Brunswick Beethoven Festival
18th festival
We invite you to celebrate eighteen wonderful years of music in the heart of Brunswick, Melbourne.
Join us for a warm and friendly gathering where world-class performers bring your favourite classical masterpieces to life.
This year, we are delighted to present a rich program of fine chamber music.
You will hear the timeless works of Beethoven and Mozart, alongside beautiful compositions by Schumann, Brahms, and many others.
Our festival offers an affordable way to experience exceptional artists right on your doorstep.
The festival runs in two parts, 3 to 7 Feb and 17 to 21 Feb 2026.
Patrons of BBF or other music lovers if you’d like to hear some great chamber music in January 10th-14th 2025, then the 29th Ballarat Festival (formerly Goldfields Festival) is the place to go.
Great venues, city and performers. Festival was also started by Sergio de Pieri OAM.
Check out their website for information and bookings.
Seraphim Trio (pictured) performs Concert 10 of the Brunswick Beethoven Festival
2026 Program
Part 1
Select one of the boxes below. For each event, select “Book now” to open a new tab where you can book your tickets securely online.
If you purchase a half- or full-festival pass, you only need to do this once.
Tuesday 3rd February – 8pm
Brunswick Uniting Church 212 Sydney Rd Brunswick
Zoë Black and Maja Savnik, Violins, Caroline Henbest, Viola, Josephine Vains, Cello.
Works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Fanny Hensel Mendelssohn & Franz Joseph Haydn.
Program
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – String Quartet in F major K.595
Fanny Hensel Mendelssohn – String Quartet in E flat major
Franz Joseph Haydn – String Quartet in F minor, Op.20 No.5
Wednesday 4th February – 8pm
Brunswick Uniting Church 212 Sydney Rd Brunswick
Michael Burden, Counter Tenor, and Hannah Lane, Baroque Harp.
A late Baroque and Rococo period, exploring the lenses through which we understand the universal nature of love and human connection.
Program
The headliners of the programme are:
Lasciatemi qui solo (Francesca Caccini)
Misero Apollo (Loves of Apollo and Dafne – Cavalli)
L’amante consolato (Strozzi)
Così mi disprezzate? (Frescobaldi)
Vedendo Amor (cantata for solo alto and continuo – Handel)
Selections from Orfeo ed Euridice (Gluck)
And more featured for the Harp.
Thursday 5th February – 8pm
Brunswick Uniting Church 212 Sydney Rd Brunswick
Experience the magic of ‘Between Dreams,’ a mesmerising collaboration between celebrated jazz pianist Paul Grabowsky AO and Guzheng virtuoso Mindy Meng Wang.
This award-winning performance weaves together the rich traditions of the ancient Silk Road with the spontaneity of contemporary jazz.
Recognised as the Australian Performing Rights Association’s annual ‘Art Music Award’ Performance of the Year Jazz/Improvised Music, this concert is an exquisite, improvisation-led exploration that creates a genre-defying musical language entirely its own.
Paul Grabowsky AO, one of Australia’s most visionary composers, joins forces with Mindy Meng Wang to create a soundscape that is both intimate and expansive.
Together, their instruments, the grand piano and the ancient Chinese harp, engage in a beautiful, cross-cultural conversation that transcends boundaries.
About the performers:
Paul Grabowsky AO is a pianist, composer, arranger and conductor with a career spanning nearly 50 years. He is considered one of Australia’s most significant musicians.
He has recorded over 40 albums and won 8 ARIA Awards, numerous APRA Awards, 2 Helpmann Awards, and a Deadly Award.
He is the founder of the Australian Art Orchestra, which he led for 19 years. He directed the Queensland Music Festival in 2007 and the Adelaide Festival of Arts in 2010 & 2012. He was made an Officer of the Order of Australia. He is currently the ED of Monash University Performing Arts Centres.
Mindy Meng Wang is a Chinese/Australian Composer and world-leading contemporary Guzheng Performing Artist.
She is a pioneer in bringing the Guzheng (ancient Chinese harp) into many Western genres, including experimental, Jazz, Western classical, Electronic, pop, and improvisation.
Mindy’s long-term vision is to create a strong voice for female composers and artists of Asian heritage and, more importantly, to foster a deeper, reciprocal musical connection between Australia and Asia.
