachie Higgins, and the incomparable Darlington Quartet. Also including Samuel Barber’s stirring quartet in B minor (with heartbreaking adagio movement) this concert under the beautiful Kalamunda Library stained glass window, is a both a meditation and celebration of human things and our place in the universe.

4pm Consort in Kalamunda Library Consort is an intimate musical vignette of sixteenth and seventeenth century England, celebrating works for viol ensemble and voice. Held vertically and played with a bow, the viol has a flat back, deep ribs and a tuning system developed from the Lute. It’s a rare sight and sound to behold all four at once! Consort features four of Perth’s leading viol proponents: Krista Low, Hannah Herriman, Tadhg Sudlow and Andrew Tait playing replicas of historical treble, alto, bass (or gamba) viols and violone. Joining them in song are UK Baritone David Valsamidis, and the golden-voiced artistry of soprano Bonnie de la Hunty.

6pm Consort in Zig Zag Gallery Held amongst the Memory and Cloth Exhibition by renowned artists Anne Farren and Joy Denise Scott at the Zig Zag Gallery, Consort is an intimate musical vignette of sixteenth and seventeenth century England, celebrating works for viol ensemble and voice. Held vertically and played with a bow, the viol has a flat back, deep ribs and a tuning system developed from the Lute. It’s a rare sight and sound to behold all four at once! Consort features four of Perth’s leading viol proponents: Krista Low, Hannah Herriman, Tadhg Sudlow and Andrew Tait playing replicas of historical treble, alto, bass (or gamba) viols and violone. Joining them in song are UK Baritone David Valsamidis, and the golden-voiced artistry of soprano Bonnie de la Hunty. With wine tasting from Tonon Winery and antipasto platters from Sebastian’s butchers, this concert will be a gorgeous feast for all of the senses.

7.30pm Freeze Frame Opera (FFO) presents Opera at the Movies, a live performance event at the Arboria Festival combining iconic movie moments with live opera arias. Featuring a movie screen and five acclaimed singers performing arias and duets from films like The Shawshank Redemption, Pretty Woman, Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Mrs Doubtfire. With candy bar and popcorn to boot, this evening is a must-see event.

A ticket for all of the Arboria Festival Concerts and Workshops on Sunday 4 October 2026. WORKSHOPS: Sun 4 Oct, 11am: OMD Workshops: Christmas Carol Workshop, Holy Family Catholic Church Sun 4 Oct, 12pm: OMD Workshops: Angelus, Holy Family Catholic Church Sun 4 Oct, 1pm & 3pm : Lesley Kaye: Sound Meditation - Hear Feel Touch Sound, St Barnabas Anglican Church Hall CONCERTS: Sun 4 Oct, 12pm & 2pm: Australian Baroque: Coffee Cantata; Zig Zag Cultural Centre Seminar Rooms Sun 4 Oct, 1pm: Emma Matthews and Chimera Ensemble: Barber, Shostakovich, Mendelssohn, Piazzolla; St Barnabus Anglican Church Sun 4 Oct, 4pm: Robert Zielinski & Friends: Selections from Torbay Suite and Irish Fiddle Music, St Barnabus Anglican Church

11am & 12pm OMD Workshops: Christmas Carol Workshop Dust off your vocal cords and come and sing with your friends and community members in this non-serious, completely fun, and non-judgemental Christmas sing-a-long. Emma Jayakumar and Baritone Sholto Foss will run a vocal warm up and carol session where you can just sing the melody (or learn some harmony parts if you’re more ambitious) and get ready for the Carols by Candlelight just around the corner in December. Open for music readers, non-music readers, and shower warblers alike— all are welcome! !2pm ANGELUS: Come and hear a workshop read through of beautiful new Choral work ANGELUS, inspired by the Catholic Angelus text, a devotion celebrating the Virgin Mary and the Incarnation. Led by Baritone Sholto Foss and the Camerata Immaculata. In development for festival 2027.

12pm & 2pm The Coffee Cantata Decadence, drama and delight abound in Bach’s Coffee Cantata as you’ve never seen it before! Schlendrian (Brett Peart) tries various punishments to force Lieschen (Prudence Sanders) to quit drinking coffee—withholding new clothes, blocking her from walking out, and refusing to let her go to social gatherings. Lieschen remains defiant until her father declares he will not let her find a husband. She relents on one condition: her future husband must explicitly agree in the wedding contract to let her brew coffee whenever she pleases! Fully costumed, with a comic contemporary spin, this colourfully staged show presents Bach’s cantata depicting the rise of coffee addiction. Set in Eighteenth Century Germany and served with a sweet treat, this show has been widely performed to sell-out festival audiences throughout the UK. Sessions: 12pm & 2pm

1pm Soprano Emma Matthews Winner of seven Helpmann Awards, nine Green Room Awards, and the Remy Martin Australian Opera Award (among others), the fabulous soprano Emma Matthews joins Arboria in its inaugural year to sing Samuel Barber’s moving and evocative concerto for soprano voice Knoxville Summer of 1915, lovingly arranged by Tommaso Pollio for the Chimera Quartet. Set to text from the novel A death in the family, by acclaimed American author, James Agee, Knoxville is a moving portrait of a child on the cusp of adolescence soaking up the sounds of their neighbourhood and family home. Also included in this program by Chimera Quartet (Tommaso Pollio, Melinda Forsythe, Rebecca Glorie and Geoff Bourgault) works by Shostakovich, Mendelssohn and the unmistakable tango stylings of Astor Piazzolla.

1pm & 3pm Hear Feel Touch Sound - Exploring Vibration in the Body Hear Feel Touch Sound is an immersive workshop and performance experience that invites participants to explore sound as a form of meditation and embodied listening. Blurring the boundaries between musical performance, sound installation and sensory exploration, the experience examines how vibration is felt throughout the body beyond the act of hearing. Guided by gongs and modular synthesisers, participants are encouraged to engage with sound through deep listening and bodily awareness. Part sonic massage, part sound bath, Hear Feel Touch Sound offers a unique opportunity to tune into the relationship between sound, sensation and human experience. Lesley Kaye is a composer, sound artist, and physics teacher whose practice focuses on creating immersive sonic environments that support deep listening, meditation, and contemplative experiences. Over the past decade, she has facilitated sonic meditation sessions within her local community and currently leads fortnightly sound meditation workshops for adolescents at the school where she teaches physics. Currently pursuing a PhD at WAAPA, Lesley's research explores the relationship between sound perception and altered states of consciousness. With a particular interest in whole-body listening experiences, she investigates how sonic characteristics shape the listener’s experience and can encourage meditative states. This work builds on her Master's research, which examined adolescents' responses to meditation and its impact on learning and wellbeing. Lesley is also the co-founder of local boutique label Burnt Seed Records, co-curator of the long standing monthly experimental music event NoizeMaschin!!, and radio presenter on RTRFM shows Difficult Listening and Posted. Sessions: 1pm & 3pm

4pm Robert Zielinski & Friends Instrumentalist of the Year at the 2025 Australian Folk Music Awards and String Player of the Year at the 2025 West Australian Music Awards, Robert Zielinski will be joined by Manuela Centanni on wooden flute and Melinda Forsythe on cello for Dawn to Dusk from Kiangardarup, Robert’s award winning concept album inspired by the South West of Western Australia. An immersive experience, with Manuela’s stunning images of the Torbay Inlet and surrounding country and sounds of the West Australian bush recorded by Robert. To finish the festival on a high note, they will bring you to the west coast of Ireland with lively jigs and reels, haunting slow airs and even the possibility of a funny story!