German pianist Alexander Krichel has performed on some of the world’s great stages and recorded an extraordinarily wide-ranging repertoire, from Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev to Ravel and Schumann. Yet a career in music was far from inevitable. Growing up in a family of scientists, Alexander was equally at home with mathematics, and might well have pursued medicine had he not won a coveted place studying with the formidable pianist Vladimir Krainev. He recalls the unconventional beginnings of his musical education, and the teacher whose exacting demands helped shape both the pianist and the person he would become.

In a conversation full of humour and candour, Alex revisits his final lesson with Krainev, just six hours before his teacher’s death, and the special place Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto continues to hold for him. He talks about why the greatest challenge at the keyboard is not virtuosity but making the piano sing, how he learned to favour risk over perfection in the recording studio, and why he believes music must remain a lifelong process of discovery. He also reflects on taking classical music into schools, and the importance of having a life beyond the practice room.

This program was recorded at the 2026 Australian Festival of Chamber Music, in Cairns. The next festival takes place 23-31 July 2027.

Christopher Lawrence has spent his life sharing his love of music with Australian audiences, as a broadcaster, recording producer, writer and, more recently, leader of musical tours. His journ ey began rather improbably in the ABC mailroom, before washing records in the network's vast library became an extraordinary musical education. In this conversation, Christopher reflects on the twists and turns that led him to the microphone, the award-winning recordings and television productions he helped create, and the sometimes exhausting realities of life as a breakfast radio presenter.

Growing up with parents in showbusiness, he recalls being introduced to Nat King Cole while still in his bassinet, and later concocting an elaborate ruse to meet Leonard Bernstein, only to find himself invited to the composer's birthday party. He also talks about his work with Renaissance Tours, the determination behind the success of Van Diemen's Band, founded by his wife Julia Fredersdorff, and a lifelong passion for Berlioz that recently inspired a whirlwind trip to Brussels. It's a warm and frequently amusing journey through a life spent finding new ways to bring people closer to music.

South Korean violinist Bomsori Kim has quickly earned an enviable reputation on the international concert stage, performing with leading orchestras around the world and at some of the most prestigious international festivals. Making her Australian debut with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra for Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, Bomsori reflects on her long-standing affection for the work, her first encounter with the orchestra as a student in Seoul, and the remarkable 300-year-old Guarneri del Gesù violin on which she performs.

In this conversation, Bomsori recalls the childhood concert that inspired her to take up the violin, her studies in Korea and at Juilliard, and the opportunities and pressures that came with international competitions. She discusses her love of opera and jazz, the challenges of capturing a performance in the recording studio, and her fascination with the ancient strategy game Go. She also reveals her passion for championing the music of Polish composer Grażyna Bacewicz, including her involvement in a documentary exploring a long-forgotten work.

Bomsori Kim performs with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra 14-17 October.

Dutch cellist Pieter Wispelwey has spent more than four decades building a career defined by curiosity, individuality and a refusal to regard any interpretation as finished. Equally at home on modern and period instruments, he has repeatedly returned to the great works of the cello repertoire, recording Bach’s Cello Suites three times and Benjamin Britten’s suites four times. In this conversation, Pieter reflects on why familiar music continues to change, the impossibility of an “ultimate” recording, and his lifelong search for greater expression in performance.

Pieter also looks back on a childhood immersed in chamber music, his early fascination with the physical sound of the cello, and the teachers who helped shape his musical world, particularly Anner Bylsma. He recalls the recording that launched his international career, explains why historical performance was never simply about following rules, and reflects on the singers who profoundly influenced his musical imagination, from Alfred Deller and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau to Gwyneth Jones. And away from the concert platform, he finds a very different kind of satisfaction tending the land and waterways around his rural home in the Netherlands.

Pekka Kuusisto has never been especially interested in staying neatly within musical boundaries. The Finnish violinist, conductor and composer returns to Australia to guest direct the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s Legends and Luminaries program, bringing with him the curiosity, spontaneity and collaborative spirit that have become hallmarks of his work. He reflects on the ACO’s influence on his own approach to directing, his enthusiasm for contemporary composers, and why he tries not to spend too much time thinking about what kind of musician he is supposed to be.

The conversation looks back on a childhood immersed in music, from improvising at the piano with his father to beginning violin lessons at the age of three and later winning the Sibelius Competition. He talks about discovering Nordic folk traditions at a moment when he felt he had “lost the plot” musically, the value of collaboration over ego, and the freedom he has found in making music outside the classical world. His latest adventure is Council, a songwriting project with Gabriel Kahane, which has given him the chance to become, as he puts it, a “deeply middle-aged” beginner singer-songwriter.

Pekka Kuusisto directs the Australian Chamber Orchestra from 3-19 October.

Simon Phillips has spent more than four decades at the heart of Australian theatre, directing everything from Shakespeare and contemporary drama to blockbuster musicals and opera. In Sydney directing the Australian premiere of Steven Moffat’s The Unfriend for Sydney Theatre Company, Simon reflects on the precision required to make comedy work and how the audience’s laughter becomes another member of the cast.

He also looks back on a career that has taken Priscilla, Queen of the Desert around the world, helped bring Muriel’s Wedding to the stage, reimagined Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies, and put The Phantom of the Opera on Sydney Harbour. Simon talks about discovering theatre as a child in New Zealand, his enduring passion for Shakespeare, the challenges of directing opera, and his years leading the Melbourne Theatre Company. He speaks about a desire to always keep audiences on the edge of their seats, drawing us into lives and experiences beyond our own.

Simon Phillips directs The Unfriend for the Sydney Theatre Company, at the Roslyn Packer Theatre, from September 29 through October 31.

Bass-baritone Andrew O’Connor has built a remarkably varied career spanning opera, chamber music, choral repertoire and contemporary Australian work. In this conversation, Andrew discusses Transformations, his new album with Van Diemen’s Band, which journeys through early German Baroque music while pairing works by composers including Schütz and Buxtehude with newly commissioned responses from Brooke Shelley and Alice Chance. He reflects on the particular richness of this repertoire for the bass voice, the pleasure of having new music written specifically for him, and why working with living composers has become such an important part of his musical life.

Andrew also looks back on growing up in Perth, beginning as a trumpeter before discovering his voice almost by accident, and the opportunities that allowed him to begin working professionally at a remarkably young age. He talks about learning his craft on the job, his years with The Song Company, the unpredictable but rewarding life of a freelance musician, and his belief that different kinds of music-making continually feed into one another. Along the way, he discusses his passion for education and the life-changing potential of music.

Transformations is out now on the Van Diemen’s Band label, and via streaming platforms.

Stephen Layton has spent his life exploring what happens when people come together to make music. In Sydney to conduct the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Sydney Philharmonia Choirs in Mozart’s Requiem and other works, he reflects on the balance between instinct and preparation, having examined the famous piece note by note in preparing his own performing edition.

The conversation traces Stephen’s story back to childhood, where he played alongside his father in a Pentecostal church where music might begin spontaneously and gather momentum around the room. From there came an extraordinary journey through Winchester Cathedral, Eton and King’s College, Cambridge, where scholarships opened doors that had once seemed unimaginable. Stephen speaks about founding Polyphony, his ambitious overnight performance of John Tavener’s The Veil of the Temple, and his seventeen years transforming the choir of Trinity College, Cambridge. He also explains why Australia became unexpectedly important to Trinity’s international success, and talks of a life shaped by curiosity, opportunity and an enduring fascination with the collective energy of music-making.

Stephen Layton conducts the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Sydney Philharmonia Choirs for Mozart’s Requiem and other works at the Sydney Opera House, September 9-12.