ACMF 2025 | Program Session 2

 

Albury Chamber Music Festival ’25

7 – 9 November 2025

“Superlative Times”

Dearest gentle reader,

It is with enormous pleasure that this author presents gifts for the forthcoming season of the Albury Chamber Music Festival which is appropriately themed SUPERLATIVE TIMES.

Embark with us on a journey to an era of opulence, beauty, wonder, and magnificence. You shall find yourself surrounded by elegant ballrooms, stately buildings, and exquisite gardens, as we weave a musical tale of delight and enchantment.

We are channelling the spirit of Jane Austen, Bridgerton, and Downton Abbey. There will be cupcakes on the lawn. Simply put, entertainment awaiteth thee at every turn. Lady Sally-Anne and Sir Mario will guide you through the festival weekend, while our resident director, Lady Sara, all the way from across the pond, will oversee the theatrical elements, bringing our performances to life with her expert direction and vision.

Hasten to obtain your all-inclusive FESTIVAL PASS which shall grant access to ten thrilling performances across the 3-day party season. You will be treated to 4 splendid venues,

including the beautiful deco heritage-listed Regent Cinema, St Matthew’s Church, and the jewel in the crown, the Adamshurst ballroom. A sumptuous three-course dinner (valued at $100) at the exclusive Albury Club shall be accompanied by our salon orchestra, all of this is included in the one pass.

We hope you will be amused and thrilled by our superlative selection of musicians, composers and entertainers. We look forward to meeting you in Albury – it will be most enchanting indeed!

Venues:

Adamshurst, 603 David St, Albury

Regent Cinemas, 456 Dean St, Albury

St Matthew’s Church, 516 Kiewa St, Albury

The Albury Club, 519 Kiewa St, Albury

Friday 7 November - Session 2

Session 2, Performance 1, The Armed Man – A Mass For Peace – Karl Jenkins

St Matthew’s Church

Friday, 7 November, 2:00pm-3:00pm

In times of struggle, music offers solace and hope. This powerful work, commissioned by the Royal Armouries Museum and dedicated to the victims of the Kosovo crisis, explores the descent into war, balanced by moments of reflection. It highlights the devastating impact of conflict, while ultimately offering a message of hope for a peaceful future.

Join us for the opening of the 2025 Albury Chamber Music Festival as we celebrate the transformative power of music with this Mass for Peace. Let this beautiful work remind us that, even in difficult times, hope and healing are always within reach.

Sally-Anne Russell, mezzo soprano

Timothy Reynolds, tenor

Christopher Allan, baritone

Sophia Kirsanova, concertmaster

Tara Chambers, violin 1

James Armstrong, violin 2

Damien Jones, violin 2

William Newbery, viola

Jessie Swan, viola

Molly Kadarauch, cello

Catriona Byles, cello

Michael Fortescue, double bass

Eliza Shephard, flute

John Foster, trumpet 1

Billy Stewart, trumpet 2

Phillipa Safey, piano

Mark Ferguson, piano

Michael Evans- Barker, percussion

Edward Higgs, percussion

Lux Alba chamber choir

The choirs of The Scots School and Trinity Anglican College

Mario Dobernig, conductor

Session 2, Performance 2, More beautiful than before: The Radish and the shoe and other real tales

Adamshurst Ballroom

Friday, 7 November, 4:00pm-5:00pm

The characters, a Radish, a Shoe and a group of Letters, all reside inside a book which they call their home. One day a pair of scissors attacks the book, destroying the characters’ home, leaving them completely despondent. However, they pick themselves up and repair their book, and in the process inadvertently transform their ‘home’ into something more beautiful than before. The story is cleverly analogous with survival in the real world and one that has always rung resonances with the composer’s philosophical approach to life.

Andrew Perkins (libretto by Louise Jalbert)   The Radish and The Shoe

Songs by Peter Warlock, Ivor Gurney, John Ireland, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Frederick Septimus Kelly

Sara Brodie, narrator

Timothy Reynolds, tenor

John Bolton Wood, baritone

Eliza Shephard, flute

Scott Marshall, oboe

Robert Schubert, clarinet

John Foster, trumpet

Phillipa Safey, piano

Michael Evans-Barker, percussion

High Tea information: Louise Jalbert’s book won the Parents’ Choice Award when it was first published in California in 1984. It has since been republished.

5 Questions with Andrew Perkins.
 
1. Tell us a little about yourself in 5 sentences!
I am a New Zealand based composer who lived in Melbourne for 8 years during which time I completed my PhD Composition, and taught at Melbourne University.
My partner, Martin, and I now live in Dunedin, which is a very picturesque small city in the South Island of New Zealand. We love gardening, walking in the mountains, and on the beautiful beaches that surround us. Many of my compositions celebrate the environment, world peace, rebuilding, and love.
 
