Keynote Festival :
Thursday 30 October -
Sunday 2 November
From Thursday 30 Octobers to Sunday 2 November 2025, in various venues in central Hobart and at Franklin in the Huon Valley great music and musicians will take you to places you never imagined, in a voyage of musical discovery from the 17th century to the present.
Tickets on sale soon (sign up to our newsletter below to be the first to hear when they are on sale).
Thursday 30 October 2025
6pm
Concert One – “Four-hands piano”
Ian Potter Recital Hall, 19-29 Campbell St, Hobart
The opening concert of the 2025 Keynote Festival will be dazzling display of pianism by two outstanding Australian pianists Aura Go and Ian Munro. They have jointly conceived an exciting program of lesser-known works for four-hands at a single Steinway, encompassing familiar works by Schubert and Rachmaninov with an evocative re-imagining of Russian folk songs by Ekaterina Komalkova, receiving its Tasmanian premiere at the festival
Concert One Details
FRANZ SCHUBERT
Lebensstürme (13’)
ADOLF JENSEN
Abendmusik, Op. 59 (15’)
EKATERINA KOMALKOVA
Russian National Songs (selections) (20’)
SERGEI RACHMANINOFF
Capriccio bohemian (20’)
Aura Go and Ian Munro (piano)
Friday 31 October 2025
11am
Concert Two – “Piano quartet plus”
Ian Potter Recital Hall, 19-29 Campbell St, Hobart
String Theorem, who made such an impact at the 2024 festival, return to present a rarely-heard gem by Hungarian composer Dohnányi, his so-called “Serenade”, in fact an extended work for string trio.
They will then be joined by festival guest Ian Munro in the glorious piano quartet by Schumann, a work which sits in the shadow of the composer’s famous piano quintet but deserves to be as widely-performed and revered.
Concert Two Details
ERNST VON DOHNÁNYI
Serenade in C major (22‘)
String Theorem – Ji Won Kim (violin), Caleb Wright (viola), Nicholas McManus (cello)
ROBERT SCHUMANN
Piano quartet in E-flat, op 47 (28‘)
String Theorem, Ian Munro (piano)
2.30pm
Concert Three “ever-weaver”
Ian Potter Recital Hall, 19-29 Campbell St, Hobart
Principal Cello of the Australian Chamber Orchestra Timo-Veikko Valve and pianist Aura Go have performed together extensively around Australia and overseas. The programs they co-curate seek new ways to experience both old and new music. The second part of this program weaves together the music of Beethoven and Webern. By selecting individual movements from different Beethoven sonatas and interlacing a fleeting moment of Webern, they create a unique new work, where we hear the two composers in close dialogue. This sequence in the program celebrates their recent Beethoven-Webern album released on ABC Classic.
Concert Four Details
LISA ILLEAN
ever-weaver
HELVI LEIVISKÄ
Cantabile
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
Sonata Op. 69, A major
I. Allegro ma non tanto
II. Scherzo (Allegro molto)
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
Sonata Op. 102/2, D major
II. Adagio con molto sentimento d’affetto
ANTON WEBERN
Three Little Pieces Op.11
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
Sonata Op. 5/2, G minor
II. Rondo (Allegro)
The concert duration is approximately 60 minutes.
Timo-Veikko Valve (cello), Aura Go (piano)
8pm
Concert Four “The Ardent Flame”
Ian Potter Recital Hall, 19-29 Campbell St, Hobart
Our fourth and final concert in Hobart’s showpiece new recital hall introduces first-time festival guests, Australian String Quartet who begin in less well-known territory with a rare performance of the lyrical piano quintet by American Amy Beach, who stood out for her determination and talent in a traditionally male-dominated domain a century ago.
The concert concludes with Schubert’s string quartet “Death and the Maiden”. Needing little introduction, it is possibly the most popular of all string quartets with its passionate melodies, exhilarating energy and unstoppable momentum.
