2027 Program
15 – 16 May 2027 – Overview
The Coriole Music Festival encompasses two days of beautiful chamber music, with meals and wine included.
There are two concerts on Saturday and one on Sunday. Each of the weekend’s three concerts will be followed by a delicious meal in the Coriole courtyard, where performers and audience can mix while enjoying fine food by chef Patricia Streckfuss and superb Coriole wines.
On each morning, before the first concert, Artistic Director Kate Suthers will give a talk to introduce the program of music.
Artistic Director 2026-2028
Artists
We welcome London-based cellist, Rebecca Herman and Birmingham-based clarinettist Oliver Janes for their festival debut. They are joined by Australian soprano Sara Macliver, and on violin Kate Suthers and Holly Piccoli, Christopher Moore on viola with Sydney-based Damien Eckersley making a return on double bass. Local stars join us too – Adrian Uren on horn, Mark Gaydon on bassoon and Gemma Phillips on cello. Rounding off our artists for 2027 is superb Australian pianist, Laurence Matheson.
We are excited to feature two new music commissions. A new work by French Australian composer Alice Chance and a new work by Australian composer and soundscape designer Luke Altmann with Tristan Louth-Robins. We are deeply grateful to our 2027 Commissioning Circle for sponsoring these exciting new works.
Saturday 15 May 2027
10.15 am
Introductory talk by Kate Suthers (coffee and tea from 10 am)
11.00 am
Concert
Part One – Chaos
We begin with a bang! Ernő Dohnányi wrote his sextet during a period of illness. It looks musically both backwards and forwards, it’s a whirlwind and a rarity. To balance this, we have a trio of piano preludes, two from Debussy, and one from Lili Boulanger which will be nestled, attacca, in the middle.
~ Interval ~
Part Two – Exploration
Continuing with French-inspired flavour, Dutch composer Henriette Bösmans’ beautiful string quartet (celebrating its hundredth birthday, written in 1927) has a certain Impressionist sheen. We stay with this colour through a selection of French song, and will be sent to lunch on the whim of Francaix’s Octet.
Ernő Dohnányi
Sextet in C Major, Op. 37
Holly Piccoli (violin), Christopher Moore (viola), Rebecca Herman (cello), Oliver Janes (clarinet), Adrian Uren (horn), Laurence Matheson (piano)
With piano preludes from Claude Debussy and Lili Boulanger nestled within and played without break:
La puerta del Vino (Debussy)
Prelude in D-flat (Boulanger)
La cathedrale engloutie (Debussy)
~ Interval ~
Henriëtte Bosmans
String Quartet
Kate Suthers (violin), Holly Piccoli (violin), Christopher Moore (viola) Rebecca Herman (cello)
A selection of French song
from Erik Satie, Debussy, Boulanger and Maurice Ravel
Sara Macliver (soprano), Laurence Matheson (piano)
Jean Françaix
Octet, À huit
Kate Suthers (violin), Holly Piccoli (violin), Christopher Moore (viola), Rebecca Herman (cello), Damien Eckersley (bass), Oliver Janes (clarinet), Mark Gaydon (basoon), Adrian Uren (horn)
1.30 pm
Three-course lunch (with Coriole wines)
3.30 pm
Panel Discussion
5.00 pm
Concert
Part One – Brahms Piano Quintet
Brahms’ piano quintet, a pinnacle of the repertoire, this piece showcases a clearly developed compositional voice and style, yet predates his first symphony by more than a decade. Whilst Brahms may have felt a reverence towards Beethoven, standing on the shoulders of giants, it seems hard to credit hearing this piece.
~ Interval ~
Part Two – Postcards
The scene is set with Luke Altmann’s new work and then move through differing interpretations of place and expression. Dance, an intrinsic form of human response, inspires and features in works as diverse as Stravinsky septet, a Britten waltz, a Marsalis tango, and the rhythm of poetry behind Caroline Shaw’s first essay, Nimrod.
Johannes Brahms
Piano Quintet, Op. 34
Kate Suthers (violin), Holly Piccoli (violin), Christopher Moore (viola), Rebecca Herman (cello), Laurence Matheson (piano)
~ Interval ~
Luke Altmann
with Tristan Louth-Robins
Fleurieu (World premiere)
Kate Suthers (violin), Holly Piccoli (violin), Christopher Moore (viola), Rebecca Herman (cello)
With thanks to our 2027 Commissioning Circle.
Igor Stravinsky
Septet
Kate Suthers (violin), Christopher Moore (viola), Rebecca Herman (cello), Oliver Janes (clarinet), Mark Gaydon (basoon), Adrian Uren (horn), Laurence Matheson (piano)
Caroline Shaw
First Essay (Nimrod)
Thomas Adès
O Albion
Kate Suthers (violin), Holly Piccoli (violin), Christopher Moore (viola), Rebecca Herman (cello)
Oliver Knussen
…upon one note
Henry Purcell
Fantasia upon one note
Kate Suthers (violin), Christopher Moore (viola), Rebecca Herman (cello), Oliver Janes (clarinet), Laurence Matheson (piano)
Alexander Glazunov
Idyll
Kate Suthers (violin), Holly Piccoli (violin), Christopher Moore (viola), Rebecca Herman (cello), Adrian Uren (horn)
Wynton Marsalis
Tango from Meeelaan
Kate Suthers (violin), Holly Piccoli (violin), Christopher Moore (viola), Rebecca Herman (cello), Mark Gaydon (bassoon)
Benjamn Britten
Waltz from Three Divertimenti
Danish String Quartet
Polska from Doratea
Kate Suthers (violin), Holly Piccoli (violin), Christopher Moore (viola), Rebecca Herman (cello)
7.30 pm
Supper (with Coriole wines)
Sunday 16 May 2027
10.15 am
Introductory talk by Kate Suthers (coffee and tea from 10 am)
11.00 am
Concert
Part One – Different Paths
This program works like a tape being rewound. Starting the day with Tabakova’s Such Different Paths, we begin with a sense of retrospection. This septet is a beautiful work of enigmatic themes, pondering forks in the road. Alice Chance’s new work follows, before Faure’s beautiful song cycle setting of Paul Verlaine’s poetry, La bonne chanson.
~ Interval ~
Part Two – Beethoven Septet
There’s something chaotic about a weekend of predominantly Romantic and 20th/21st Century music that culminates in an early classical septet. There’s such a sense of exploration in this piece, perhaps these days we’d say Beethoven was workshopping, but the use of each instrument’s voice, and the heroism of the key, make this a perfect festival finale.
Dobrinka Tabakova
Such Different Paths
Kate Suthers (violin), Holly Piccoli (violin), Christopher Moore (viola), Rebecca Herman (cello), Gemma Phillips (cello), Damien Eckersley (double bass)
Alice Chance
The Shimmering Quiet (World Premiere)
Kate Suthers (violin), Holly Piccoli (violin), Christopher Moore (viola), Rebecca Herman (cello), Gemma Phillips (cello), Laurence Matheson (piano)
With thanks to our 2027 Commissioning Circle.
Gabriel Fauré
La bonne chanson
Sara Macliver (soprano), Laurence Matheson (piano), Holly Piccoli (violin), Kate Suthers (violin), Christopher Moore (viola), Rebecca Herman (cello), Damien Eckersley (double bass)
~ Interval ~
Ludwig van Beethoven
Septet
Kate Suthers (violin), Christopher Moore (viola), Rebecca Herman (cello), Damien Eckersley (double bass), Oliver Janes (clarinet), Adrian Uren (horn), Mark Gaydon (bassoon)
1.30 pm
Lunch (with Coriole wines)