- Woodend Winter Arts Festival News
- Posts
- Music for everyone at the Woodend Winter Arts Festival
Music for everyone at the Woodend Winter Arts Festival
Friday 5 June – Monday 8 June, 2026
Music for everyone at the Woodend Winter Arts Festival
This June, Woodend will fill with the sound of extraordinary music. Across four days, we invite you to witness outstanding artists and thoughtfully curated concerts that span jazz, chamber music, opera, classical, Baroque masterpieces and family‑friendly performances.
Experience world‑class musicians, more often heard in major concert halls, performing up close in intimate venues with remarkable acoustics.
Don’t miss out – some events have already sold out. Get your tickets now!

UpLIFT - Affinity Quartet
Don’t miss the opportunity to see the exceptional Affinity Quartet as they present a powerful trio of works – Paul Wiancko’s exhilarating LIFT; alongside Beethoven’s luminous String Quartet No.10 “Harp”; and Shostakovich’s deeply expressive String Quartet No.10. From joy and reflection to tension and transcendence, this is chamber music at its best.
When: Monday 8 June at 11:30am
Venue: St Ambrose Church, Woodend

Musical Offering - Accademia Arcadia
Step into the world of Bach’s Musical Offering, a brilliant work born from an inspired musical challenge at the court of Frederick the Great. Performed by the highly acclaimed Accademia Arcadia, this elegant and inventive program showcases Bach at his most playful.
When: Sunday 7 June at 1pm
Venue: St Ambrose Church, Woodend

Jacqueline Ogeil performs Albero
WWAF’s very own Artistic Director, Jacqueline Ogeil, brings the vivid, rediscovered music of Sebastián de Albero to life in this must-see performance. A brilliant yet overlooked 18th‑century Spanish composer and contemporary of Scarlatti, Albero wrote thirty inventive keyboard sonatas of rare beauty. Ogeil champions this vibrant repertoire in a captivating live performance that reveals Albero’s expressive voice to modern audiences.
When: Saturday 6 June at 12pm
Venue: St Ambrose Church, Woodend

Monteverdi Vespers - Ensemble Gombert and Accademia Arcadia
Back by popular demand – and performed twice across the Festival weekend – Monteverdi’s magnificent Vespers of 1610 returns to WWAF. Ensemble Gombert and Accademia Arcadia, under John O’Donnell, join tenor soloists Christopher Watson and Christopher Roache for this landmark Early Baroque masterpiece. Radiant choral writing and dramatic virtuosity combine in an unmissable, transcendent concert experience.
When: Two showings – Saturday 6 June at 7.30pm & Sunday 7 June 3.30pm
Venue: St Ambrose Church, Woodend
Proudly sponsored by The Peggy & Leslie Cranbourne Foundation

Piano Masterclass with Elena Kats-Chernin and Tamara-Anna Cislowska
Witness the next generation of pianists up close. WWAF invites audiences to experience exceptional young pianists in action as they perform and receive live guidance from acclaimed musicians Elena Kats‑Chernin and Tamara‑Anna Cislowska — an inspiring Festival first, celebrating emerging talent.
When: Saturday 6 June at 12pm
Venue: St Ambrose Hall, Woodend


Two Visions of the Sonata: Liszt and Kouvaras – Coady Green
Internationally award‑winning pianist Coady Green brings two powerful piano works together in a striking concert experience. From the sweeping drama of Liszt’s Sonata in B minor to Linda Kouvaras’s deeply moving Herring Island Piano Sonata, this program journeys across time and place, revealing the piano as storyteller, dreamer and witness.
When: Sunday 7 June at 12:15pm
Venue: St Ambrose Hall, Woodend


Variations and Remembrance - Seraphim Trio
Seraphim Trio will showcase four Australian composer variations on a Schubert waltz alongside Tchaikovsky’s deeply moving Piano Trio in A minor – from the lyrical variation from Calvin Bowman, to a mini playful one by Elena Kats-Chernin, a jazzy number by Andrea Keller, and a return of Elena with a fast moto perpetuo variation.
When: Monday 8 June at 1.30pm
Venue: St Ambrose Hall, Woodend


The Woodend Winter Arts Festival is a registered charity. All donations over $2 are tax deductible. Donate here or visit our website for more information on how to donate.