Media | Reviews
April 19, 2025 ‘Classic Melbourne’ Albury Chamber Music Festival 2025: Superlative Times
May 5, 2024 ‘The Border Mail’ – Surprises promised as weekend musical feast launches in ‘all brie’
November 26, 2023 ‘The Border Mail’ – Audience ovations, foot stamping and applause still thundering
November 22, 2023 ‘Classic Melbourne’ – Albury Chamber Music Festival: Concerts in Adamshurst Ballroom
November 21, 2023 ‘Classic Melbourne’ – Albury Chamber Music Festival: Concerts in St Matthew’s Church – by Julie McErlain
November 21, 2023 ‘Classic Melbourne’ – Albury Chamber Music Festival: Concerts in St Matthew’s Church – by Julie McErlain
July 21, 2023 ‘The Border Mail’ – Albury Chamber Music Festival 2023 reveals Favourite Things theme in Albury
June 19, 2022 ‘The Border Mail’ – Albury Chamber Music Festival sells out – waiting list already ‘healthy’
June 12, 2022 ‘The Border Mail’ – Albury Chamber Music Festival Launches ahead of November 4-6 Program
June 9, 2022 ‘Limelight Magazine’ – Albury Chamber Music Festival Announces 2022 Program
May 11, 2022: Media ‘Broadway World Australia’ – Albury Chamber Music Festival set for November
May 3, 2019: ‘Limelight Magazine’ – Albury Chamber Music Festival 2019 program announced
April 25, 2019: ‘Cut Common Magazine’ – Helena Kernaghan helps bring chamber music to regional Australia
November 19, 2018: ‘Limelight Magazine’ – A TASTE OF THE ALBURY CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL
Media Releases
October 18, 2019: Our media release regarding the 2019 Albury Chamber Music festival 2019 Festival – Limelight Magazine
July 15, 2019: Our media release regarding the 2019 Albury Chamber Music Festival line-up and events: ACMF 2019 MEDIA RELEASE
August 16, 2019: Our media release regarding the June edition of the ACMF Sundays at St Matthew’s 2019 Concert Series featuring renowned harpist Marshall McGuire ACMF Concert 3_MEDIA RELEASE Marshall McGuire
June 5, 2019: Our media release regarding the June edition of the ACMF Sundays at St Matthew’s 2019 Concert Series featuring Mezzo Soprano Sally-Anne Russell ACMF Concert 2_MEDIA RELEASE Sally-Anne Russell
March 21, 2019: Our media release regarding the June edition of the ACMF Sundays at St Matthew’s 2019 Concert Series featuring cellist Zoe Knighton ACMF Concert Series 1_MEDIA RELEASE Zoe Knighton
October 26, 2018: Our media release for the 2018 Albury Chamber Music Festival Feast of the senses for classical music lovers
Local news coverage
August 26, 2018: ‘The Border Mail’ Johnston brothers perform classical guitar at Chamber music concert series
After the event – a fantastic picture tribute to many of the locals who attended our inaugural festival closing concert at Adamshurst on 13/11/17: http://awnw.com.au/news/2016-11-15/festival-comes-out-of-the-chamber/
Many thanks to Gaye Pattison and the team at ABC Goulburn Murray in Wodonga for this fantastic interview and live performance on the opening day of our Festival (featuring Sally-Anne Russell, Helena Kernaghan, Kaori Sparks & Sam Goble): http://www.facebook.com/ABCGoulburnMurray/videos/1200334913335069/
Thanks Jodie Bruton from The Border Mail for this story on the festival:
http://www.bordermail.com.au/story/4272184/classical-lineup-puts-spotlight-on-chamber/?cs=11
With thanks to Helen Ballard and the team and Prime 7 News for this story: http://au.prime7.yahoo.com/v1/video/-/watch/33114712/chamber-music-festival/
Excellent write-up in The Border Mail – check the link here:
http://www.bordermail.com.au/story/4249087/a-classic-line-up-here-for-inaugural-festival/
Fantastic article by Gillian Wills in September’s edition of Loudmouth:
http://musictrust.com.au/loudmouth/new-chamber-music-festival-in-albury/
Wonderful write-up in the Spring edition of Out & About:
Social Media
Visit us on Facebook for all the latest festival updates:
https://www.facebook.com/AlburyChamberMusic/
For more than three decades, Sarah Cuming was part of the musical life of Orchestra Victoria — but her life with the cello reaches considerably further.
