Five shows not to miss at CIMF

The Canberra International Music Festival (CIMF) returns for 10 days from 28 April and is this year welcoming international artists back to the program. Featuring 150 artists across 30 concerts at different venues, the program incorporates contemporary art music, Indigenous voice, jazz and more to celebrate rich cultures and music throughout history. Here are five shows at CIMF 2023 not to miss:

Brodsky at Fifty

Brodsky Quartet remains one of the world’s great string quartets, famous not only for their performance of great classical repertoire but also for their contemporary creation and collaboration. For their 50th anniversary, the group has created a program that evokes memories for them and to delight their audience.

Sibling Revelry

French string quartet, Quatuor Van Kujik, are joined by pianists, sopranos and young jazz siblings, Flora and Theo Carbo, as they play works by families from the late 1800s to modern day. The program features works from Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn, Nadia and Lili Boulanger, and Martin and Peter Wesley-Smith.

Of Fairies and Fools

Composers in the 19th century were inspired by how fairy tales brought together the young and old. Featured in the program is Antonín Dvořák’s Moravian Duets, heavily inspired by tales and rarely heard. The more contemporary work by composer Elena Kats-Chernin, Village Idiot, was inspired by the stories of her childhood.

A Memory of Russia

The Alma Moodie Quartet and Edward Neeman perform two works from the Russian Tzarist and Soviet eras. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Third String Quartet is regarded as one of the greatest chamber music works from Tzarist Russia, written in memory of violinist Ferdinand Laub. Composed in the days of the Soviet Union, Sofia Gubaidulina’s Piano Quintet was written five years after the death of Stalin and reflects a time when composers were liberated to create again.

A Candle for Ukraine

A concert by candlelight to commemorate war-torn Ukraine performed by tenor Andrew Goodwin with Roland Peelman on piano. The not-to-be-missed concert features Silent Songs - the most renowned work of Ukrainian composer, Valentin Silvestrov. Composed during Soviet Russia, Silent Songs reflect the angst of the time as Silvestrov took the risk to express himself and make a public statement. This work has recently resurfaced to be a poignant reflection of Ukraine today.

Canberra International Music Festival, 28 April-7 May; view the full program at cimf.org.au