2. Tell us about the Radish and its evolution.
Over 30 years ago, dear friends of mine, famous artists Geoff Thornley and Diana Halstead gave me a special birthday present – a copy of a fabulous story book with drawings and story by French-Canadian artist Louise Jalbert. The story was about a Shoe, a Radish, and Letters that all resided in a beautiful book. One day their book is attacked by a pair of scissors! The Radish, Shoe, and Letters fight to defend their home, but the scissors are too strong, and destroy their beloved home. The Radish, Shoe, and Letters decide to rebuild their “home” and set about repairing their book. However, they not only repair their book but inadvertently create a home that is more beautiful than their original book. Despite the destruction, they were able to rebuild, creating something of extreme beauty.
 
3. You have recordings of your works with Big orchestras. Is this one of them?  and if so is adapting for chamber orchestra difficult?
I have been very fortunate to have had a number of works performed and recorded by large orchestras. The Radish and the Shoe was recorded in Wellington, New Zealand by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Hamish McKeich in 2014. We recorded the work with the narration in English, narrated by myself (Andrew Perkins), and another version brilliantly narrated in French by Luc Arnault. Both can be heard online: 
 
The work was also beautifully performed by the Preston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Maestro Mario Dobernig in November, 2014 (with myself as Narrator), in Melbourne, Australia.
 
4. What is your hope for the work?
Creating the chamber version of this work was a major challenge but an important project as it increases the performance opportunities and a chance for Louise Jalbert’s fabulous and important story to be shared with many more people. I hope that other chamber groups will perform the work all around the world as the story’s message of rebuilding after devastation is of universal importance.
 
5. Things to look out for when we are hearing “The Radish” in the beautiful Adamshurst Ballroom!
Each character’s music had to be immediately recognisable, especially when all of them are present at once! The Radish music is slightly Turkish in character, the Shoe’s music sounds slightly Spanish, and the Letters music sounds slightly Polish. There are scenes where the characters music is entwined – a good example of this is after the depiction of the Shoe, when the narrator describes how happy the Radish and Shoe are living in their beloved book – you will hear the Radish and Shoe music has been carefully crafted into an exotic polyphonic texture!
When the scissors attack the book, listen out for references to Alfred Hitchcock’s film, Psycho. Also, in the transformation music, you will hear an ancient Gregorian Alleluia chant which I used to sing with my choir many years ago. 

 

Session 2, Performance 3, The Royal Plucker: Lady Shaula and her Celtic Harp

St Matthew’s Church

Friday, 7 November, 9:30pm

Celtic kings considered the harp their royal instrument, symbolizing their authority and connecting them to their cultural heritage. It was used in courtly ceremonies and celebrations to reinforce their power and prestige. Lady Shaula will weave her magical web spinning Celtic folksongs by O’Regan, Salathé, Enya and many more, all surrounded by candlelight!

Harp in the Dark 

This candlelit concert has a candle blown out after each song – the last song is performed entirely in the dark.

All pieces in this concert are arranged for 

Celtic harp by Lady Shaula

On a harp, the C string is red and the F string is blue. 

It’s terribly important that you don’t use flash photography or they all turn the same colour! 

Phones off too please, just be in the moment.

Home & the Heartland               Whelan

Mother to Daughter                     Shaula Salathé

Siúil a Rúin                                     Trad.

Turquoise                                       Shaula Salathé

Barbara Ellen                                Trad. 

Say if You Will                               Jodie o Reagan

May it Be                                         Enya 

Earthsong                                      Shaula Salathé

Outlander – Skye Boat Song      Trad. 

Hope & the Dawn                         Shaula Salathé 

Greensleeves                               Trad. 

The Singer                                      Michael Head 

Wedding Song                              Shaula Salathé

Danny Boy                                      Trad.

Farewell ye Friends                      Shaula Salathé

Lady Shaula, Celtic Harp

In preparation for this performance we kindly ask you to say “Pheasant Plucker” ten times.

Saturday 8 November - Session 2

Session 2, Performance 4,

The Australian Orgelmeister – Organ Recital David Macfarlane

St Matthew’s Church

Saturday, 8 November, 9:00am-10:00am

David Macfarlane is the only Australian to have studied both harpsichord and organ as first study instruments at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. Alongside his expertise in Australian compositions, German and French Romantic music, Baroque and Renaissance works, David has also held significant roles in church music, including Director of Music at churches with prominent music programs. This concert program is David’s musical biography.

Louis-Nicolas Clérambault      Suite de deuxième ton

Plein Jeu
Duo
Trio

Basse de Cromorne
Flûtes

Récit de Nazard
Caprice sur les Grands Jeux

Johann Sebastian Bach           Passacaglia in C minor BWV 582

Louis Vierne                            Symphonie No 3 Op 28

  1. Allegro maestoso
    IV. Adagio
    V. Final
  2.  

David Macfarlane, organ

Session 2, Performance 5, Living Legend – Suprema Ballerina Jessie Vonk

Regent Cinemas Albury

Saturday, 8 November, 10:45am-11:45am

Born in 1941 in Pullach, near Munich, Jessie rose to fame as a Baby Ballerina with the Borovansky Ballet (early Australian Ballet), before becoming a Prima Ballerina in Germany, Paris, England, and Amsterdam. She will share her stories from the stage and her life with her husband, Dutch conductor Hans Vonk, former Chief of the Dutch Radio Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, and Staatskapelle Dresden.