Sarah studied in Melbourne with Marianne Hunt, Henry Wenig, Janis Laurs, Phillip Green and Nelson Cooke before completing her Diploma of Arts at the Victorian College of the Arts. Her cello then took her overseas: first to Zagreb, Croatia, where she studied with Walter Despalj on a three-month Churchill Fellowship, and later to Edmonton, Canada, where she studied with Tania Prochazka while working with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.
Back in Australia, Sarah built a career spanning orchestral playing, chamber music and teaching. She has performed with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Australian Pops Orchestra and Orchestra Victoria, joining Orchestra Victoria as a full-time member in 1992 and remaining there until 2024.
And chamber music has been a constant. Sarah is a founding member of Aequales Ensemble, established in 1996, and continues to manage its busy concert schedule.
That combination of orchestral experience and a long commitment to chamber music makes Sarah particularly at home in the intimate world of our Festival.
We’re delighted to welcome Sarah Cuming and her cello to Albury this November. 🇫🇷🎻
📅 6–8 November 2026
🎟 A limited number of White Festival Passes are still available:
https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1489483
#AlburyChamberMusicFestival #OohLaLa #ArtistSpotlight #SarahCuming #Cello #ChamberMusic #AlburyWodonga
There’s something wonderfully close to the human voice about the clarinet — and that expressive quality has become a particular fascination for Andrew Boyle.
A Melbourne-based clarinettist with more than four decades of musical experience, Andrew’s career has encompassed performance, ensemble leadership and collaborative music-making. He spent 25 years as a musician in the Australian Defence Force before developing a diverse artistic practice centred particularly on chamber music and cross-disciplinary collaboration.
One strand of Andrew’s work has been especially intriguing: exploring the vocal qualities of the clarinet and its relationship with the sung voice. He has appeared regularly at festivals and concert series throughout Victoria, with a particular interest in collaborations involving singers and small ensembles.
Music is not Andrew’s only professional world, either. Alongside his performing life, he has an active career in international development — while continuing to make room for artistic collaboration and performance.
This November, we’re delighted to welcome Andrew Boyle and his clarinet to Albury for Ooh là là! 🇫🇷🎶
📅 6–8 November 2026
🎟 A limited number of White Festival Passes are still available:
https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1489483
#AlburyChamberMusicFestival #OohLaLa #ArtistSpotlight #AndrewBoyle #Clarinet #ChamberMusic #AlburyWodonga
Orchestras, chamber music, film recordings, teaching, a violin shop, plants, a cat and plenty of podcasts…
Catherine Turnbull has built the sort of wonderfully varied musical life that comes with being a freelance viola player.
Cath began her tertiary studies at the School of Music in Canberra before studying with Patricia Pollett in Brisbane, where she completed her Masters degree. In 2003 she moved to Melbourne to study at the Australian National Academy of Music, and Melbourne has been home ever since.
Along the way she has worked with many of Australia’s major orchestras, including the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria and Melbourne Opera, alongside numerous chamber ensembles and projects including film recordings.
She also knows regional Australia well, having toured extensively with CoOpera and AusOpera — something that makes us particularly happy to welcome her to our own regional Festival.
When she isn’t performing, Cath teaches both privately and at school and works part-time at Alex Grant Violins. And when music finally gives her a moment off? Plants, her cat and a good podcast are apparently high on the list.
This November, Cath brings her viola to Albury as part of our Ooh là là! Festival ensemble.
We’re delighted to welcome Catherine Turnbull. 🇫🇷🎻
📅 6–8 November 2026
🎟 A limited number of White Festival Passes are still available:
https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1489483
#AlburyChamberMusicFestival #OohLaLa #ArtistSpotlight #CatherineTurnbull #Viola #ChamberMusic #AlburyWodonga
One question we’re often asked by visiting artists and Festival guests is: where should we eat?
We’ve already shared a few favourites in our Festival weekend suggestions — but Albury has far too much good food to stop there.
So, whether you’re arriving hungry, looking for a quick bite between performances, planning dinner with friends or wondering where the musicians might disappear for coffee the next morning, here are a few more places to add to your list…
☕ Breakfast, brunch & very important coffee
Try The Proprietor for a leisurely brunch, Mr Benedict in the heart of town, or Canvas-eatery at MAMA if a side of art with your coffee sounds appealing. For something a little off the usual visitor trail, Ebden & Olive is another local favourite.
🥪 Lunch without losing the afternoon
TABLE 451 Eat + Drink is right on Dean Street, while 2640 Restaurant and Bar is another central option. Or keep things casual with Greenstreat when what you really need between Festival adventures is something fresh and quick.