Concert Four Details
AMY BEACH
Piano Quintet, op 67 (27’)
Australian String Quartet – Dale Bartrop, Francesca Hiew (violins), Christopher Cartlidge (viola), Michael Dahlenburg (cello) with Aura Go (piano)
FRANZ SCHUBERT
String Quartet in D minor “Death and the Maiden” (43’)
Australian String Quartet
Saturday 1 November 2025
2pm
Concert Five – “Scintillation”
St George’s Church, 30 Cromwell St, Battery Point
On Saturday afternoon the festival focus moves to historic Battery Point and one of Tasmania’s most celebrated Georgian-period churches, St George’s. The program pairs an early Beethoven string quartet with the lush textures of Brahms’ string quintet in G major, where the Australian String Quartet will be joined by violist Stefanie Farrands, currently principal viola with the Australian Chamber Orchestra.
Concert Five Details
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
String Quartet op 18/2 in G major (25’)
Australian String Quartet –
Dale Bartrop, Francesca Hiew (violins), Christopher Cartlidge (viola), Michael Dahlenburg (cello)
JOHANNES BRAHMS
String Quintet in G major (30’)
Australian String Quartet, Stefanie Farrands (viola)
6pm
Drinks and canapés in the garden
St George’s Church, 30 Cromwell St, Battery Point
7pm
Concert Six – “Vox Luminis”
St George’s Church, 30 Cromwell St, Battery Point
After our reception in the garden, our final concert in St George’s promises a journey through the spirit.
The concert commences with a heartfelt single-movement work by young Australian composer, Justin Williams, followed by Osvaldo Golijov’s hymn to darkness “Tenebrae”.
Schoenberg’s incomparable string sextet, “Transfigured Night”, concludes the program.
Concert Six Details
JUSTIN WILLIAMS
Movement for String Quartet (9’)
Australian String Quartet –
Dale Bartrop, Francesca Hiew (violins), Christopher Cartlidge (viola), Michael Dahlenburg (cello)
OSWALDO GOLIJOV
Tenebrae (string quartet version) (7’)
Australian String Quartet
ARNOLD SCHOENBERG (35’)
Transfigured Night (for string sextet)
Australian String Quartet, Stefanie Farrands (viola), Timo-Veikko Valve (cello)
Sunday 2 November 2025
10.30am
Concert Seven – “Sacred Symphonies”
Palais Theatre, 3388 Huon Hwy, Franklin
Our festival finale turns back four centuries for music for six solo voices, chorus and renaissance orchestra featuring extracts from Symphoniae Sacrae of Schütz and Gabrieli, the Selva Morale et Spirituale by Monteverdi and works by Cavalli, Weckmann and Schop.
Concert Seven Details
Giovanni Gabrieli
Sonata per sonar duodecimi toni a 10 Ch 178 from Sacrae Symphoniae Liber 1 (Venice 1597) (5’)
Andrea Gabrieli
Confetibor tibi Domine à 13 (Venice 1665) (6’)
Heinrich Schütz – Symphonie Sacrae I (Venice 1629)
– Fili Mi Absalom SWV 269 (6’)
– O Quam tu Pulchra Es (4’)
Giovanni Gabrieli
Sanctus- Benedictus from Symphoniae Sacrae Liber 2 (Venice 1615) (4’)
Matthias Weckmann – Sonata Quarta (Hamburg) (5’)
Francesco Cavalli
Ave Maris Stella (Hymno) from Musiche Sacre (Venice 1656) (7’)
INTERVAL
Johann Schop Paduan à 6 (Hamburg 1633) 4’
Heinrich.Schütz
Symphonie Sacrae II (Dresden 1647)
– Hütet euch, daß eure Herzen nicht beschweret werden, SWV 351 (7’)
Claudio Monteverdi
Deus in adiuitorium from Vespro della beata Virgine (Venice 1610) (2’)
Excerpts from Selva Morale et Sprituale (Venice 1641)
– Dixit Dominus secondo SV 264 (8’)
– Confetibor tibi secondo a 3 con 5 in ripieno SV265 (6’)
– Laudate Dominum primo SV 272 (4’)
– Beatus Vir primo (8’)
Michelle Ryan, Amy Moore – Sopranos
Hannah Fraser – Alto
Louis Hurley, Eric Peterson – Tenors
Andrew O’Connor – Bass-Baritone
Choir of St James’, King Street, Sydney
Van Diemen’s Band
1pm
Finale Lunch
Home Hill Winery Restaurant, 38 Nairn Rd, Ranelagh
A seated three course lunch with wine.
Tickets on sale soon (sign up to our newsletter below to be the first to hear when they are on sale).