Friday 6th February – 8pm
Brunswick Uniting Church 212 Sydney Rd Brunswick
Harpist Elisabetta Ghebbioni graduated with the highest marks from the Conservatorium “G Nicolini” in Piacenza, the city of her birth. She continued her study of the harp with Giuliana Albisetti in Milan and Jacqueline Borot in Paris.
Elisabetta held the position of First Harp in the “Orchestra Sinfonica di Lecce” for eight years and collaborates actively with the most crucial Italian music institutions: Orchestra. RAI, Teatro la Fenice, Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala.
She is primarily dedicated to chamber music and, with flautist Andrea Dainese and violist Giancarlo Di Vacri, formed the Trio Leonardo, giving recitals throughout Europe, the USA and Australia and collaborates with composers to find and create new music for this combination of instruments.
As a teacher, Elisabetta taught in several Conservatories and, for the last 15 years, was professor of Harp at the Conservatorio “Benedetto Marcello” in Venice.
Program
“MEDITERRANEO”
D. Scarlatti: Sonata K208
L.M. Tedeschi: Presso il mulino
Improvviso
F.J. Naderman: Sonata VI
Prelude
Allegro disperato
Rondoletto-allegretto elegante
I. Albéniz: Granada (Serenata)
C. Salzedo: Chanson dans la nuit
E. Granados: Danza Española n. 2 – Oriental
N. Gustavson: A Moorish garden
C. Saint-Saens: Fantaisie Op. 95
L. Einaudi: Nuvole Bianche
Saturday 7th February – 8pm
Brunswick Uniting Church 212 Sydney Rd Brunswick
Kristian Winther is a celebrated violinist and energetic chamber musician who has appeared as a soloist with major orchestras across Australia and New Zealand.
Kristian performs on a violin crafted by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, Paris, 1859, on generous loan from UKARIA Cultural Centre.
Formerly of the award-winning TinAlley String Quartet, he is known for premiering new works and performs on a rare 1859 violin.
He is joined by Konstantin Shamray, an exhilarating pianist who made history by winning both First and People’s Choice prizes at the 2008 Sydney International Piano Competition.
Konstantin performs with leading orchestras worldwide and is a regular highlight at prestigious festivals. Together, these virtuosos bring exceptional technique and musical passion to the stage.
Program
Ludwig van Beethoven – Sonata in A major opus 30 no.1
Allegro
Adagio molto espressivo
Allegretto con Variazioni
Clara Schumann – Three Romances for violin and piano, opus 22
I. Andante molto
II. Allegretto
Ill. Leidenschaftlich schnell
Sergei Prokofiev – Sonata no.2 for violin and piano opus 94bis
I. Moderato
II. Scherzo – Presto
III. Andante
IV. Allegro con brio
(Encore: Heinz Provost – Intermezzo).
Part 2
Tuesday 17 February – 8pm
Brunswick Uniting Church 212 Sydney Rd Brunswick
Sophia Kirsanova, Violin, and Berta Brozgul, Pianist.
Program
Lili Boulanger – “d’un Matin de Printemps” (From a spring morning)
Beethoven – Sonata no. 5 in F major, opus 24
I Allegro
II Adagio molto espressivo
III Scherzo – Allegro molto
IV Rondo – Allegro ma non troppo
Johannes Brahms – Sonata for violin and piano in D minor, opus 108
I Allegro
II Adagio
III Un poco presto e con sentimento
IV Presto agitato
About the performers:
Sophia Kirsanova
Latvian violinist Sophia Kirsanova is praised for her “appealing and intriguing” performances (CutCommon) and “outstanding technique and musicality” (Latvietis).
She has soloed with major orchestras, including the Latvian National Symphony and Israel Camerata. In 2024, Sophia released her debut album “The Morning Mist” on the SKANI label. A Teaching Associate at the Melbourne Conservatory of Music, she also teaches violin privately and leads masterclasses globally.
Founder and lead violinist of Melbourne Strings, Sophia is a guest concert master with orchestras and has held principal positions with Sinfonietta Riga and Israel Camerata.
Berta Brozgul
A graduate of the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, the South African-born pianist has been praised for her “strongly individual” and “masterful” performances (John Lill OBE).
