2026 dates, venues and times
Phoenix Collective String Quartet, Heartstrings
Alexander Borodin – String Quartet no 2
Ella Macens – ‘A Love Worth Fighting For’
Danish String Quartet – Sønderho Bridal Trilogy
For their first concert of 2026, Phoenix Collective delve deeply into themes of love and romance. Written as a gift for his wife, cellist Alexander Borodin’s tender String Quartet no 2, with its famous slow movement, remains the gold standard of Romantic chamber music.
By contrast, Australian superstar composer Ella Macens’s hauntingly beautiful ‘A Love Worth Fighting For’ details an emotional response to a relationship break-up. Three Scandinavian traditional wedding tunes balance out the program, each one artfully representing different stages of married life.
19th Feb, 7pm Killara Uniting Church, Sydney
22nd Feb, 2pm Central Coast Conservatorium, Gosford
1st Mar, 3pm Wesly Music Centre, Canberra
The art music of joe hisaishi - sydney opera house
17 May 2026: 1pm & 4pm performances (90mins no interval)
The art music of Joe Hisaishi (composer of Studio Ghibli’s Totoro and Howl’s Moving Castle) is brought to life by Phoenix Collective in this magical concert.
For their 2026 Utzon Room concert Phoenix Collective Quartet open an enchanted gateway into the music of celebrated Studio Ghibli composer Joe Hisaishi. The world’s best-known anime composer, Hisaishi is responsible for the scores to blockbuster films such as Totoro, Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle. This concert will feature Hisaishi’s String Quartet – each movement of this complex and beautiful piece is a response to an artwork by the legendary graphic artist, MC Escher. The mysterious veils of illusion and playful trickery of Escher’s work find their counterpart in the genius of Hisaishi’s musical architecture. Selections from some of Hisaishi’s most-loved anime scores will complete a program full of quirky fun and discovery.
