Bendigo Chamber Music Festival, February 2026

For overseas readers, Bendigo is a regional city in the state of Victoria, located about two hours' drive north of Melbourne. It wears its wealthy gold rush (mid-19th century) origins proudly and is equally proud of its strong support of the arts and multiculturalism. I lived in Bendigo for two years (2020-2022) and will always have a soft spot for this beautiful city. The Bendigo Chamber Music Festival has run since 2020 and Hayllar Music Tours has led a tour to every one, all of which have been led by me.

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Just a summary of the 2026 Bendigo Chamber Music Festival:

I didn’t do a daily wrap this time (as I normally do when I’m working for Hayllar Music Tours) as my eyes are not focusing well after my recent procedure* and things are very blurry online until I get my new glasses in a few weeks. (I’m creating this in a Word document in large font!)

Suffice to say the 2026 festival, the seventh, was a stunning success with a magnificent line-up of artists and brilliant, innovative programming in which we discovered new works and new ideas in almost every performance. It was yet again a tribute to the incredible artistry and energy of Howard Penny and Chris Howlett who manage every year to create a dazzling and fascinating program.

As has been the case in recent years, two artists on the roster of the London-based Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) joined the stellar line-up of Australia-based artists. Violinist Matteo Cimatti and bassist Will Duerden stunned us with their virtuosity and mature musicianship. Each gave a solo recital, both of which will live in the memory for a long time. Matteo joined the festival at extremely short notice after Nathan Amaral had to withdraw due to circumstances beyond his control. Matteo’s performance of Beethoven’s Kreutzer sonata (with Daniel de Borah at the piano) left the audience speechless; we witnessed something shatteringly good and many of us were lost for words.

The cohort of artists included flautist Joshua Batty whose contributions included works of eye-watering technical difficulty, delivered with panache and depth. And there were two singers involved this year – soprano Cathy-Di Zhang and tenor Andrew Goodwin – whose duet contributions spanned Handel to Bernstein, with beautiful solo excursions to Massenet (Cathy-Di) and Rachmaninov (Andrew) – and much else – on the way.

I hesitate to single out highlights as every performance had a magical element to it, but a few really hit me:

The Hoffmann chamber arrangement of the Chopin first piano concerto featured Andrea Lam as the soloist. This was amazing to witness as the five accompanying string players seemed to telepathically communicate with Andrea, following her rubato flawlessly. (Who needs a conductor?)

Daniel de Borah and Reuben Tsang performed the Brahms Op 39 waltzes for piano four hands. Apart from a stylish performance, their very clever swapping of parts (and piano stools) half way through – while still playing and not missing a note – was a visual highlight in addition to the musical one.

Sophie Rowell's performance of the Beethoven C minor violin sonata (Op 30/2 – with the incredibly hard working Daniel de Borah again) was a revelation. This woman finds gems within gems when it comes to music as good as this, and she and Daniel seemed to be completely as one with every page. A privilege to witness.

And the Saturday evening concert started and ended with two magnificent beasts. Ten of the string players combined to bring Bach’s third Brandenburg concerto to shimmering life at the start of the program. And it ended with the mighty Brahms piano quintet, played by a dazzling line up of musicians: Daniel de Borah, Natsuko Yoshimoto, Patrick Savage, Amanda Verner and Howard Penny.

And, and, and... These are just a few performances I could have mentioned. It was an amazing time, and the eighth festival is, I’m sure, already being planned for 3-7 February, 2027.

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*I had my second cataract procedure in late January