The recipient of numerous awards, including the fourth prize at the prestigious Lev Vlassenko piano competition in 2015, Berta performs regularly across Australia as a soloist and collaborative pianist, and has collaborated with such artists as the internationally renowned violinist Ye-eun Choi, the Australian tenor Steve Davislim and the Firebird trio.
She has performed with the Tasmanian and Queensland symphony orchestras, and in 2023, she made her debut with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Benjamin Northey. As of 2024, she holds the position of Associate Faculty at the Australian National Academy of Music.
Wednesday 18 February – 8pm
Brunswick Uniting Church 212 Sydney Rd Brunswick
Philip Arkinstall, Clarinet; Anne Blackburn, Oboe; Colin Batt Abrams, Contrabassoon; Georgia White, Clarinet; Jack Schiller, Bassoon; Johannes Grosso, Oboe; Nico Fleury, Horn; Rachel Shaw, Horn.
Program
Works by Beethoven Octet in E flat op 103
Mozart Serenade no 12 in C minor K 388/384a
Thursday 19 February – 8pm
Brunswick Uniting Church 212 Sydney Rd Brunswick
Josephine Vains, Cello & Benjamin Martin, Piano.
Program
Works by Ludwig van Beethoven – Sonata for piano and cello in C major, Op. 102 No.1
Claude Debussy – Sonate (1915)
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy – Sonata No.1 in B flat major, Op.45.
Friday 20th February – 8pm
Brunswick Uniting Church 212 Sydney Rd Brunswick
Program
Autumn
Chaminade – Concert Etude Opus 35 No. 2, ‘Automne’
Tchaikovsky – The Seasons
- September – The Hunt
- October – Autumn Song
- November – Troika-Ride
Winter
Tchaikovsky – The Seasons
- December – Christmas
- January – At the Fireside
- February – Carnival
Chopin – Etude Opus 25 No. 11, ‘The Winter Wind’.
Timeless
Beethoven – Sonata Opus 13 ‘PathÉtique’
II. Adagio.
Spring
Schumann/List – Frülingsnacht (spring Night)
Tchaikovsky – The Seasons
- March – Song of the Lark
- April – Snowdrop
- May – Starlight Nights
Summer
- Tchaikovsky – The Seasons
- June – Barcarolle
- July – Song of the Reaper
- August – Harvest
Gershwin/Laussade – Fantasy on Summertime.
Saturday 21st February – 8pm
Brunswick Uniting Church 212 Sydney Rd Brunswick
Helen Ayres, Violin, Anna Goldsworthy, Piano and Tim Nankervis, Cello.
Program
Works by Mozart, Piano Trio in G major, KV564
Beethoven Piano Trio in C minor, Op.1 No.3
Past concerts
8pm Wednesday 5 February 2025
Brunswick Uniting Church 212 Sydney Rd Brunswick
Works by Carl Vine Toccatissimo (2011)
Miranda Driessen Werden Menschen Brüder? Alle? (2019)
Ludwig Van Beethoven Diabelli Variations Op 120 (1823)
Brunswick Beethoven Festival
welcomes everyone
The Brunswick Beethoven Festival is held in the City of Merri-bek (formerly Moreland).
In the inner north of Melbourne, the festival aims to provide audiences of all ages and backgrounds with an opportunity to enjoy classical music and contemporary music for a night to remember.
This year, we return, bringing internationally and locally acclaimed talents.
Ticket prices are designed to be affordable:
- Students $20
- Concession $25
- General $35
Purchase our 2026 Festival Pass
You can also purchase a complete festival pass for $250 to attend as many concerts as you wish.
Or a half pass for five concerts at $125. Attend the concert, and your pass will be marked with each attendance.
This can be purchased on any concert page. You only need to purchase once.
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Brunswick Beethoven Festival
thanks its supporters
This festival would not be possible without the dedication and support of our volunteers and these key organisations.
Copyright Brunswick Beethoven Festival. All rights reserved.
For media or event enquiries contact Director Mark Higginbotham on 0438 384 574 or email.
Founder: Sergio de Pieri OAM (pictured left).
We acknowledge the Tradtional Owners of the land this festival operates of the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung. We pay our respects to the Elders, past, present and emerging.
Website managed by Ray Pastoors.