BREATHTAKING ~ CHARISMATIC ~ ASTOUNDING
Selby & Friends is proud to announce its 19th Season of five intimate, breathtaking & blockbuster concerts with eleven fabulous artists from around the world.
Selby & Friends has been described as presenting concerts that are “absolutely superb” “blockbuster performances,” with Artistic Director and Pianist Kathryn Selby having “excellent taste in friends”. This is an understatement for the 2025 Season of Chamber Music at its Best!
As always, the programs in the new Selby & Friends season reflect the stunning collaborative effort of all involved and showcase a deep love of melody, innovation and inspiration. The program celebrates and honours the 150 years since Ravel’s birth along with two Viennese masters in Tour 1, which is followed for Tour 2 in May by the Australian premiere of a stunning work by the acclaimed Lera Auerbach with two favourite piano trios by Schumann and Smetana.
A gorgeous arrangement of Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune opens Tour 3 with Beethoven’s Ghost and Shostakovich’s powerful second piano trio.
In Tour 4 in September, Selby & Friends visits with the masters of song in Chopin and Schubert, with a tribute to Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn in a lovely work by Australian composer Anne Cawrse. And they close the season with luscious big piano quartets by Brahms, Fauré and Australian Matthew Hindson.
Not only does Selby have the honour of working once again with favourite old friends, violinists Natalie Chee, Daniel Dodds, Elizabeth Layton and Alexandra Osborne, and cellists Julian Smiles and Clancy Newman, but in 2025 Selby & Friends welcomes for the first time the brilliant virtuoso violinist Kristian Winther and SSO Principal Cellist Catherine Hewgill. And they are delighted to welcome to the Season two accomplished young Australians currently studying in the US – 20-year-old cellist Benett Tsai, making a return engagement to Selby & Friends in Tour 3, and new guest artist Sydney-born violist Isabella Bignasca in Tour 5, once again showcasing the Selby & Friends commitment to fostering and supporting a rising generation of talented Australian artists.
“Having lived most of my life within the beautiful and limitless boundaries of chamber music, it is a truly wonderful privilege to have access to, and be constantly exploring, original music from both beloved old masters and exciting new composers and to share this all in our 2025 Season with my friends,” says Kathryn Selby AM, Artistic Director/Pianist.