🌶️ A little international flavour
Opposite St Matthew’s, Chada serves authentic Thai — particularly handy when your next performance is only a short stroll away. DinDins Kitchen & Bar brings Asian-fusion flavours to the mix.
🍷 Settle in for dinner
Level One Wine Bar is one for a more indulgent evening, while The Woolhouse offers charcuterie, tapas and boutique beer and cider. Botanical Restaurant & Bar is another option for an evening meal right in town.
Cocktail lovers should make a note of Temperance & General, with an extraordinary cocktail list at the heart of what they do, alongside a bar menu if you’re feeling peckish.
And yes — the places we’ve already been tempting you with are still very much on our list: Yardbird, SEN, Norma, HAPI, DUX and River Deck.
There are plenty more where those came from.
We’ve gathered our Festival food, drink and accommodation suggestions together on our Creature Comforts page:
https://alburychambermusicfestival.com.au/creature-comforts-food-drink-accommodation-albury/
Our Festival tip: if there’s somewhere you particularly want to eat, especially in the evening, book ahead. November weekends in Albury can be busy.
Come for the music. Make a weekend of everything else. 🇫🇷🥂
📅 Ooh là là! | 6–8 November 2026
🎟 A limited number of White Festival Passes are still available:
https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1489483
#AlburyChamberMusicFestival #OohLaLa #FestivalWeekend #EatAlbury #VisitAlbury #AlburyWodonga
From the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and London Sinfonietta to Australia’s leading chamber ensembles, violinist Anna McMichael has built a career remarkable for its breadth — moving comfortably from early music to the newest sounds being written today.
After growing up in South Australia, Anna won First Prize in the String Final of the ABC Instrumental and Vocal Competition before a Queen’s Jubilee Scholarship took her to the Royal Conservatorium in The Hague, where she studied with Vera Beths and graduated cum laude.
She remained in Europe for 17 years, performing with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, Amsterdam Sinfonietta and London Sinfonietta, as well as leading and performing with contemporary ensembles across Europe and appearing at festivals from Paris and Berlin to Vienna, Rome and Edinburgh.
Since returning to Australia, Anna has performed with ensembles including the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Australian World Orchestra, Pinchgut Opera, Australian Haydn Ensemble and Ensemble Offspring. She is also a core member of early-music specialists Ironwood and Genesis Baroque, and is Classical Convenor and Strings Coordinator at Monash University’s Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music and Performance.
There’s another connection that makes Anna particularly at home with us: she knows what makes a regional music festival special. From 2014–2019 she was Co-Artistic Director of the Tyalgum Music Festival, which received national recognition for regional excellence during her tenure.
This November, we’re delighted to welcome Anna McMichael to Albury and to our Ooh là là! Festival ensemble. 🇫🇷🎻
📅 6–8 November 2026
🎟 A limited number of White Festival Passes are still available:
https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1489483
#AlburyChamberMusicFestival #OohLaLa #ArtistSpotlight #AnnaMcMichael #Violin #ChamberMusic #AlburyWodonga
What do the West End, Strictly Come Dancing, a herd of life-sized dinosaurs — and Ooh là là! have in common?
Cameron Wenn.
Not everyone who helps create the magic of the Albury Chamber Music Festival appears on stage.
Cameron is a director and writer whose career has taken him from musical theatre and live broadcast to arena spectaculars and immersive entertainment, with productions seen in more than 30 countries.
His credits include Top Hat — The Musical, working as Associate Director with Tony Award-winning director and choreographer Kathleen Marshall; Singin’ in the Rain in London and internationally; and I Can’t Sing — The X Factor Musical at the London Palladium. He has also been Writer and Associate Director of the Strictly Come Dancing — Professionals Live UK tour since 2019.
And then there are the dinosaurs.
Cameron was part of the original creative team behind Walking With Dinosaurs — The Arena Spectacular, helping develop the show before taking it around the world and staging productions across more than 100 cities.
This November, Cameron brings that extraordinary theatrical experience to Ooh là là!, joining the Festival team in Creative Production.
With theatrical touches, unexpected moments and more than a little French flair woven through this year’s Festival, Cameron brings a formidable background in creating live experiences that surprise and delight.
And after dinosaurs, surely a little corner of France in Albury should be easy. 🇫🇷
We’re delighted to have Cameron Wenn joining us for Ooh là là!
📅 6–8 November 2026
🎟 A limited number of White Festival Passes are still available:
https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1489483
#AlburyChamberMusicFestival #OohLaLa #BehindTheScenes #CameronWenn #AlburyWodonga