High tea information: Jessie can still do the splits at the age of 84.

Jessie Vonk, living legend

Session 2, Performance 6, Lost love: Songs of a Wayfarer – Gustav Mahler

St Matthew’s Church

Saturday, 8 November, 1:00pm-2:00pm

Mahler’s autobiographical song cycle, written as a response to his unhappy love to soprano Johanna Richter, reflects on the composer’s journey through unrequited love, heartbreak and search for solace.

Gustav Mahler – Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of A Wayfarer)

Ross Edwards              Water spirit song

Stuart Greenbaum      Variations for solo violin

Reinhold Glière           Pieces for violin and cello, op. 39

Gustav Mahler            Piano Quartet in A minor

Sally-Anne Russell, mezzo soprano

Sophia Kirsanova, violin

James Armstrong, violin

William Newbery, viola

Molly Kadarauch, cello

Michael Fortescue, double bass

Eliza Shephard, flute

Robert Schubert, clarinet 

Phillipa Safey, piano

Edward Higgs, percussion

Mario Dobernig, conductor

Session 2, Performance 7, The Prodigy – Joshua Han, piano

St Matthew’s Church

Saturday, 8 November, 3:00pm-4:00pm

In this all-Chopin program international competition winner Joshua Han will have you searching for superlatives on superlatives. Be ready for the ultimate experience!

High tea information: in his free time Joshua enjoys studying towards medical degree…

Frédéric Chopin           Etude Op. 25 No. 4 in A minor

Etude Op. 10 No. 10 in A Flat major

Antande Splanato et Grande Polonaise in E Flat major, Op. 22

Nocturne in E Flat major, Op. 55 No. 2

Sonata in B minor, Op. 58

   I. Allegro maestoso

  II. Shertzo: Molto vivace

 III. Largo

 IV. Finale: Presto, non tanto

Joshua Han, piano

Session 2, Performance 8, The Queen’s Diamond Ball – Gala Dinner

The Albury Club

Saturday, 8 November, 6:30pm-9:30pm

Delight in a sumptuous feast with entertainment provided, games and fun are guaranteed. In previous years, we have enjoyed unicorn dances, a real alpaca, Maltesers races and limerick competitions, so perhaps a poetry slam will be in order this time. Kitchen utensils may also feature in Brett Jones’ world premiere of Dinner Music.

Sally-Anne Russell, mezzo soprano

Susan Ferguson, voice

Christopher Allan, baritone

John Foster, trumpet

Sophia Kirsanova, violin

Robert Schubert, clarinet

Molly Kadarauch, cello

Michael Fortescue, double bass

Phillipa Safey, piano

Mark Ferguson, piano

Mario Dobernig, conductor and drums

Sunday 9 November - Session 2

Session 2, Performance 9, The Prince of Albury – Festival Service

St Matthew’s Church

Sunday, 9 November, 9:00am-10:30am

Join us for our esteemed festival service, a distinguished tradition with a unique and unorthodox spirit, led by the Prince of Albury, Fr. Peter Macleod-Miller. And there will be three world premieres!

Johann Sebastian Bach           Bleibt ihr Engel, bleibt bei mir BWV 19

George Frideric Handel           Eternal Source of Light Divine

Ciara Ferguson                        world premiere

Peter Leech                             Festival Te Deum – world premiere

Brett Jones                              world premiere

Fr. Peter Macleod-Miller, Prince of Albury 

Sally-Anne Russell, mezzo soprano

Timothy Reynolds, tenor

John Foster, trumpet

David Macfarlane, organ

Joshua Han, piano

Lux Alba, chamber choir

St Matthew’s Choir 

 

Session 2, The little Cupcake

Adamshurst Ballroom

Sunday, 9 November, 1:15pm-2:00pm

Join us for cupcakes and other treats in the Adamshurst Garden (adjourning to the Adamshust Carriageway if the weather is poorly), and be serenaded by the border’s own Moodemere String Quartet.

Moodemere String quartet:

Tara Chambers, Lady Penelope

Damien Jones, Lord Anthony

Jessie Swan, Lady Violet

Catriona Byles, Lady Agatha

 

 

Session 2, Performance 10, Bridging Past and Present –

The Australian Songbook reimagined

St Matthew’s Church

Sunday, 9 November, 3:00pm-4:00pm

Get ready to experience a fresh take on the timeless tunes we all know and love! Composer and jazz pianist Mark Ferguson has reimagined these classics with his unique arrangements, specially crafted for our festival. 

Susan Ferguson, voice

John Foster, trumpet

Mark Ferguson, piano 

Tasha Stevens, double bass

Michael Evans- Barker, drums

Ciara Ferguson,  vocals

Check out last year’s gallery gorgeous photographs including many captured by Kosta from ‘Living Imagery’ in our 2024 photo galleries. 

We can’t wait for ACMF | 25? Tickets are on sale here.