Rest of the World
Abu Dhabi Festival
United Arab Emirates, year-long abudhabifestival.ae
Not for Abu Dhabi the defining constrictions of time and place. It’s a festival with year-round global aspirations that, two decades since its foundation, boasts a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in Paris and, in December, new music inspired by the paintings of Bob Peak at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. Co-produced recordings by tenor Juan Diego Flórez and violinist Yamen Saadi add a legacy to an anniversary edition that ends with the China National Symphony Orchestra.
Weiwuying International Music Festival
National Kaohsiung Centre for the Arts, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, until 21 April npac-weiwuying.org
As she ponders the third instalment of Taiwan’s flagship festival, composerartistic director Unsuk Chin is in upbeat mood. With the capacious facilities of the world’s largest multi-space arts centre at her command, music ranging from Eötvös and Berlioz to Janáček and Unsuk Chin herself is corralled into artfully themed programmes. Showcasing the Weiwuying Contemporary Music Ensemble, ‘Street Theatre and Hot Dances’ proposes a heady mash-up of Kurtág, Bolcom and Ligeti, among others.
Canberra International Music Festival
Canberra, Australia, 1-5 May cimf.org.au
It might have started out as an intimate chamber music festival colonising Canberra’s homes and embassies, but my how it’s grown. This year’s
30th anniversary jamboree is Roland Peelman’s last as artistic director, and he bows out in style. From France comes Trio Karénine, who forge a Franco-hispanic entente cordiale and collaborate with Dudok Quartet Amsterdam. Across two concerts, Bach
Akademie Australia delves into the Brandenburgs;
Red Dirt Hymns are sung; and Holly Harrison’s new percussion trio headlines the grand finale.
Greyton Genadendal Classics for All Festival
Western Cape, South Africa, 10-12 May classicsforall.co.za
The neighbouring villages of Greyton and Genadendal are in celebratory mood as their resolutely inclusive festival notches up its 20th birthday. Old musical friends return, and new artistic friendships are forged. Cape Town Baroque Orchestra takes a dive into the late Baroque alongside Vivaldi and Corelli; pianists François du Toit and Isaac van der Merwe team up for fourhanded Schubert; and the Da Cape’o string quartet criss-crosses eastern Europe en route to ‘Hungarian’ Brahms.
Coriole Music Festival
Mclaren Vale, Australia, 18, 19 May coriolemusicfestival.com
If music be the food of love, Coriole has the wine flights to match. Set among the extensive rolling vineyards of Mclaren Vale, the festival has been pairing delectable comestibles and chamber music for a quarter of a century, and 2024’s menu explores the notion of ‘home’. Homebirds include Peter Sculthorpe and Vaughan Williams, Golijov and Silvestrov; the last word falls to Olli Mustonen’s pithy Nonetto II.
Suntory Hall Chamber Music Garden
Suntory Hall, Tokyo, Japan, 1-16 June suntory.com/culture-sports/suntoryhall/
Tokyo’s venerable Suntory Hall has been welcoming audiences for nearly 40 years, and each June hosts Japan’s premiere chamber music festival – named after the garden that adorns the building’s roof. As ever, Beethoven is writ large. There’s a complete quartet cycle from the Verus String Quartet, all five cello sonatas and another instalment in the Aoi Trio’s seven-year voyage through the piano trios. Visiting performers include the Jerusalem Quartet and the Austrian mezzo-soprano Michaela Selinger – who squares up to Schoenberg’s Pierrot lunaire.
Pacific Music Festival
Sapporo, Japan, 10-30 July pmf.or.jp/en/
Founded by Leonard Bernstein,
PMF doesn’t do things by halves. The teaching faculty unites players from the philharmonics of Vienna and Berlin, while conductors Manfred Honeck and Elias Grandy follow in the footsteps of Bernard Haitink and Riccardo Muti, among others. Bernstein’s scintillating Candide Overture raises the curtain, and the Bernstein Memorial Concert features a Lennie favourite: Mahler’s Symphony No. 5
Jerusalem Lyric Opera Festival
Jerusalem, Israel, 22-25 July lyric-opera.org
Handel seems to be having something of a moment in Jerusalem’s annual celebration of the operatic arts. Alcina wove her enchanted spell last year, and 2024’s tercentenary anniversary of the premiere of Giulio Cesare in Egitto does not go unnoticed. Indeed, Egypt also provides the backdrop to the festival’s finale: Verdi’s Aida. In the Museum of Italian Jewish Art, the Fauré centenary is remembered in poetry and song.
Australian Festival of Chamber Music
Townsville, Australia, 26 July – 4 August afcm.com.au
Where else can you find an island concert with whale watching, and – tissues at the ready – a heartrending Schubertian double-bill pairing the String Quintet with Die schöne Müllerin? It can only be violinist Jack Liebeck’s distinctive Queensland festival. With no fewer than seven living ‘composersin-focus’, a Sunset Series that cuts Shostakovich down to size and makes free with Purcell’s Fairy Queen, and a fond farewell to quartet-in-residence the Goldners, action-packed doesn’t
begin to do it justice. Add in a couple of didgeridoos, the multi-tasking of Brett Dean, plus clarinettist Julian Bliss, and Townsville twinkles.
Taipei Music Academy and Festival
Taipei, Taiwan, 28 July – 11 August taipeimaf.com
With an advisory committee including pianist Emanuel Ax, cellist Yo-yo Ma and conductor Kent Nagano, Taipei’s mission to explain, instruct and inspire boasts blue-chip backers. A chamber music first week turns orchestral in the second, culminating in a three-concert tour of Brahms, Elgar and Dvořák conducted by Leonard Slatkin.
Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival
Matsumoto, Japan, 9 August – 4 September ozawa-festival.com
There will be mixed emotions in Matsumoto this year. The resident Saito Kinen Orchestra celebrates its 40th birthday. Yet at the same time a sense of loss is inescapable – the festival’s founder Seiji Ozawa died in February, and his guiding spirit will be missed. Shouldering the conducting are Andris Nelsons and Nodoka Okisawa (only recently appointed principal guest conductor by Ozawa). The latter undertakes the opening concerts coupling Mendelssohn and Richard Strauss; and she also masterminds the opera choice: Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. Nelsons, meanwhile, delivers a complete Brahms symphony cycle – key works in the orchestra’s early history.
Beijing International Music Festival and Academy
Beijing, China, 11-21 August bimfa.org
Bringing together professional and student musicians from around the globe, China’s only summer-schoolcum-festival contemplates its 20th anniversary edition. Coaching and masterclasses rub shoulders with competitions, public performance and a festival concert series by guest artists as well as faculty members. With downtime excursions to the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and Summer Palace, there’s a feast for the eyes and the ears.