Kate Suthers Reveals 2026 Coriole Music Festival Program
Spanning three beautiful concerts, debuts and premieres, the festival will celebrate chamber music and South Australia’s finest food and wine in May 2026.
Image Jamois
Coriole Music Festival Artistic Director Kate Suthers has unveiled the festival’s 2026 program, marking a thrilling new era for South Australia’s leading chamber music festival.
Presented by the McLaren Vale Music Festival Association (MVMFA), Coriole Music Festival combines the world’s best chamber music with SA’s finest food and wine at Coriole Vineyards McLaren Vale on Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 May 2026.
In the director’s chair for her first year, Suthers has curated a compelling program that showcases both Australian and international artists, reflecting the occasion.
“In a chamber music sense, beginnings provide a clear focus to strings. In a broader music and human sense, I believe that this can relate to programming works full of youth, naivety, curiosity and simplicity,” Suthers said.
Both days have a stacked program, with Saturday highlights including the festival debuts of London violist Richard Waters and Berlin cellist Martin Smith, who will be joined by Suthers and Australian soprano Desiree Frahn alongside an ensemble of festival favourites including Elizabeth Layton (violin), Gemma Phillips (cello), Damien Eckersly (double bass) and Michael Lerace (piano).
The day ends with a genre-crossing concert featuring arrangements by the Danish String Quartet and compositions by Dobrinka Tabakova, Alice Chance and Jessie Montgomery, interlaced with traditional works from across the globe.
Get down on Sunday for a celebration of Australian female composers with new works by Belinda Gehlert and Anne Cawrse and the world premiere of Gehlert’s Stellar. Anne Cawrse’s This Too Shall Pass will be adapted exclusively for Coriole Music Festival.
The final performance comes courtesy of one of American composer John Adams’ earliest works, Shaker Loops, featuring Kate Suthers (violin), Alison Heike (violin), Richard Waters (viola), Gemma Phillips (cello) and Damien Eckersly (double bass).
A wonderful celebration of chamber music and South Australian food and wine, Coriole Music Festival is shaping as an enjoyable two days in the picturesque McLaren Vale.
Coriole Music Festival takes place at Coriole Vineyards McLaren Vale on Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 May 2026. Weekend packages on sale now via coriolemusicfestival.com.
