This year’s Albury Chamber Music Festival will feature a brand new work for theremin and string quartet by rising star Australian composer Jessop Maticevski Shumack, the festival’s Artistic Director Helena Kernaghan has announced. The new work will be the centrepiece of the Festival’s 2019 program, which will also include special guests such as the Seraphim Trio with Martin Alexander, the Inventi Ensemble, the Acacia Quartet, the Orpheus Piano Trio, organist Martin Setchell and soprano Merlyn Quaife.

Dutch Theremenist Thorwald Jørgensen

“I have always been fascinated with the theremin, and when I realised that 2019 was its 100th anniversary, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to build a festival around the instrument,” Kernaghan told Limelight. “We have been so fortunate to have Dutch theremenist Thorwald Jorgensen as one of our featured performers in this year’s festival, and I am sure Australian crowds will find his program extremely exciting.”

“Having a world premiere is extremely important for me (and the future of art music in general),” she said.

The festival, which also includes a rising stars masterclass for talented regional students, will run November 15 – 17 at venues around Albury, on the border...